The Great Wall of China stretches for 22 thousand kilometers across the territory of the Middle Kingdom. According to records, a fifth of China's population at the time - about one million people - participated in its construction. The purpose of the Great Wall of China is to protect the northern borders of the country, clearly fix the borders of the state, and consolidate a single empire from many disparate kingdoms.
Almost at the same time, the warlike Huns swept like a tornado across all Europe. Not a single people could resist them. None, except for the Slavs of Russia. Our ancestors managed to build a unique fortification called Serpent Ramparts or Troyan Ramparts. The second name is associated with the name of the ancient Roman warrior emperor Mark Troyan. The construction of the ramparts coincided with the reign of this emperor (98-117 AD).
The construction of the defensive ramparts took several centuries. Most of the work was carried out during the reign of Prince Vladimir of Kiev. Bruno of Querfurt (count, was considered an apostle and saint of Prussia) described this grandiose structure as "the strongest and longest fence" that appeared on the steppe border of Russia. This “fence” was striking in its size: 20 meters in diameter, 12 meters high, and a thousand kilometers long.
The protective shafts were not built immediately, but depending on the outgoing specific threats. First, against the Sarmatians (these were nomadic, Iranian-speaking cattle-breeding tribes), who massively moved to the northern Black Sea region. According to the records of their contemporaries, they gradually assimilated in Russia: “All Sarmatians…. Those who have come to Russia for a long time, having changed their language and faith, according to the language now used by the Slavs or Russians since ancient times, believe themselves. Then the Serpent Shafts defended Russia from the Goths (the alliance of the tribes of ancient Germany), the Huns (the nomads who invaded Eastern Europe from Asia in the IV century), and the Avars (the nomads from the Central Asian region who moved to Europe in the 6th century and created the Avar Khaganate there).
The Slavic Ramparts were oriented towards the south, since most of the threats were from there. The Serpent Ramparts were built by the Slavs to protect themselves from the steppe, nomadic newcomers who came to Russia with a sword, like conquerors. And the more threats hung over the Russian border, the faster and further along the territory of Russia the Zmiyev Shafts were built. The oldest of the sections of this protective rampart dates back to 150 BC!
What were the Zmievy Shafts? These were powerful earthen ramparts, at the foot of which was a deep ditch. It is estimated that to build at least one rampart, about 100 thousand people were needed. Who could have done such a titanic job? The Slavs, unlike their southern neighbors, did not have slaves: it was too costly to feed a huge horde of slaves in the long and cold Russian winter. Perhaps, in part, the labor of prisoners of war was used, but the main work was done, of course, by simple peasants-smerds.
Archaeologists have counted more than a dozen different shaft designs, which were chosen depending on the surrounding landscape, soil and other circumstances. Behind the ramparts, every 6 km, there were sentinel posts or settlements. With such a unique defense system, there was no need to keep a large army on the border. On the ramparts, patrols were posted, which, in the event of an attack, lit signal fires, notifying the population of the need to urgently leave a possible zone of military conflict. These ramparts deprived the nomads of their main advantage - the surprise of the attack. The attackers were forced to stop and look for an opportunity to get across the moat, while the population had time to go into the forests or hide in the nearest settlement. In those days, the steppe inhabitants did not know how to conduct a siege, which means that, having lost the surprise of an attack, they, in fact,were defeated.
Promotional video:
The serpent's shafts can be confidently considered the most ingenious in simplicity, extremely effective defensive structures. Ramparts stretch across the territory parallel to each other, merge with other fortifications, forming a multi-row protection. And although the construction of these structures was very laborious and time-consuming, they brilliantly performed their role of protection from the raids of nomads. Even when the ramparts were completed, they were kept in order for a very long time.
In the Russian epic there is a legend about the origin of the Serpent Shafts. The mighty hero of the Russian land defeated the Man-eating Serpent. Then he harnessed him to the plow and forced him to plow the furrows, which turned into deep ditches, and the blade from this plow formed the Serpent Shafts. It should be noted that in Russian folklore, nomads have always personified a bloodthirsty serpent (for example, such a character as Tugarin Zmievich in Russian epics), and the plowing hero personified the Russian farmer who endured all the hardships of the struggle against the conquerors on his shoulders. But at the end of the legend of the Serpent Ramparts, the evil dragon dies, unable to withstand the hardships of the work, which means that the Slavs, ultimately, were able to get rid of the raids of the nomads.
It should be noted that structures of this magnitude could only be created under the leadership of a centralized state, ruled by a firm hand. The map of the Serpent Shafts indicates that the construction was carried out according to a single plan, which was carried out for several centuries. The implementation of this plan was only within the power of a strong state formation! From all that has been said, an interesting conclusion can be drawn - it is wrong to consider the emergence of the Russian state from the vocation of the Varangians (Rurik in 862 AD). The history of our country is much longer - at least 900 years. So it's time to prepare for the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of our country!
Now get ready for some amazing information - the Serpent Shafts were never mentioned in the annals! Why did the chroniclers unanimously ignore the titanic work of erecting giant fortified structures? There are only records about certain geographical objects called the Zmiyevo-Troyanovy ramparts, but not a word about the defensive system of the Slavs, about builders, warriors, princes.
It is surprising that even in such a work as The Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler Nestor did not describe the Zmievy Shafts, although they were located at a distance of 60 km from Kiev. If Nestor could describe the uneasy relationship between the Obra (Avars) and the Volyn Slavs, how could he not know about such a grandiose defensive construction? There is only one explanation - this information was blotted out, removed from the history of Rus, since they refuted the Norman, pro-Western concept of the emergence of Rus. This refers to the calling of the Varangians to Russia. Let us recall the words of N. Karamzin: "Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it - go to reign and rule over us." The story of the construction of the Serpent Shafts makes the legend of Rurik implausible, since it means that already at the time of their construction there was a mighty state - Russia.
Yes, Rurik existed, but no one called him to reign. Most likely, he, as a mercenary, came to serve in Novgorod and fought on the side of one of the warring parties. Somehow, he managed to seize power and founded the Rurik dynasty. The Tale of Bygone Years is silent about the fact that Vadim the Brave tried to throw the Varangian usurper off the throne, but failed to achieve what he wanted. Also, the chronicle is silent on the fact that part of the Novgorodians left Rurik for Kiev. And this is at odds with the leafy narration of Western historians about the affectionate people who voluntarily hung the Varangian yoke around their necks in the form of the Rurik dynasty. They say: "To make history, you need a gift, to fake it, you need power." Russian princes made history, and German historians (even those who did not speak Russian well) rewrote it for themselves,being in the public service in the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Studies of the Serpent Shafts by modern historians and archaeologists prove that the Russian state existed already in the II century, and, perhaps, even earlier. Excavations have shown that long before the appearance of the Varangians in Russia, there were Russian settlements in which crafts were developed, active trade with the outside world was conducted. The protection of villages, settlements, villages from nomadic tribes was carried out by the young Russian state. It was for this function that the state began to build the Great Slavic Wall - the Serpent-Troyan Shafts.
I am glad that now it is possible, bit by bit, but still to restore the true history of the Russian state. After all, only people who respect and know their history are worthy of their great ancestors.