It seems to us that we know a lot about the history of our country, already since the founding of Russia in the 9th century. However, it is not. Not that the ancient history, which is a fiction of a rather late time, and even the history of five hundred years ago is completely unknown to us. Numerous facts contradict the picture of the past that is imposed on us from school textbooks. Take, for example, the facts of the presence in our culture of traditionally oriental, non-Russian and even - God forbid - Islamic elements, especially where they cannot exist. This is a completely different story, a different Russia.
Crescents on the domes of Orthodox churches
In many Orthodox churches, not just a cross, but a cross with a crescent moon is placed on the domes. It seems strange that a symbol of another faith crowns the top of Christian temples. What are the explanations for this?
It turns out that there are many interpretations of the crescent moon placed under the cross. The most common ones are that a crescent moon is:
- the font in which the Church was baptized;
- the cradle of Bethlehem, in which the infant Christ was;
- the Eucharistic cup, in which is the body of Christ;
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- the grail into which the blood of the crucified Christ flowed;
- church ship, led by the helmsman Christ;
- the anchor formed together with the cross that holds the ship-temple in the Kingdom of Heaven;
- the anchor of hope, the gift of the cross of Christ;
- the ancient serpent, the enemy of God, trampled by the Cross and the feet of Christ;
- the time over which the Cross rises - a symbol of eternity;
- defeated Islam, the memory of the military victory of Christians over Muslims.
What do we see here? First, there is no definite answer to what the crescent under the cross is. Second, they are implausible. It is obvious that all these cradles and fonts, together with the anchors, are a poetic reflection of the fact itself, beautiful lyrics praising the Divine. Life is always simpler, and the emergence of persistent symbolism is always more prosaic.
As for the rest, the crescent cannot depict either enemies trampled upon by Christianity, nor, even more so, the crescent itself, a symbol of Islam. It is believed that he allegedly appeared on Orthodox domes after the conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. However, it is impossible to imagine that the main symbols of the enemy were lifted to the very top, even with this interpretation. Could, for example, be a fascist swastika among the state symbols of the Soviet Union, even if located under a star? Of course not! Even an image that has nothing to do with this swastika and only vaguely resembles it, is bullied by the authorities, as it evokes associations with fascism.
Third, most of the above explanations for the Orthodox crescent are given by the Orthodox Church itself. And the very number of them suggests that she, who should understand this question better than anyone else, really knows nothing. So where did the crescent moon come from?
A crescent moon on top of the country's main Christian cathedral - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
Note that we are talking only about Orthodox churches. On Catholic and Protestant churches, the crescent does not fit in any form (therefore, all these cradles are clearly contrived). And that explains a lot.
It is well known that Orthodoxy in a number of its aspects is closer to Islam than to the rest of Christianity. This is even evidenced by the similarity of the names - Orthodoxy and Orthodoxy - characteristic only of these religions. This closeness is even more noticeable among the Old Believers, that is, ancient Orthodoxy had many similarities with Islam. This may indicate that earlier, and not so long ago, it was a single religion. It is possible that its main symbol was a crescent moon with a star or sun. Later, during the split, the religious symbolism underwent changes: the Muslims had a crescent, while the Orthodox had a crescent with a cross. After all, it is known that the cross is also a simplified symbol of the sun.
We can find something similar in historical sources. They mention that the crescent was a symbol adopted in Christian Constantinople. The Turks, having captured it in the 15th century, adopted this sign from the Byzantines, supposedly adding a star to it. Other sources say that the crescent moon with a star was already a symbol of ancient Byzantium. It is clear that there is some kind of chronological confusion here, but, at the same time, it is clear that the crescent is not a purely Muslim sign, but originally existed in Constantinople.
But could the Muslim Turks, having won the war against the Greek Christians, adopt the sign of the crescent from them? It is unlikely that the winners did not have their own religious symbols, and besides, they did not come up with anything better than taking it from the vanquished. Most likely, Muslims and Orthodox were not very different then and had a common religious symbol, which includes the image of a crescent. This form of orthodox Christianity, together with the crescent moon, was then in Russia.
The coats of arms of a number of cities of the Russian Empire included not only a crescent, but also a crescent with a cross, moreover, located in the same way as on the domes of churches. From which it is clear that the cross, surrounded by a crescent below, was a solid and widespread symbol. Many coats of arms have remained so to this day.
Examples of coats of arms containing a cross and a crescent. From left to right: the coat of arms of Konotop, the coat of arms of Belozersk and the coat of arms of Zenkov.
Ivan Vasilievich changes religion
Fragment of the helmet of Ivan the Terrible.
The fact that the Muslim world was much closer to ancient Russia than is commonly believed is evidenced by some material monuments. So, on the helmet of Ivan the Terrible, the inscription in Old Church Slavonic is combined with Arabic script. Moreover, in Arabic is written neither more nor less than "Allah Muhammad".
On the coin of the same Ivan the Terrible, on one side, you can read the words "Ivan the Great Duke", and on the other - in Arabic - "Moskov akhchasy budyr". Actually, the Arabs have nothing to do with the coin, their alphabet was used by the Turks (Tatars, Turks), who did not have their own writing. This phrase is translated from the Turkic language as "Money of Moscow". This example of bilingualism in coins is not the only one. Russian and Turkic words in Russian money say only one thing - these cultures were more than just related.
The famous helmet, called the helmet of Alexander Nevsky, is engraved with Arabic inscriptions. In fact, the helmet was made only in 1621 for Tsar Mikhail Romanov. However, this does not change anything: it is impossible to understand why the Russian master Nikita Davydov applied suras from the Koran on him. And he received a generous reward from the grateful king.
The so-called helmet of Alexander Nevsky and the 13th verse of the 61st sura of the Koran engraved on it: "Help from God and imminent victory, and build this good for the faithful."
Arabic inscriptions can also be seen on the sakkos - the ceremonial attire - of Metropolitan Peter. As it should be in this case, they have a religious content. And on the small sakkos of Metropolitan Photius it is generally written "Allah akbar"! What kind of Christianity was it? It is worth remembering then the journey of Afanasy Nikitin, who in his "Walking Beyond the Three Seas" repeatedly appeals to Allah.
Most likely, early Orthodoxy and Islam did not differ significantly, as well as Russian and Turkic cultures. Then, when the political climate changed, the history was edited, and the chronology was also lengthened, and our past began to look completely different.
Why would a Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin exclaim "Allahu Akbar?"
The Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin, who lived in the middle of the 15th century, heard about the dispatch of the Russian embassy to Persia and went with him. Starting his journey from the Volga and reaching the Persian Gulf, Athanasius decided to continue his study of the East and went on. Curiosity and enterprise brought him to India, where he lived for three years, begging and being exposed to mortal dangers. From India he reached Ethiopia by sea, from there to Turkey, from which he sailed to Russia. On the way to his native Tver, he died.
During his long journey, Afanasy wrote down everything he saw and experienced. It turned out an interesting diary, later entitled "The Writing of Ofonas teferitin from a merchant who was in India for four years." In our time, the story of Afanasy Nikitin is known as "Walking the Three Seas."
Fragment of the manuscript.
Nikitin's notes are very curious. In addition to the fact that the author introduces us to the culture and history of the peoples among which he happened to be, he left us an interesting monument of Russian speech. The amazing thing about it is that Afanasy, telling about his wanderings, sometimes switches from the Russian language to some kind of gibberish that is impossible to understand. But it can be translated, knowing the Turkic languages. Here is a typical example from the text "Walking":
The Indians call the ox father, and the cow, matter. And with their feces they bake bread and cook food for their own, and with that song they smear the banner on the face, and on the forehead, and all over the body. In the week and on Monday they eat once in the afternoon. In Yndeya, however, kakpa chektur and I study: you sow ilirsen iki dweller; akichany ila atarsyn alty zhetel take; bulara dostur. A kul koravash uchuz chyar funa hub, bem funa hube sia; kapkara amchyuk kichi he likes.
Only the first three sentences can be understood in this passage. The rest need a translator. This is how they look after being translated into modern Russian:
… In India there are many women who walk, and therefore they are cheap: if you have a close relationship with her, give me two inhabitants; if you want to waste your money - give me six residents. So it is in these places. And concubine slaves are cheap: 4 pounds is good, 5 pounds is good and black; black-black amchyuk is small, good (hereinafter translated by L. S. Smirnov).
Note that Afanasy Nikitin, a resident of northern Tver, writes this himself, without using the help of interpreters who know the Tatar or Turkish languages. And for what purpose should he attract them? He writes down his thoughts and observations, and does it in a natural way, in the way that suits him. Obviously, he is well acquainted with a foreign language, and moreover, he can write in it, which is not as easy as it seems. The Türks used the Arabic script, and Athanasius, accordingly, writes in Arabic.
He moves from language to language so fluently that he sometimes does it within a single sentence. For example, like here:
And I am going to Russia, ketmyshtyr izmen, teach tuttym.
Translation of the whole sentence:
And I am going to Russia (with a thought: my faith has perished, I fasted with a non-German fast).
It is also clear that it is normal and natural for an author to speak and write the way he does it. It is logical to assume that there was nothing unusual about such mixed speech at the time. And many, if not most, of his compatriots could understand what the traveler was saying. After all, he wrote in order to share his impressions with them, so that they could read his text. And obviously Afanasy did not hide anything, switching to an incomprehensible language, because, as we see, nothing special is contained there. On the contrary, Nikitin praises Russia using such a strange language:
And the Podolsk land is offensive to everyone. And Russia er tangryd saklasyn; Ollo Sakla, Bad Sakla! Bu daniada munu kibit er ectur.
Transfer:
And the Podolsk land is abundant for everyone. And Russia (God preserve! God, preserve it! Lord, preserve it! There is no country like it in this world.)
Unusual in the notes of the Russian traveler is the frequent appeal to Allah, whom he calls Ollo. Moreover, he repeatedly uses the traditional Muslim "Allahu Akbar", which clearly shows which god he is addressing. Here is a prayer tirade typical of the entire text, in which, as in other places, Russian speech alternates with non-Russian:
Ollo is bad, Ollo ak, Ollo you, Ollo akber, Ollo ragym, Ollo kerim, Ollo ragym ello, Ollo karim ello, tangresen, thin autumn. God is one, the king of glory, the creator of heaven and earth.
We look at the translation:
(Lord God, true God, you are God, God the great. God is merciful. God is merciful, most merciful and most merciful you are. Lord God). God is one, then the king of glory, the creator of heaven and earth.
The translator clearly failed to cope with Nikitin's "Ollo", and Allah turned into a politically correct God for him, and the original text thus lost one of its meanings. Reading "Walking" in such a translation, it is no longer possible to see the originality and uniqueness of the old Russian culture, and how wrong our ideas about ancient Orthodoxy are.
Almost at the very end of the story, Athanasius uses his traditional exclamations, including the Muslim "Allah Akbar" and the Christian "Amen", that is, in our opinion, he mixes the incompatible:
By the grace of God, the three seas have flown. Digger Khudo dono, Ollo is the first game given. Amen! Smilna rahmam ragim. Ollo akbir, akshi Khudo, ilello aksh Khodo. Isa fell, aaliksolom. Ollo Akber. And ilyagaila ilello.
The last phrase in this passage is the classic "There is no god but Allah", but in translation we see something completely different: "There is no god but the Lord." In fact, they are one and the same, but the Islamic character of the author's faith becomes invisible. We cannot reproach the translator with this, since, according to traditional ideas, Orthodoxy of that time has nothing in common with Islam. And to us the fact that the Christian Athanasius prays to Allah, and even adds that there is no other god besides Allah, seems incredible. But all this is due to the fact that history, including the history of religions, is wrong.
The religious formula "There is no God but Allah" in modern Islam necessarily ends with the phrase "And Muhammad is his prophet", but we do not see it in Nikitin. Moreover, in the last passage quoted, you can find the name Isa - Jesus. Perhaps this is what distinguishes the Orthodoxy of Athanasius from the orthodoxy of his contemporaries, the Muslims: under the same God, Allah, some had Jesus, while others had Muhammad. By the way, it is clear from the author's words that it was easy to become a Muslim: just “exclaim Mahmet”.
What is the Russian author talking about with his appeals to Allah and his foreign language?
The unusual text of Afanasy Nikitin can testify to only one thing: the Russian and Turkic cultures in the recent past were unusually close. Back in the 19th century, in the south of Russia, Turkic speech could be heard among the local Russian population. So, for example, the Terek Cossacks knew the Tatar language perfectly and sometimes switched to it in communication. Along with Russian songs they sang Turkish songs.
It is possible that the two cultures began to separate only in the time of Athanasius, and this began due to the split of the common right-wing faith into the followers of Christ and Muhammad. Today it seems to us that the peoples of these cultures have been radically different since ancient times, but it turns out that not so long ago there was a common linguistic and religious space, stretching from the Russian north to Africa.
Or Where is the dog buried?
The Russian language is very rich in idioms, that is, expressions that cannot be read and understood literally. Their words mean one thing, but the meaning of the whole phrase is completely different. For example, "this is where the dog is buried." Naturally, this is not about the dog and not about burying, but about understanding the cause of a certain event. But what does it have to do with the dog, and even buried? Where did the connection between the buried dog and the cause of the phenomenon come from in Russian? And the connection of words with meaning in other idioms, if nothing connects them in Russian? The answer is given by an Arabist, Candidate of Philology Nikolai Vashkevich. He argues that untranslatable idiomatic words are words from the Arabic language and their translation just gives meaning to the expression.
There are plenty of dogs in Russian idioms. To the aforementioned buried one, you can add the one that was eaten - “in this case, I ate the dog”, the one that is hung on people - “hang all the dogs”, the one that for some reason gets tired the most - “tired like a dog” and so on. Obviously, dogs have nothing to do with the meaning of expressions, and dogs are different everywhere: the one that is buried is not the one that can be eaten. What is the point in these dogs? We read in Arabic.
The Arabic root "sbk" means anticipating or preceding something. For example, in relation to animals, the Arabic "sabek" is the horse that came first to the finish line at the races. Therefore, the phrase "tired as a sabek" is quite understandable. Then people forgot the meaning of the Arabic word and transformed it into the most similar sounding Russian word - into a dog.
Transformation in such cases is inevitable: a person is inclined to use words that are more easily pronounced and understandable to him than completely alien to his language. So, for example, the word "leap", meaning a year that is one day longer than usual, of course, has nothing to do with mowing, and it has nothing to do with anything high. This is how the Russian people transformed the Latin "bisextum". The same is with the Arab Sabeks and other Arabisms, which will be discussed below. However, if from Latin or other languages there was simply borrowing of individual words, then from Arabic - whole semantic series that gave rise to idioms. This indicates a deep relationship between Russian and Arabic. We look further.
"I ate the dog with that." What is the point of eating a dog and how does it help you become more skillful in some things? And anyway - we're not Chinese. “I ate the dog” is a part of the Arabic expression “sabaka selyu mataru”, which translates as “his streams overtake his rain”, that is, his deeds overtake his words - a man of action, a professional.
"This is where the dog is buried." That is - that's the reason! But what does the dog have to do with it? Everything is simple here: the Arabic "zariat" is translated as reason.
"Hang the dogs." They hung all the dogs on him! Imagine just such a picture: a man hung with dogs. Some kind of nonsense. But the dogs here are still the same - Arab. And they are not hung. It's just that the Arabic vishayat is just slander, slander.
"To whip like a goat to Sidorov." The goat is not a dog, but there is no logic either. The strange flogging of his goat by Sidor became known to the whole people, however, nothing is known about such a very popular character, either historical or literary. The strangeness will be explained if you learn that "qazi" in Arabic is a judge, and "sidar qaza" is a decision, a sentence of a judge. That is, regarding the sidoric flogging, "flog it as it should." By the way, there is a Russian word for "punish".
"You can't drive up on a goat." That is, remembering the Arabic "kazi", you cannot decide in the legal field.
"Goal like a falcon." Is the falcon naked? We look at the Arabic dictionary. The root "gly" means open, naked, and "skl" means to cleanse, bare. It turns out twice naked, that is, completely naked. Such reinforcement by repetition is more familiar from the Russian "walk with a shake."
"Lamb in a piece of paper." Already out of use. The meaning is a bribe. But what other lamb, and even wrapped in paper? Unclear. But in Arabic "lamb" is translated as "I give you a bribe."
Kill the Beaver. That is, make a mistake in the calculations. Poor beaver … But naturally, no one killed him. "Abat biybra" just means "neglect calculations."
"It rushes about like a mad cat." Crazy, poisoned cats do not rush about, there are no burning ones either. But "mad cat" is easily derived from "garal koshak" (Arabic "garalak-shakk), which translates as" a blow happened to you."
"Rat race". Petty running, bustle - here and there. "Misha" - to leave, "byygi" - to come "- back and forth.
"Sleep in hand." A dream that has come true or will come true in reality, in life. What does the hand have to do with it? And here's the thing: the Arabic "rauk" is life.
"According to Senka and a hat." That is, he needs it. The people, of course, don't know any Senka. But the Arabic "ma yusannah shafaka" is translated as "does not deserve indulgence out of a sense of compassion."
"As for Melanin's wedding." That is, full, full, a lot. Who is Melania, why don't we know her? And because it is just Arabic "malyan", which means just "very much". A million, in general:)
"Lazarus at random." It is not clear where to go. It is impossible to explain the origin of the idiom even with a stretch. But if you remove the purely Russian prefix "on", the phrase becomes similar to the Arabic, which translates as "blindly without looking back."
"Do not take God in vain." It seems as though you cannot often pronounce the word "god" or its synonyms. This is contrary to the tradition in which a person constantly remembers God, exclaiming or saying: Lord, my God, etc. The word "thank you" is also a constant reference to God, as it is an abbreviation of the phrase "save God." And what is "in vain"? But in Arabic there is an expression "la tazkur allah bi-su" - do not remember God bad. "B-su" is the Russian "in vain".
"Killed by God." That is, a feeble-minded fool. Why killed, if alive? Simply in Arabic "abit" is an idiot, a fool.
"Deaf King of Heaven." Obvious reinforcing repetition (or bilingual - bilingualism), about the cases of which I already wrote: Allah is just a god, he is the king of heaven. It turns out "Allah Allah". Perhaps this was the name given to those who were originally obsessed with religion, constantly praying. Or maybe so: the Arabic "sar nabes" translates as "began to speak" - the fool spoke, that is, he would be silent, no one would have thought … And the “fool” in Arabic is also a fool.
By the way, about the fools. Arabic "fool" is a fool, "bastard" is a fool. "Bal bi sa" is a bad head, that is, a goof in our opinion. There is also a round fool. The meaning is clear, but it is impossible to translate literally - how is it round? It's funny, but in Arabic "fool" means a circle.
"Break a leg". Wish you luck, victory, but rather strange, if you try to translate literally. In Arabic, there is a similar-sounding phrase translated as “blowing the horn, laboring for victory”.
"Beat the Thumb". That is not a fig to do, to mess around. But the phrase, again, is strange. But not so strange if you know Arabic. "Тbt b kalyavi shi" - to play with testicles (anatomical). In the Russian language there is a saying that is completely similar in meaning: when the cat has nothing to do, he licks his own … beats his thumbs:)
"Rivers of milk, jelly banks". To live in abundance, richly. But it is impossible to imagine the banks of the jelly, some kind of nonsense. Therefore, read this: "my dear cancer ka-sei-lin bariga". Translation: "his wealth flowed in a stream and he healed in abundance." The Arabic "bariga" is to have food and drink in abundance. Isn't that where the Russian "braga", "hawking" come from?
"This is not a pound of raisins for you." A strange disdain for an expensive overseas product - it is completely impossible. Instead of raisins, there should be something completely cheap, unnecessary. For example, bones. This is exactly how the Arabic word "yizam" is translated.
"Nailed in a bag." Some kind of stupidity. And even more stupid - a dusty bag. Probably, the sack is not a sack, but the Arabic "mishakk" - a spear or, in general, something that is beaten with. Dusty is a saw, from the word "saw". And "saw" is probably from the Arabic root "flll" - to blunt, to memorize. In short, a blunt spear in the head …
"Climb into the bottle." Try to translate - nothing, as usual, will work. However, everything is simple: "al-batil" is wasted, for no apparent reason.
"Bullshit". Are the mares raving? And why is Sivaya raving more than mares of other stripes? Sivaya is the Arabic word for "saviy" - equal. And the mare is Kabbalah. It turns out "nonsense equal to Kabbalah." This confusing and hard-to-grasp teaching is now referred to as a synonym for something incomprehensible - "some kind of cabalism."
"Give oak". The meaning is clear, but the words are mysterious. Arabic dafa means to die.
"The Horse in Apples". Why apples, and why only a horse, and, say, not a cow? The fact is that in Arabic there is a word "ablak" - spotted, and there is even a stable phrase "faras ablak" - a horse with a variegated color, spotted. " So no apples.
"Where Makar did not drive calves." That is, a place that is very far away. Everything is clear about Makar and the calves - obviously again some kind of transformation based on consonance. “Makarr” is just a place, “thalet” is to last, “him” is the way … It turns out “the place where the way is long”.
"Green longing." It's not green at all. The Arabic word "zaalen" is melancholy. That is, again we see a case of bilingualism: a word is repeated only in another language. We see exactly the same repetition in "magpie-thief", since the Arabic "magpie" is a thief.
"Quieter than water, below the grass." It seems understandable, but still water (in Russian rivers, not in a tap) is in no way associated with the presence or absence of noise. But there is the Arabic "wadi" - modest.
And finally. If, swearing, you were sent somewhere, know that you were just asked to step aside. This is how the Arabic phrase "hidi nahiya" can be translated. In general, the Arabic root "hyy" means "life", "to give life." It is quite, in general, clear where the corresponding Russian obscene word came from then.
Author: amigooo