The question of the origin of our ancestors - the ancient Slavs - is one of the most frequently discussed in modern historiography. This article does not purport to be scientific research. But it contains 10 very interesting and many unknown facts about the ancient Slavs.
1. The Slavs are practically the same age as the current era
The manifestation of archaeological cultures, recognized by the majority of archaeologists as Slavic, refers only to the V-VI centuries. However, recent archaeological data indicate, according to some researchers, the formation of a noticeable array of Slavs as part of a single ethnic group in the area of the Kiev archaeological culture as early as the 2nd-4th centuries. The whole process of the formation of the Old Slavic ethnos on the basis of the succession of successive archaeological cultures lasted from the 1st millennium BC. e. until the 6th century, when the ancient Slavs were recorded in epigraphic monuments as an already formed cultural and linguistic community.
2. Slavs lived in prosperity and abundance
This is what Bishop Otto of Bamber writes, who twice visited Russia in 1124-1127. “The abundance of fish in the sea, rivers, lakes and ponds is so great that it seems incredible. One denarius can buy a whole cartload of fresh herrings, which are so good that if I began to tell everything I know about their smell and thickness, I would risk being accused of gluttony. There are many deer and fallow deer, wild horses, bears, pigs and wild boars and various other game throughout the country. There is an abundance of cow's butter, sheep's milk, lamb and goat lard, honey, wheat, hemp, poppy, all kinds of vegetables and fruit trees, and if there were also vines, olive trees and fig trees, one could take this country for the promised, before that there are many fruit trees in it …"
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3. The ancient Slavs were not pagans
More precisely, they were not pagans in the original sense of the word. In those days, people who spoke another language, carriers of a foreign culture, religion were called "pagans". The ancient Slavs were people of Vedic culture, therefore, it would be more correct to call the ancient Slavic religion not paganism, but Vedism. The word "Vedas" is consonant with the modern Russian "to know", "to know". This is a peaceful religion of a highly cultured agricultural people, akin to other religions of the Vedic root - Ancient India, Iran and Ancient Greece.
4. All Kievan Rus spoke the same language
All the East Slavic tribes that inhabited Kievan Rus used only a single Old Slavic language. If in that era a resident of Galicia came to Kiev, Smolensk or Novgorod, then his language could differ only in dialect and accent. The Chronicles give many examples when Kiev ambassadors and princes spoke at the veche meetings of Novgorod, and the Novgorodians or the rulers of Suzdal and Smolensk addressed the Kievites.
5. The ancient Slavs did not know vegetables familiar to us
About cabbage, carrots and beets, not to mention tomatoes and cucumbers, it would seem, such primordially "Russian" vegetables and root crops, in Russia and no one has ever heard of. Moreover, our ancestors did not even know onions. The main food of the ancient Slavs was porridge, as well as meat and bread. The porridges themselves were somewhat different, not the same as we are used to seeing. Rice was a great curiosity, it was also called "Sorochin millet", and it was fabulously expensive. Buckwheat (cereals brought by the Greek monks, hence the name "Buckwheat") was eaten on great holidays, but in Russia there was always an abundance of their own millet. They ate mainly oats. But oatmeal was prepared from whole refined grains, previously steaming it in the oven for a long time.
6. In Russia, they did not take prisoners into slavery
At the beginning of the 6th century, the Slavs began to attack Byzantium. Slavic tribes lived north of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantines considered them freedom-loving, courageous, and hardy. The Slavs were excellent warriors. They were noble, did not take captives into slavery, but offered to either become members of their tribe, or return to their own. The relations of Byzantium with the Slavs, and then with Ancient Russia, constituted an important part of the foreign policy of the empire.
7. The Slavs could repulse any enemy who came to their land
And this applies not only to warriors, but also to everyone in general: farmers, hunters, everyone who lived in Russia. Here is what the Byzantine Emperor Mauritius the Strategist writes about in the 6th century. “They love to fight with their enemies in places covered with dense forests, in gorges, on cliffs. They take advantage of ambushes, surprise attacks, tricks, day and night, inventing many ways. They are also experienced in crossing rivers, surpassing all people in this respect. They bravely endure being in the water, so that often some of those who remain at home, being caught by a sudden attack, plunge into the abyss of the waters. At the same time, they hold in their mouths specially made large reeds hollowed out inside, reaching the surface of the water, and themselves, lying supine at the bottom, breathe with their help. They can do this for many hours, so it is completely impossible to guess about their presence. Each is armed with two small spears, some have shields that are sturdy but difficult to carry. They also use wooden bows and small arrows soaked in a poison, special for arrows, which is potent. They are masters of doing all this in a variety of ways they come up with in order to lure the enemy."
8. "Slavs" - not from "glory", but from "word"
Slovene - people who speak "in words", i.e. in plain language. In contrast, there are "dumb" - Germans, those who cannot be understood. Later, during the time of Peter I, foreigners who came to Russia were called Germans, and since most of the visitors were from Germany, our Russian, German, stuck to the Germans. A similar situation is in Ancient Greece, where initially those who spoke incomprehensibly were called barbarians, as if they had put porridge in their mouths, and the Greeks heard instead of words only: "bar-bar".
9. All men in Russia were trained in military affairs
In Russia, all men were considered warriors, this tradition has been going on since the era of the so-called "military democracy". Of course, there were specially trained knights who devoted their entire lives to war, but all young men and adult men, whether they were townspeople, farmers or hunters, had to possess military skills.
10. Christianization of Russia was difficult and very cruel
The baptism and subsequent Christianization of Rus was accompanied by the destruction of all the former, Slavic, “pagan”. All cultural centers of the pagan Slavs were destroyed - temples, sanctuaries, sacred groves, idols, idols. Temples and churches were built on these places. In accordance with the decrees of the Nomokanon and its Russian version, laws were born that were against all magic, superstitions, and even against doctors. The princes officially granted the church the right to try some of the crimes. People were now tried for divorce, for witchcraft, for greenery (herbal medicine), for heresy against Christianity, for profanity, for insulting the "purity and holiness" of the temple, for worshiping pagan gods.
Author: Joney