The Slavs are their lives. Ancient Slavs: manners and customs, tribes and life. Rurik - the great Russian prince

Pages of the history of Russia. The life of the ancient Slavs.

1. Our ancestors
2. The appearance of the Slavs

4. Dwellings of the Slavs
5. Beliefs of the Slavs
6. Spirits, deities of nature
7. The beginning of the settlement of the Slavs

1. Our ancestors

In the middle of the first millennium AD, in the vastness of Eastern Europe there were dense forests, swamps, deep rivers and small rivers. This territory was inhabited by the Eastern Slavs, from whom the Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians descended. The Slavs lived in tribes. Tribe consisted of several genera. Genus Are several families living together. Our ancestors, Eastern Slavs, lived along the banks of the Oka, Volga, Don, Dnieper and Western Dvina rivers.

The names of the Slavic tribes: glade, Dregovichi, Slovene, Drevlyans, northerners, Rodimichi, Volynians, Vyatichi, Uchiha, Krivichi, etc..

2. The appearance of the Slavs

The Slavs were strong, tall, hardy people.

Clothes of the Slavs —men consisted of a long shirt, woven of linen and decorated with embroidery, pants, belt and leather shoes. The leather shoe was like a boot with soft leather soles or just a piece of leather wrapped around the leg and reinforced with a rope. Of course, in the summer they did without shoes at all. Women clothing included a long linen dress, also embellished with embroidery. Jewelry made of metals, glass, amber and semi-precious stones was worn only on special occasions during holidays and wedding ceremonies.

3. Occupation of the Slavs, tools and household items

The ancient Slavs were engaged hunting, fishing, beekeeping (collecting honey from wild bees), cattle breeding, agriculture, construction, pottery, gathering.

Men hunted on bears, wild boars, roe deer. In those days, there was a lot of game in the forests. Blacksmiths forged weapons and the necessary tools.

The female half cooked food, weaved, spun, sewed, took care of the garden. There were skillful healers , who prepared medicinal drugs from herbs.

The Slavs were engaged in agriculture together. To plow the land, the Slavs had to cut down the forest. The trees were burned and the earth was fertilized with ash. The land was plowed with a plow, loosened with a hoe, then sown. A man with a sieve walked around and scattered grains over the plowed field. They didn't sow in the wind. To cover the seeds with earth, the field treated with a harrow - dry wool ... The plot was sown for 2-3 years, while the land was fertile and gave a good harvest. Then they moved on to new sites.

All knowledge, skills and honey agarics were passed from generation to generation - from father to son, from mother to daughter.

4. Dwellings of the Slavs

The time was hectic, the inhabitants of neighboring villages often fought among themselves, so the Slavs usually settled in places surrounded by steep slopes, deep ravines or water. They erected embankments around the settlements, dug ditches, and erected a palisade. And it was convenient to build houses on such land.

The Slavs built chopped huts or settled in semi-dugouts, which half went into the ground. Livestock were kept in pens and barns.

The furnishings in the huts were very simple: wooden benches, tables, a stove made of stones or clay .. There were no pipes in the huts. They drowned in black. Smoke came out through small windows and doors.

The dishes included earthen pots and pans.

5. Beliefs of the Slavs

The Slavs believed that all natural phenomena are controlled by the gods:

• One of the main gods was Perun - god of thunder and lightning ... He was a formidable god, he was still considered the god of war. Wooden idols made of mighty oak were erected in his honor. There were idols in the open air, and next to them was a stone on which sacrifices were made to this god. And this place was called the Temple of Perun.
• Yarilo - the deity of awakening nature, the patron saint of the plant world. Yarilo - identified with the sun
• Svarog - god of the sky
• Dazhdbog - the son of Svarog. God of the harvest, keeper of the keys of the earth.
• Veles - the patron god of animals, especially pets.
• Stribog - the god of the wind.
• Makosha - The mother of a good harvest, the goddess of the harvest, the giver of blessings.

So that the gods were kinder to people, the Slavs arranged holidays in their honor. Many of them have survived to this day:

• The main god - the Sun - was dedicated Shrovetide .
• The biggest holiday is Midsummer's Day, or Ivan Kupala , took place on the night of June 23-24.
• July 20, at day of Perun , boys and girls did not lead merry round dances, did not sing songs - they prayed for mercy from a formidable deity.

6. Spirits, deities of nature

The Slavs inhabited their native, familiar world with the most fantastic creatures. They believed that the house was guarded by a brownie. , water and mermaids live in rivers and lakes, and wood goblins live in the forest. There were other spirits of nature - good and bad. The Slavs turned to the souls of their ancestors for protection from evil forces., For advice, asked them for help and a good harvest.

7. The beginning of the settlement of the Slavs

Over time, the Eastern Slavs began to settle into new territories. The resettlement was peaceful. The Slavs did not impose their customs on their neighbors - the Finno-Ugric tribes. Against common enemies we came out with them together.

By the 8th century, the tribes of the Eastern Slavs united in tribal unions. Each union was headed by a prince.

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15.02.2014

The ancient Slavs, whose manners and customs formed the cultural basis of most of the Eastern European peoples, once stood out from the large Indo-European group of tribes. In ancient times, this vast community of people settled throughout Eurasia, giving rise to many famous peoples. So, and the ancient Slavs, once united from among the Indo-Europeans, leading a single economic structure, similar in language and social structure. During 4-6 centuries BC. the Slavs took part in the great migration of peoples, as a result of which they colonized the lands of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, subsequently dividing into three branches of the Slavs - Western, Eastern and Southern.

Resettlement of the tribes of the ancient Slavs

For the first time, the Byzantine chronicles of the 6th century AD began to mention the Slavic people, talking mainly about the tribes that lived in the Balkans, and thanks to Nestor the chronicler, we today know the tribes and lands of the Eastern Slavs. The settlement of the tribes was as follows:

• The Krivichi lived in the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper and Western Dvina and further north;
• Glades lived in the Middle Dnieper region, on the territory of modern Kiev;
• Tivertsy and Uchiha in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Bug and the mouth of the Danube;
• Vyatichi in the upper reaches of the Oka and downstream;
• Slovene in the lands from Volkhov to Ilmen;
• Dregovichi inhabited Polesie, from Pripyat to Berezina;
• Drevlyans, along the banks of Teterov and near the river Uzh;
• Radimichi between Iput and Sozh;
• Northerners near the Desna;
• Duleby, they are Volynians, Buzhany lived in Volyn;
• Croats on the slopes of the Carpathian mountains.

The life of the ancient Slavs

Numerous excavations and scientific works helped to clarify the life, customs and traditions of the Slavs. It became known, for example, that for a long time the ancient Slavs did not depart from the traditions of the patriarchal way of life and the communal-clan system. Families united into clans, and those into tribes. Respected elders were in charge of public life, who convened a veche (council) to resolve all important issues. Time brought the isolation of family activities, and the clan structure gradually passed into the communal way of life (rope).

The Slavs were a sedentary people and were engaged in agriculture, plowed fields with a plow drawn by oxen and horses, harvested useful plants and perfectly mastered various trades - hunting, fishing, and also raised some livestock and owned crafts. The Slavs were very active in the extraction of wax and honey - beekeeping.

It is believed that the development of trade gave impetus to the emergence of cities among the ancient Slavs. Many tribes began to have their own centers. Ilmene built Novgorod, glades - Kiev, the mother of Russian cities, northerners - Chernigov, Radimichi - Lyubech, and Smolensk was founded by the Krivichi. Slavic settlers settled in settlements - villages along the banks of rivers that fed the Slavs and served to move on water. In the cities, military squads invariably appeared, in which the Slavic soldiers were united, and the Princes became the head of the troops. The nascent power gradually gained more and more influence, becoming sovereign rulers in their lands. For example, Varangians Askold and Dir founded a principality in Kiev, Rurik reigned in Novgorod, and Rogvolod reigned in Polotsk.

Religion of the ancient Slavs

The ancient Slavs, whose manners and customs, as well as ideas about the world were pagan, deified nature, deceased ancestors and believed in the existence of all kinds of gods. The Slavs called the sky Svarog, the celestial phenomena of which, were considered his children, svarozichi. For example, Perun, svarozich, was a thunderer and enjoyed great respect among the Slavs. In addition to possessing lightning and thunder, he was the god of war, patronizing Slavic soldiers. The Sun and Fire were revered for their strength, life-giving or destructive. For example, the kind Dazhbog bestowed light and warmth, and the angry Khors could burn out crops and nature with heat and fire. Stribog ruled over the winds.

Our ancestors attributed dominion over all natural phenomena and processes to the divine will, trying to win the favor of the gods with various sacrifices and holidays. Magi, wizards - Slavic priests, knew how to recognize the will of the gods, and possessed religious authority in their tribes. Moreover, everyone who wished could make a sacrifice to the gods himself. At a later time, the Slavs began to create numerous idols from the processed wood, which served as representations of their gods. Christianity, adopted by Prince Vladimir in the 10th century, was engaged in the eradication of paganism in Russia for many years, and, nevertheless, the faith and traditions of the Slavs have survived to this day, in the form of folklore, folk signs and all kinds of holidays.
Video: Slavic Holidays

The original place of settlement slavs usually consider the Carpathian region, from where they spread to the north, south and northeast and were divided into 3 groups: eastern or Russian, western (Chekho-Moravians, Poles and Polabian Slavs) and southern (Bulgarians and Serbs).

During the 7th - 9th centuries, the Slavs formed separate states - Czech, Moravian, Polish, Bulgarian, Russian, and somewhat later Serbian. The stories of Western European, Byzantine and Arab writers who knew the Slavs, chronicle news, as well as oral traditions and songs, preserved from the times of paganism, give us an idea of \u200b\u200bthe life and religion of the Russian pagan Slavs. The Slavs lived in a generic way of life. They were divided into several small tribes that lived separately from one another.

These tribes were as follows: Ilmen Slavs - on the shores of Lake Ilmen, Krivichi - along the upper reaches of the Western Dvina, Volga and Dnieper, Dregovichi - between Pripyat and Western Dvina, Radimichi - on the banks of the Sozh, Vyatichi - on the Oka, northerners - on the Desna and Seim, the Drevlyans - on the Pripyat, the glade - along the middle course of the Dnieper, the Buzhanians - along the Bug, the Tivertsy and Uchiha - along the Dniester and Prut, the White Croats - in present-day eastern Galicia.

Each of these small tribes consisted of separate clans, living separately and owning a special part of the land, which was possible with the sparsely populated and vast lands occupied by the Slavs. Each clan was ruled by an ancestor (elder, prince) and jointly owned all the ancestral real estate until, over time, a separate family property was formed. For matters concerning an entire tribe, all of its clans came together at a general meeting - veche, and the right to vote belonged only to the ancestors. Mutual strife of childbirth manifested itself in the evenings.

The Slavs lived sedentary, engaging in agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting, fishing and beekeeping; they also carried on an exchange trade with their neighbors. Their dwellings were simple wooden huts, built in safe places - in forests, near rivers, swamps and lakes. They also had cities, consisting of the same huts and surrounded by a rampart or fence, where their veche meetings took place and where they defended themselves in the event of an enemy attack.

The Slavs were distinguished by their tall stature, a ruddy face, light brown hair and gray eyes; these people were strong, strong, enduring. They ate animals, fish and birds, millet, buckwheat, milk; honey was the favorite drink; the clothing consisted of linen dress and animal skins; the weapons were spears, arrows, darts, swords and shields. Peaceful in relation to neighboring peoples, they often argued among themselves. In wartime, the Slavs knew how to bravely defend themselves and used various military tricks. Among their pagan customs are the customs of bloody revenge and hospitality; appreciating freedom above all else, after a certain period of time they released their captive slaves.

Their family life was based on the obedience of the younger members of the family to the ancestor, children to the father; after the death of the father, power over young children passed to the mother. Their marriage customs were threefold: the bride was kidnapped (abducted) or bought, the marriage was concluded by mutual consent; there have been cases of polygamy. Although the Slavic woman was in complete obedience to her husband and performed heavy household chores, she was very attached to her husband and, according to some reports, after his death, she voluntarily went to be burned along with his corpse.

Not understanding the forces and phenomena of nature, but realizing their strong influence on the success of agriculture, the Slavs worshiped them as good and evil gods (see the articles Russian paganism and Slavic mythology). So they idolized the sun under the name of Dazhdbog or Khors, thunder and lightning under the name of Perun, who was considered at the same time the god of war and enjoyed special veneration, Volos or Veles, who, being at first a solar god, later became the patron saint of agriculture, the defender of trade, the guardian of herds, the inspirer of singers and guslars, and the wind under the name of Stribog. In addition to the main gods, the Slavs had many minor ones: goblin, mermaids, water and brownies (souls of deceased ancestors). They honored their gods with holidays that consisted of animal and even human sacrifices, prayers, fortune telling, and ending with a feast and games. The main holidays were in honor of the sun god: Kolyada or the birth of the sun around our Christmas, Red Hill in Fomin week, Semik on Thursday 7 weeks after Easter, and Kupala on the night of June 23-24.

Mermaids emerge from the water in front of Trinity. Painting by K. Makovsky on the theme of Russian pagan subjects. 1879

The Russian pagan religion did not reach such a development as among other peoples (for example, among the Greeks); it consisted in direct worship of the forces and phenomena of nature, but the personification of these forces and phenomena, their representation in certain images, did not exist among the Russian Slavs. The Russian Slavs also did not have public service to the gods, temples and priests; each ancestor was at the same time a priest, and family members prayed at home mainly to the patron of the family - the housekeeper. Although they stood out from among the people magi and sorcerers, who mainly knew pagan prayers and conspiracies, were engaged in fortune-telling and were respected for that, but they did not have the value of priests. Believing in the afterlife, the Slavs represented it as a continuation of the earthly; the dead were burned or buried in their graves and performed a feast on them, i.e. a feast in conjunction with different games. Folk poetry remains a monument to this pagan life of the Slavs - conspiracies, slander, omens, proverbs, riddles, songs, fairy tales, epics, which are passed from ancient times from mouth to mouth and are still preserved among the people.

Would you be able to live like the ancient Slavs? Plowing vegetable gardens, picking berries and fruits, raising livestock, hunting, fishing, living in shaky huts without a floor, washing with your hands in the river, raising more than six children and enduring the raids of neighboring tribes? Life in ancient times for us would have been a real hard labor, but for our ancestors it was the norm and even better than it could have been. How the ancient Slavs lived, what they ate, drank, how they dressed and how they built their life, read on.

Someone from our modern society may be horrified to the core by the way of life of the ancient Slavs, but at that time people were happy with everything and everyone was practically happy. The Slavs did not strengthen their settlement, since they were practically not afraid of anyone. Their houses differed significantly from the dwellings of foreign contemporaries (Greeks, Germans, Turks, etc.).

Houses were built like a dugout or a semi-dugout, and an earthen stove was required for everyone (otherwise how to cook food), and it was always built in the most remote corner of the room. As for the material itself for building a house, our ancestors believed that not every tree could suit them. As old signs say, some wood could bring trouble to the house, and some protection. Therefore, dwellings were built from pine, oak and larch. An interesting fact is that aspen was considered an unclean tree.

Our ancestors were very superstitious in choosing a tree. A huge role was played by the place where the tree grew, the shape and even the side on which it fell after it was cut down. In no case was it allowed to cut the trees that grew in the cemetery or in the sacred place. Also, they often refused to cut down young or too old trees, and those who had a hollow, an unusual growth or simply a strange shape were considered the abode of evil spirits.

As for the place for the construction of the settlement, over time, the Slavs began to choose difficult places (swamps, high banks of a river or lake). Since the settlement itself was never fortified, nature served as a talisman against the raids of warring tribes. It is also worth noting that the ancient Slavic tribes were very resourceful, therefore, in their homes (for some reason, few people mention this), they often built several emergency exits in case of danger.

The life of the ancient Slavs in the settlements - the concept of "genus"

All Slavs built settlements, where each lived with his own family. Now the concept of "genus" has changed a little. Now we say "relative", "kin", "kinship". In those days, the family was considered not only close people by blood. Not. There lived both the closest and the most distant, since the word "clan" was used by the Slavs as "tribesman", or in the sense of "people". The family was headed by the ancestor, the father of the whole family.

Many chroniclers described the Slavs' dwelling as an inaccessible structure, elevated in an impassable place, with many escape routes, with valuable things buried in the ground. Thus, they lived like robbers, hiding and fleeing at the first threat. One cannot but agree here, since the ancient Slavs really often fought with each other, because of which the tribe could be completely exterminated in just a day.

Economy of the ancient Slavs

The main occupation of the ancient Slavs was agriculture. In this they have succeeded like nowhere else. For the LLP, in order to survive the cold winter and not die of hunger, people were very anxious about the land, and tried to grow everything that was possible on it (recall that there were no potatoes yet, and therefore the tribes ate cereals and bread). To make the land fertile, they began to cultivate it even in winter. First, they cut down a section of the forest (the trees were not cut down to the end, so that they dry out and could be easily knocked down), uprooted the stumps and burned all the wood. Such a month was called "cut", from the word "cut", "cut". After that, in the spring, the people sprinkled the area with ash, loosened the ground with a special wooden plow and sowed seeds. The main grain crops were millet, rye, wheat and barley. From vegetables turnips and peas. This type of processing was widespread only in forest areas, and in swamps and fields, fallow was used more.

Fallow is the second method of cultivating the soil for sowing. The land was first plowed and fertilized, and then sown. The next year, another site was taken, since this one was already depleted.

The second most important type of economy that the ancient Slavs were engaged in was cattle breeding. Sheep, cows, chickens and pigs were raised. They often hunted wild animals and fished in the forests. In addition, beekeeping was also popular - picking up honey in wild hives.

The craft of the ancient Slavs

Forges were very widespread, where blacksmiths made plows for plowing the land, made weapons for the army (squads), created fine jewelry (bracelets, pendants and rings) from gold, bronze and silver, which were decorated with embossing, filigree and fading enamel. The Kuznetsk business was not only popular, but necessary both for simple tribes of the Slavs and for the princes of the state. Sickles, coulters and scythes were made for farmers, and swords, spears and arrows for warriors. For women, needles, hooks, locks, keys, knives, sewing machines, scrapers, etc. were often forged. If in our time blacksmiths create mostly works of art, then in ancient Russia their craft was necessary for survival.

Thanks to yarn, Slavs made fabric from flax, hemp and sheep's wool, after which they could sew clothes and bedding. The fabric was made not only simple, but also patterned for the outfits of princes or socialites. The loom was considered the most difficult craft, but at the same time as essential as the forge.

Weaving was very popular in Russia. Bast shoes - natural footwear of common people - have become especially popular. In addition to bast shoes, they wanted leather shoes. It was not sewn, but simply folded in folds and tied with ropes on the leg. Leather was very popular, therefore, horse harness, quivers and other household items of the ancient Slavs were often made from it.

They also could not live without pottery. Pottery appeared a little later than the blacksmith craft, and it especially improved when the potter's wheel was invented. Clay was used to make dishes, children's toys, bricks, washstands, etc.

Faith of the ancient Slavs

Like all ancient peoples, the Slavs were pagans, with well-thought out customs and norms. Their world was inhabited by various gods and goddesses, most of whom were associated with natural phenomena. Among them were evil and kind, just and mean, playful and weak. The most important of them are Perun - the god of lightning and thunder, Svarog - the god of fire, Mokosh - the goddess protecting women, Veles - the patron of cattle breeding, Simargl - the god of the underworld. The sun god was especially held in high esteem, which was called by different names: Dazhdbog, Khoros, Yarylo.

The life and life of the ancient Slavs was always on the verge of peace and war. Constant quarrels with neighboring tribes, frequent relocations, bad lands, raids of robbers, difficult living conditions and harsh laws of the gods. It is not for nothing that foreign chroniclers wrote about the Russians as a strong, strong-willed and courageous people who could withstand anything and break any wall in their path. Such were the ancient Slavs, our ancestors.

The ancestors of the current Slavs, the so-called ancient Slavs, emerged from the vast Indo-European group that inhabited the entire territory of Eurasia. Over time, tribes that are close in economic management, social structure and language have united into a Slavic group. We find the first mention of them in Byzantine documents of the 6th century.

In the 4-6 centuries BC. the ancient Slavs participated in the great migration of peoples - a large one, as a result of which they settled in vast territories of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Gradually they split into three branches: Eastern, Western and Southern Slavs.

Thanks to the chronicler Nestor, we know the main and places of their settlements: in the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, and higher to the north lived Krivichi; from Volkhov to Ilmen there were Slovenes; Dregovichi inhabited the lands of Polesie, from Pripyat to Berezina; the Radimichi lived between Iput and Sozh; northerners could be found near the Desna; from the upper reaches of the Oka and downstream stretched the lands of the Vyatichi; in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Middle Dnieper and Kiev there were glades; the Drevlyans lived along the Teterev and Uzh rivers; the Dulebs (or Volynians, Buzhanians) settled in Volyn; Croats occupied the slopes of the Carpathians; the tribes of the Ulitsy and Tivertsy settled down from the lower reaches of the Dnieper, the Bug to the mouth of the Danube.

The life of the ancient Slavs, their customs and beliefs were clarified in the course of numerous archaeological excavations. So, it became known that for a long time they did not depart from the patriarchal order: each tribe was divided into several clans, and the clan consisted of several families who all lived together and owned common property. The elders ruled the clans and tribes. To resolve important issues, a veche was convened - a meeting of elders.

Gradually, the economic activities of families became isolated, and the generic device was replaced (by ropes).

The ancient Slavs were sedentary farmers who grew useful plants, raised livestock, were engaged in hunting and fishing, and knew some crafts. When trade began to develop, cities began to arise. The glades were built by Kiev, the northerners - Chernigov, the Radimichi - Lyubech, the Krivichi - Smolensk, the Ilmen Slavs - Novgorod. Slavic warriors created squads to protect their cities, and princes, mostly Varangians, became the head of the squads. Gradually, the princes seize power and actually become the masters of the land.

The same one tells that such principalities were founded by the Varangians in Kiev, Rurik - in Novgorod, Rogvold - in Polotsk.

The ancient Slavs settled mainly in settlements - settlements near rivers and lakes. The river not only helped to reach neighboring settlements, but also fed the local residents. However, the main occupation of the Slavs was agriculture. They plowed with a plow on oxen or horses.

Cattle breeding was also significant in the economy, but due to climatic conditions it was not too developed. The ancient Slavs were much more active in hunting and beekeeping - the extraction of wild honey and wax.

In their belief, these tribes were pagan - they deified nature and deceased ancestors. They called the sky the god Svarog, and all celestial phenomena were considered the children of this god - the svarogs. So, for example, Svarozich Perun was especially revered by the Slavs, because he sent thunder and lightning, and also gave his patronage to the tribes during the war.

Fire and the Sun showed their destructive or beneficial power, and depending on this, they were personified by the good Dazhdbog, giving life-giving light and warmth, or the evil Khors, burning nature with heat and fires. Stribog was considered the god of storm and wind.

The ancient Slavs attributed any natural phenomena and changes in nature to the will of their gods. They tried in every way to appease them with various festivals and sacrifices. Interestingly, any person who wanted to do so could make a sacrifice. But on the other hand, each tribe had its own sorcerer-sorcerer or sorcerer who knew how to cognize the changing will of the gods.

The ancient Slavs did not build temples and for a long time did not create images of the gods. Only later did they begin to make idols - crudely made wooden figures. With the adoption of Christianity, paganism and idolatry were gradually eradicated. Nevertheless, the religion of our ancestors has survived to this day in the form of folk signs and agricultural natural holidays.