Old Rus'

Из литературной истории «Хожения» игумена Даниила // «Хожение» игумена Даниила в Святую Землю в начале XII в.: К 900-летию со времени хожения / Изд. подгот. О. А. Белоброва, М. Гардзанити, Г. М. Прохоров, И. В. Федорова. СПб., 2007. С. 339−398.

N. V. Lopatin
Walls and towers of ancient Izborsk.

Izborsk is one of the most beautiful places of Northwest Russia. The main attraction of Izborsk is the fortress of the 14th–15th centuries, well preserved to our days. However, there is another great historic landmark – Truvor fortified settlement, where the town was situated earlier. The hillfort was studied in 1971–1992 by the expedition of V. V. Sedov from the Institute of archaeology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. One of significant discoveries were the remnants of walls and towers of the early-medieval town, which were completely unknown before the excavations.
Remains of stone masonry walls preserved beneath the earth (in the cultural layer) up to the height of over 1 m were built of local limestone without mortar, only sometimes the joints between the stones were filled with clay. The width of the walls comprises from 2.5 to 4 m, and the height likely was less. Thus, the stone structure should be rather called a basement for a wooden defensive wall. At the headland of the hillfort a semicircular base of a tower was revealed. Sedov attributed the building of the stone fortifications to the turn of the 11th–12th centuries, but available evidence suggests an earlier date for the construction start – late 10th century.
The article describes the detailed reconsruction of one of the elements of the fortress – the Western gate, where the author supervised the study in 1987–1992. The gate was destroyed and rebuilt several times. The most representative data for the reconstruction secured from two building periods – the beginning of the 11th and the first half of the 13th centuries. The materials of the excavations indicate that the entry was fortified by a wooden gate tower.

Selection of days for princes’ infant sons’ postrigi (cut of hair) in Old Rus’. The author supports the idea of Christian spirit in Old Russian princes’ infant sons’ postrigi (cut of hair) and adduces new arguments in favor of this idea — these ceremonies often coincide with Christian feasts.

Автор поддерживает мнение о христианском характере древнерусских княжичьих постригов и приводит в пользу этого новые аргументы, связанные с календарной приуроченностью данных церемоний.

Mультимедийная лекция, посвященная 1000-летию памяти Владимира Святого – Крестителя Руси († 1015),  в Международном мультимедийном пресс-центре МИА «Россия сегодня» (Президентский зал) 4 Марта 2015 г. (17:00) в рамках нового мультимедийного проекта «Sputnik. Чтения»: http://1000vladimir.ru/2015/03/15/v-moskve-proshla-multimedijnaya-lekciya-istorika-professora-o-g-ulyanova-kreshhenie-vladimira-svyatogo-i-nachalo-rusi/

Сегодня Всехсвятский храм возле метро Сокол является одним из самых доходных в Москве. При это о том, что в XVIII-XIX вв. он служил усыпальницей грузинской аристократии, ныне почти не помнят из-за неоднократных изменений его интерьера и произошедшего в 1981-м сноса прилегающего погоста. Анализ сохранившихся описаний и характеристики нескольких уцелевших надгробий позволяют составить – пускай дискретное – представление о том, каким был облик некрополя внутри храма и возле его стен. Данные же из метрических записей дают дополнительную информацию о социальном составе погребённых, а систематизация эпитафий позволяет понять, каким было их функциональное предназначение.
Nowadays the church of All Saints near subway station Sokol is one of if not the most profitable in Moscow. Due to the numerous changes of its interior and the demolition (partly removal) of the churchyard in 1981, the fact that this church located in XVIII-XIX centuries in the namesake village of Moscow county, had been also the necropolis for Georgian nobility, was deleted from the public memory. An analyze of archival descriptions and features of a very few remained tombstones enables to create – even discretely – the perception of how the cemetery looked like inside the church and around its walls. The data from the metric books of the parish provides us with an additional information about social accessory of the buried people, while the systematization of epitaphs shows its functional purpose.

Published in Henriette Lyngstrøm & Lasse C. A. Sonne (eds), Vikingetidens aristokratiske miljøer (Aristocratic Circles in the Viking Age, Copenhagen 2014, pp. 69-76)

The text takes its point of departure in the fact that from the 9th to 10th century at least four or five separate Scandinavian power centres were known in the territory of the future Rus’ before they were merged with the Rus’ polity of the Riurikids. Nevertheless, only twice are Scandinavians active in the east directly linked to one or other of the Scandinavians homelands: in 839 (Annales Bertiniani) Rhos returning from Byzantium via the Frankish Empire are revealed as Sueones (Swedes); in 1018 (Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg) a multitude of Danish warriors are said to be present in Kiev during the war of succession after the death of Vladimir Sviatoslavich.
Possibly linked to the presence of the Sueones in Byzantium three seals from c. 840 of Patrikios Theodosios, who may have been involved with procuring mercenaries to Byzantium and who may also have formed part of the embassy in 839, are found in three locations in Denmark, Haithabu, Ribe and the aristocratic/royal? manor at Lake Tissø. Were these seals attached to documents that had to do with hiring mercenaries?
That there was a steady flow of mercenaries from Scandinavia to Rus’ and Byzantium is well-known. A culmination was reached in the late 10th and beginning of the 11th century. Not Least Jaroslav Vladimirovich depended on these mercenaries when he defeated his Polish supported half-brother Sviatopolk. Probably it was these mercenaries that Thietmar claimed to be Danes. This claim by Thietmar has hitherto hardly been taken seriously.However lately archaeological excavations (the six or seven Trelleborgs, other major earthworks, the Jelling complex) have shown the Danish king Harald Bluetooth to be just as powerful a king as his son and grandson, Sven Forkbeard and Cnut the Great. Therefore not least Russian and Ukrainian scholars begin to think that it was these powerful kings that were able to supply, first to Vladimir Sviatoslavich and later Jaroslav Vladimirovich with their Varangian troops.
An important way of creating networks among the higher echelon was through marital agreements. Mostly these are only known when they concern ruling houses, although many members of the royal or princely families that were not in line for the succession must have married into the local aristocracy as a means of fortifying their internal position. That must have been the case with the powerful Hvide clan. Many dynastic links on the highest level were formed between Scandinavia and Rus’. A peak was reached in the first decades of the 12th century when these links also included the imperial family in Constantinople. This was a period when Byzantine influence in church frescoes culminated in Denmark with famous frescoes from c. 1121 in the royal church at Vä. The same workshop painted the frescoes in Sæby at Tissø, which seems to have been one of many churches belonging to the Hvide clan. Can it be that the Hvide clan was settled at Tissø already c. 840 and that the clan had continuously entertained links with the East perhaps as agents supplying Varangian mercenaries to Rus’ and Byzantium?

Ульянов О.Г. Оружие «московского дела» в событиях русско-польской войны 1654-1667 годов (по данным описей Государевой оружейной казны) // Война и оружие: Новые исследования и материалы. Труды Третьей международной научно-практической конференции 16-18 мая 2012 г. СПб., 2012. Ч. III. C. 304-320.

http://books.reenactor.ru/?bookid=1925

Статья посвящена проблеме атрибуции знаков Рюриковичей. На основе двух типов источников: редких двузубцев и трезубцев, сопровождающихся подписями, и свинцовых печатей с княжеской тамгой на одной стороне и изображением небесного патрона на обороте – удается установить личные знаки нескольких потомков Ярослава Мудрого, живших в XI – начале XIII в.
Savva M. Mikheev. Princely Seals with Tamgas and Attribution of Rurikids’ Signs of the 11th – 12th Centuries (2017)
The article offers several new attributions of Rurikids’ signs to specific Old Russian princes of the 11th – early 13th century. This attempt is based on two types of sources: rare tamgas with adjoining inscriptions as well as lead seals with a tamga on one side and an image of a saint on the other.

The Old Russian concept of sacred water, that is water possessing magical properties, is analysed in this chapter. The most important manifestation of the cult of sacred water in Old Russia was its ritual use in conjunction with a variety of plant substances (“potion”), whereby the water acquired some new, special properties. Magical water, according to medieval notions, condensed on leaves as morning dew. Collected from plants at a certain time, it was used to enhance one’s growth, strength, health, and beauty. A magical herb potion was also brewed using morning dew. Tumbling and rolling in the dew early in the morning before “Ivan Kupala” (St John the Baptist’s day), and some other holidays, as well as collection and subsequent use of the dew, was considered to be a universal magical method that cured almost all diseases. Tumbling in the dew had its counterpart in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. According to East Slavic sources, participants in the morning dew ceremony could reach a transpersonal state of consciousness similar to a deep mystical experience. The earliest written evidence of Old Russian ritual use of water dates from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but refers back to even earlier, pre-Christian times (e.g. references to steam baths in the opening part of “The Tale of Bygone Years”, as well as in the chronicle entries for the years 907 and 945). In the Russian medieval tradition, the steam bath was considered a sort of domestic sanctuary. The opposition of the steam bath and the church corresponds to the opposition between the pagan and the Christian. Steam bath rites in Old Russia were opposed to their respective religious rites and sacraments, such as Baptism, Confirmation, Wedding, Priesthood, Anointing of the Sick, Funeral, and Remembrance. Duplications of Christian and pagan rituals are clearly observed in “rites of passage”. Such contradictory beliefs as Christian baptism and the magical “first bathing” of a newborn; church wedding and the washing of the bride and groom in the bathhouse together with the sorcerer; the remembrance of the dead with Synodicon and the “bath for the dead”, successfully coexisted in the minds of medieval Russian people. Various substances of vegetable origin, different potions, and special brooms with flowers and herbs were used for the ritual steam bath. In Old Russia this pagan rite was called “mov’”, and it was widespread in the Russian North. “Mov’” led to the attainment of transpersonal experiences, the ecstatic “state of the dead and spirits”. The Old Russian pagan “mov’” is a typical ceremony characterized by evaporation of water thrown onto hot stones and inhalation of steam and smoke of burning plants. This ritual is known from a variety of archaic traditions; Old Russia was no exception.
It is important to note that both the tumbling in the morning dew and the rituals in the steam bath are closely linked to the borderline of liquid and gaseous aggregate states of water, namely the non-equilibrium processes of condensation and evaporation. For participants of the ceremonies, this symbolized the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead, between real and metaphysical space.

Авласович А. М. Пятилучевое височное кольцо из погребения с трупосожжением могильника Студёнка / А. М. Авласович // Копытинские чтения – III : сборник статей Международной научно-практической конференции, 28 февраля - 1 марта 2019 г. / под общ. ред. А. М. Авласовича. – Могилев : МГУ имени А. А. Кулешова, 2020. – С. 3–4.

В статье рассматривается находка пятилучевого височно­ го кольца, обнаруженного при исследовании кургана с кремацией на тер­ритории Быховского района. Проведено классификационное сравнение с аналогами, дана культурная атрибуция. Ключевые слова: височное кольцо, культура типа Лука-Райковецкая, боршевская культура, роменская культура.

В работе рассматривается вопрос о об особенностях восприятия в Древней Руси христианской идеи райского сада и отождествлении различных растений с растениями Эдема. Единственное сколь-нибудь подробное известие о монастырском саде содержит Киево-Печерский патерик в «Слове» о монахе киевского печерского монастыря Григории Чудотворце, который разводил яблони. Данные переводных и местных памятники литературы Древней Руси не позволяют заключить, что в домонгольское время вполне закрепилось, уже сложившееся в Византии, отождествление яблони с растением райского сада, а яблока – с райским или запретным плодом. Усвоение этой традиции относится к более позднему времени. Рассказ Патерика о «древах плодовитых» Григория Чудотворца не содержит прямых аллюзий к теме райского сада и истории грехопадения. Тем не менее, косвенные данные позволяют предположить, что истории о яблоневом саде печерского монаха создавались под влиянием этой традиции.

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of perception of the Christian idea of the Garden of Eden in Early Medieval Russia and the identification of various plants with the plants of Eden. The only one detailed information about the monastery garden is contained in the Kiev Caves Patericon in the part devoted to the monk of the Kiev Caves monastery Gregory the Wonderworker, who bred apple trees. The evidences of translated and local texts do not allow us to conclude that in pre-Mongol times, the identification of an apple tree with a tree of the Garden of Eden, and an apple with a heavenly or forbidden fruit, already established by this time in Byzantium, was fully established. The assimilation of this tradition belongs to a later time. The Patericon's story about the "fruitful trees" by Gregory the Wonderworker does not contain direct allusions to the theme of the Garden of Eden and the history of the Fall. Nevertheless, indirect signs suggest that the stories about the apple orchard of the Kiev Caves monk were created under the influence of this tradition.

The aim of the paper is to examine the concept that was crucial for the Novgorod’s
political identity in the time of independence — ‘Novgorod the Great’ (Veliky
Novgorod). The author takes into account not only mentions of this phrase in
Novgorodian medieval documents and narratives, but also considerable and
highly important evidence originating from other Russian lands and abroad
(Hanseatic and Lithuanian documents written in Middle Low German and
Latin). A review of the relevant publications shows that, at present, the issue
still remains a controversial one. The author comes to the following conclusions.
In Hanseatic documents, written in Middle Low German, ‘Novgorod the Great’
was already being mentioned since at least 1330s, which is more than sixty years
earlier than is considered in the current conventional view. For the first time
‘Novgorod the Great’ is mentioned not in a Novgorodian text but in a Kievan
one — in the account from the Hypatian Chronicle of 1141. In the second half
of the 12th century it appeared in the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal, and
only much later was adopted by Novgorodians themselves. While in Southern
and North-East Rus’ ‘Novgorod the Great’ was initially used to distinguish
Novgorod on the Volkhov River from local and smaller Novgorods (NovgorodSeversky and Nizhny Novgorod), Novgorodians employed it to glorify their
polity. In this case it could stand for three different things: the city of Novgorod,
the whole polity (Novgorod republic), and ‘the political people’ of Novgorod, i.e.
those of the Novgorodians who enjoyed full citizenship rights.

The paper is focused on the use of the meander motif in décor of the Old Rus’ church masonry from 11th to early 13th
century. Attention is drawn to compositional peculiarities and the diversity of patterns in meander frieze on church facades in Kiev (St. Sophia, Dormition and Saint Michael’s Golden Dome Monasteries, and The Saviour Church at Berestovo), Chernigov (Transfiguration and Saint Parascheva Piatnitsa Churches), and Polotsk (The Saviour Church in the Convent of Saint Euphrosyne). Comparing these with the contemporaneous phenomenon in Byzantine and Trans-caucasian architecture, the author comes to a conclusion that from the first half of 11th
century the simple non-directional П-shaped patterns and more complicated variants characteristic of the Constantinople builders’ style were used in parallel. Meander’s place in the façade composition in all the Old Russian churches was meant to disclose the internal structure of buildings.

Город Средневековья и раннего Нового времени II (V): археология, история. Материалы V Всероссийского семинара. Ноябрь 2013 г. / Под ред. И. Г. Бурцева. Тула, 2016. 375 с.: ил. ISBN 978-5-903587-40-7 Сборник научных статей издан по итогам работы Всероссийского семинара «Город Средневековья и раннего Нового времени. Археология и история» (в 2005-2009 гг. -«Позднесредневековый город. Археология и история»), проходившего на Куликовом поле в ноябре 2013 года. На страницах издания представлены материалы по археологии и истории городов России и Украины XI-XVIII веков. Настоящее издание посвящено памяти археолога О. Н. Заидова, безвременно ушедшего в 2014 году. Сборник будет интересен и полезен историкам, археологам, краеведам, учащимся и работникам системы образования, а также всем интересующимся историей Восточной Европы XI-XVIII вв. УДК 904 ББК 63.4-421 ISBN 978-5-903587-40-7 © Государственный военно-исторический и природный музей-заповедник «Куликово поле», 2016 УДК 904 ББК 63.4-421 Г 70 Г 70

 ïðåäûäóùåì âûïóñêå «Ðóòåíèêè» áûëà îïóáëèêîâàíà ñòàòüÿ Â. Í. Çîöåíêî 1 , â êî òîðîé àâòîð ïîïûòàëñÿ íà îñíîâàíèè íàêîïëåííûõ â ïîñëåäåå âðåìÿ äàííûõ êðè òè÷åñêè ïåðåñìîòðåòü òðàäèöèîííûå òî÷êè çðåíèÿ íà äâå âàaeíûå è äåé ñòâèòåëü íî âçàèìîñâÿçàííûå òåìû -ñêàíäèíàâñêèå äðåâíîñòè è òîïîãðàôèþ ðàí íå ãî Êèåâà. Ñîâåðøåííî î÷åâèäíî, ÷òî â îáú¸ìå îäíîé ñòàòüè íåâîçìîaeíî áûëî îõ âàòèòü âñå äåòàëè è íþàíñû ýòèõ ïðîáëåì, è äëÿ âûðàáîòêè íîâîé, óñòðàèâàâøåé áû âñåõ ìîäåëè íåîáõîäèìà øèðîêàÿ äèñêóññèÿ, â êîòîðîé ïðèíèìàë áû ó÷àñòèå êàê ìîaeíî áîëåå øèðîêèé êðóã ñïåöèàëèñòîâ: èñòîðèêîâ, àðõåîëîãîâ è ëèíãâèñòîâ. Ýòî ïîìîaeåò èçáåaeàòü âåðîÿòíûõ îøèáîê è íåäî ðàçóìåíèé ïðè äàëüíåéøèõ ïîïûòêàõ ñîçäàíèÿ ìåaeäèñöèïëèíàðíîãî ñèíòåçà â îïðåäåëåíèè ìåñòà è ðîëè ñêàíäèíàâñêèõ äðåâíîñòåé â ñîöèàëüíîé òîïîãðàôèè ðàííåãî Êèåâà.  ïðåäëàãàåìîé ñòàòüå ÿ õîòåë áû îñòàíîâèòüñÿ íà äèñ êóññèîííûõ ìîìåíòàõ â èíòåðïðåòàöèè Â. Í. Çîöåíêî, êîòîðûå îñòàëèñü, òàê ñêàçàòü, çà êàäðîì âíèìàíèÿ èññëåäîâàòåëÿ è, ñêîðåå âñåãî, ìîãóò îñòàòüñÿ íåçàìå÷åíûìè.

УДК 130.2(477):930.2 М74 Рецензенти: Т. В. Гаврилюк, доктор філософських наук, професор; Л. О. Филипович, доктор філософських наук, професор; М. Г. Щербак, доктор історичних наук, професор Мозговий І. П. Роси, або Переддень України / І. П. Мозговий. -Суми : Коллаж-Принт, 2019. -120 с.

В статье систематизируются сведения о дьяческих монограммах, выявленных на актах XV - начала XVI в., хранящихся фондах ГКЭ и Древлехранилище.

Грязнов А.Л. Дьяческие монограммы на актах из фонда ГКЭ // Вестник Альянс-Архео. Вып. 18. М.;СПб, 2017.