OSSETIAN EPIC AND ARCHAEOLOGY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
А.А. Туаллагов

Статья посвящена проблеме появления в Нартовском эпосе осетин редкого образа ящерицы. Данный образ практически неизвестен в осетинских мифологических, этнографических и фольклорных материалах, что соответствует положению и у других кавказских народов. Указанное положение определяет актуальность предложенной к анализу темы. Научная новизна исследования заключается в анализе материалов осетинского эпоса в свете древнеиранских религиозно-мифологических представлений и археологических памятников. Целью исследования является определение источника и условий появления соответствующего зооморфного образа в аланских древностях и эпическом наследии осетин. В ходе исследования применялись метод комплексного анализа нарративных и археологических источников на основе принципа историзма и системности изложения. В результате проведенного исследования удалось выявить общий круг археологических и письменных источников, позволяющих определиться с источником появления образа ящерицы в осетинском эпосе. Данный зооморфный образ проникает к аланам в раннем средневековье через посредничество населения Северо-Западного Кавказа, испытывавшего на себе непосредственно влияние зороастризма за счет вхождения данной территории в состав Сасанидской Персии. Не исключено, что прототипом самого изображения мог служить один из местных видов ящериц. Но, если здесь образ ящерицы непосредственно соответствовал образам зороастрийских сил зла , то у алан он был переосмыслен в русле собственных мифологических представлений. Время его появления определяется соответствующими находками зеркал в аланских памятниках. Но образ ящерицы не смог заменить или потеснить традиционный образ змеи, представленный и в эпосе. В эпосе он только пополнил ряд образов гадов в сюжете о волшебной чаше. The article is devoted to the problem of the appearance of a rare image of a lizard in the Narts epic of the Ossetians. This image is practically unknown in Ossetian mythological, ethnographic and folklore materials, which corresponds to the situation in other Caucasian peoples. The specified position determines the relevance of the topic proposed for analysis. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the analysis of the materials of the Ossetian epic in the light of ancient Iranian religious and mythological representations and archaeological monuments. The aim of the study is to determine the source and conditions for the appearance of the corresponding zoomorphic image in the Alanian antiquities and the Ossetian epic heritage. In the course of the study the method of a comprehensive analysis of narrative and archaeological sources based on the principle of historicism and systematic presentation was applied. As a result of the study, it was possible to identify a common circle of archaeological and written sources, allowing to determine the source of the appearance of the image of a lizard in the Ossetian epic. This zoomorphic image penetrates to the Alans in the early Middle Ages through the mediation of the population of the North-West Caucasus, who experienced the direct influence of Zoroastrianism due to the entry of this territory into Sasanian Persia. It is possible that one of the local species of lizards could serve as the prototype of the image itself. But, if here the image of the lizard directly corresponded to the images of the Zoroastrian forces of evil , then among the Alans it was reconsidered in line with its own mythological ideas. The time of its appearance is determined by the corresponding finds of the mirrors in the Alanian monuments. But the image of a lizard could not replace or displace the traditional image of a snake, presented in the epic. In epic, it only replenished a number of images of reptiles in the plot of the magic cup.

Author(s):  
Manuela Costa-Casais ◽  
Joeri Kaal

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo aportar algunos elementos para el debate sobre la reconstrucción paleoambien-tal, desde las disciplinas de las Ciencias de la Tierra, centrándose en el período cultural de la Alta Edad Media (siglos V-XI). El artículo se divide en tres apartados. El primero, introduce conceptos básicos sobre la evolu-ción ambiental: ideas generales sobre la reconstrucción paleoambiental y un breve comentario sobre la activi-dad humana en el contexto de los paleoambientes. El segundo, muestra una aproximación metodológica a la reconstrucción desde diferentes disciplinas de las Ciencias de la Tierra. En el tercero, se comentan algunos resultados recientes obtenidos en el noroeste peninsular utilizando ejemplos de archivos que, en este caso, están representados por suelos coluviales y sus señales geoquímicas, analizando los procesos naturales y otros inducidos por la actividad antrópica, con la finalidad de ilustrar los conceptos discutidos en la primera parte. A modo de conclusión, el artículo se cierra con unas pinceladas sobre el paisaje de la Alta Edad Media en el Noroeste Peninsular, a partir de la interpretación y reconstrucción de los datos obtenidos. The configuration of the cultural landscape during the early Middle Ages (5th-11th centuries): Environ-mental changes and human activity in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula - This paper aims to promote the discussion of some elements relating to paleoenvironmental reconstruction, from the point of view of the Earth Sciences, focusing on the cultural period of the early Middle Ages (5th-11th centuries). The article is divided into three sections. In the first, the basic concepts of environmental evolution are introduced, such as the general ideas of paleoenvironmental reconstruction and a brief commentary on human activity in the context of paleoenvironments. The second section demonstrates a methodological ap-proach to reconstruction from the point of view of different disciplines of Earth Sciences. In the third section, recent results obtained in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula are commented on, making use of samples of colluvial soils and their geochemical signals obtained from environmental archives. An analysis is made of both natural processes and those caused by human activity, in order to illustrate the concepts discussed in the first part. The article concludes with some comments on the landscape of the early Middle Ages in the north-west of the Peninsula, based on the interpretation and reconstruction of the data obtained.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 165-171
Author(s):  
Igor Valentinovich Kazakov

This paper is a logical continuation of our paper The daily life of Franks according to written sources at the time of Gregory of Tours, I: diseases, medicine, hygiene and food. This paper is an attempt to collect and systematize information about the material conditions of life in the Frankish state of the Merovingians in the 6th century in the descriptions of contemporary authors. The choice of the topic is due to the need to compose a complete picture of a persons life from the beginning of the early Middle Ages, which until now has remained poorly researched, unlike the Carolingian period. The sources used are the writings of Gregory of Tours, Venantius Fortunatus, Apollinaris Sidonius, The Chronicle of Fredegar, The History Book of the Franks and others. The paper collects data on the clothes of various population groups, on the weapons and armor of the Franks and the level of military affairs development, on cities and urban life, and some features of the mentality of so far half barbaric society. The collected material allows us to state that: a) the sources of the early Merovingian period, in contrast to the Carolingian era, are distinguished by the extreme scarcity of data in the field of genesis; b) despite a rather primitive look of clothing, it possessed considerable material value, as well as it had a significant essence, c) Roman cities continued to exist on the territory of Gallia, but largely lost their urban character, turning into fortified centers, and c) Christianization had very little influence on the moral character of the Franks; society remained largely barbaric, although some features indicate the beginning of the formation of a new civilization.


Author(s):  
П. Е. Сорокин ◽  
В. И. Кильдюшевский ◽  
В. Н. Матвеев

Сосуды из каменной массы, изготавливавшиеся в городах Северной Германии и получившие в литературе название рейнской керамики, были широко распространены в позднее Средневековье и Новое время в Северной Европе. В русских городах они встречаются значительно реже, причем в основном на Северо-Западе, вовлеченном в балтийскую торговлю. Значительно более широко они представлены в Восточной Прибалтике, Финляндии, а также в городах Выборг, Ниеншанц и Но-тебург, входивших в состав шведских владений. Поступление сосудов из каменной массы в прибалтийские страны отражает торговые и политические процессы в Балтийском регионе. The stone vessels, manufactured in the cities of Northern Germany and got the name of Rhenish ceramics in literature were widespread in the Late Middle Ages and Modern Time in Northern Europe. In Russian cities, they are met much rarer, mostly in the North-West involved in the Baltic trade. Much more commonly they are represented in the Eastern Baltic countries, Finland, and also in the cities of Vyborg, Nyenschantz and Noteburg, which once were part of the Swedish realm. The flow of stone vessels into the Baltic countries reflects trade and political processes in the Baltic region.


Author(s):  
Helena Hamerow

The excavation of settlements has in recent years transformed our understanding of north-west Europe in the early Middle Ages. We can for the first time begin to answer fundamental questions such as: what did houses look like and how were they furnished? how did villages and individual farmsteads develop? how and when did agrarian production become intensified and how did this affect village communities? what role did craft production and trade play in the rural economy? In a period for which written sources are scarce, archaeology is of central importance in understanding the 'small worlds' of early medieval communities. Helena Hamerow's extensively illustrated and accessible study offers the first overview and synthesis of the large and rapidly growing body of evidence for early medieval settlements in north-west Europe, as well as a consideration of the implications of this evidence for Anglo-Saxon England.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-112
Author(s):  
Mehdi Hosseini Nia ◽  
Karim Hajizadeh ◽  
Habib Shahbazi Shiran ◽  
Reza Rezalou

In the early Islamic centuries, Ardabil is considered to be the oldest and the first city in the Azerbaijani province due to its regional biodiversity in geographical texts. The present study investigates the communication routes to the peripheral points in the Islamic period and their role in the survival of the city based on historical literature and archeological data. The importance and safety of roads and communication routes were two important components that influenced each other, making Ardabil a city in the center of commercial and trading routes in the North-West. This situation can be seen and prosecuted during the Islamic period from the beginning of Islam to the late Islamic centuries. The research method is historical-analytical and the data were collected through the study of historical and geographical literature and the use of the archaeological reports of the area. The main question of this article is: “What effect did the communication routes have had on the survival of the Islamic period until the end of the Safavid period?” The results show that in the early centuries, the city's communication routes were significantly prosperous. The description of the roads and the importance of the buildings and the cities inside them are described together. In this period, roads have played a leading role in the survival and prosperity of the city. In the Middle Ages, this city became a trivial city in the region as the capital, trade and communication routes changed. During the Safavid period, the city was once again restored to its former prosperity due to the importance of the tomb complex of Sheikh Safiad-din Ardabili to the kings of the dynasty as well as the conversion of the city to the site of the Silk Road. During this period, numerous routes were created and led to the orientalists and tourists’ travelling to this ciy


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