The Slavs are Europe's largest ethnic group, but what do we really know about them? Historians still argue about who they came from, where their homeland was located, and where the self-name “Slavs” came from.

Origin of the Slavs

There are many hypotheses about the origin of the Slavs. Some attribute them to the Scythians and Sarmatians who came from Central Asia, others to the Aryans and Germans, others even identify them with the Celts. All hypotheses of the origin of the Slavs can be divided into two main categories, directly opposite to each other. One of them, the well-known “Norman” one, was put forward in the 18th century by German scientists Bayer, Miller and Schlozer, although such ideas first appeared during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

The bottom line was this: the Slavs are an Indo-European people who were once part of the “German-Slavic” community, but broke away from the Germans during the Great Migration. Finding themselves on the periphery of Europe and cut off from the continuity of Roman civilization, they were very behind in development, so much so that they could not create their own state and invited the Varangians, that is, the Vikings, to rule them.

This theory is based on the historiographical tradition of “The Tale of Bygone Years” and the famous phrase: “Our land is great, rich, but there is no side in it. Come reign and rule over us." Such a categorical interpretation, which was based on obvious ideological background, could not but arouse criticism. Today, archeology confirms the presence of strong intercultural ties between the Scandinavians and Slavs, but it hardly suggests that the former played a decisive role in the formation of the ancient Russian state. But the debate about the “Norman” origin of the Slavs and Kievan Rus does not subside to this day.

The second theory of the ethnogenesis of the Slavs, on the contrary, is patriotic in nature. And, by the way, it is much older than the Norman one - one of its founders was the Croatian historian Mavro Orbini, who wrote a work called “The Slavic Kingdom” at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. His point of view was very extraordinary: among the Slavs he included the Vandals, Burgundians, Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Gepids, Getae, Alans, Verls, Avars, Dacians, Swedes, Normans, Finns, Ukrainians, Marcomanni, Quadi, Thracians and Illyrians and many others: “They were all of the same Slavic tribe, as will be seen later.”

Their exodus from the historical homeland of Orbini dates back to 1460 BC. Where did they not have time to visit after that: “The Slavs fought with almost all the tribes of the world, attacked Persia, ruled Asia and Africa, fought with the Egyptians and Alexander the Great, conquered Greece, Macedonia and Illyria, occupied Moravia, the Czech Republic, Poland and the coasts of the Baltic Sea "

He was echoed by many court scribes who created the theory of the origin of the Slavs from the ancient Romans, and Rurik from the Emperor Octavian Augustus. In the 18th century, the Russian historian Tatishchev published the so-called “Joachim Chronicle,” which, as opposed to the “Tale of Bygone Years,” identified the Slavs with the ancient Greeks.

Both of these theories (although there are echoes of truth in each of them) represent two extremes, which are characterized by a free interpretation of historical facts and archaeological information. They were criticized by such “giants” of Russian history as B. Grekov, B. Rybakov, V. Yanin, A. Artsikhovsky, arguing that a historian should in his research rely not on his preferences, but on facts. However, the historical texture of the “ethnogenesis of the Slavs”, to this day, is so incomplete that it leaves many options for speculation, without the ability to finally answer the main question: “who are these Slavs after all?”

Age of the people

The next pressing problem for historians is the age of the Slavic ethnic group. When did the Slavs finally emerge as a single people from the pan-European ethnic “mess”? The first attempt to answer this question belongs to the author of “The Tale of Bygone Years” - monk Nestor. Taking the biblical tradition as a basis, he began the history of the Slavs with the Babylonian pandemonium, which divided humanity into 72 nations: “From these 70 and 2 languages ​​the Slovenian language was born...”. The above-mentioned Mavro Orbini generously gave the Slavic tribes a couple of extra thousand years of history, dating their exodus from their historical homeland to 1496: “At the indicated time, the Goths and Slavs left Scandinavia ... since the Slavs and Goths were of the same tribe. So, having subjugated Sarmatia, the Slavic tribe was divided into several tribes and received different names: Wends, Slavs, Ants, Verls, Alans, Massetians... Vandals, Goths, Avars, Roskolans, Russians or Muscovites, Poles, Czechs, Silesians, Bulgarians ...In short, the Slavic language is heard from the Caspian Sea to Saxony, from the Adriatic Sea to the German Sea, and within all these limits lies the Slavic tribe.”

Of course, such “information” was not enough for historians. Archeology, genetics and linguistics were used to study the “age” of the Slavs. As a result, we managed to achieve modest, but still results. According to the accepted version, the Slavs belonged to the Indo-European community, which most likely emerged from the Dnieper-Donets archaeological culture, in the area between the Dnieper and Don rivers, seven thousand years ago during the Stone Age. Subsequently, the influence of this culture spread to the territory from the Vistula to the Urals, although no one has yet been able to accurately localize it. In general, when speaking about the Indo-European community, we do not mean a single ethnic group or civilization, but the influence of cultures and linguistic similarity. About four thousand years BC it broke up into conventional three groups: the Celts and Romans in the West, the Indo-Iranians in the East, and somewhere in the middle, in Central and Eastern Europe, another language group emerged, from which the Germans later emerged, Balts and Slavs. Of these, around the 1st millennium BC, the Slavic language begins to stand out.

But information from linguistics alone is not enough - to determine the unity of an ethnic group there must be an uninterrupted continuity of archaeological cultures. The bottom link in the archaeological chain of the Slavs is considered to be the so-called “culture of podklosh burials”, which received its name from the custom of covering cremated remains with a large vessel, in Polish “klesh”, that is, “upside down”. It existed in the V-II centuries BC between the Vistula and the Dnieper. In a sense, we can say that its bearers were the earliest Slavs. It is from this that it is possible to identify the continuity of cultural elements right up to the Slavic antiquities of the early Middle Ages.

Proto-Slavic homeland

Where, after all, was the Slavic ethnic group born, and what territory can be called “originally Slavic”? Historians' accounts vary. Orbini, citing a number of authors, claims that the Slavs came out of Scandinavia: “Almost all the authors, whose blessed pen conveyed to their descendants the history of the Slavic tribe, claim and conclude that the Slavs came out of Scandinavia... The descendants of Japheth the son of Noah (to which the author includes the Slavs ) moved north to Europe, penetrating into the country now called Scandinavia. There they multiplied innumerably, as St. Augustine points out in his “City of God,” where he writes that the sons and descendants of Japheth had two hundred homelands and occupied lands located north of Mount Taurus in Cilicia, along the Northern Ocean, half of Asia, and throughout Europe all the way to the British Ocean."

Nestor called the most ancient territory of the Slavs - the lands along the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Pannonia. The reason for the resettlement of the Slavs from the Danube was the attack on them by the Volokhs. “After many times, the essence of Slovenia settled along the Dunaevi, where there is now Ugorsk and Bolgarsk land.” Hence the Danube-Balkan hypothesis of the origin of the Slavs.

The European homeland of the Slavs also had its supporters. Thus, the prominent Czech historian Pavel Safarik believed that the ancestral home of the Slavs should be sought in Europe in the neighborhood of related tribes of Celts, Germans, Balts and Thracians. He believed that in ancient times the Slavs occupied vast territories of Central and Eastern Europe, from where they were forced to leave beyond the Carpathians under the pressure of Celtic expansion.

There was even a version about two ancestral homelands of the Slavs, according to which the first ancestral home was the place where the Proto-Slavic language developed (between the lower reaches of the Neman and Western Dvina) and where the Slavic people themselves were formed (according to the authors of the hypothesis, this happened starting from the 2nd century BC era) - the Vistula River basin. Western and Eastern Slavs had already left from there. The first populated the area of ​​the Elbe River, then the Balkans and the Danube, and the second - the banks of the Dnieper and Dniester.

The Vistula-Dnieper hypothesis about the ancestral home of the Slavs, although it remains a hypothesis, is still the most popular among historians. It is conditionally confirmed by local toponyms, as well as vocabulary. If you believe the “words”, that is, the lexical material, the ancestral home of the Slavs was located away from the sea, in a forested flat zone with swamps and lakes, as well as within the rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea, judging by the common Slavic names of fish - salmon and eel. By the way, the areas of the Podklosh burial culture already known to us fully correspond to these geographical characteristics.

"Slavs"

The word “Slavs” itself is a mystery. It firmly came into use already in the 6th century AD; at least, Byzantine historians of this time often mentioned the Slavs - not always friendly neighbors of Byzantium. Among the Slavs themselves, this term was already widely used as a self-name in the Middle Ages, at least judging by the chronicles, including the Tale of Bygone Years.

However, its origin is still unknown. The most popular version is that it comes from the words “word” or “glory,” which go back to the same Indo-European root ḱleu̯- “to hear.” By the way, Mavro Orbini also wrote about this, albeit in his characteristic “arrangement”: “during their residence in Sarmatia, they (the Slavs) took the name “Slavs”, which means “glorious”.

There is a version among linguists that the Slavs owe their self-name to the names of the landscape. Presumably, it was based on the toponym “Slovutich” - another name for the Dnieper, containing a root with the meaning “to wash”, “to cleanse”.

At one time, a lot of noise was caused by the version about the existence of a connection between the self-name “Slavs” and the Middle Greek word for “slave” (σκλάβος). It was very popular among Western scientists of the 18th-19th centuries. It is based on the idea that the Slavs, as one of the most numerous peoples in Europe, made up a significant percentage of captives and often became objects of the slave trade. Today this hypothesis is recognized as erroneous, since most likely the basis of “σκλάβος” was a Greek verb with the meaning “to obtain spoils of war” - “σκυλάο”.

We all know that the Slavs played an important role in the formation of the states of Eastern Europe. This group of related peoples, the largest on the continent, has similar languages ​​and similar customs. Its population is approximately three hundred million people.

Eastern Slavs in ancient times: settlement in Europe

Our ancestors were a branch of the Indo-European family of peoples, which dispersed throughout Eurasia during the Great Migration. The closest relatives of the Slavs are the Balts, who settled in the territories of modern Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Their neighbors were the Germans in the south and west, the Scythians and Sarmatians in the east. In ancient times, the Eastern Slavs traveled through Eastern and Central Europe, where, in the area between the Dnieper and Vistula rivers, they founded the first cities of Ukraine and Poland. Then they crossed the foothills of the Carpathians, settling along the banks of the Danube and on the Balkan Peninsula. The great territorial remoteness of the Proto-Slavs made adjustments to their language, customs and culture. Therefore, the group split into three branches: western, southern and eastern.

Eastern Slavs in ancient times

This branch of our forefathers occupied a vast territory. From Lakes Ladoga and Onega to the Black Sea region, from the Oka and Volga to the Carpathian Mountains, they plowed the land, conducted trade, and built temples. In total, historians name fifteen tribes of the Eastern Slavs. The Finno-Ugric tribes lived peacefully next to them - our ancestors were not overly warlike, but preferred to maintain good relations with everyone.

Activities of the Eastern Slavs

Our ancestors were farmers. They skillfully wielded a plow, a sickle, a hoe, and a plow with a ploughshare. The steppe inhabitants plowed expanses of virgin soil, first uprooted trees in the forest zone, and used the ash as fertilizer. Gifts of the earth were the basis of the Slavs' diet. Millet, rye, peas, wheat, barley, buckwheat, and oats were used for baking bread and cooking porridge. Industrial crops were also grown - flax and hemp, from whose fibers they spun threads and made fabrics. People treated domestic animals with special love, since each family raised cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, and poultry. Together with the Slavs, cats and dogs lived in their houses. Hunting, fishing, beekeeping, blacksmithing and pottery were developed at a very high level.

Religion of the Proto-Slavs

Before Christianity came to the Slavic lands, paganism reigned here. In ancient times, the Eastern Slavs worshiped a whole pantheon of gods who personified the forces of nature. Svarog, Svarozhich, Rod, Stribog, Dazhdbog, Veles, Perun had their own places of worship - temples where idols stood and sacrifices were made. The dead were burned on bonfires, and mounds were heaped over the ashes placed in a pot. Unfortunately, the Eastern Slavs in ancient times did not leave written evidence about themselves. The famous Veles book raises doubts among researchers about its authenticity. However, archaeologists find a large number of household items, weapons, remains of clothing, jewelry, and religious things. They can tell about the life of our ancestors no less than chronicles and legends.

Modern Slavic peoples were formed over a long period of time. They had many ancestors. These include the Slavs themselves and their neighbors, who significantly influenced the life, culture and religion of these tribes when they still lived according to the foundations of the tribal community.

Antes and Sklavins

Until now, historians and archaeologists have put forward a variety of theories about who the Slavic ancestors could have been. The ethnogenesis of this people took place in an era from which almost no written sources remain. Experts had to reconstruct the early history of the Slavs bit by bit. The Byzantine chronicles are of great value. It was the Eastern Roman Empire that had to experience the pressure of the tribes that eventually formed the Slavic people.

The first evidence of them dates back to the 6th century. The Slavic ancestors were called Ants in Byzantine sources. The famous historian wrote about them. At first, the Antes lived in the area between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers in the territory of modern Ukraine. During their heyday, they lived in the steppes from the Don to the Balkans.

If the Ants belonged to the eastern group of Slavs, then to the west of them lived the related Sklavins. The first mention of them was in Jordanes’ book “Getica,” written in the middle of the 6th century. Sometimes the Sklavins were also called Veneti. These tribes lived on the territory of modern Czech Republic.

Social order

Residents of Byzantium believed that their Slavic ancestors were barbarians who did not know civilization. It really was like that. Both the Sklavins and the Antes lived under democracy. They did not have a single ruler and statehood. Early Slavic society consisted of many communities, the core of each of which was a specific clan. Such descriptions are found in Byzantine sources and are confirmed by the finds of modern archaeologists. The settlements consisted of large dwellings in which large families lived. There could be about 20 houses in one settlement. The Sklavins had a hearth, while the Ants had a stove. In the north, the Slavs built log houses.

The customs corresponded to cruel patriarchal mores. For example, ritual killings of wives were practiced at the grave of their spouse. The Slavic ancestors were engaged in agriculture, which was the main source of food. Wheat, millet, barley, oats, and rye were grown. Cattle were raised: sheep, pigs, ducks, chickens. The craft was poorly developed compared to Byzantium. It mainly served household needs.

Army and slavery

Gradually, a social stratum of warriors emerged in the community. They often organized raids on Byzantium and other neighboring countries. The goal was always the same - robbery and slaves. Ancient Slavic squads could include several thousand people. It was in the military environment that governors and princes appeared. The first ancestors of the Slavs fought with spears (less often with swords). A throwing weapon, the sulitsa, was also common. It was used not only in battle, but also in hunting.

It is known for certain that slavery was widespread among the Ants. The number of slaves could reach tens of thousands of people. These were mostly prisoners captured in the war. That is why there were many Byzantines among the Anta slaves. As a rule, the antes kept slaves in order to receive a ransom for them. However, some of them were employed in farming and crafts.

Invasion of the Avars

In the middle of the 6th century, the lands of the Antes came under attack from the Avars. These were nomadic tribes whose rulers bore the title of kagan. Their ethnicity remains a matter of debate: some consider them Turks, others consider them speakers of Iranian languages. The ancestors of the ancient Slavs, although they found themselves in a subordinate position, noticeably crowded out the Avars in numbers. This relationship led to confusion. The Byzantines (for example, John of Ephesus) completely identified the Slavs and Avars, although such an assessment was a mistake.

The invasion from the east led to a significant migration of people who had previously lived in one place for a long time. Together with the Avars, the Ants first moved to Pannonia (modern Hungary), and later began to invade the Balkans, which belonged to Byzantium.

The Slavs became the basis of the army of the Kaganate. The most famous episode of their confrontation with the empire was the siege of Constantinople in 626. The history of the ancient Slavs is known from brief episodes of their interaction with the Greeks. The siege of Constantinople became just such an example. Despite the assault, the Slavs and Avars failed to take the city.

Nevertheless, the onslaught of the pagans continued in the future. Back in 602, the Lombard king sent his shipbuilding masters to the Slavs. They settled in Dubrovnik. The first Slavic ships (monoxyls) appeared in this port. They took part in the already mentioned siege of Constantinople. And at the end of the 6th century, the Slavs laid siege to Thessalonica for the first time. Soon thousands of pagans moved to Thrace. At the same time, the Slavs appeared on the territory of modern Croatia and Serbia.

East Slavs

The unsuccessful siege of Constantinople in 626 undermined the strength of the Avar Khaganate. The Slavs everywhere began to get rid of the yoke of strangers. In Moravia, Samo led an uprising. He became the first Slavic prince known by name. At the same time, his fellow tribesmen began their expansion to the east. In the 7th century, the colonialists became neighbors of the Khazars. They managed to penetrate even into Crimea and reach the Caucasus. Where the ancestors of the Slavs lived and their settlements were founded, there was always a river or lake, as well as land suitable for cultivation.

The city of Kyiv appeared on the Dnieper, named after Prince Kiy. Here a new tribal union of the Polyans was formed, which, among several other such unions, replaced the Ants. In the 7th-8th centuries, three groups of Slavic peoples were finally formed, existing today (western, southern and eastern). The latter settled on the territory of modern Ukraine and Belarus, and in the area between the Volga and Oka rivers, their settlements ended up within the borders of Russia.

In Byzantium, the Slavs and Scythians were often identified. This was a serious Greek error. The Scythians belonged to Iranian tribes and spoke Iranian languages. During their heyday, they inhabited the Dnieper steppes, as well as the Crimea. When Slavic colonization reached there, regular conflicts began between the new neighbors. The cavalry owned by the Scythians posed a serious danger. The ancestors of the Slavs held off their invasions for many years, until finally the nomads were swept away by the Goths.

Tribal unions and cities of the Eastern Slavs

In the northeast, numerous Finno-Ugric tribes became neighbors of the Slavs, including the All and Merya. The settlements of Rostov, Beloozero and Staraya Ladoga appeared here. Another city, Novgorod, became an important political center. In 862, the Varangian Rurik began to reign there. This event marked the beginning of Russian statehood.

The cities of the Eastern Slavs appeared mainly in places where the Path from the Varangians to the Greeks ran. This trade artery led from the Baltic Sea to Byzantium. Along the way, merchants transported valuable goods: ambergris, whale skin, amber, marten and sable furs, honey, wax, etc. The goods were delivered on boats. The ships' route ran along rivers. Part of the route ran on land. In these areas, the boats were transported by portage, as a result of which the cities of Toropets and Smolensk appeared in the places of portage.

The East Slavic tribes lived separately from each other for a long time, and often were completely hostile and fought among themselves. This made them vulnerable to their neighbors. For this reason, at the beginning of the 9th century, some East Slavic tribal unions began to pay tribute to the Khazars. Others were heavily dependent on the Varangians. “The Tale of Bygone Years” mentions a dozen such tribal unions: Buzhans, Volynians, Dregovichs, Drevlyans, Krivichis, Polyans, Polochans, Severians, Radimichis, Tivertsi, White Croats and Ulichs. They all developed a unified culture only in the 11th-12th centuries. after the formation of Kievan Rus and the adoption of Christianity. Later, this ethnic group was divided into Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. This is the answer to the question of whose ancestors the Eastern Slavs are.

Southern Slavs

The Slavs who settled the Balkans gradually separated from their other tribesmen and formed the South Slavic tribes. Today their descendants are Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosnians, Macedonians, Montenegrins and Slovenes. If the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs settled mostly empty lands, then their southern brothers inherited a region in which there were many settlements founded by the Romans. The roads along which pagans quickly moved across the Balkans also remained from ancient civilization. Before them, Byzantium ruled the peninsula. However, the empire had to cede the region to strangers due to constant wars in the east with the Persians and internal turmoil.

In the new lands, the ancestors of the South Slavs mixed with the autochthonous (local) Greek population. In the mountains, the colonialists had to face resistance from the Vlachs, as well as Albanians. Also, outsiders clashed with Christian Greeks. The resettlement of the Slavs to the Balkans ended in the 620s.

Neighborhood with Christians and regular contacts with them had a great influence on the new masters of the Balkans. The paganism of the Slavs in this region was eradicated most quickly. Christianization was both natural and encouraged by Byzantium. At first, the Greeks, trying to understand who the Slavs were, sent embassies to them, and then preachers followed them. Emperors regularly sent missionaries to dangerous neighbors, hoping to thereby increase their influence over the barbarians. For example, the baptism of Serbs began under Heraclius, who ruled in 610-641. The process was gradual. The new religion established itself among the southern Slavs in the second half of the 9th century. Then the princes of Raska were baptized, after which they converted their subjects to the Christian faith.

It is interesting that if the Serbs became the flock of the eastern church in Constantinople, then their Croat brothers turned their gaze to the west. This was due to the fact that in 812 the Frankish emperor Charlemagne concluded an agreement with the king of Byzantium, Michael I Rangave, according to which part of the Adriatic coast of the Balkans became dependent on the Franks. They were Catholics and during their short rule in the region they baptized Croats according to their Western custom. And although in the 9th century the Christian Church was still considered united, the great schism of 1054 significantly alienated Catholics and Orthodox from each other.

Western Slavs

The western group of Slavic tribes settled vast territories from the Elbe to the Carpathians. She laid the foundation for the Polish, Czech and Slovak people. To the west lived the Bodrichi, Lyutichs, Lusatians and Pomeranians. In the 6th century, this Polabian group of Slavs occupied about a third of the territory of modern Germany. Conflicts between tribes of different ethnic origins were constant. The new colonialists ousted the Lombards, Varins and Rugs (who spoke English) from the shores of the Baltic Sea.

An interesting evidence of the presence of the Slavs on what is now German soil is the name of Berlin. Linguists have discovered the nature of the origin of this word. In the language of the Polabian Slavs, “burlin” meant a dam. There are many of them in northeast Germany. This is how far the ancestors of the Slavs penetrated. Back in 623, these same colonists joined Prince Samo in his rebellion against the Avars. Periodically, under the successors of Charlemagne, the Polabian Slavs entered into an alliance with the Franks in their campaigns against the Khaganate.

German feudal lords began an offensive against outsiders in the 9th century. Gradually, the Slavs living on the banks of the Elbe submitted to them. Today, all that remains of them are small isolated groups, including several thousand people, who have retained their own unique dialect, unlike even Polish. In the Middle Ages, the Germans called all neighboring Western Slavs Vendians.

Language and writing

To understand who the Slavs are, it is best to turn to the history of their language. Once upon a time, when this people was still united, they had one dialect. It was called the Proto-Slavic language. There are no written monuments left from him. What is known is that it belonged to the vast Indo-European family of languages, which makes it similar to many other languages: Germanic, Romance, etc. Some linguists and historians put forward additional theories about its origin. According to one hypothesis, the Proto-Slavic language at some stage of its development was part of the Proto-Balto-Slavic language, until the Baltic languages ​​separated into their own group.

Gradually, each nation developed its own dialect. Based on one of these dialects, spoken by the Slavs who lived in the vicinity of the city of Thessaloniki, the brothers Cyril and Methodius created Slavic Christian writing in the 9th century. The Enlighteners did this by order of the Byzantine emperor. Writing was necessary for the translation of Christian books and sermons among the pagans. Over time, it became known as the Cyrillic alphabet. This alphabet today is the basis of the Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian and Montenegrin languages. The rest of the Slavs who converted to Catholicism use the Latin alphabet.

In the 20th century, archaeologists began to find many artifacts that became monuments of ancient Cyrillic writing. Novgorod became the key place for these excavations. Thanks to finds in its vicinity, experts learned a lot about what ancient Slavic writing and culture was like.

For example, the so-called Gnezdovo inscription, made on a clay jug in the middle of the 10th century, is considered to be the oldest East Slavic text in Cyrillic. The artifact was found in 1949 by archaeologist Daniil Avdusin. A thousand kilometers away, back in 1912, a lead seal with a Cyrillic inscription was discovered in an ancient Kyiv church. Archaeologists who deciphered it decided that it means the name of Prince Svyatoslav, who reigned in 945-972. It is interesting that at that time paganism remained the main religion in Rus', although Christianity and the same Cyrillic alphabet were already in Bulgaria. in such ancient inscriptions help to more accurately identify the artifact.

The question of whether the Slavs had their own written language before the adoption of Christianity remains open. Fragmentary mentions of it are found in some authors of that era, but these inaccurate evidence is not enough to create a complete picture. Perhaps the Slavs used cuts and features to convey information through images. Such writings could be of a ritual nature and used for fortune telling.

Religion and culture

Pre-Christian paganism of the Slavs developed over several centuries and acquired independent unique features. This belief consisted of the spiritualization of nature, animism, animatism, the cult of supernatural powers, veneration of ancestors and magic. The original mythological texts, which would help lift the veil of secrecy over Slavic paganism, have not survived to this day. Historians can judge this faith only from annals, chronicles, testimonies of foreigners and other secondary sources.

In the mythology of the Slavs, features inherent in other Indo-European cults can be traced. For example, in the pantheon there are also wars (Perun), the god of the other world and cattle (Veles), and a deity with the image of the Sky Father (Stribog). All this in one form or another also exists in Iranian, Baltic and German mythology.

For the Slavs, gods were the highest sacred beings. The fate of any person depended on their complacency. In the most important, responsible and dangerous moments, each tribe turned to its supernatural patrons. Sculptures of gods (idols) were common among the Slavs. They were made of wood and stone. The most famous episode related to idols was mentioned in the chronicles in connection with the Baptism of Rus'. Prince Vladimir, as a sign of acceptance of the new faith, ordered the idols of the old gods to be thrown into the Dnieper. This act became a clear demonstration of the beginning of a new era. Even despite Christianization, which began at the end of the 10th century, paganism continued to live, especially in the remote and bearish corners of Rus'. Some of its features mixed with Orthodoxy and were preserved in the form of folk customs (for example, calendar holidays). Interestingly, Slavic names often appeared as references to religious views (for example, Bogdan - “given by God,” etc.).

For the worship of pagan spirits there were special sanctuaries called temples. The life of the ancestors of the Slavs was closely connected with these sacred places. Temple premises existed only among the western tribes (Poles, Czechs), while their eastern counterparts did not have such buildings. Old Russian sanctuaries were open groves. Rituals of worship of the gods were held at the temples.

In addition to idols, the Slavs, like the Baltic tribes, had sacred boulder stones. Perhaps this custom was adopted from the Finno-Ugrians. The cult of ancestors was associated with Slavic funeral rites. During the funeral, ritual dances and chants (trizna) were held. The body of the deceased was not buried, but burned at the stake. The ashes and remaining bones were collected in a special vessel, which was left at a pole on the road.

The history of the ancient Slavs would have been completely different if all the tribes had not accepted Christianity. Both Orthodoxy and Catholicism included them in a single European medieval civilization.

There is an opinion everywhere that the real history of the Slavs begins with the Christianization of Rus'.

It turns out that before this event the Slavs did not seem to exist, since, one way or another, a person, reproducing, inhabiting the territory, leaves behind a trace in the form of a system of beliefs, writing, language, rules governing the relationship of fellow tribesmen, architectural buildings, rituals, legends and legends.

Based on modern history, writing and literacy came to the Slavs from Greece, law - from Rome, religion - from Judea.

Raising the Slavic theme, the first thing that Slavism is associated with is paganism. But let me draw your attention to the essence of this word: “language” means people, “nik” means none, unknown, i.e. a pagan is a representative of an alien, unfamiliar faith.

Can we be gentiles and pagans to ourselves?

The Christian religion came from Israel, just as history came from the Jewish Torah. Christianity has existed on Earth for only 2000 years, in Rus' - 1000. Considering these dates from the perspective of the Universe, they seem insignificant, because the ancient knowledge of any people goes far beyond these figures.

It’s strange to think that everything that existed long before Christianity was developed, collected, passed on from generation to generation - heresy and delusions. It turns out that all people on Earth have lived for centuries in illusion, self-deception and delusion.

Returning to the Slavs, how were they able to create so many beautiful works of art: literature, architecture, architecture, painting, weaving, etc., if they were ignorant forest dwellers?

Raising the richest Slavic-Aryan Heritage, the Slavs appeared on Earth long before representatives of other nations. Previously, the term “earth” had the same meaning as the Greek name “planet”, i.e. a celestial object moving in its orbit around the sun.

Our Earth had the name Midgard, where “mid” or “middle” means middle, “gard” - city, city, i.e. the middle world (remember the shamanic idea of ​​the structure of the Universe, where our Earth was connected with the middle world).

About 460,500 years ago, our ancestors landed on the north pole of Midgard-Earth. Since that period, our planet has undergone significant changes, both climatic and geographical.

P class="-11">In those distant times, the North Pole was a continent rich in flora and fauna, the island of Buyan, on which lush vegetation grew, which our ancestors settled.

The Slavic Family consisted of representatives of four nations: Da'Aryans, Kh'Aryans, Rasens and Svyatorus.

The Da'Aryans were the first to arrive on Midgard-Earth. They came from the Star System of the constellation Zimun or Ursa Minor, the land of Paradise. The color of their eyes - gray, silver - corresponded to the sun of their system, which was called Tara.

They named the northern continent, where they settled, Daariya. Next came the Kh'Aryans. Their homeland is the constellation Orion, the land of Troara, the sun - Rada - green, which is imprinted in the color of their eyes.

Then the Svyatorus arrived - blue-eyed Slavs from the constellation Mokosh or Ursa Major, who called themselves Svaga. Later, brown-eyed Rasens appeared from the constellation Rasa and the land of Ingard, the Dazhdbog-Sun system or modern beta Leo.

If we talk about the nationalities belonging to the four Great Slavic-Aryan Clans, then from the Da'Aryans came the Siberian Russians, northwestern Germans, Danes, Dutch, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, etc.

From the Kh'Aryan Family came the Eastern and Pomeranian Rus, Scandinavians, Anglo-Saxons, Normans (or Muromets), Gauls, and Belovodsk Rusichs.

The clan of Svyatorus - blue-eyed Slavs - is represented by northern Russians, Belarusians, Polans, Poles, East Prussians, Serbs, Croats, Macedonians, Scotts, Irish, Ases from Iria, i.e. Assyrians.

The grandchildren of Dazhdbozhy, the Rasens are the Western Rosses, the Etruscans (Russian ethnic group or, as the Greeks called them, these Russians), Moldavians, Italians, Franks, Thracians, Goths, Albanians, Avars, etc.

The ancestral home of our ancestors is Hyperborea (Boreas - north wind, hyper - strong) or Daaria (from the first Slavic family of Da'Aryans who populated the Earth) - the northern continent of Midgard-Earth.

Here was the source of ancient Vedic knowledge, grains of which are now scattered throughout the Earth among various peoples.

But our ancestors had to sacrifice their homeland to save Midgard-Earth. In those distant times, the Earth had 3 satellites: the Moon Lelyu with a revolution period of 7 days, Fattu - 13 days and the Moon - 29.5 days.

The Dark Forces from the technogenic galaxy of 10,000 planets (darkness corresponds to 10,000), or, as they also call it, the Pekel World (i.e., the lands there are not yet fully developed, just “baking”) took a fancy to Lelya and deployed their forces on her and directed their blow to Midgard-Earth.

Our ancestor and Supreme God, Tarkh, the son of God Perun, saved the Earth, defeating Lelya and destroying the kingdom of the Kashchei. Hence the custom of beating eggs on Easter, which symbolizes the victory of Tarkh Perunovich over Kashchei, a mortal demon who found his death in an egg (a prototype of the Moon).

This event happened 111,814 years ago and became a new starting point for the Great Migration. So the waters of Lelya poured onto Midgard-Earth, flooding the Northern Continent. As a result, Daaria sank to the bottom of the Arctic (Icy) Ocean.

This became the reason for the Great Migration of Slavic clans from Daria to Rasenia along the isthmus to the lands lying to the south (the remains of the isthmus were preserved in the form of the Novaya Zemlya islands).

The Great Migration lasted 16 years. Thus, 16 became a sacred number for the Slavs. The Slavic Svarog circle or zodiac, consisting of 16 Heavenly Halls, is based on it.

16 years is a full part of the circle of years of 144 years, consisting of 16 years passing through 9 elements, where the last 16 year was considered sacred.

Gradually, our ancestors populated the territory from the Ripeian mountains, covered with burdock, or the Ural, which means lying near the Sun: U Ra (Sun, Light, Radiance) L (bed), to Altai and the Lena River, where Al or Alnost is the highest structure, hence reality - repetition, reflection of Alness; tai - top, i.e. Altai is both mountains containing the richest mine deposits, and a center of energy, a place of Power. From Tibet to the Indian Ocean in the south (Iran), later in the southwest (India).

106,786 years ago, our ancestors again built Asgard (the city of Asov) at the confluence of Iria and Omi, erecting Alatyr-Mountain - a temple complex 1000 Arshin high (more than 700 m), consisting of four pyramid-shaped Temples (Temples), located one above the other .

And so the Holy Race settled: the Clans of the Ases - the Gods living on Earth, the Country of the Ases throughout the territory of Midgard-Earth, multiplied and became the Great Family, forming the country of the Ases - Asia, in modern terms - Asia, building the state of the Aryans - Great Tartaria.

They called their country Belovodye from the name of the Iriy River, on which Asgard Iriysky was built (Iriy - white, pure). Siberia is the northern part of the country, i.e. Northern Truly Divine Iriy).

Later, the Clans of the Great Race, driven by the harsh Daarian wind, began to move further south, settling on different continents. Prince Skand settled the northern part of Venea.

Later, this territory began to be called Skando(i)nav(i)ya, because, when the prince was dying, he said that his Spirit after death would protect this Earth (Navya is the soul of the deceased living in the world of Navi, in contrast to the world of Revealing) .

The Van clans settled Transcaucasia, then, due to drought, moved south of Scandinavia, to the territory of modern Netherlands. In memory of their Ancestors, residents of the Netherlands keep the prefix Van in their surnames (Van Gogh, Van Beethoven, etc.).

The clans of God Veles - the inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland named one of the provinces Wales or Wels in honor of their ancestor and patron.

The Svyatorus clans settled in the eastern and southern parts of Venia, as well as the Baltic states.

In the eastern part is the country of Gardarika (a country of many cities), consisting of Novgorod Rus', Pomeranian Russia (Latvia and Prussia), Red Rus' (Rzeczpospolita), White Russia (Belarus), Lesser Russia (Kievan Russia), Middle Russia (Muscovy, Vladimir), Carpathian (Hungarians, Romanians), Silver (Serbs).

The clans of God Perun settled Persia, and the Kh'Aryans settled Arabia.

The clans of God Nya settled on the Antlan mainland and began to be called Ants. There they lived together with the indigenous population with Fire-colored skin, to whom they passed on secret knowledge.

Just remember the fall of the Inca civilization, when the Indians mistook the conquistadors for the White Gods, or another fact - the patron of the Indians is the flying Serpent Queizacoatl, described as a white man with a beard.

Antlan (doe is an inhabited territory, i.e. the country of the Ants) or, as the Greeks called it, Atlantis, became a powerful civilization, where people over time began to abuse their knowledge, as a result of which, violating the laws of nature, they brought down the moon Fattu on the Earth, themselves and they flooded their peninsula.

As a result of the catastrophe, the Svarog circle or Zodiac was shifted, the Earth's rotation axis tilted to one side, and Winter, or Madder in Slavic, began to cover the Earth with its snow cloak for a third of the year. All this happened 13,016 years ago and became the starting point of the new chronology from the Great Cooling.

The Ant clans moved to the country of Ta-Kem, where they lived with people with skin the color of Darkness, taught them sciences, crafts, agriculture, and the construction of pyramidal tombs, which is why Egypt began to be called the country of man-made mountains.

The first four dynasties of pharaohs were white, then they began to train chosen ones from indigenous peoples to become pharaohs.

Later, a war occurred between the Great Race and the Great Dragon (Chinese), as a result of which a Peace Treaty was signed in the Star Temple (Observatory) between Asur (As - earthly God, Ur - inhabited territory) and Ahriman (Arim, Ahriman - a person with a darker color skin).

This event occurred 7516 years ago and became the starting point of the new chronology from the creation of the World in the Star Temple.

The Slavs were called Asami - Gods living on Earth, children of the heavenly Gods - the Creators. They were never slaves, a “dumb herd” without the right to choose.

The Slavs never worked (the root of the word “work” is “slave”), they never seized other people’s territories by force (the Greeks called them tyrants or tyrens because they did not allow their lands to be seized), they worked for the good of their Family, they were the owners of the results of your labor.

The Slavs sacredly revered the laws of RITA - the laws of Race and Blood, which did not allow incestuous marriages. For this, Russians are often called racists. Again, you need to look at the root to understand the deepest Wisdom of our Ancestors.

The globe, like a magnet, is represented by two opposite poles. White peoples inhabited the North positive pole, black peoples inhabited the southern negative pole. All physical and energetic systems of the body were adjusted in accordance with the work of these poles.

Therefore, in the case of a marriage between a white and a black person, the child is deprived of clan support from both parents: +7 and -7 add up to zero. Such children are more susceptible to diseases, because deprived of full immune protection, they often become revolutionary aggressors, protesting against systems that did not accept them.

Now the Indian teaching about chakras has become widespread, according to which there are 7 main chakras located in the human body along the line of the spine, but then the question arises: why does the energy in the head area change its signs: if the right side of the body has a positive charge, then the right hemisphere will have a negative one .

If energy, like an electric current, flows in a straight line without being refracted anywhere, it cannot simply change its sign to the opposite one.

Our ancestors said that there are 9 main chakras in the human body: 7 are located along the line of the spine, 2 in the armpits, forming an energy cross.

Thus, the flow of energy is refracted in the center of the cross, changing its sign to the opposite. Jesus Christ also said that everyone carries his own cross, i.e. Everyone has their own energy cross.

Now scientists are ridiculing the ancient ideas about the structure of the Universe, which is shaped like a disk resting on three elephants, which, in turn, stand on a turtle swimming in the vast oceans of the world. The picture seems naive and stupid if you look at things flatly.

The Slavs have always been famous for their imaginative thinking; behind every word, every image you need to look for a series of meanings. The flat disk of the Earth was associated with flat everyday thinking and dual consciousness, thinking in yes-no categories.

This world rests on three elephants: matter, as the basis of the West, idea, the basis of the Arab East, and transcendentalism or mysticism, the basis of India, Tibet, Nepal, etc.

The turtle is the source, the primordial knowledge from which “elephants” draw their energy. The North is precisely such a turtle for other peoples, directly connected to the Primordial Knowledge - the ocean of Limitless Knowledge and Absolute Truth (energy).

The simplest solar symbol of the Slavs is the swastika, which was widely used by Hitler, which left a negative imprint on the symbol of human structure.

On the other hand, Hitler’s main goal was world domination, to achieve which he used the most powerful and advanced weapons; he took as a basis neither Egyptian hieroglyphs, nor Jewish or Arab cabalistic signs, but rather Slavic symbols.

After all, what is a Swastika - this is an image of a cross in motion, this is a harmonious number four, indicating the presence in any descendant of the Slavic-Aryan peoples of the Body that his parents endowed him with, the Soul that the Gods inhabited this body, the Spirit - communication with the Gods and protection Ancestors and Conscience, as a measure of all human deeds.

Let us at least remember the holiday of Kupala, when people washed themselves in rivers (cleansed the body), jumped over a fire (purified the Soul), walked on coals (purified the Spirit).

The swastika also pointed to the structure of the Universe, consisting of our Reality World, two Navi worlds: dark Navi and light Navi, i.e. Glory and peace to the Most High Gods - Rule.

If we turn to the Western hierarchy of worlds, it is represented by the physical world, corresponding to the World of Revealing, which is washed on both sides by the astral plane, corresponding to Navi, and above that comes the mental one, as an analogue of Slavi. In this case there is no talk of a higher World of Rule.

From school, children are told that the ignorant Slavs were taught to read and write by Greek monks, forgetting that these same monks took the Slavic initial letter as a basis, but, since it could only be understood in images, they excluded a number of letters, changing the interpretation of the remaining ones.

Subsequently, the language became more and more simplified. The Slavs always had two prefixes without- and bes-, where without meant absence, demon - belonging to an inhabitant of the dark world, i.e., when we say immortal, we mean a mortal demon, if we say immortal, it will mean something completely different - the absence of death .

The initial letter of the Slavs carried a huge meaning. At first glance, the same sounding word could carry a completely different meaning. So the word “peace” can be interpreted in completely different ways, depending on which letter “and” is used.

Peace through “and” meant a state without war, because. the figurative meaning of “and” is the connection of two streams. The world through “i” had a Universal meaning, where the dot denoted the Supreme God the Progenitor. Peace through; was interpreted as a community, where two dots denoted the union of the Gods and Ancestors, and so on.

Often scientists see a kind of underdevelopment in the polytheism of the Slavs. But again, superficial judgments do not provide an understanding of the issue.

The Slavs consider the Great Unknown Being as God's Progenitor, whose name is Ra-M-Ha (Ra - light, radiance, M - peace, Ha - positive force), who manifested himself in the New Reality, from the contemplation of this reality was illuminated by the Great Light of joy, and from this of the light of joy, various Worlds and Universes, Gods and Ancestors were born, direct descendants, i.e. whose children we are.

If Ramha manifested itself into the New Reality, it means that there is still some higher Old Reality, and above it there is another and another.

In order to understand and know all this, for the Slavs the Gods and Ancestors established the Path of Spiritual Revival and Improvement through creation, awareness of various worlds and infinities, development to the level of Gods, because The Slavic Gods are the same people - Ases, who inhabited various Earths, created for the benefit of the Family, and passed the Path of Spiritual Improvement.

The images of the Slavic Gods were not and could not be photographic; they did not convey the shell, did not make a copy, but conveyed the essence of the Deity, the main grain and the Divine structure.

So Perun with a raised sword personified the protection of the Clans, Svarog with a sword with the tip down guarded the Ancient Wisdom. He is God because he could take on different guises in the Obvious World, but His Essence remained the same.

The same superficial understanding attributes human sacrifice to the Slavs. Western materialists, attached to the body, identifying the physical shell with a person, cannot understand that people did not burn in fire, but used fire (remember the chariots of fire) as a means of transportation to other worlds and realities.

Thus, Slavic knowledge has a rich history and culture; the roots of that wisdom go back centuries and millennia.

We, as direct descendants of our Slavic Gods and Ancestors, have an internal key to the system of this knowledge, by opening which, we open the Bright Path of Spiritual Development and Improvement, we open our eyes and hearts, we begin to see, know, live, know and understand.

All Wisdom is inside a person (Wisdom is not inside a person. Here the author is mistaken. A person is born an animal. Further, with proper development and upbringing, he has a chance to become a “reasonable animal” and actually a person. For more information about this, see the book by Academician N.V. Levashova "Last Appeal to Humanity" . — D.B.), you just need to want to see it and realize it. Our Gods are always nearby and ready to help at any moment, like our parents, ready to lay down their lives for their children.

Only children often don’t understand this; they look for the Truth in other people’s houses, in overseas countries. Parents are always tolerant and kind to their children, contact them and they will always help.

« Advisor" - a guide to good books.

The Slavs are perhaps one of the largest ethnic communities in Europe, and there are numerous myths about the nature of their origin.

But what do we really know about the Slavs?

Who the Slavs are, where they came from, and where their ancestral home is, we will try to figure it out.

Origin of the Slavs

There are several theories of the origin of the Slavs, according to which some historians attribute them to a tribe permanently residing in Europe, others to the Scythians and Sarmatians who came from Central Asia, and there are many other theories. Let's consider them sequentially:

The most popular theory is the Aryan origin of the Slavs.

The authors of this hypothesis are the theorists of the “Norman history of the origin of Rus',” which was developed and put forward in the 18th century by a group of German scientists: Bayer, Miller and Schlozer, for the substantiation of which the Radzvilov or Königsberg Chronicle was concocted.

The essence of this theory was as follows: the Slavs are an Indo-European people who migrated to Europe during the Great Migration of Peoples, and were part of some ancient “German-Slavic” community. But as a result of various factors, having broken away from the civilization of the Germans and finding itself on the border with the wild eastern peoples, and becoming cut off from the advanced Roman civilization at that time, it fell so far behind in its development that the paths of their development radically diverged.

Archeology confirms the existence of strong intercultural ties between the Germans and the Slavs, and in general the theory is more than respectable if you remove the Aryan roots of the Slavs from it.

The second popular theory is more European in nature, and it is much older than the Norman one.

According to his theory, the Slavs were no different from other European tribes: Vandals, Burgundians, Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Gepids, Getae, Alans, Avars, Dacians, Thracians and Illyrians, and were of the same Slavic tribe

The theory was quite popular in Europe, and the idea of ​​​​the origin of the Slavs from the ancient Romans, and Rurik from the Emperor Octavian Augustus, was very popular with historians of that time.

The European origin of peoples is also confirmed by the theory of the German scientist Harald Harmann, who called Pannonia the homeland of Europeans.

But I still like a simpler theory, which is based on a selective combination of the most plausible facts from other theories of the origin of not so much the Slavic, but the European peoples as a whole.

I don’t think I need to tell you that the Slavs are strikingly similar to both the Germans and the ancient Greeks.

So, the Slavs, like other European peoples, came from Iran after the flood, and they landed in Illaria, the cradle of European culture, and from here, through Pannonia, they went to explore Europe, fighting and assimilating with the local peoples, from whom they came acquired their differences.

Those who remained in Illaria created the first European civilization, which we now know as the Etruscans, while the fate of other peoples depended largely on the place they chose for settlement.

It’s hard for us to imagine, but virtually all European peoples and their ancestors were nomads. The Slavs were like that too...

Remember the ancient Slavic symbol that fit so organically into Ukrainian culture: the crane, which the Slavs identified with their most important task, exploration of territories, the task of going, settling and covering more and more new territories.

Just as cranes flew into unknown distances, so the Slavs walked across the continent, burning out forests and organizing settlements.

And as the population of the settlements grew, they collected the strongest and healthiest young men and women and sent them on a long journey, as scouts, to explore new lands.

Age of the Slavs

It is difficult to say when the Slavs emerged as a single people from the pan-European ethnic mass.

Nestor attributes this event to the Babylonian pandemonium.

Mavro Orbini by 1496 BC, about which he writes: “At the indicated time, the Goths and Slavs were of the same tribe. And having subjugated Sarmatia, the Slavic tribe was divided into several tribes and received different names: Wends, Slavs, Ants, Verls, Alans, Massetians... Vandals, Goths, Avars, Roskolans, Polyans, Czechs, Silesians....”

But if we combine the data of archaeology, genetics and linguistics, we can say that the Slavs belonged to the Indo-European community, which most likely emerged from the Dnieper archaeological culture, which was located between the Dnieper and Don rivers, seven thousand years ago during the Stone Age.

And from here the influence of this culture spread to the territory from the Vistula to the Urals, although no one has yet been able to accurately localize it.

Around four thousand years BC, it again split into three conditional groups: the Celts and Romans in the West, the Indo-Iranians in the East, and the Germans, Balts and Slavs in Central and Eastern Europe.

And around the 1st millennium BC, the Slavic language appeared.

Archeology, however, insists that the Slavs are carriers of the “culture of subklosh burials,” which received its name from the custom of covering cremated remains with a large vessel.

This culture existed in the V-II centuries BC between the Vistula and the Dnieper.

The ancestral home of the Slavs

Orbini sees Scandinavia as the original Slavic land, referring to a number of authors: “The descendants of Japheth, the son of Noah, moved north to Europe, penetrating into the country now called Scandinavia. There they multiplied innumerably, as St. Augustine points out in his “City of God,” where he writes that the sons and descendants of Japheth had two hundred homelands and occupied the lands located north of Mount Taurus in Cilicia, along the Northern Ocean, half of Asia, and throughout Europe all the way to the British Ocean."

Nestor calls the homeland of the Slavs the lands along the lower reaches of the Dnieper and Pannonia.

The prominent Czech historian Pavel Safarik believed that the ancestral home of the Slavs should be sought in Europe in the vicinity of the Alps, from where the Slavs left for the Carpathians under the pressure of Celtic expansion.

There was even a version about the ancestral home of the Slavs, located between the lower reaches of the Neman and Western Dvina, and where the Slavic people themselves were formed, in the 2nd century BC, in the Vistula River basin.

The Vistula-Dnieper hypothesis about the ancestral home of the Slavs is by far the most popular.

It is sufficiently confirmed by local toponyms, as well as vocabulary.

Plus, the areas of the Podklosh burial culture already known to us fully correspond to these geographical characteristics!

Origin of the name "Slavs"

The word “Slavs” came into common use already in the 6th century AD, among Byzantine historians. They were spoken of as allies of Byzantium.

The Slavs themselves began to call themselves that in the Middle Ages, judging by the chronicles.

According to another version, the names come from the word “word”, since the “Slavs”, unlike other peoples, knew how to both write and read.

Mavro Orbini writes: “During their residence in Sarmatia, they took the name “Slavs”, which means “glorious”.

There is a version that relates the self-name of the Slavs to the territory of origin, and according to it, the name is based on the name of the river “Slavutich”, the original name of the Dnieper, which contains a root with the meaning “to wash”, “to cleanse”.

An important, but completely unpleasant version for the Slavs states that there is a connection between the self-name “Slavs” and the Middle Greek word for “slave” (σκλάβος).

It was especially popular in the Middle Ages.

The idea that the Slavs, as the most numerous people in Europe at that time, made up the largest number of slaves and were a sought-after commodity in the slave trade, has a place to be.

Let us remember that for many centuries the number of Slavic slaves supplied to Constantinople was unprecedented.

And, realizing that the Slavs were dutiful and hardworking slaves in many ways superior to all other peoples, they were not just a sought-after commodity, but also became the standard idea of ​​a “slave.”

In fact, through their own labor, the Slavs ousted other names for slaves from use, no matter how offensive it may sound, and again, this is only a version.

The most correct version lies in a correct and balanced analysis of the name of our people, by resorting to which one can understand that the Slavs are a community united by one common religion: paganism, who glorified their gods with words that they could not only pronounce, but also write!

Words that had a sacred meaning, and not the bleating and mooing of barbarian peoples.

The Slavs brought glory to their gods, and glorifying them, glorifying their deeds, they united into a single Slavic civilization, a cultural link of pan-European culture.