The culture of Ancient Rus' is the culture of Rus' during the period of the Old Russian state from its formation in the 9th century (see also the pre-Christian culture of Ancient Rus') to the Tatar-Mongol invasion (1237-1240).
The creation of the Slavic alphabet is associated with the names of
the Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius. Cyril in the second half of the
9th century created the Glagolitic alphabet (Glagolitic), in which the
first translations of church books were written for the Slavic
population of Moravia and Pannonia. At the turn of the 9th-10th
centuries, on the territory of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, as a result
of the synthesis of the Greek script that had long been widespread here
and those elements of the Glagolitic alphabet that successfully conveyed
the features of the Slavic languages, an alphabet arose, which later
received the name Cyrillic. In the future, this easier and more
convenient alphabet replaced the Glagolitic alphabet and became the only
one among the southern and eastern Slavs.
Despite the fact that
Cyrillic writing was known in the Russian lands before, only after the
Baptism of Rus' did it become widespread. It also received a basis in
the form of a developed cultural tradition of Eastern Christianity. It
was essential that Christianity was adopted in its eastern, Orthodox
version, which, unlike Catholicism, allowed worship in national
languages. This created favorable conditions for the development of
writing in the native language. Needing literate people, Prince Vladimir
Svyatoslavich organized the first schools.
The oldest known
Russian written monuments are agreements with Byzantium of the 10th
century. They testify to the acquaintance of Rus' with the Cyrillic
alphabet even before the Baptism. However, their originals have not been
preserved. Only lists in the composition of The Tale of Bygone Years are
known. The oldest surviving Russian written monuments are the Novgorod
Code (Psalter and other texts) of the late 10th - early 11th century,
the Ostromir Gospel written by deacon Grigory for the Novgorod posadnik
Ostromir in 1057, and two Izborniks by Prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavovich
of 1073 and 1076. The high level of professional skill with which these
books were made testifies to the well-established production of
handwritten books already in the first half of the 11th century, as well
as to the skills of “book construction” that had been established by
that time.
The development of writing in Russian led to the fact
that the Russian Church from the very beginning did not become a
monopoly in the field of literacy and education. Literacy was not only
the privilege of the ruling class, it also penetrated the environment of
ordinary citizens. The spread of literacy among various strata of the
urban population is evidenced by birch bark letters discovered during
archaeological excavations in Novgorod and other cities and dated from
the period starting from the 11th century. These are letters, memos,
study exercises, etc. Thus, the letter was used not only to create
books, state and legal acts, but also in everyday life. Often there are
inscriptions on handicraft products. Ordinary citizens left numerous
records on the walls of churches in Kyiv, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vladimir
and other cities.
The main centers of literacy were monasteries
and cathedral churches, where there were special workshops with
permanent teams of scribes. They were engaged not only in the
correspondence of books, but also kept chronicles, created original
literary works, and translated foreign books. One of the leading centers
of this activity was the Kiev Caves Monastery, which developed a special
literary trend that had a great influence on the literature and culture
of Ancient Rus'. As the chronicles testify, already in the 11th century
in Rus', libraries with up to several hundred books were created at
monasteries and cathedral churches. The situation changed in the 12th
century, when the craft of "book copyists" also arose in large cities.
This testified to the growing literacy of the population and the
increased need for books, which the monastic scribes could not satisfy.
Many princes kept copyists of books, and some of them copied books on
their own.
Education was highly valued in ancient Russian
society. In the literature of that time one can find many panegyrics to
the book, statements about the benefits of books and "book teaching".
With the adoption of Christianity, Ancient Rus' was attached to book
culture. The Old Russian literary tradition was part of the Slavia
Orthodoxa, a literary community of Orthodox Slavs that existed from the
9th century until the beginning of the New Age in a single language
environment (Church Slavonic, its versions, as well as national literary
languages close to them) and had a single literary fund.
Old
Russian literature is characterized by a close connection with the
Byzantine and Bulgarian literary traditions and an ascetic Christian
orientation. Rus' assimilated the ascetic Byzantine tradition and did
not join the culture of Constantinople in the capital; it accepted only
Christian literature proper, excluding ancient literature, which was
widespread in Byzantium. One of the reasons for this is that a similar
situation has already been created in South Slavic literature, which has
become a model for Russian. The ancient heritage, which in Byzantium
became the basis of secular education, was perceived in Rus' as pagan,
and therefore harmful to the human soul and having no cultural value.
The literature of Rus' solved mainly non-literary tasks. The most
important principle of medieval culture "imitatio" (imitation, likening)
assumed that grace-filled gifts are acquired on the way of
familiarization with patterns, including verbal ones. Therefore, the
main task for the ancient Russian scribes was the salvation of the soul.
Almost the entire corpus of well-known literature had a theological and
religious-educational orientation, including chronicle monuments. Such a
type of Orthodox literature as "chet'i sborniks" was intended to form
the reader's skills in Christian service. The history recorded in the
annals was perceived primarily as the realization of God's providence.
This approach did not imply fiction, artistic fiction. Standing apart
among the surviving works is The Tale of Igor's Campaign.
With the adoption of Christianity, Rus' was attached to the book
culture. The development of Russian writing gradually became the basis
for the emergence of literature. Extensive translated literature became
the basis for the formation of their own tradition.
The original
literature of Ancient Rus' is characterized by great ideological
richness and high artistic perfection. Its prominent representative was
Metropolitan Hilarion, the author of the well-known work "The Sermon on
Law and Grace", dating from the middle of the 11th century. In this
work, the idea of the need for the unity of Rus' is carried out. Using
the form of a church sermon, Hilarion created a political treatise,
which reflected the pressing problems of Russian reality. Contrasting
“grace” (Christianity) with “law” (Judaism), Hilarion affirms the idea
of transferring heavenly attention and disposition from one chosen
people to all mankind, the equality of all peoples.
An
outstanding writer and historian was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk
monastery Nestor. His “Reading” about the princes Boris and Gleb and the
“Life of Theodosius”, valuable for the history of life, have been
preserved. "Reading" is written in a somewhat abstract style,
instructive and ecclesiastical elements are reinforced in it. Around
1113, an outstanding monument of ancient Russian chronicle writing, The
Tale of Bygone Years, was preserved as part of later chronicle
collections of the 14th-15th centuries. This work is compiled on the
basis of earlier chronicles - historical works dedicated to the past of
the Russian land. The author of the "Tale" was able to vividly and
figuratively tell about the emergence of Rus' and connect its history
with the history of other countries. The main attention in the Tale is
given to the events of political history, the deeds of princes and other
representatives of the nobility. The economic life and life of the
people are described in less detail. The religious worldview of its
compiler was clearly manifested in the annals: he sees the ultimate
cause of all events and actions of people in the action of divine
forces, Providence. However, religious differences and references to the
will of God often hide a practical approach to reality, the desire to
identify real causal relationships between events.
Theodosius,
hegumen of the Caves Monastery, about whom the monk of the same
monastery Nestor wrote, wrote several teachings and letters to Prince
Izyaslav.
Prince Vladimir Monomakh was an outstanding writer. His
"Instruction" painted the ideal image of a prince - a just ruler,
touched upon the pressing issues of our time: the need for a strong
princely power, unity in repelling nomadic raids, etc. "Instruction" is
a work of a secular nature. It is imbued with the immediacy of human
experiences, alien to abstraction and filled with real images and
examples taken from life.
The question of princely power in the
life of the state, the ways of its implementation and the duties of the
prince becomes one of the central ones in literature. The idea arises of
the need for strong power as a condition for a successful struggle
against external enemies and overcoming internal contradictions. These
reflections are embodied in one of the most talented works of the
12th-13th centuries, which has come down to us in two main editions of
the Word and the Prayer by Daniil Zatochnik. A staunch supporter of
strong princely power, Daniel writes with humor and sarcasm about the
sad reality surrounding him.
A special place in the literature of
Ancient Rus' is occupied by the "Tale of Igor's Campaign", dating from
the end of the 12th century. It tells about the unsuccessful campaign
against the Polovtsy in 1185 by the Novgorod-Seversky prince Igor
Svyatoslavovich. The description of this campaign serves as an occasion
for the author to reflect on the fate of the Russian land. The author
sees the reasons for the defeats in the struggle against the nomads, the
reasons for the disasters of Rus' in the princely civil strife, in the
egoistic policy of the princes, thirsting for personal glory. Central to
the "Word" is the image of the Russian land. The author belonged to the
milieu. He constantly used the concepts of “honor” and “glory” peculiar
to her.
The Mongol invasion had a great influence on Russian
culture. The first work dedicated to the invasion is “The Word about the
destruction of the Russian land”. The Word has not come down to us in
full. Also Batu's invasion is dedicated to "The Tale of the Devastation
of Ryazan by Batu" - an integral part of the cycle of stories about the
miraculous icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk. An example of the
preservation of the traditions of solemn and teacher eloquence in the
13th century is the instructions (“Word on lack of faith”, etc.) by
Serapion of Vladimir.
Until the end of the 10th century, there was no monumental stone
architecture in Rus', but there were rich traditions of wooden
construction, some forms of which subsequently influenced stone
architecture. Significant skills in the field of wooden architecture led
to the rapid development of stone architecture and its originality.
After the adoption of Christianity, the construction of stone temples
begins, the principles of construction of which were borrowed from
Byzantium. The Byzantine architects called to Kyiv passed on to the
Russian masters the extensive experience of the building culture of
Byzantium. The large churches of Kievan Rus, built after the adoption of
Christianity in 988, were the first examples of monumental architecture
in the Eastern Slavic lands. The architectural style of Kievan Rus was
established under the influence of the Byzantine. Early Orthodox
churches were mostly made of wood.
The first stone church of
Kievan Rus was the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv, the construction of
which dates back to 989. The church was built as a cathedral not far
from the prince's tower. In the first half of the 12th century, the
church underwent significant renovations. At this time, the southwestern
corner of the temple was completely rebuilt, a powerful pylon appeared
in front of the western facade, supporting the wall. These events, most
likely, were the restoration of the temple after a partial collapse due
to an earthquake.
Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, built in the 11th
century, is one of the most significant architectural structures of this
period. Initially, St. Sophia Cathedral was a five-nave cross-domed
church with 13 domes. On three sides, it was surrounded by a two-tier
gallery, and from the outside, by an even wider single-tier one. The
cathedral was built by the builders of Constantinople, with the
participation of Kyiv masters. At the turn of the 17th-18th centuries,
it was outwardly rebuilt in the Ukrainian baroque style. The temple is
included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
After the baptism of Rus', new types of monumental painting came from
Byzantium - mosaics and frescoes, as well as easel painting (icon
painting). Also, the iconographic canon was adopted from Byzantium, the
invariability of which was strictly guarded by the church. This
predetermined a longer and more stable Byzantine influence in painting
than in architecture.
The earliest surviving works of ancient
Russian painting were created in Kyiv. According to the chronicles, the
first temples were decorated by visiting Greek masters, who added to the
existing iconography a system for arranging plots in the interior of the
temple, as well as a manner of planar painting. The mosaics and frescoes
of St. Sophia Cathedral are known for their special beauty. They are
made in a strict and solemn manner, characteristic of Byzantine
monumental painting. Their creators skillfully used a variety of shades
of smalt, skillfully combined the mosaic with the fresco. Of the mosaic
works, the images of Christ the Almighty in the central dome are
especially significant. All images are imbued with the idea of
greatness, triumph and inviolability of the Orthodox Church and earthly
power.
Another unique monument of the secular painting of Ancient
Rus' is the wall paintings of the two towers of the Kyiv Sophia. They
depict scenes of princely hunting, circus competitions, musicians,
buffoons, acrobats, fantastic animals and birds, which somewhat
distinguishes them from ordinary church paintings. Among the frescoes in
Sofia are two group portraits of the family of Yaroslav the Wise.
In the 12th-13th centuries, local features began to appear in the
painting of individual cultural centers. This is typical for the
Novgorod land and the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Since the XII
century, a specific Novgorod style of monumental painting has been
formed, which reaches a fuller expression in the paintings of the
churches of St. George in Staraya Ladoga, the Annunciation in Arkazhy
and especially the Savior-Nereditsa. In these fresco cycles, in contrast
to the Kyiv ones, there is a noticeable desire to simplify artistic
techniques, to an expressive interpretation of iconographic types. In
easel painting, Novgorod features were less pronounced.
In
Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' of the pre-Mongolian period, fragments of frescoes
of the Dmitrievsky and Assumption Cathedrals in Vladimir and the Church
of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha, as well as several icons, have been
preserved. Based on this material, the researchers consider it possible
to talk about the gradual formation of the Vladimir-Suzdal school of
painting. The best preserved fresco of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral
depicting the Last Judgment. It was created by two masters - a Greek and
a Russian. Several large icons of the 12th - early 13th centuries belong
to the Vladimir-Suzdal school. The earliest of them is the
"Bogolyubskaya Mother of God", dating from the middle of the XII
century, stylistically close to the famous "Vladimir Mother of God",
which is of Byzantine origin.
Written sources testify to the richness and diversity of the folklore
of Ancient Rus'. A significant place in it was occupied by calendar
ritual poetry: incantations, spells, songs, which were an integral part
of the agrarian cult. Ritual folklore also included pre-wedding songs,
funeral laments, songs at feasts and feasts. Mythological tales,
reflecting the pagan ideas of the ancient Slavs, also became widespread.
For many years, the church, in an effort to eradicate the remnants of
paganism, waged a stubborn struggle against "vile" customs, "demonic
games" and "blasphemers". However, these types of folklore survived in
folk life until the 19th-20th centuries, having lost their initial
religious meaning over time, while the rites turned into folk games.
There were also such forms of folklore that were not associated with
a pagan cult. These include proverbs, sayings, riddles, fairy tales,
labor songs. The authors of literary works widely used them in their
work. Written monuments have preserved numerous traditions and legends
about the founders of tribes and princely dynasties, about the founders
of cities, about the struggle against foreigners. Thus, folk tales about
the events of the 2nd-6th centuries were reflected in the Tale of Igor's
Campaign.
In the 9th century, a new epic genre arose - the heroic
epic epic, which became the pinnacle of oral folk art and the result of
the growth of popular self-awareness. Epics are oral poetic works about
the past. Epics are based on real historical events, the prototypes of
some epic heroes are real people. So, the prototype of the epic Dobrynya
Nikitich was the uncle of Vladimir Svyatoslavich - the governor
Dobrynya, whose name is repeatedly mentioned in the ancient Russian
chronicles.
In turn, in the military estate, in the princely
retinue environment, there was their own oral poetry. In squad songs,
princes and their exploits were glorified. The princely squads had their
own "songwriters" - professionals who composed "glory" songs in honor of
the princes and their soldiers.
Folklore continued to develop
even after the spread of written literature, remaining an important
element of ancient Russian culture. In the following centuries, many
writers and poets used the plots of oral poetry and the arsenal of its
artistic means and techniques. Also in Rus', the art of playing the harp
was widespread, of which it is the birthplace.
Modern researchers have numerous evidence of how princes and boyars dressed. Verbal descriptions, images on icons, frescoes and miniatures, as well as fragments of fabrics from sarcophagi have been preserved. Various researchers compared these materials in their works with references to clothing in written documentary and narrative sources - chronicles, lives and various acts.
Kievan Rus was famous for its masters in applied and decorative arts,
who were fluent in various techniques: filigree, enamel, granulation,
niello, as evidenced by jewelry. L. Lyubimov in his book “The Art of
Ancient Rus'” gives a description of star-shaped silver kolts from the
Tver treasure of the 11th-12th centuries: “Six silver cones with balls
are soldered to a ring with a semicircular shield. 5000 tiny rings with
a diameter of 0.06 cm from wire 0.02 cm thick are soldered onto each
cone! Only microphotography made it possible to establish these
dimensions. But that's not all. The rings serve only as a pedestal for
the grain, so that another silver grain with a diameter of 0.04 cm is
planted on each one!
Jewelry was decorated with cloisonne enamel.
Masters used bright colors, skillfully selected colors. In the drawings,
mythological pagan plots and images were traced, which were especially
often used in applied art. They can be seen on carved wooden furniture,
household utensils, fabrics embroidered with gold, in carved bone
products, known in Western Europe under the name "carving of the
Taurus", "carving of the Rus".
Personal attire
In the culture
of the Slavs of the 8th-12th centuries, there is a flourishing of the
variety of temporal rings. Their design may have been influenced by Arab
and Byzantine culture. Since the second half of the 10th century, Slavic
temporal rings, like other jewelry, began to penetrate Scandinavia,
possibly together with their wearers, and as a means of payment - most
of these jewelry was found in treasures in the form of precious metal
(probably silver in Scandinavia valued more than in Rus').
The
most common type of pendants were pectoral crosses. The beginning of the
spread of Christianity in Rus' is documented by the spread of Christian
antiquities (pendant crosses, candles, etc.), mainly in retinue burial
complexes. They have been recorded since the middle - the third quarter
of the tenth century (before the official christening of Rus' in 988) in
the network of nodal points of the Old Russian state - in cities and
graveyards. Coins are known (Byzantine with Christian images and
Oriental, Samanid dirhams) with graffiti applied to them (in Rus'),
conveying the cross and Thor's hammer. Such Byzantine coins were worn as
icons. In addition, crosses were carved from dirhams. Graffiti in the
form of crosses and Thor's hammers could be depicted on household items.
The initial stage of Christianization (mid-second half of the 10th
century) is characterized by cross-shaped pendants made of sheet silver,
including those carved from dirhams. They were found in Gnezdovo, Kyiv,
Timerev, on the territory of Iskorosten, in the necropolis of Pskov. The
flow of coins on international routes was controlled and distributed by
the princely squad, whose religion became syncretic. This pre-Christian
era, in contrast to the later one, can be considered the period of "dual
faith".
In the period from the middle - second half of the 10th
century to the 12th century, there were pendant crosses of the so-called
"Scandinavian type" (crosses with three "balls" at the ends and similar
to them). They were found in Gnezdovo, Kyiv, Sarkel (Belaya Vezha),
Izborsk and other places. These could have been locally produced
products, since a bronze casting mold for their manufacture was found in
Kyiv. The concentration of crosses of the "Scandinavian type" is
observed in the land of the Radimichi and in the Vladimir-Suzdal opole.
Crosses of this type may be of Byzantine origin, since crosses similar
in style with ends in the form of shamrocks are known from the
excavations of Chersonesos and Corinth. Byzantine analogues also have
round pendants with carved crosses. Rarely are pectoral crosses with the
image of Christ, made of silver or bronze. They come mainly from cities,
less often from mounds located on the most important trade routes - the
Dnieper (the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks") and the Volga.
Reliquary crosses (encolpions), produced in Byzantine or Bulgarian
workshops of the 10th-11th centuries, are rare artifacts in Rus'. Icons
of the 11th century, in addition, come from Tmutarakan and from one
mound of the Suzdal opolye (Gorodishche village), excavated by A.S.
Uvarov. The crosses found in the chamber tombs demonstrate the role of
the squad in the processes of Christianization. The first wave of
Christianization affected the squad, so its representatives wore
pectoral crosses. Early Christianization covered the areas of Kiev, the
right bank of the Middle Dnieper (Iskorosten), Gnezdovo, the northwest
(Ladoga, Pskov, Novgorod), the Upper Volga region (Timerevo, Uglich),
the southwest (Plesnesk), the west (Minsk), the east (Ryazan, Voin) and
the Don basin (Belaya Vezha). Most of the finds of cruciform pendants in
Rus' and Scandinavia are identical, which may indicate the participation
of Rus' in the Christianization of Northern Europe.
In the mounds
of the second half of the 12th - early 13th centuries, the number of
crosses and scapulars increases. Most of them come from cities. Burial
mounds with crosses on the chest are known, which were accompanied by
tools and rich inventory, which may indicate incomplete Christianization
of the dead. At the same time, some of the crosses were used as
decorations along with other elements of women's metal attire. In the
mounds of the second half of the 12th - early 13th centuries, burials
made directly according to the Christian rite are also distinguished,
but their number is very small. As a rule, in such burials, a cross or
an icon on the chest is found in the absence of other material finds.
Such, for example, are individual burial mounds near the villages of
Gorodishche, Starovo, Kabanskoye, Vasilki and Nenashevsky in
North-Eastern Rus', excavated by A.S. Uvarov. Among the same burials is
one of the burials in Akatovo in the Moscow region.
The second
most common type of pendants after crosses were moons. In the 10th-13th
centuries, they were widespread throughout almost the entire Slavic
territory. However, in authentically pagan Slavic antiquities of the
6th-7th centuries, two-horned moons or any of their possible prototypes
are absent. Their appearance is associated with the penetration into the
Slavic environment at the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th
centuries of a complex of filigree-grained women's jewelry (Zalessky
treasure) as part of the first wave of Byzantine influence. The second
wave of influence is presumably connected with the fall of the Avar
Khaganate and the formation of the already Slavic early state complex of
prestigious filigree-grained women's jewelry from Great Moravia. From
there it was borrowed by its neighbors - Russia and Poland. In the
10th-13th centuries, in parallel with the modification of form and
decor, wide-horned lunars were replaced by new types - sharp-horned,
steep-horned, closed, cross-included, etc. These types have direct
Byzantine prototypes, which in turn go back to Roman lunts of the
3rd-4th centuries. The evolution of the moons can be compared with the
spread of serpentine amulets, the number of finds of which on the
territory of Rus' is several orders of magnitude higher than the number
of their Byzantine prototypes.
Personal attire, starting from the
ancient era, embodied the "cosmic order", and the lunar can be
considered as its integral part, as a reflection of the cult of the
moon. In the 10th century, lunnitsy performed a decorative function to a
greater extent, since the entire filigree-grained attire of this period
was subject to the idea of the prestige of the attributes of the Old
Russian nobility. In the 11th-12th centuries, the moon and the image of
the moon as a whole were transformed into a symbol of the Virgin.
Since the second half of the 10th century, ancient Russian lunnitsa
have been known in one necklace with crosses and pendants combining a
lunnitsa and a cross, which are usually interpreted as evidence of
religious syncretism. The combination of the cross and the crescent fits
into the pagan cosmological symbolism: the cross and the crescent
symbolize the sun and the moon; but at the same time, in the Christian
tradition, the moon symbolizes the Mother of God, while the sun
symbolizes Christ. This interpretation corresponds to the canonical
texts and is supported by them: Christ is called the “Sun of Truth” or
“The Righteous Sun” (“sol justitiae” - Mal. IV, 2), and the Mother of
God can be associated with an apocalyptic image - “And a great sign
appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun; under her feet is the
moon, and on her head is a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1).
In
the 10th century, Old Russian jewelers mastered the niello technique to
perfection: several plaques made in the niello technique come from the
Gnezdovo burial ground; the patterns common on them are star-shaped or
in the form of heart-shaped and other curls. Many things are similar to
those that went to Regensburg, the trading center of South Germany,
which had mutual trade with Kiev. These data correlate with the message
of Presbyter Theophilus about Russian amber products, enamels and
niello, named in the treatise “On the Technique of Artistic Crafts”
(lat. Schedula diversarum artium) next to the Greek ones.