Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov: biography. Biography Rybakov, Boris Aleksandrovich Information About
Merits of B.A. Rybakov were gratefully recognized by representatives of different trends in world science - historians, archaeologists, religious scholars, ethnographers and writers - and highly appreciated: he was a laureate of the Lenin Prize, two State Prizes and the Prize named after Academician B.D. Grekov, was an honorary member of three academies of sciences - Bulgarian, Czechoslovak and Polish, as well as the University of Krakow. The main area of his activity was work as director of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, to which he devoted 40 years of his life, holding the post of academic secretary of the Department of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and widely sharing, starting in 1930, his knowledge and discoveries with thousands of students at Moscow University and archaeologists, ethnographers and historians defining their activities. His covenants are our path.
The topic of Slavic paganism in Rus' for a very long time remained only a collection of a colossal amount of factual material without a broad understanding from the point of view of history. But gradually Rybakov developed a comprehensive approach to assessing this material, which was a valuable source of information about the ancient period of the history of Slavic and especially Russian paganism, inseparable from the general process of formation of the Slavic peoples. The two indicated books reflected the author’s methodological approach to the most important and, most importantly, not outdated problems to this day, relating not only to the facts of the formation and development of the Slavic peoples, but also to the very problem of recognition by world science of the need for an in-depth study of the history of the Slavs. After all, back in the 19th century. Western European scientists were not convinced of the need to pay due attention to the study of the Slavs. The Russian historian S. Lesnoy clearly stated this in his book “Where are you from, Rus'?” (Rostov-on-Don, 1995). Noting that Hegel, for example, called the Slavs an “unhistorical people” and then asks a legitimate question: “Who would even think of writing the history of an unhistorical people?” And he continues: “The huge area of Europe occupied by the Slavs by the time they appeared on the pages of history is irrefutable proof of their antiquity... The education of the Slavs undoubtedly goes back thousands of years.”
It is to this history, neither new nor medieval, but mainly ancient, that B.A. devoted his main works. Rybakov, who picked up the keys to the general historical problems of Slavic and, in particular, Russian paganism. These were the keys to mastering the idea that the concept of “ancestor” includes our ancestors who lived and developed their culture in the most distant times, in the depths of eras that are measured not in centuries or millennia, but in many tens of millennia. In the middle of the 20th century, he led the movement of Russian historical science, aimed at searching for evidence of the ancient roots of the Slavs as the most numerically significant part of the entire composition of the Indo-European massif. His often heard call to delve into the archaic directed a number of researchers to conduct a search precisely in the direction of the deepest roots of the population of Eastern Europe.
Once, in one of the conversations with me, Boris Aleksandrovich said that some poets acutely feel this incredible distance from us of those centuries, the memory of which is stored in our subconscious, and cited as an example the words of A. Petrov: “In the chain of history, everything the human mind keeps links,” and then he remembered N. Gumilyov, “And the memory of the Virgin Bird will fly to other centuries.” And then he said that this Virgin Bird very clearly directs our thoughts to deepening the study of paganism, and historians must reflect on the archaic if they want to understand the origins of many later and even modern manifestations of life, including such as a religious worldview, or rather, religious teachings.
And indeed, not only both of his books mentioned above, but also the equally weighty work “Kievan Rus and the Russian Principalities” are imbued with the desire and ability to reunite these “links in the chain of history.” His conviction was unshakable that, as A. Akhmatova wrote, “the future matures in the past.” In conversation and in lectures, he sometimes reminded that the word “descendants” comes from the word “later,” and that we, who came into life thousands and thousands of years after those who lived “before us” and who passed on to us their blood and their experience, one should take care of one’s memory reserves and expanded the concept of “one’s memory” to the level of tribal and folk memory associated with the cult of ancestors.
The cult of ancestors is an expression of a conscious and unconscious sense of the history of one’s family, one’s clan, and, more broadly speaking, one’s people. This is an expression of a common memory developed not over hundreds, but over many thousands of years. Memory about the life and affairs of one’s people, about their relations with other communities, about the acceptance or non-acceptance of these groups - in a word, about the ability to “live among people.” The collective memory of a people is a well of such depth that it penetrates many layers of the past. Historians should only learn to find, capture and evaluate the essence and extent of the data that entered this well in different eras. This memory accumulates a lot of knowledge and brings it to the times when writing finally appears, and people begin to record with its help everything that is stored in memory, everything that lives and breathes in oral traditions.
Being an archaeologist, historian, religious scholar and ethnographer, this prominent scientist always followed the path of a massively expanded search. The sources of his comparisons and statements on historical issues were archaeological finds, and data from Russian chronicles that he deeply studied, and such folklore materials as epics, tales, traditions, fairy tales and songs. One of his famous books is called “Ancient Rus'. Tales. Epics. Chronicles". Being encyclopedically educated and knowing classical and modern European languages, Boris Aleksandrovich clearly analyzed monuments from different centuries, looking in them, starting from the Bible and Herodotus, for all indications concerning the life of ancient peoples and the currents of their religious views. Analytically comparing them with the works of various researchers, he determined the settlement routes of the Slavic tribes and the boundaries of their territories, tracing these data from the earliest times to the emergence of the principalities of ancient Rus'. Thus, for the first time, he outlined the area of the Proto-Slavic culture, which occupied by the 2nd millennium BC. area 1300 km. in the latitudinal direction at a meridional latitude of 300 - 400 km. (Herodotus Scythia. M., 1979, pp. 207-208).
In the book “Paganism of the Ancient Slavs”, he states that “the oral, traditional, centuries-old culture of the Russian village is not only a treasury of information that interests us about its deep roots, but at the same time the very roots on which it has stood throughout the difficult for thousands of years, the mass of the working peasantry, the roots that fed not only the village, but also the urban settlement, and to some extent, social roots.” Other researchers also focused on the oral tradition, but Rybakov’s special merit is, of course, the method of its development, which is inseparable from the analysis of archaeological discoveries and appears in all his works as an explanation of the direct connection of each of them with the spiritual culture of the people being studied. Both books about the paganism of our ancestors contain not just historical, but excitingly interesting information for the reader about those elements of paganism that were preserved in the everyday life and customs of the Russian people until very recently (and as we ourselves can see, it manifests itself even today ). A deep knowledge of the chronicles reveals the subordinate position of their authors and a direct dependence on the policies of the princes and on the desire of the authorities to give a certain color to the description of events. This is shown, for example, when analyzing the facts of the penetration of Roman-Byzantine Christianity from the 10th century into the environment of Russian pagans, who lived for many thousands of years according to the teachings of the Magi and revered the gods of their pantheon. Speaking about the paganism of the Slavs, B. Rybakov emphasizes that researchers of religions did not pay due attention to paganism.
Particular attention is paid in the book “Paganism of the Ancient Slavs” to the issue of the ancient veneration of a god named Rod and the goddesses accompanying him, called Rozhanitsy. Without delving into this topic here in a short article, we will only say that a separate extensive chapter is devoted to these deities in the book, which everyone who is interested in genetics and such broad problems as heredity and folk memory (by the way, Here we can recall that the word “people” means the result of the very process of childbirth, the appearance of children, which, unfortunately, many people in our time forget about or simply do not realize, but we are all the “next release” of offspring, which gradually, century century after century, our ancestors gave birth, starting from those very archaic times, and Boris Alexandrovich urges us to remember this).
Yes, the history of the introduction of Christianity into the life of pagan Rus' was described by many scientists, and on this issue the point of view of Rybakov and his school can be expressed in a short formula - “paganism, and not Christianity, determined the worldview of ancient Russian society.” Many historians and religious scholars have written about the fight against paganism, and here it is only important to note that the new religion strengthened its position not only thanks to the support of the authorities, but also due to the fact that it absorbed many elements of pagan culture into its regulations and ritual practice, which and remains in church services to this day. In Rybakov’s works, this confusion is called dual faith, and it is with this word that he defines Russian Orthodoxy, which developed on the basis of the ancient Slavic cults of the pre-agricultural and agricultural era.
Very valuable sources that are described and quoted in the book “Paganism of Ancient Rus'” are the original reports of Vatican missionaries heading to the areas of settlement of the Western Slavs. These documents contain information that has been practically unused by other researchers, and Rybakov cites this information as an illustration of the influence of Catholics on the Slavic peoples with the aim of destroying their unity. Such pages make us remember the call of the Russian diplomat and poet F. Tyutchev: “Slavic world, close in close.” Yes, Western politicians have always tried to undermine this ancient unity, and, as we now know, they have already succeeded in many ways and have recently begun to direct their efforts directly to undermine the self-awareness of the Russian people, to destroy that people's memory, to preserve which the books of B. A. Rybakov encourage us to do. This book, dedicated to the analysis of East Slavic paganism throughout the 1st millennium AD, examines the history of Russian statehood in the form of the formation of Russian principalities (“lands”) until the 10th century, i.e. before the meeting of paganism with Christianity introduced from outside, and a broad description of the development of dual faith is given.
Ancient forms of religious worldview reached their peak at the time of the formation of Kievan Rus, which Rybakov directly calls a pagan state. The book is replete with examples of analysis of archaeological material, and without his attentive and loving examination of every feature of ancient things, the meaning of each of their signs, it is impossible to understand the direct connection with the life practice and feelings of those who once created them. Boris Aleksandrovich paved the way for the ability not just to describe the silent finds of archaeological excavations, but to read their inner story, to understand the essence of what the person who created these idols, and these brooches or amulets saw and experienced. The texts of his books are always a clear and open conversation with the reader, not teachings or instructions, but an emotionally charged living narrative about what all of us, the descendants of our ancestors, should know about. For example, the presence of features of a ritual nature in the jewelry of Russian princesses, identified by the author, emphasizes such a characteristic feature of the early medieval pagan society as the participation in ancient traditional rituals of representatives of all its social strata, and therefore the unity of worldview, which was typical for the entire people, the unity of the memory they preserved , which has developed over many thousands of years of its historical development. And, always, in every paragraph of Rybakov’s books, we encounter not condemnation of “damned (filthy, stupid, etc.)” paganism, but a deep, heartfelt interest in it as an expression of the worldview of hundreds of generations of our ancestors, as in their roll call with us, silent their attempt to tell us about their lives.
We see the history of Rus' in Rybakov’s works at that stage of its study, which to this day is recognized as the basis for further developments.
Guseva Natalya Romanovna, Doctor of Historical Sciences, member of the Russian Federation SP
The book analyzes data from the Greek geographer and historian Herodotus (5th century BC) about the tribes living in Eastern Europe in the 1st millennium BC. e.Based on the latest archaeological data, the famous Soviet scientist academician B. A. Rybakov confirms the authenticity of Herodotus’s messages or revises them, establishes the travel route of the Greek geographer, reveals the content of the legends recorded by Herodotus, and restores the route of the campaign...Kievan Rus IX-X centuries. - the first state of the Eastern Slavs, uniting more than 200 small Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Latvian-Lithuanian tribes. Contemporaries simply called it Russia; the term "Kievan Rus" is of armchair origin, but it is very convenient to designate a certain chronological period - the 9th - early 12th centuries, when Kyiv stood at the head of a huge state, which ushered in a new, feudal period in history...The book is a fundamental work of the outstanding Russian historian and archaeologist Academician. B.A. Rybakov, dedicated to the problem of the origin of the Eastern Slavs and Rus', the Kyiv period of ancient Russian statehood and the period of isolation of Russian principalities until the Mongol invasion of the 13th century.Peru famous archaeologist and historian of world renown, academician B.A. Rybakov (1908 - 2001) owns fundamental works on the history of Russia, the study of the origin of the ancient Slavs, the initial stages of the formation of Russian statehood, Kievan Rus of the 9th - 13th centuries, the development of crafts, the architecture of ancient cities, painting and literature, and the beliefs of the ancient Slavs.
Oleg Tvorogov, Boris Rybakov and others - What do scientists think about the “Veles Book”
The collection of articles offers a critical analysis of the "Book of Veles" as a work of writing and a historical source. The reasons and conditions for the appearance of this literary forgery of the mid-20th century are revealed. The authors of the articles are specialists in the field of history, literature, language, book studies, employees of the Academy of Sciences and universities. Most of the articles were previously published in scientific periodicals.For specialists in the history of Russian culture and a wide range of readers.The book is a continuation of B. A. Rybakov’s monograph “The Paganism of the Ancient Slavs,” published in 1981. It is dedicated to the role of the ancient pagan religion in the state and popular life of Kievan Rus before the adoption of Christianity. The author shows the high level of pagan views and rituals on the eve of the baptism of Rus', their manifestation in public life, in applied art, and in church rituals. For historians, art critics, and a wide range of readers.
Reviewers: V. P. Darkevich, S. A. Pletneva.
Writer, historian, Slavicist, archaeologist, scientist, researcher Boris Rybakov is rightly called one of those who contributed invaluable contribution in the development of modern paganism, in the strengthening of native faith, in the raising of ancient traditions. Rybakov Boris Aleksandrovich has become a real “guiding star” for those who are interested in paganism, interested in the roots of the Slavic people, beliefs, history, and traditions. His books are so comprehensive and so scrupulously and accurately delve into the essence of every detail that by reading even one or two of his works, you can clarify for yourself many points, foundations and subtleties of Slavic paganism.
(May 21, 1908 - December 27, 2001) was a professor, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, archaeologist, historian. In addition, he was the dean of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University, vice-rector of Moscow State University, director of the Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, director of the Institute of History of the USSR, academician-secretary of the Department of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences, member of the International Committee of Slavists, and so on. He has many awards and prizes, including: Hero of Socialist Labor, Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree, Three Orders of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Order of Friendship of Peoples, Lenin Prize, Stalin Prize and others. His contribution to the development of Soviet and Slavic historiography is simply invaluable. Boris Rybakov’s first work is considered to be “The Craft of Ancient Rus',” which was originally his doctoral dissertation and was then published. “The Craft of Ancient Rus'” was awarded the Stalin Prize.
Boris Rybakov was famous archaeologist. He conducted excavations in Moscow, Zvenigorod, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl Russian, Belgorod Kiev, Tmutarakan, Putivl, Alexandrov and other historical lands where ancient Slavic cultures existed. Boris Rybakov, being an outspoken Slavist who held deeply patriotic views and expressed his point of view on the uniqueness and majesty of the entire Slavic people, was not afraid to criticize other writers, researchers and scientists, to make real revolutions in historical chronicles and long-established concepts. At the same time, his points of view are always carefully worked out so that the next discovery does not later turn out to be a “false sensation.” In this sense, Boris Rybakov was very scrupulous, and you can see this for yourself by reading his works. Over more than 70 years of activity, he has published several books, hundreds of articles and reviews.
Here I want to introduce you to a wonderful book by a writer, scientist, Slavic scholar who enjoys indisputable authority, called "Paganism of the Ancient Slavs". This book, among some others, is considered one of Rybakov’s largest and most extensive works. The study was written in 1981 and, together with another book that was published in 1987 and called “The Paganism of Ancient Rus',” is a complete guide to the world of Slavic beliefs. Many writers and historians tried to create works that would be so extensive and all-encompassing, but, perhaps, only Boris Rybakov succeeded brilliantly.
Being one of the greatest experts on Slavic culture, Boris Rybakov created a truly unique work that is worth getting acquainted with. Fundamental research into the paganism of Rus', from the earliest times to almost the present. Rybakov begins his research from the very origins - from the Stone Age, which dates back to the first finds of ancient people, from the most ancient ideas about higher beings - two Rozhanitsa elk cows and ending with Perun, whom he placed at the very top of the pantheon of pagan Gods. Thus, starting his research from pre-Slavic times, Rybakov unwinds the tangled tangle, dotting all the dots and filling in the voids that existed before. Of course, people, even such scientists as Boris Rybakov, whom we are talking about here, are far from ideal and may make mistakes somewhere. Many authors and other historians are trying to rethink what Rybakov created, strengthen something, question something and put forward their point of view. However, the foundation that Boris Rybakov laid for modern people who are interested in their past, the origins of their existence, simply cannot be overestimated.
In the book “Paganism of the Ancient Slavs” you will get acquainted with the Gods and ancient traditions, analysis and decoding of ancient messages in the form of drawings, patterns, inscriptions, embroideries, carvings, and so on. In addition, Boris Rybakov dwells in detail on fairy tales, myths, legends and traditions of our ancestors. He collects the entire vast layer of information together, creating a single, accurate and clear picture of the world of the ancient pagan Slav.
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Born on May 21 (June 3), 1908 in Moscow in a Russian Old Believer family. The scientist’s father graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow State University, was the author of works on the history of the schism, and was also the founder and director of the Old Believer Teachers’ Institute, created in 1911 with funds from S. P. Ryabushinsky. Mother, Claudia Andreevna Blokhina, graduated from the philological faculty of the Higher Women's Courses of V.I. Gerye and worked as a teacher.
He received a good education at home, and in 1917, at the age of 9, he was sent to a private gymnasium. Since 1921, he lived with his mother in Moscow in Goncharnaya Sloboda in the building of the Labor Family orphanage. In 1926 he entered the Faculty of History and Ethnology of Moscow State University, from which he graduated in 1930. For 6 months he served as a cadet in the Red Army, in the artillery regiment of the 1st division in Moscow, and in 1931 he entered service in the Department of Early Feudalism of the Historical Museum. He considered the famous historian S.V. Bakhrushin to be his teacher.
In the course of many years of work on colossal collections, the State Historical Museum prepared a fundamental work, “The Craft of Ancient Rus',” defended in 1942 as a doctoral dissertation during evacuation in Ashgabat, published in a separate edition in 1948, and awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949. In the late 1940s - early 1950s, he participated in the campaign against “rootless cosmopolitans”, publishing a number of articles in scientific journals on the role of Jews and Judaism in the history of the Khazar Kaganate. In 1951 he joined the CPSU(b).
Director of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1956-1987, academician of the Czechoslovak (1960) and Polish (1970) Academy of Sciences, honorary doctor of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (1964); member of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistorical Sciences (since 1958) and member of the International Committee of Slavists (since 1963); repeatedly represented Soviet historical science at International Congresses. Since 1958, president of the USSR-Greece society.
Scientific views
B. A. Rybakov was a major archaeologist. His scientific activity began with excavations of Vyatiche mounds in the Moscow region. He conducted large-scale excavations in Moscow, Veliky Novgorod, Zvenigorod, Chernigov, Pereyaslavl Russky, Belgorod Kiev, Tmutarakan, Putivl, Alexandrov and many others. etc. He completely excavated the ancient Russian castles of Lyubech and Vitichev, which made it possible to reconstruct the appearance of a small ancient Russian city. Hundreds of future historians and archaeologists learned the “excavation craft” at these excavations. Many students of B. A. Rybakov became famous scientists, in particular, S. A. Pletneva, an expert on the nomadic peoples of the Steppe, the Khazars, Pechenegs and Polovtsians.
All his life B. A. Rybakov adhered to patriotic, anti-Normanist convictions. According to L. S. Klein, he was “not just a patriot, but undoubtedly a Russian nationalist... an ultra-patriot - he was inclined to ardently exaggerate the true successes and advantages of the Russian people in everything, placing them above all their neighbors.” Thus, Rybakov was convinced of the deep autochthony of the Slavic population on the territory of Ukraine, connecting both the Scythians and even the Trypillians with the Slavs. The presence of a Gothic state on the territory of Ukraine was denied, and the Chernyakhov culture, traditionally associated with the Goths, was proclaimed a Slavic culture. The largest centers of the Slavs, and first of all, Kyiv, in Rybakov’s interpretation, existed from time immemorial.
Among the most controversial constructions of Rybakov are attempts to produce the Slavs from the Scythian ploughmen, who lived in the Black Sea region during the time of the “father of history” Herodotus (5th century BC). In the book “Kievan Rus and the Russian principalities in the XII-XIII centuries,” he attributed the beginning of the history of the Slavs to the XV century BC. e. In the Serpentine Ramparts, the historian saw evidence of a clash between the Slavs and the Cimmerians (according to the generally accepted point of view, they left the Black Sea region 1000 years before the Slavs appeared there): “The Slavs used captured Cimmerians in the construction of their first fortifications,” says the scientist.
Many of Rybakov’s scientific works contained fundamental conclusions about the life, everyday life and level of socio-economic and cultural development of the population of Eastern Europe. For example, in the book “Craft of Ancient Rus'” the researcher was able to trace the genesis and stages of development of craft production among the Eastern Slavs from the 6th to the 15th centuries, and also identified dozens of craft industries. Rybakov’s goal was to show that pre-Mongol Rus' not only did not lag behind the countries of Western Europe in its economic development, as many scientists had previously argued, but in some indicators it was ahead of these countries.
In the monograph “Ancient Rus'. Tales. Epics. Chronicles" he drew parallels between epic stories and Russian chronicles. He put forward the hypothesis that individual weather records in the Kievan state began to be made not in the 11th century, but already in the second half of the 9th-10th centuries.
The scientist examined the Old Russian chronicles in detail, proposed versions of the authorship of individual chronicle fragments, subjected to a thorough analysis the original news of the 18th century historian V. N. Tatishchev and came to the conclusion that they were based on trustworthy Old Russian sources, and that V. N. Tatishchev was not involved in falsification stories.
B. A. Rybakov also thoroughly studied such wonderful monuments of ancient Russian literature as “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” and “The Prayer of Daniil the Zatochnik.” He put forward a hypothesis according to which the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” was the Kiev boyar Pyotr Borislavich. According to another hypothesis of Rybakov, the outstanding thinker and publicist of the late 12th - early 13th centuries, Daniil Zatochnik, was a grand-ducal chronicler at the courts of Vsevolod the Big Nest and his son Constantine.
In his works, such as “Paganism of the Ancient Slavs” (1981), “Kievan Rus and the Russian principalities of the XII-XIII centuries.” (1982), “The Paganism of Ancient Rus'” (1987), B. A. Rybakov actually recreated a whole layer of pre-Christian beliefs of the Eastern Slavs, causing accusations of fantastic speculation and the absence of a unified methodology. For example, in the image of the Serpent Gorynych, the academician saw a vague memory of the Slavs about some prehistoric animal, for example, a mammoth. The epic legend about the meeting of the hero with the Serpent on the Kalinov Bridge across the fiery river, according to Rybakov, is nothing more than
Teacher
B. A. Rybakov began his teaching career in 1933 at the Academy of Communist Education named after. N.K. Krupskaya and the Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute. For over 60 years he worked at the history department of Moscow University. M.V. Lomonosov: in 1939-1943 - associate professor, from 1943 - professor, in 1950-1952 - dean, 1953-1962 - head of the department of domestic history of the period of feudalism, in recent years - as an Honored Professor of Moscow State University. Thousands of students have attended his general and special lecture courses, and hundreds have taken his pro-seminar classes. Several dozen doctors and candidates of historical sciences consider B. A. Rybakov their teacher. There is a whole “Rybakovsky” school of historians. Millions of schoolchildren and many thousands of students studied from his textbooks.
Positions, titles, awards
- Hero of Socialist Labor (1978)
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (May 31, 1998) - for services to the state, great personal contribution to the development of domestic science and training of scientific personnel
- Three Orders of Lenin
- Order of the October Revolution
- Order of the Red Banner of Labor
- Order of the Badge of Honor (1953)
- Lenin Prize (1976)
- Stalin Prize (1949, 1952)
- Prize named after Academician B. D. Grekov
B. A. Rybakov performed a lot of administrative work: in 1952-1954. he was vice-rector of Moscow State University. Then for 40 years he headed the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, academician-secretary of the Department of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, honorary member of the Czechoslovak, Polish and Bulgarian Academies of Sciences, Honored Professor of Moscow University. M. V. Lomonosova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Honorary Doctor of the Krakow Jagiellonian University.
In the sixth continuous auditorium of the first humanities building of Moscow State University there hangs a memorial plaque in honor of Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov.
Criticism
Many venerable historians and archaeologists, who had previously demonstrated their “friendship” with B. A. Rybakov and, as a rule, spoke favorably of his works that were truly controversial in terms of conclusions and hypotheses, from the beginning of the 1990s gradually began to have a cool attitude towards both to himself and to his works on the history of Ancient Rus'.
In public reviews of the scientific merits of B. A. Rybakov, some famous authors, for example L. S. Klein, Ya. S. Lurie, D. S. Likhachev, A. P. Novoseltsev, characterized him as an amateur. Objections are raised, in particular, by Rybakov’s constructions about the Slavic affiliation of the Trypillian and Chernyakhov cultures, amateur excursions into linguistics, and searches in ornamental embroideries of the 19th-20th centuries. the most reliable evidence regarding the spiritual life of the Slavs before the adoption of Christianity.
According to L. S. Klein, Rybakov “deepened Kyiv for half a millennium (attributing its foundation to the end of the 5th century), although as an archaeologist he should have known that in Kyiv there is no Slavic cultural layer older than the 9th century.” This allowed the authorities of Soviet Ukraine to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv in 1982, a city where even 9th-century layers can hardly be interpreted as urban.
At the same time, among Moscow university scientists and teachers and the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a generally positive attitude towards the merits of B. A. Rybakov remained. In 1998, on the occasion of the scientist’s 90th birthday, a group of historians, philologists, archaeologists and art historians from his school published a voluminous collection of articles, “The Culture of the Slavs and Rus',” with a detailed biographical sketch of A. A. Medyntseva used as a preface.
Publications
Over more than 70 years of his scientific activity, the following monographs were published:
- "Radzimichy" (1932)
- "Craft of Ancient Rus'" (1948)
- "Antiquities of Chernigov" (1949)
- "Ancient Rus'. Tales. Epics. Chronicles" (1963)
- "The first centuries of Russian history" (1964)
- "Russian dated inscriptions of the XI-XIV centuries" (1964)
- “Russian applied art of the X-XIII centuries” (1971)
- “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign and His Contemporaries” (1971)
- “Russian chroniclers and the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”” (1972)
- "Russian maps of Muscovy in the 15th - early 16th centuries" (1974)
- “Herodotus Scythia. Historical and geographical analysis" (1979)
- Reissue - M.: Eksmo; Algorithm, 2010. - 272 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-42815-1.
- "The Paganism of the Ancient Slavs" (1981)
- “Kievan Rus and Russian principalities of the 12th-13th centuries” (1982)
- “The Paganism of Ancient Rus'” (1987)
- “Peter Borislavich. Search for the author of “Tales of Igor’s Campaign” (1991)
- “Strigolniki. Russian humanists of the 14th century" (1993)
- collection of scientific works “From the cultural history of ancient Rus'. Research and notes." - M., Moscow Publishing House. University, 1984. - 240 pp., 66 ill. - 20,500 copies.
- popular science book “The Initial Centuries of Russian History” (1984)
- over 400 articles and reviews, including large sections for the two-volume “History of the Culture of Ancient Rus'. Pre-Mongol period" (1948, 1951) and "Essays on Russian culture of the XIII-XV centuries." (1969, 1970), as well as important sections of university and school textbooks.
A very large number of various scientific studies were published under the editorship of B. A. Rybakov: the first six volumes of “History of the USSR from Ancient Times”, multi-volume ones - “Code of Archaeological Sources”, “Archaeology of the USSR”, “Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles”, etc.
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On December 27, 2001, at the age of 94, the great Russian historian and archaeologist, a leading expert on the history of the Slavs and Kievan Rus, Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR, Academician Boris Aleksandrovich RYBAKOV, died. Hundreds of scientific works by Academician Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov constituted an entire era in the study of Ancient Rus' and enriched historical science with major discoveries. Academician Rybakov is the author of fundamental works on the history of our Motherland, the origin of the ancient Slavs, the initial stages of Russian statehood, Kievan Rus of the 9th-12th centuries, the development of crafts, the culture of Russian lands, the architecture of ancient Russian cities, literature and painting, and the beliefs of the ancient Slavs. For the book "The Craft of Ancient Rus'" (1947) he was awarded the USSR State Prize. The fundamental works “The Paganism of the Ancient Slavs”, “The Paganism of Ancient Rus'”, “Kievan Rus and the Russian Principalities of the 9th-13th Centuries” and others are reference books for serious historians and linguists. Boris Aleksandrovich is the author of in-depth studies on the culture and social nature of the ancient Russian city, the creator of new concepts of the ethnic history of the Slavs. Under his leadership, the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences became the largest and most authoritative archaeological institution in the country. Academician Rybakov was a patriot of his Motherland. Thanks to his work, it was possible to preserve numerous monuments of the history and culture of our Fatherland. Eternal memory to him! |
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Paying tribute to the memory of the great Russian scientist, today we are publishing one of the last interviews with academician Boris Aleksandrovich RYBAKOV
ACADEMICIAN RYBAKOV: PATRIOTISM IS AN UNABTRACTIVE CONCEPT
Academician Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov, being at the same time an archaeologist, an archaeographer, and a historian of folklore, earned enormous authority among serious researchers of the past and worthily represented our historical science at many international congresses. He headed the Institute of Archeology for over forty years and now remains its honorary director. He is already over 90 years old, but even at this age he has retained an amazing capacity for work; he has hundreds of scientific papers to his credit, testifying to the widest range of his activities.
Boris Alexandrovich, let's start with how you managed to find the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”
Working on the texts of the legends of Ancient Rus', I became convinced that almost all epic stories fit into a chronological framework from the 9th to the first half of the 13th century. epics are the people's artistic understanding of specific historical events, the historical memory of the people. I approached the study of chronicles from the same position. The result of analyses, comparisons, and statistical calculations was the conclusion: “The Word” is a genuine thing, written in the wake of the events of the late 12th century in Kiev by Pyotr Bronislavovich, a boyar who was in the diplomatic service and carried out a number of assignments, including being Kyiv’s ambassador to Galich , personally knew many princes.
You conducted archaeological excavations in Tmutarakan. To what extent do the results of excavations confirm the presence of our ancestors and historical rights to these lands in connection with disputes over Crimea and Turkish claims in the Caucasus?
In the center of the Taman principality - Tmutarakan, we excavated an Orthodox church of the 11th-12th centuries. Much evidence of high culture and the flourishing of crafts has been discovered in this ancient Russian principality on the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas. It was the Russian window to Byzantium. For connections with North-Western Europe, Novgorod became one. In Taman and Crimea, Russians lived peacefully with the Greeks. A typical episode seems to be in relations with semi-nomadic peoples, when the Russian prince declared to their prince: “Let’s fight with you, rather than exterminate the people in battle!” And victory was his. The Christian Abkhazian kingdom was a good neighbor. The Russians strengthened themselves and settled in the southern seas several centuries before the Turks, who came as conquerors from the Arabian Peninsula and, after capturing Asia Minor, reached the Caucasus.
Statements appear in the press that Prince Vladimir was Ukrainian. You have studied the chronicles and know for certain what language they were written in. Was there one language in Kyiv and Novgorod then?
The Eastern Slavs lived as part of one state from Novgorod in the North to the Black Sea in the south. Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians constitute a triune people descending from the same root. All chronicles, both in Kyiv and Novgorod, were written in Old Russian.
Apparently, the darkness of Belovezhskaya Pushcha has not yet passed among some Ukrainian political historians. They are trying to rewrite history, and this is not just ignorance, but also an insult to the memory of the ancestors of both the times of Kievan Rus and the times of Bogdan Khmelnitsky. And how many Great Russians died saving the Little Russians from the raids of the Crimean Khan and the Turks, from the invasions of the Poles, French and Germans?! The Old Russian language was carried through many centuries by the Rusyns to Transcarpathia, and this says a lot.
You have been conducting archaeological excavations in Ukraine for more than half a century. Which discoveries seem to be the most important?
In the book "Antiquities of Chernigov" I talked about how the Annunciation Cathedral of 1186 with mosaic floors was opened. I proved that basements were mistaken for residential premises, that houses in the ancient Russian city were one and a half to two, less often three, floors. It was a revelation. I reconstructed the castle-estate of Vladimir Monomakh in Lyubech with fortifications, palace and outbuildings, a church and watchtowers. The appearance of fortified cities along the Dnieper and Stugna, built at the end of the 10th century for protection from the Pechenegs, has been studied and restored. It was possible to prove the reality of the epic hero Stavr Godinovich. In the graffiti inscription from the Kyiv St. Sophia Cathedral, his real patronymic is given - Gordyatinich. In the book "Herodotus' Scythia. Historical and Geographical Analysis", I provide evidence that Slavic tribes lived in the Dnieper Right Bank back in the time of Herodotus.
Your first, huge book, “The Craft of Ancient Rus',” published back in the late 40s, made a real revolution in ideas about the history of the Eastern Slavs and Ancient Rus'. The book provides evidence of the high degree of development of ancient Russian crafts and refuted the opinion about the low prevalence of literacy and the complete dependence of ancient Rus' on the markets of Europe and Byzantium. How do you feel about the opinion expressed by some authors that this was a social political order?
This couldn't happen. I began my work, which I defended as a doctorate in 1942, back in the 20s and 30s, when, on the contrary, “revolutionary” history was being written and international “proletarian” culture was being invented. My work revived the historical and cultural heritage of the Russian people. The craft and culture of Ancient Rus' were higher than the then European level, but it suffered enormous damage from the Mongol-Tatar invasion.
Unfortunately, at all times there are pseudoscientists who, to please the situation, interpret history without bothering to compare data from chronicles, epigraphy, archeology, and folk memory.
Do you have any disagreements with other historians - Academician Likhachev, Lev Gumilyov?
Yes, we look at some things differently. This, however, did not stop me from supporting Dmitry Sergeevich when nominating him as an academician. And Gumilyov unjustifiably glossed over the enormous damage inflicted on Rus' by the Mongol-Tatar yoke during the heyday of its culture. After all, there were dozens of artisan specialties and the highest jewelry art in Russian cities. By the way, in my monograph-album “Russian applied art of the 10th-13th centuries”, created by Russian craftsmen appears in all its splendor in beautiful color illustrations.
Many opponents of the ancient times of our statehood have appeared. Does it really begin to take shape in the 6th century?
Yes, in the 6th-7th centuries a powerful union of tribes in the Middle Dnieper region, “Russian Land”, emerged under the leadership of the Russians. In the 7th-9th centuries, as a result of long and complex development, the super-union “Kievan Rus” was formed.
In your books “Paganism of the Ancient Slavs” and “Paganism of Ancient Rus'” you present pagan rituals and write about dual faith, about the centuries-old coexistence of Orthodoxy and pagan ideas and rituals in Russian everyday life and culture. From my childhood I know that among the northern peasantry many of the beliefs of antiquity were preserved. This can be seen in the novels and poems of peasant poets Sergei Klychkov, Nikolai Klyuev and Sergei Yesenin himself. Was the adoption of Christianity good for Rus'?
Christianity came with Byzantine rich culture, literature and philosophy. This contributed to increased literacy, the development of Russian culture, and subsequently literature, the unity and strengthening of Ancient Rus', and subsequently the Russian state.
Now about you. How do you manage to combine scientific work with teaching and editorial activities?
I am used to working with audiences and feel a calling to “sow the reasonable, the good, the eternal.” For me, patriotism has never been an abstract concept. I always tried to instill in students a love for the Fatherland through a love for its history, being the head of the department, dean of the history department, and vice-rector of Moscow State University. For more than 20 years, “Rybakov Wednesdays” continued - meetings of the Department of Cultural History of the “Council on Culture” of the Russian Academy of Sciences at the Institute of the Russian Language.
For many years I was a member of the editorial board of historical journals and the editor-in-chief of an archaeological journal. In general, editorial work increases the sense of responsibility. Thanks to my teaching work, I have many students and followers. By the way, I read “The Tale of Bygone Years”, “Russian Truth” and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in the original during lectures, so that students get used to the imagery and colorfulness, poetry of the language and style of Ancient Rus'. Not only do I awaken genetic memory through the beauty of the chiseled rhythm and poetic syllable of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” but I also teach how to extract the necessary historical information from the original source.
At one of your lectures at the House of Writers, you so wonderfully connected the crafts and embroideries of Ancient Rus' with modern folk art that most writers were literally spellbound. Probably, I wasn’t the only one who saw embroideries from my grandmother’s towels before my eyes. It turns out that from early childhood we saw the same patterns as the ancient Russians.
It makes me happy when they say they are beautiful. But I approached the embroidery decodings like a scientist. This is the genetic memory of the people and deep fidelity to history and foundations, carried from generation to generation through dozens of centuries. And the fact that these embroideries in different parts - in the south and north of the country - have much in common speaks of the historical unity of the Russian people. For a thousand, even one and a half thousand years, colorful information has been transmitted, amazingly combining pagan and Orthodox deities and symbols. Most often, the deities depicted in ornaments were perceived as guardians of the hearth and a talisman of the family.
What are you working on currently?
My new book will be called "The Fate of the Slavs from Herodotus to Nestor." It traces the influence of the ancient culture of Rome and Greece on the Slavs. I supplement archaeological data and historical sources with those gleaned from folk tales and folklore.