The rite of sacrifice among the Slavs. What sacrifices were made in Rus'

"In the year 6491 (983). Vladimir went against the Yotvingians, and defeated the Yotvingians, and conquered their land. And he went to Kiev, sacrificing idols with his people. And the elders and boyars said: "We will cast lots on the boy and girl, on whom he falls, we will slaughter him as a sacrifice to the gods." Vladimir. That Varangian came from the Greek land and professed the Christian faith. And he had a son, beautiful in face and soul, and the lot fell on him, out of the envy of the devil. For the devil, who has power over everyone, did not tolerate him, and this one was like a thorn in his heart, and tried to destroy him accursed and set the people. we eat sacrifices to the gods." And the Varangian said: "These are not gods, but a tree: today there is, but tomorrow it will rot; they do not eat, they do not drink, they do not speak, but they are made by hands from wood. God is one, the Greeks serve and worship him; he created the sky, and the earth, and the stars, and the moon, and the sun, and man, and destined him to live on earth. And what did these gods do? They themselves are made. I will not give my son to demons." The messengers left and told people about everything. The same, taking weapons, went to him and smashed his yard. The Varangian stood in the hallway with his son. They told him: "Give your son, let us bring him to the gods." He answered: "If they are gods, then let them send one of the gods and take my son. And why are you doing their rites?" And they called, and cut down the canopy under them, and so they were killed. And no one knows where they were laid. After all, then there were people of ignorance and non-Christians. The devil rejoiced at that, not knowing that his death was already close. So he tried to destroy the entire Christian race, but was driven away by an honest cross from other countries. e, for the apostles did not teach here, for the prophets did not predict here?", not knowing that the prophet said: "And I will call people not mine my people"; but it is said about the apostles: "Their speeches spread throughout the earth, and their words to the end of the world." If the apostles themselves were not here, however, their teaching, like trumpet sounds, is heard in churches all over the world: by their teaching we defeat the enemy - the devil, trampling him under his feet, as these two fathers trampled ours, having received the crown of heaven along with the holy martyrs and the righteous." ("The Tale of Bygone Years")

"When night fell ... the Scythians went out onto the plain and began to pick up their dead. They piled them up in front of the wall, laid out many fires and burned them, slaughtering many captives, men and women, according to the custom of their ancestors. Having made this bloody sacrifice, they strangled several infants and roosters, drowning them in the waters of Istra (Danube)"
(Leo the Deacon. History. Book 9.)

"Bishop John, an elder, captured with other Christians in Magnopolis, that is, in Mikilinburg, life was saved for the triumph [of the pagans]. For his adherence to Christ, he was [first] beaten with sticks, then he was taken to reproach in all Slavic cities, and when it was impossible to force him to renounce the name of Christ, the barbarians cut off his hands and feet, threw his body on the road, cut off his head and, sticking it on a spear, they sacrificed it to their god Redegast as a sign of victory. All this happened in the capital of the Slavs, Retra, on the fourth ides of November "
(Germold. "Slavic Chronicle")

“How many regions (Slavs) are in that country, there are so many temples and images of individual demons that are revered by the infidels, but among them the mentioned city (temple) is most respected. It is visited when they go to war, and upon returning, if the campaign was successful, they honor it with appropriate gifts, and what kind of sacrifice the priests should bring in order for it to be desired by the gods, they guessed about it, as I already said, by means of a horse and lots Ev. The wrath of the gods was propitiated by the blood of people and animals "
(Ditmar (Titmar) Merseburg "Chronicles")

“They have healers, they rule over their king, like masters, they order them to sacrifice to the creator what they wish from men, women, herds of horses; if the healers order, no one can escape their order: the healer captures either a person or a domestic animal, throws a rope around his neck and hangs it on a tree until his spirit flows out; they say that this is a sacrifice to God ... When one of the nobles dies, they dig a grave for him in the form of a large house, put him there, and together with him put into the same grave his clothes and the golden bracelets that he wore. Then they lower a lot of food supplies, vessels with drinks and a minted coin into it. Finally, the living beloved wife of the deceased is put in the grave. After that, the opening of the grave is laid, and the wife dies in custody ...
... They are brave and courageous, and if they attack another people, they do not lag behind until they completely destroy it. The defeated are exterminated and [or] enslaved...
... All of them constantly carry swords, as they trust each other little, and deceit between them is common. If one of them manages to acquire at least a little property, then his brother or comrade will immediately begin to envy him and try to kill him or rob him. "
(Ibn-Rust "Dear values")

"... I was told that they do such things with their heads at their death, of which the least is burning; therefore, I very much wanted to be present at this, as I learned about the death of a noble person from them. They put him in the grave and covered it with a lid, for ten days, until they finished cutting and sewing his clothes. It is done like this: they make a small vessel for a poor person, put it there and burn it; into three parts: a third is given to the family, for a third they cut his clothes, and for a third they buy a hot drink, which they drink on the day when his girl kills herself and is burned with her master. They are devoted to wine, drink it day and night, so that sometimes one of them dies with a mug in his hand. When their head dies, then his family says to the girls and boys: which of you will die with him? and one of them says: I! When he said so, then this is already obligatory for him, it is by no means permissible for him to turn back, and even if he wanted to, this is not allowed; mostly girls do it. Therefore, when the aforementioned man died, they said to his girls: who will die with him? and one of them answered: I! Therefore, two girls were appointed to watch over and be with her wherever she went, sometimes they even washed her feet with their own hands. Then they took over him, cutting his clothes and preparing what he needed. The girl drank every day and sang, having fun and rejoicing. When the day came for the burning of him and the girl, I went to the river where his ship was, and behold! it had already been pulled out (ashore) and four supports were made for it from the wood of the river branch and other wood, and wooden images like giants were placed around. They dragged the vessel onto these trees (pillars), and began to walk back and forth and speak words that I did not understand, but he (the dead man) was still in his grave, they had not yet taken him out. Then they brought a bench, put it on the ship and covered it with embroidered carpets, Rum dibaj and pillows from Rum dibaj. Then came the old woman, who is called the angel of death, and laid all the above on the bench; she also manages the sewing and its preparation, she also receives the girl and I saw her black (dark red), fat, with a fierce look. After they came to his grave, they removed the earth from the tree, as well as the tree itself, took out the dead man in the veil in which he died, and I saw him blackened from the cold of this country. They first placed a hot drink, fruits and a lute (or balalaika) with him in the grave; now they have taken it all out. He hasn't changed in anything but the color. They put on him sharavars, socks, boots, a jacket and a caftan made of dibaj with gold buttons, put a kalansuva made of dibaj with sable on his head, carried him to the tent, which was on the ship, put him on a carpet and propped him up with pillows; they brought a hot drink, fruits and fragrant plants and put it to him; they also brought bread, meat and onions and threw them before him; They also brought a dog, cut it into two parts and threw it into the ship. Then they brought all his weapons and laid them by his side; then they took two horses, drove them until they sweated, then cut them with swords and threw their meat into the ship; then they brought two bulls, also cut them and threw them into the ship; then they brought a rooster and a hen, slaughtered them and threw them in the same place. The girl, who was about to die, walked back and forth, went into each of their tents, where one by one they are combined with her, and each one says to her: "Tell your master that I did this out of love for you." When the middle time came between noon and sunset, on Friday, they took the girl to something that they had made like a cornice at the door, she put her feet on the hands of men, climbed this cornice, said something in her own language and was lowered. Then they raised her a second time, she did the same as the first time, and they lowered her; lifted her a third time and she did as the first two times. Then they gave her a chicken, she cut off her head and threw it away, they took the chicken and threw it into the ship. I asked the interpreter about her action and he answered me: for the first time she said: "I see my father and my mother!" for the second time: "I see all the dead relatives sitting!" for the third time she said: "I see my master sitting in paradise, and paradise is beautiful, green; adult men and boys are with him, he calls me, therefore, lead me to him." She was led to the ship, she took off the wrists that were on her, and gave them to an old woman, called the angel of death, the same woman kills her. Then she took off the buckles that were on her legs, and gave them to two girls who served her; they are the daughters of the angel of death known as the angel. Then they took her to the ship, but did not bring her into the tent, and the men came with shields and sticks and gave her a mug of hot drink, she sang over it and drank it; the interpreter told me that by this she said goodbye to her friends. Then they gave her another mug, which she took and sang a long song; the old woman hurried her to drink a mug and enter the tent, where her master was. I saw her in indecision, she wanted to enter the tent and put her head between the tent and the ship; the old woman took her by the head, led her into the tent, and entered with her herself. The men began to beat with sticks on the shields, so that the sounds of her cries were not heard, and so that the other girls would not be deterred, (so) they would not wish to die with their masters. Then six people entered the tent and all combined with the girl; then they stretched her side by side with her master - the dead man, two grabbed her by the legs and two by the hands, and the old woman, called the angel of death, wrapped a rope around her neck, the opposite ends of which she gave to two to pull, came up with a large wide-bladed dagger and began to thrust it between her ribs and take it out, and those two men strangled her with a rope until she died.
(Ibn Faddlan. X century. Description of the funeral of a noble Rus.)

The religion of the Eastern Slavs for a long time was paganism. The Slavs worshiped stones, trees, groves, forests, animals. Invisible spirits - the souls of ancestors and relatives "inhabit" the world surrounding the ancient Slav.

The object itself is no longer the object of veneration. Worship refers to the spirit that lives in it, the demon. Not the object itself, but the spirit (demon) has a positive or negative impact on the course of events and on the fate of people.

Spirits, originally representing a homogeneous mass, are isolated. First of all, according to the habitat, becoming the "owner of the place." In the water element lived water and coastlines, the forest was the kingdom of the goblin or forest man, and field workers live in the fields in tall grass. In the dwelling "owner" brownie.

Among the gods that were known in Rus', Perun stands out - the god of thunder, lightning and thunder. They also believed in Volos or Veles, the god of livestock, trade and wealth. His cult is very ancient.

There were also Dazhbog and Khors - various incarnations of the solar deity. Stribog is the god of wind, whirlwind and blizzard. Mokosh, apparently, is the earthly wife of the Thunderer Perun, who originates from the "mother of the damp earth." In ancient Russian times, she was the goddess of fertility, water, later the patroness of women's work and girlish fate.

Finally, Simargl is the only zoomorphic creature in the pantheon of ancient Russian gods (a sacred winged dog, possibly of Iranian origin). Simargl is a lower deity who guarded seeds and crops.

Ancient Rus' and after the adoption of Christianity observed pagan cults. Most of the pagan beliefs and customs continued to be observed without or with little introduction of Christian norms into them in subsequent times.

Sacrifice in Slavic paganism is a well-known fact. Their gods, or rather their idols, brought animal meat, grain, flowers, some material values. They did this in order to appease God, ask him for something or thank him. Also, sacrifice was a typical rite for various kinds of holidays.

Sacrifices in paganism were carried out not only for the gods, but also for other creatures and spirits, for example, for the brownie. In addition, ancestors could be appeased in this way on the so-called memorial days.

The Slavs were sure that if they did not make a sacrifice to one or another deity or spirit, then they could become angry. And their anger will definitely not lead to anything good. Slavic paganism assumed differentiated sacrifices. That is, the approach in this case was individual. Each god or spirit had its own requirement.

Victims were most often brought to the temples (the so-called pagan temples), where the idols of the gods were installed. If the demand had to be brought to the brownie, wood goblin and other spirits, then, accordingly, to their place of residence.

The victims of the Slavs were divided into bloody and bloodless. The second brought spirits, ancestors, female deities. For example, for ancestors, food was a typical requirement, for the goddess Lada, women brought fresh flowers and berries, for a bannik, a broom and soap, and so on.

As for the bloody sacrifices, those, according to the ancient Slavs, were demanded by the main gods, especially revered. These include Perun, Yarilo.

In this case, animals, birds and, probably, people acted as a requirement. If, nevertheless, animal meat was brought, then after the holiday or ritual it was eaten by the people themselves. And the bones and other inedible "components" were used for divination. After that, they were thrown into the water, a fire or buried.

A typical requirement for land, for example, was grain. After all, it personifies the harvest, which means it should bring good luck in its collection.

Also, the treba could be a dining room. This is the sacrifice of food that the person himself eats. He seems to share his meal with God. And this food should be taken from the common "cauldron", from where everyone eats.

A construction requirement is the bringing of a horse or poultry.

The wedding requirement was a rooster.

For the health and fertility of livestock, a white lamb was slaughtered.

The question remains whether the pagan Slavs had human sacrifices. Controversial, since there is not a single proof of this from the pre-Christian era. There are written sources that speak of them unambiguously, but they belong to the 10th and later centuries.

For example, in the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" it is said that a young Christian man was sacrificed to Perun (it was supposedly in 983). The choice of this unfortunate youth was decided by lot. Similar stories are also described in relation to the gods Svyatovit, Triglav.

The Tale of Bygone Years also contains other references to human sacrifices: it is said about the inhabitants of Kiev that they led to the images of gods placed on a hill, “their sons and daughters and zhryakh (sacrifice) by a demon.”

It is known that after the baptism of Rus' there was a fierce struggle between Christianity and paganism. So, once the pagans literally tore the bishop to pieces and sacrificed his body. It was in the second half of the 11th century. We learn about this case from a German chronicler.

Also, according to the “Slavic Chronicle” of Helmold (1167-1168): “Among the many Slavic deities, the main one is Sventovit (Zuantewith), the god of the Rana land (the land of the Ran tribe, they are encouraged), since he is the most convincing in the answers. Next to him, they revere everyone else, as it were, as demigods. Therefore, as a sign of special respect, they are in the habit of annually sacrificing to him a person - a Christian, whom the lot will indicate ... ".

The complex topic of human sacrifice is rarely raised in Rodnoverie. There are 2 points to consider here.

Firstly, part of the Rodnovers generally denies the possibility of any bloody demands.

Secondly , those who understand that there were bloody demands simply do not talk about it out loud. But this difficult question will have to be clarified. Before us, this has already been done by many authors. Therefore, we do not set ourselves the task of giving a chronology, or declaring a problem.

Got a need to talk about the typology of sacrifices.

There are 2 types of sacrifices, conditionally we will divide them into human sacrifices and the sacrifice of animals, plants, food, etc. Non-human sacrifices (requirements) were ubiquitous among the pagans. They appeased the gods during trade, holidays, requests, etc.

If we talk about human sacrifices, we can distinguish 3 types of sacrifices.

Voluntary, Christian sacrifice, forced pagan sacrifice during crisis situations. Human sacrifice is the strongest, therefore less common.

Human sacrifice can also be divided by type. Only pagans were honored with burning (cremation), Christians could be slaughtered or cut into pieces. This is due to the ideas of ancestors about the afterlife. Captives and Christians, as non-Christians, could not be rewarded with this type of sacrifice.

I would also like to ask a question. Is the voluntary killing of the wife of a deceased Slav a sacrifice? In the course of work, we will try to understand these issues.

Human sacrifice is known to many people. The Slavs are no exception in this matter. There are a lot of sources that describe human sacrifice among the Slavs.

As Sedov V.V. " Ancient authors (Mauritius, John of Ephesus) repeatedly mention the numerous herds that were in the possession of the Slavs. Small clay figurines of animals were found in Slavic settlements, obviously associated with the ritual of sacrifice, emphasizing the importance of pets in the life and life of the Slavs.».

The economic basis of the life of the Slavs - agriculture - left a significant imprint on pagan beliefs. According to the pagan calendar, most ritual festivities reflected a certain cycle of agricultural work. Agricultural products were the main pagan sacrifices.

But, from the 6th to the 10th century there is a lot of evidence of human sacrifice. The truth is indicated only about the voluntary killing of women after the death of her husband. He wrote about it in the VI century. Mauritius. The same custom was mentioned by St. Boniface in the 8th century, he was described in detail by Arab writers of the 9th-10th centuries. Such a voluntary killing of Slavic women Masudi in "Golden Meadows" explains by the fact that "the wives ardently desire to be burned along with their husbands in order to enter paradise after them." If Fadlan and Masudi describe this ritual action as a ritual burning, then in Ibn-Ruste's work “Dear values” he describes this rite as follows: “ If the deceased had three wives and one of them claims that she especially loved him, then she brings two pillars to his corpse, they drive them upright into the ground, then they put the third pillar across, tie a rope in the middle of this crossbar, she stands on a bench and ties the end [of the rope] around her neck". Fadlan also notes about special love: “ when the aforementioned man died, they said to his girls: who will die with him? and one of them answered: I!". Also, there are no noticeable forced connotations. Ibn Miskawayh also points to voluntariness when describing the campaign of the Rus against Muslims. If one of the Rus died, then "his servant, if he loved him, according to their custom (buried together)."

In our opinion, the assignment of these funeral rites to sacrifices is extremely conditional. In the worldview of the pagan Slavs, the afterlife is much better than the obvious. Therefore, the Slavs died in battle without retreating and climbed the fire for their husbands. It was in the mentality. Yes, if you look at it from today's worldview position, then this action has, of course, a sacrificial coloring. But, the ancestors saw it as taking care of a spouse for a better life, and it was not seen as a sacrifice. It would be more appropriate to attribute this to the funeral tradition, and, in fact, to take it out of the brackets in this problem. In confirmation of our words, we quote from the work of Pseudo-Mauritius: “ Their wives are chaste beyond all human nature, so that many of them consider the death of their husbands to be their own death and voluntarily strangle themselves, not considering life in widowhood.».

German chroniclers, and in particular, Titmar of Merseburg, says that among the Slavs "the terrible wrath of the gods is propitiated by the blood of people and animals." If Fadlan describes the custom of sacrificing sheep and other livestock to the gods to improve trade, then Titmar says that the wrath of the gods "is propitiated by the blood of people." It just remains unclear, the blood was also used as a treat. It is not clear from the source whether it was the killing in the rite, or whether the blood oath was simply described.

The first real references to human sacrifices that cannot be refuted are found by Helmold in the Slavic Chronicle.

According to Helmold, the Slavs " they offer sacrifices to their gods with oxen and sheep, and many also with Christian people, whose blood, they assure, gives special pleasure to their gods". Svyantovita is annually sacrificed "a Christian man, whom the lot will indicate" ...

According to many scientists (Afanasiev, Toporov), the echoes of the ancient custom of human sacrifice among the Eastern and Southern Slavs have been preserved almost to the present. They can be traced in a degraded and transformed form, when instead of a person a stuffed animal or a doll was sent to the next world, they staged a staging of such a sacrifice during the holiday (the funeral of Kostroma, Yarila, Morena, seeing off Shrovetide).

Archeology confirms human sacrifices. There are especially many ritual pits, wells, etc. found in temples near Zvenigorod.

So, in building 3, located on the road leading to the sacred mountain, there was a crouched skeleton of a teenager and around him in one layer were stacked carcasses of cows cut into pieces, their most meaty and edible parts (vertebrae with ribs, femurs) and four cow jaws. Among the bones, an arrowhead was stuck into the earthen floor. This structure belongs to the type of sacrificial pits widely known in the Slavic lands. There are no signs of residential or utility premises in it, which indicates a sacrifice, and not a funeral rite.

The second crouched skeleton at the site of Zvenigorod was found in a well located on a terrace in the southern part of the sanctuary. The skeleton belonged to a man of 30-35 years old, whose skull was pierced on the crown of the head with a sharp tool. Next to the skeleton lay an axe, the rim of a wooden shovel, and fragments of utensils from the 12th century. It is possible that the tools with which the sacrifice was performed were laid near the slain.

But, there are opinions that bones and some corpses cannot be differentiated as sacrifices due to weak contextual links. So the bones and parts of the body could be brought to the temple from campaigns. And the sorcerer sent to the other world what was left of the warrior. Also, the bodies can be buried in the temple in honor of respect. There were several funeral customs. These were burial in the fetal position, and cremation, and cremation with burial in the ground and corpses. Several species could overlap in one era, so what is considered a violent death may also be a funeral rite. But, all this does not give us the right to exclude sacrifices among the Slavs. It was, but already from the 6th century it was not universal, and by the 10th century it was already closer to fanaticism, it was rudimentarily fixed until the 19th century.

In Zvenigorod, the corpses of children and babies, individual parts of the body, and much more were found, which makes it possible to unequivocally state that human sacrifices among the Slavs took place. Also, many bones were found near the Temple of Arkon. In places of human sacrifice, crosses were often found, and even a censer was found in Zvenigorod. This will allow us to say that, most likely, Christians were still sacrificed.

Questions regarding sacrifices among the Slavs are far from being studied. And there are many interpretations. But not all types and types of sacrifices were violent. Rituals of sacrifices were still common among Western and southern and Eastern Slavs. But this does not at all speak of their excessive cruelty or the novelty of the rites. Sacrifices are known to almost all Indo-Europeans.

The Slavs have quite a lot of information about human sacrifices in various sources. The earliest of them speak of the killing of women at the funeral of men. He colorfully wrote about this back in the 6th century. Mauritius. The same custom was mentioned by St. Boniface in the 8th century, he was described in detail by Arab writers of the 9th-10th centuries. (Mishulin A.V., 1941, p. 253; Kotlyarevsky A.A., 1868, p. 43-60).
Masudi explains the voluntary killing of Slavic women in Golden Meadows by the fact that “the wives ardently desire to be burned together with their husbands in order to enter paradise after them” (Garkavi, 1870, p. 129). Apparently, in addition to such a desire of women, the worship of the deceased, the sacrifice to him, along with other gifts, for example, listed by Ibn Fadlan when describing the funeral of the Rus - weapons, a dog, two horses, cows, etc., affected the implementation of this rite. (1939, pp. 81-82). Masudi wrote that the Slavs not only burn their dead, but also honor them (Garkavi, 1870, p. 36). The human sacrifices of the Western Slavs are described by German chroniclers of the 11th-12th centuries, former contemporaries and participants in the events. The "Chronicle" of Titmar of Merseburg says that among the Slavs "the terrible wrath of the gods is propitiated by the blood of people and animals" (Famitsyn A.S., 1884, p. 50). According to Helmold, the Slavs "sacrifice to their gods with oxen and sheep, and many with Christian people, whose blood, they assure, gives special pleasure to their gods." Svyatovit is annually sacrificed "a Christian man, whom the lot will indicate" (Helmold, 1963, p. 129).

The number of Christians sacrificed especially increased during the uprisings of the Slavs, for example, when in 1066 the encouragers sacrificed Bishop John and many priests (Helmold, 1963, pp. 65-78). In addition to Christians, children were also sacrificed. The "Life of Otto of Bamberg" says that in Pomorye "women put to death newborn girls" (Kotlyarevsky A.A., 1893, p. 341). Information about human sacrifices among the Eastern Slavs is also quite definite, repeated in different sources, and they can hardly be considered as slander and propaganda against paganism.

Leo the Deacon contains the oldest news: after the battle, the soldiers of Prince Svyatoslav gathered their dead and burned them, “slaughtering many captives, men and women, according to the custom of their ancestors. Having made this bloody sacrifice, they strangled several babies and roosters, drowning them in the waters of Istra” (1988, p. 78). Sacrifices were made in Kiev on a hill outside the courtyard of the tower, where stood the idols set under Prince Vladimir: And the land of Ruska and Kholmov was defiled with blood” (PSRL, Moscow, 1997, vol. 1, st. 79).

The same thing happened after Prince Vladimir's campaign against the Yotvingians in 983: the elders and boyars chose by lot a youth or a maiden "to fall on him, we will kill him with God," and the lot fell on the son of a Christian Varangian (PSRL, vol. 1, stb. 82). The same information is repeated in the “Word about how the first trash bowed to an idol” (XI century): “... I bring my son and daughter, and I will kill them before them, and the whole earth will be defiled” (Anichkov E.V., 1914, p. 264).
Metropolitans Hilarion and Cyril of Turov wrote about human sacrifices as if they were a custom left in the past: “we will no longer kill each other with a demon” (Hilarion); “from now on, hell would not be accepted by the fathers of the slaughtered baby, nor death honored: stop idolatry and pernicious demonic violence” (Kirill Turovsky) (Anichkov E.V., 1914, p. 238).
But information about human casualties continues to be found later. In Suzdal, during the famine in 1024, on the initiative of the Magi, “I beat the old child according to the devil’s teachings and demons, saying tacos to keep gobino” (PSRL, vol. 2, st. 135). In 1071, also during a famine in the Rostov land, the sorcerers declared: “ve sveve, who keeps an abundance”, “the same naritsaha the best wives say, keep it like that ...”, “and I bring my sisters to them, my mother and my wife ... and kill many wives” (PSRL, vol. 1, st. 175).

Researchers consider these actions as sacrifices to end disasters and famine (Rybakov B.A., 1987, p. 300; Froyanov I.Ya., 1983, p. 22-37; 1986, p. 40; 1988, p. 319-321) or as sending their representatives to the next world to prevent crop failure (Beletskaya N.N., 1 978, pp. 65-68).

Serapion’s “Word of Little Faith” (XIII century) says that his contemporaries burned innocent people with fire during disastrous life events - crop failure, lack of rain, cold (Kotlyarevsky A.A., 1868, p. 35). In the appeal “On fasting to the ignorant on Mondays” (XIII century), it is said about the custom “breaking your own baby on a stone. Many people destroy their bribes from people ”(Galkovsky N. M., 1913, p. 9). In the monument “The Word of St. Gregory was invented in a toloceh about how the first trash of the current tongues bowed to an idol and laid trebs on them, they still do it now” (XIV century) mentions “Taverskaya detaring idols from the first-born” (Galkovsky N.M., 1913, p. 23).
In 1372, during the construction of fortress walls in Nizhny Novgorod, according to legend, the merchant's wife Marya was killed (Morokhin V.N., 1971). The Gustinsky Chronicle (XVII century) reports that “multiplying for the sake of the fruits of the earth ... From these to a certain god, they swamp people for the sacrifice of people, and to this day they still create insane memory in some countries” (PSRL, vol. 40, pp. 44-45).

In Russia, women suspected of witchcraft, stealing rains, earthly fertility, were burned, drowned, buried in the ground as early as the middle of the 18th century. There is evidence that in the XIX century. in Belarus, during a drought, an old woman was drowned (Afanasyev A.N., 1983, p. 395; Beletskaya N.N., 1978, p. 66). This manifested the desire, on the one hand, to neutralize the evil power of witches, and on the other hand, to send their representative to the next world with a request for help.

Echoes of the ancient custom of human sacrifice among the Eastern and Southern Slavs have been preserved almost to the present. They can be traced in a degraded and transformed form, when instead of a person a stuffed animal or a doll was sent to the other world, they staged a staging of such a sacrifice during a holiday (the funeral of Kostroma, Yarila, Morena, seeing off Maslenitsa), the remnants of this ritual are captured in legends, fairy tales, proverbs and sayings, in the funeral rite, up to children's games (Ivanov V.V., Toporov V.N. ., 1974, p. 107; Beletskaya N.N., 1978).

The meaning of human sacrifice was diverse and varied depending on the level of development of society, specific beliefs and the nature of the people, on the circumstances of the sacrifice. Of the whole variety of incentives for sacrificing a person to the Slavs, some of them can be applied. According to the ideas of the pagan Slavs, death was only a transition to another state, and the deceased continued to live in the other world, which seemed to be a reflection of the earthly world itself (Ibn Fadlan, Leo the Deacon). The other world according to Russian fairy tales looked like a beautiful garden and meadows. There are no fields and forests, there is no work, the dead go there and you can see all your relatives there (Propp V.Ya., 1986, p. 287-293). According to A. Kotlyarevsky, “pagan antiquity had other, completely different from the current, views on the deceased: he was only a migrant, this event was celebrated here, accompanied by fun and dancing” (1868, p. 229).

Many peoples of the world had a widespread idea of ​​the cycle in nature "life-death-life". That is, in order for rebirth to occur, death is necessary. According to Fraser, the death of a god leads to his resurrection and the rebirth of nature (1986). The same ideas among the Slavs are restored by V.Ya. Propp (1963, p. 71) and N.N. Beletskaya (1978). In their opinion, death leads to a rebirth in nature and vegetation, to an increase in the miraculous power of the earth.

The Slavs had a belief that the earth accepts dead ancestors and gives their souls to newborns (Komarovich V.L., I960, p. 104; Shilo B.P., 1972, p. 71). According to widely held ideas, the life force of the slain passes to the living, as was considered when the aged leaders were killed (Frazer D., 1986, p. 87). The deceased relative-ancestor became the protector and patron of the living, joined the host of gods. Connected with this is the custom of killing a special representative of the community and sending him to the next world to the gods as his messenger.
Degraded remnants of this rite can be traced in the Slavic calendar holidays (Beletskaya N.N., 1978). This custom is known in cults and other peoples. Among the Chukchi, voluntary death for the benefit of the community was considered honorable (Zelenin D.K., 1936, p. 58). The Getae sent a messenger every five years to the gods, chosen by lot, with instructions to convey to the god everything they needed at a given time (Herodotus, 1972, p. 210). According to the most universal concepts, the sacrifice of a person had the meaning of redemption and purification, caused by the desire to propitiate the gods and achieve prosperity for the living (Frazer D., 1936, pp. 529-534). Therefore, this rite was performed to prevent and save in case of serious disasters, wars, crop failures (Zelenin D.K., 1936, p. 58). The Polish “Great Chronicle” contains the words of the king of the Alemans: ““ For all of you, noble ones, I will make a solemn sacrifice to the underground gods ”and, throwing myself on the sword, committed suicide” (Great Chronicle, 1987, p. 58).

One cannot see any particular cruelty in the custom of human sacrifice among the Slavs. These sacrifices were determined by the worldview of that time and were used for the benefit and salvation of society. Death during sacrifice contributed to the well-being of the living and the continuation of life on earth, was considered honorable, and sometimes they could go to it voluntarily. From written and ethnographic sources it is not clear how widespread the custom of human sacrifice was among the Slavs, in what form and in what period it was practiced, where and how they were performed. Only archeology can answer these questions.

There is an opinion that, as long as human victims are not supported by factual material, reports about them can be considered as an invention of churchmen who fought against pagan beliefs (Gassowski J., 1971, S. 568).
The actual data on the sacrifice of people are available among the archaeological materials. Burials of babies as building sacrifices are known throughout Europe, in particular, in the cities of the 12th-13th centuries. Gdansk and Riga (Zelenin D.K., 1937, p. 8-9; Kowalczyk M, 1968, S. 110; Lepowna V., 1981, S. 181; Caune A.V., 1990, p. 127-130). Perhaps a child was sacrificed, whose bones were found in house 2 of the Novotroitsk settlement (Lyapushkin I.I., 1958, p. 53-54). Human skulls were found in the sacrificial pit of Volin, in Prague, on the sacrificial platform of the 10th century. near Plock, the skeletons of the murdered people lay on the sanctuary near Vyshegrod in the 10th-13th centuries. (Kowalczyk M., 1968, S. 111; Gierlich V., 1975, S. 53-56), human skulls were piled in a pit at the site of Arkona (Berlekamp N., 1974). According to the calculations of G. Muller, on the Arkon by the 9th-10th centuries. 470 human bones belong, and to the XI-XII centuries. - 905 human bones (Mueller H., 1974, S. 293). The skeletons were found in places of worship in the settlement of Babina Dolina, at the Green Lipa sanctuary. During the excavations of the settlements-sanctuaries on Zbruch, the remains of people sacrificed were found in many buildings of Bogit and Zvenigorod, which significantly expands the range of sources and provides additional information about this rite and the actions accompanying it.

At the Zbruch sanctuaries, the remains of people are presented in different forms. Elongated and twisted skeletons, dismembered parts of a corpse, separate skulls and their fragments, as well as scattered bones of several individuals, stacked together, were found here. Whole skeletons of men aged about 60, stretched to their full height, lay in two recesses on the temple of Bogita. The position of the bones in ordinary grave pits, their posture and orientation (head to the west with a slight deviation along the edge of the temple) indicate the burial of the naturally dead, but buried in an unusual place - on a high mountain at the foot of the idol. The ritual significance of these burials is emphasized by the finds in the filling of the grave pits with animal bones, mainly the teeth of cattle and pigs, as well as by filling the pits with earth with coal and small fragments of utensils, burnt a second time.
With the same honor as on Bogita, an elderly man was buried at the Green Linden sanctuary. It was placed in a round pit dug in the floor of the temple, located on top of a hill, and turned with its head to the west, towards the idol. Next to it was a large flat stone - an altar - and fragments of dishes from the 11th-12th centuries lay. Elderly men, solemnly buried on the top of the mountain directly in front of the idol, must have been the most revered and respected members of the community during their lifetime.

Princes Askold and Dir, Prince Oleg were also solemnly buried on the mountains, about whom the annals say “both carrying and burying [him] on the mountain to say Mulberry” (PSRL, vol. 1, stb. 39). The princes, as the most powerful and respected people, were thus attached to the divine ancestors (Beletskaya N.N., 1978, p. 134). On Bogita such revered people could be priests. These burials reflect the cult of ancestors, which played a dominant role in the pagan worldview of the Slavs. The dead passed into another, natural world, were connected with the forces of nature, themselves turned into one of the revered deities. They guarded the land holdings of their relatives, contributed to the fruitful power of the earth (Rybakov B.A., 1987, p. 74).

The cult of ancestors was closely connected with agrarian cults and was a part of all agrarian holidays (Propp V.Ya., 1963, p. 14). Probably, priests who died at different times (XI and XII - the beginning of the XIII centuries) were buried at the temple of Bogita, who were especially revered during their lifetime and could become worthy defenders and patrons of those living before the gods. If the Zbruch idol really stood on this temple, then one of the buried priests was placed in front of the image of Dazhdbog, and the second was placed in front of the god of the underworld Beles (Rybakov B.A., 1987, p. 251). It is also interesting that the obviously pagan burials in the sanctuaries were performed almost according to the Christian rite - unburned corpses were placed in narrow pits, oriented with their heads to the west. Unlike Christian canons, the hands of the buried were not folded on their chests, and coals, bones and shards were found in the backfill of the pits. Apparently, not all corpses under mounds that spread in Rus' can be considered Christian, especially since in the 10th century. Christianity still had a very narrow circle of converts, mostly living in cities.

The transition from burning to inhumation in Scandinavia also occurred under the rule of paganism, and there are distinguished “times of burnings” and “times of burial of the dead” (Sturluson, 1980, p. 663). It can be assumed that the rejection of burnings and the transition to inhumation were caused by the spread of the Christian idea of ​​a bodily resurrection, which was not characteristic of the pagans, they "do not like this for themselves." This idea is connected with the desire not to destroy, but to preserve the body of the deceased, as “God preserves the bones of the righteous” (Word of St. Cyril, XIV century) (Galkovsky N.M., 1913, p. 69).

The preservation of the body of the deceased, especially of an outstanding person, was also caused by the belief that while the deceased is in place, he has a greater prosperous power. There is a story in the sagas that in Sweden, after the death of the king, his body “was not burned and they called him the god of prosperity, and since then they have always made sacrifices to him for a harvest year and peace” (Sturluson, 1980, p. 16).

The babies, whose bones were found among the stones in recesses 6 and 8 at the temple of Bogit, were probably sacrificed to the gods and placed, perhaps, in front of the images on the Zbruch idol of Makosh and Beles and in front of the goddess with the ring Lada, the patroness of spring field work. Sacrifice of children under difficult circumstances and crop failures was common among the peoples of the whole world, it is known from the Old Testament (3500 years ago) and, perhaps, was caused by the idea that the more valuable the sacrifice for the giver, the more pleasing it is to God (Frazer D., 1986, p. 316-329; Taylor E.B., 1939, p. 492).

As already mentioned, such sacrifices among the Slavs are mentioned repeatedly in written sources. In Polissya, a belief persisted for a long time that in order to stop the rains, it is necessary to bury the child in the ground, and to fight the drought, throw him into the water (N.I. Tolstoy, Sm., 1981, p. 50). In Russian fairy tales, the blood of a baby has miraculous powers and can be used to revive a person.

The remains of human sacrifices were found in several buildings of the Zvenigorod sanctuary. In building 3, located on the road leading to the sacred mountain, lay the crouched skeleton of a teenager, and around him in one layer were stacked carcasses of cows cut into pieces, their most meaty and edible parts (vertebrae with ribs, femurs) and four cow jaws. Among the bones, an arrowhead was stuck into the earthen floor. This structure belongs to the type of sacrificial pits widely known in the Slavic lands. There are no signs of residential or utility premises in it, and after the completion of the rituals performed here, the pit was covered with large stones, which was often used when filling religious buildings, should have contributed to the safety of the victims and at the same time rendered them harmless.

Probably, a human sacrifice was brought here to appease the gods, and meat food was intended to “feed” the gods and ancestors, whom the Slavs endowed with a human image and needs. People have to water and feed them, for which the gods fulfill the desires of people. According to Ibn Fadlan and Constantine Porphyrogenitus, meat was brought to feed the gods by the Rus; Perun in Novgorod "ate and drank to the full" until he was thrown into the Volkhov.

Probably, the same magical actions were performed on the sacrificial site of the 13th century, located at the foot of the settlement of Zvenigorod on the site of the earlier settlement of Babina Dolina. A fire was kindled in the center of the site, a human skeleton was laid on its back with legs pressed to the chest, its head was cut off and placed aside. All around, in one row, parts of the carcasses of cows, also only edible, are laid, and along the edges of the platform there are seven cow skulls lying on the neck bases and turned towards the center. Above the sacrificial platform in the clay slope, a “bread” oven of the same type as in other sacrificial structures of Zvenigorod was knocked out, and the crouched skeleton of a teenager was squeezed into it. After the completion of all the rituals, the site was littered with large stones.

The second crouched skeleton at the site of Zvenigorod was found in a well located on a terrace in the southern part of the sanctuary. The skeleton belonged to a man of 30-35 years old, whose skull was pierced on the crown of the head with a sharp tool. Next to the skeleton lay an axe, the rim of a wooden shovel, and fragments of utensils from the 12th century. It is possible that tools were placed near the dead person, with the help of which the sacrifice was made, as was done in India, where, along with the human sacrifice brought to the goddess of death, they placed spades that dug the grave (Taylor E.B., 1989, p. 492).

The murdered man, thrown into the sacred well, through which one of the paths to the next world passed, was sent to the underworld as a sacrifice to the ancestors. Crouched burials are occasionally found on the burial grounds of the Eastern and Western Slavs. There are 16 of them in the southern Russian lands (Motsya A.P., 1990, p. 27). In Slovakia, at the Zabor burial ground, out of 52 buried, four were in a crouched position, in Pobedyma, out of 118 buried, five were crouched (Chropovsky V., 1978, S. 99-123; Vendtova V., 1969, S. 171-193). Those buried in this position were apparently tied up or buried in sacks. This custom is explained by belief in ghouls (Kowalczyk M., 1968, S. 82-83) or they are seen as the burials of the Magi (Motsya A.P., 1981, p. 101-105). It is unlikely that the Magi could be buried in this way, since the pagans should have treated them with respect.

In addition, there are children's burials among the crouched burials. Most likely, this position of the buried indicates fear of them and the desire to prevent their return to earth. For this purpose, both feet were cut off from the buried in a crouched position at the Radomiya burial ground in Poland (Gassowski J., 1950, S. 322).

The crouched burials in Zvenigorod, apparently, can be regarded as the sacrifice of enemies, whose harmful actions had to be stopped. Such enemies for the locals could be Christians, whose blood was especially pleasing to the pagan gods. Probably, the dismemberment of the victim, left in building 4, located at the foot of temple 3 of Zvenigorod, was caused by the same fear. Here lay the skeleton of a man of 20-25 years old, divided into two parts. The upper part of the skeleton up to the waist has been preserved in anatomical order, the skull is turned to the left, the arms are bent at the elbows and the hands are placed near the head. The lower part of the skeleton - the pelvis, femur and tibia - are placed separately behind the skull.

The symbolic meaning of things lying around (locks, keys, an ax, knives, spurs) indicate the desire for protection from evil forces, safety, well-being. But the main meaning of the actions taken was aimed at ensuring the harvest and fertility - grains of oats were poured next to the bones, in a smaller amount of rye, with an admixture of wheat, barley and millet, that is, all types of cultivated cereals. A sickle was placed on top of the grain, bones of domestic animals were scattered on the floor, among them the bones of three piglets 1-2 months old. Judging by the age of these pigs, sacrifices and rituals were held in this building in early spring.

As in other cases, structure 4 was actually a sacrificial pit, in which sacrificial rites were performed at least twice, and, like many pits of multiple use, it had a roof in the form of a canopy. After the completion of the rites, everything was covered with stones.

The sacrifices made at the site of Vyshegrod in Poland are connected with agricultural cults. Here at the entrance to the sanctuary and near the stone altar lay two skeletons of men with traces of violent death and two sickles were left. Scattered bones of people - skulls, their fragments, bones of arms and legs, found in many places at the Zvenigorod sanctuary, had a special magical meaning. At the same time, fragments of the skeletons of several people of different age groups are found in each room and in the clusters of bones.

It is also significant that the remains of people belong to different times, in many buildings the rites were held several times and after a break they again brought the bones of people. Chopping, tearing the human body into pieces played a huge role in many religions and myths, the memory of it was preserved in fairy tales (Propp V.Ya., 1986, p. 95).

The meaning of this custom was multifaceted and changed over time. In Indo-European mythology, the thunder god cuts his opponent - the ruler of the underworld - into pieces and scatters them in different directions, thus freeing cattle and water (Myths of the peoples of the world, 1982, p. 530). From the same mythology comes the idea of ​​creating the universe and human society from dismembered parts of the human body (Gamkrelidze T.V., Ivanov V.V., 1981, p. 821).

Among the Hittites (referred to in the Old Testament as the Hittites), when a person or animal was sacrificed, their bodies were cut into 12 parts, from which, according to legend, parts of the universe arose, and the common good was achieved. When setting out on a campaign, the Hittites cut the victim in half (Ivanov V.V., 1974, p. 104).

The dying and resurrected gods of vegetation and fertility Osiris in Egypt, Dionysus in Crete, Adonis in Phoenicia were torn apart and scattered in different places (Frazer D., 1986., p. 404-420). In ancient Greek, a part of the body and “song”, “chant”, as well as “dismember”, “cut into pieces” and “sing”, “play” were denoted by the same terms, which is associated with the performance of sacrificial rites (Lukinova T.B., 1990, p. 45).

In Europe, the custom was widespread to dismember the body of a king or sorcerer and bury it in different parts of the country in order to ensure the fertility of the soil, the fertility of people and animals. The posthumous ritual dismemberment of the corpse of the king and the burial of parts of his body in different parts of the state for the uniform endowment of subjects with the caress and talent of the master existed in Scandinavia (Gurevich A.Ya., 1972, pp. 235, 236).

The Norwegian king Galfan the Black was cut into pieces and buried in various parts of the kingdom to make the land fertile (Frazer D., 1986, p. 420,421).
All the peoples of Europe know spring holidays, when they tore apart a doll or stuffed animal, which the Slavs called Shrovetide, Kupala, Kostroma and was a substitute for human sacrifice, and scattered the pieces over the fields, which should have contributed to a good harvest (Sumtsov N.F., 1890, p. 143-144; Propp V.Ya., 1963, p. 72-74, 84; Frazer D., 1986, p. 346; Beletskaya N.N., 1978, p. 87).

Individual bones of a person possessed magical power - the thigh, arm, hand (Frazer D., 1986, p. 36), but the main importance was attached to the head of a person, where his life and strength were concentrated. The cult of the head has been common among different peoples for a long time. The one who saved the head of the deceased, according to legend, gains power over him, acquires his life force (Propp V.Ya., 1986, p. 152). In addition, with the widespread replacement of the whole by its part, it was the head that was the embodiment of a person (Frazer D., 1986, p. 470; Beletskaya N.N., 1984, p. 87).

All these beliefs and rituals, based on the dismemberment of the victim, are confirmed in archaeological materials of different times. For example, at a Celtic sanctuary in Slovakia, human victims with severed heads and limbs were thrown into a sacred well (Pieta N., Moravftk J., 1980, S. 245-280), in Thuringia on the sacrificial site of Oberdorl, used in Roman times , the skull, shoulder, bones of the human leg were laid (Behm-Blancke G., 1978, S. 364). In Germany, the custom of separating the head, arms and legs of the deceased existed until the Middle Ages (Schott L., 1982, S. 461-469). A similar custom was described by Helmold among the Baltic Slavs: in 1066, in their capital, Retra, the encouragers killed Bishop John, “chopped off his arms and legs, threw his body on the road, cut off his head and, sticking it on a spear, sacrificed it to their god Redegast as a sign of victory” (Gelmold, 1963, p. 77). He was also killed by pagans in Poland, St. Vojtech, his head was placed on a pole (Karwacinska J., 1956, S. 33).

In the Slavic cemeteries sometimes come across dissected skeletons. For example, at the burial ground of the 21st-13th centuries. in Chernovka in Bukovina, the human skeleton was cut in half (Tymoshchuk B.O., 1976, p. 96). Sometimes the head is cut off and placed between the legs, which is known in northern Rus', in Poland, in the Czech Republic (Ryabinin E.A., 1974, p. 25; Eisner J., 1966, S. 460-463; Kowalczyk M., 1968, S. 15,16). In Piotrkow Kuyavsky in Poland, a man's head was pierced with an iron nail (Kowalczyk M, 1968, S. 17).
The custom of destroying a corpse in this case was used to neutralize the deceased, as it happened back in the 19th century. on the territory of Belarus, when the “vampires” (i.e. those people who were considered as such) were cut off their heads and put it between the legs of the buried (Bogdanovich A.E., 1895, p. 58).

Based on the available data, we can assume that among the Slavs the rite of dissection of a corpse had a different meaning. First of all, the scattering of body parts of a person who was killed or died a natural death was supposed to contribute to the well-being of the community and the fertility of fields and animals, the early emergence of crops. In addition, the desire to protect oneself from the harmful effects of the deceased affected.
There may be other motives for the implementation of this rite. So, Gregory the Theologian (XIV century) speaks of divination with the help of such a ritual act as “the priestly art of magicians and guessing the future from dissected victims” (Galkovsky N.M., 1913, p. 30).

This variety of customs and beliefs is reflected in the materials of the Zvenigorod sanctuary. Human bones were found at different levels in the filling of structure 5 in Zvenigorod. Here, in front of the bread ovens, magical rites were performed periodically and the remains of the victims were separated by sterile bedding. On the floor lay a partially burnt skull, vertebrae, bones of the left hand of a man of 20-30 years old, ribs with an awl stuck among them, a large accumulation of grains of rye, millet with the addition of a small amount of wheat, barley, oats and peas, two crossed sickles. Higher in the filling was a human skull, animal bones, things, including very expensive ones, gold and silver.
After the end of all actions, structure 5, like all similar religious buildings on the sanctuary, was thrown with stones, including very large and heavy ones. The rituals performed here are connected with agricultural cults and were performed at some important and critical moments in the life of society, when significant sacrifices were required - the heads of people and rich gifts. The human bones were in shallow oval pits chosen among the masonry on temple 3. Near the idol in pit 18 lay the upper part of the skeleton of a 25-30-year-old man, the skull of a child of one or two years old, and the lower jaw of a young woman. Around the pit there are large flat stones-altars and things associated with the solar cult: metal bracelets, fragments of glass bracelets, a wire temporal ring, an ax and everything was “locked” by a tubular lock. The human skulls buried in this pit may have symbolized the whole in its parts and meant the sacrifice of three people.

At the southeastern foot of the temple, in the same pits 9, 13, 14, there were scattered bones of relatively elderly men aged about 45 years. They were laid without anatomical order and made up only part of the skeletons - fragments of skulls, the lower jaw, individual bones of the arms and legs. In this part of the temple, rites were performed very intensively and there were a lot of sacrificed things. Probably, the bones of people were brought here as symbolic sacrifices, and certain rituals were performed around them. So, near pit 14, a bonfire was preserved and several keys lay - symbols of safety and amulets.
Human bones were also found on other temples. On temple 2, in different places, there were single bones belonging to five young men. Among the bones were found a fragment of the skull (it lay in the very center of the temple), the lower jaws, vertebrae, bones of the arms and legs. The same bones, but more often fragments of the cranium, which fell apart at the seams, were found in many structures in the settlement. Parts of the skulls were located in building 6, where there were two "bread" ovens, on top of shaft 2, along with accumulations of sacrificial things, on a round sacrificial platform (structure 15), arranged near an earthen rampart. In building 14, fragments of human skulls lay in front of the idol at different levels. In structures 9, 10, 11, located at the foot of temple 3, along with sacrificial things sometimes of a very rich and varied composition, as in structure 11, there were also scattered bones of people.

In one of these structures, 9 rituals were performed repeatedly with interruptions, and each time a new bread oven was dug out in the wall of the room, and individual bones of different individuals were placed in front of it.
Scattered fragments of skulls, jaws, hand bones of adults and children were placed in a sacrificial pit dug in the second half of the 13th century. on the site of an earlier long house 8. In building 2, rituals were performed repeatedly and scattered bones of children and adult men, as well as bones of animals, lay here in several layers. The design of this building was unusual. The room had wooden walls and a roof, along its wall there was a bench for sitting. For holding meetings and public feasts, this room was too small, it can be assumed that here, in the presence of several people, divination took place, for which bones of people and animals were used, fire, bred on the floor and in the furnace. Scattered bones of people found in places of worship were taken from skeletons with already decayed tissues. Perhaps the bones were collected in some kind of temporary storage, from where they were taken as needed for the performance of rituals.

One of these repositories could be burnt areas located near temples 3 in sq. 7d, e. Incomplete skeletons and separate bones of children and adult men lay here in several rows. This accumulation of bones contains vertebrae, ribs, pelvic bones, which is rare in sacrificial complexes, but there are almost no skulls and jaws, which were an indispensable part of the sacrifices.
Structure 5 at the settlement of Babina Dolina could have been the same storage facility for bones. The floor of the structure was covered with human bones, sometimes preserved in anatomical order, for example, the hands of a teenager. Judging by the position of the bones, the corpse of a freshly killed woman with a severed head was thrown here. It is possible that in this room the victims were cut into pieces and individual bones could be carried away to perform rituals in other places.

Despite the poor preservation of the bones, often lying at a shallow depth, sometimes almost immediately under the turf, their identification made by anthropologists G.P. Romanova and P.M. It is difficult to find out how many people the found bones belonged to, since the bones of the same skeleton could be in different places.

In total, male bones were found in almost 40 places, and the bones of children and adolescents lay in 30 clusters. One might think that such a number of children's remains was caused by a high infant mortality, but it is possible that children, as the most valuable victim, were chosen by lot, which is known from written sources.
The bone remains of people found at the sanctuary sites of Bogit and Zvenigorod were not ordinary burial places or traces of enemy defeat and death of people. All the buildings on the settlements were left in a calm environment and were carefully stoned, numerous things, often quite expensive, were left in place. The remains of people and individual bones were placed in special structures, certain rituals were performed around them (kindling a fire, building bread ovens, sprinkling with grain, coal, small fragments of dishes, arranging numerous things that had a symbolic meaning).

The bones of people are found in structures of different times and are often associated with successive rites held in the same place. In most cases, scattered bones of people of different ages are brought together.
All these data testify to the bringing of human sacrifices in the sanctuaries and to the special magical role of human bones. The sacrifices were made in many ways and served several purposes. For the well-being and prosperity of the community, its most respected members were solemnly buried in the most honorable place in front of the idol. Enemies - probably Christians - were killed and sacrificed to appease the gods. Killed enemies were left bound in a crouched position or dismembered to prevent them from returning to the earth and harming the living. At the most crucial moments, children were sacrificed as the most valuable and effective gift to the gods.
As sacred amulets, individual bones were widely used, and especially the skulls of people, which were a substitute for a whole human sacrifice. The skulls of people, as the most significant victims, were left to the gods in the most sacred places, on temples and in the surrounding places of worship. Separate bones and parts of the skeletons were supposed to contribute to well-being, an increase in the fruitful power of the earth, crops, fertility of animals and, in general, the preservation and longevity of the sanctuaries and the world of the pagans in general.

Human sacrifices were made at sanctuaries from the 11th to the 13th centuries, during the period of the spread of Christianity and the intensified feudalization of society. At this time, human sacrifices were also performed by Western Slavs, among the Baltic Slavs there was a “militarization” of paganism caused by German and Danish aggression (Gassowski J., 1971, S. 570). Probably, the intensification and bitterness of the struggle of the pagans against Christianization and statehood took place in all lands where the last centers of the former faith were preserved in remote places. It was in such circumstances that the most significant and effective sacrifices were required for the preservation of the pagan world.

“In the year 6491 (983). Vladimir went against the Yotvingians, and defeated the Yotvingians, and conquered their land. And he went to Kyiv, offering sacrifices to idols with his people. And the elders and boyars said: "Let's cast lots on the lad and the maiden, on whom it falls, we will slaughter him as a sacrifice to the gods." There was only one Varangian then, and his courtyard stood where the Church of the Holy Mother of God, which Vladimir built, is now. That Varangian came from the Greek land and professed the Christian faith. And he had a son, beautiful in face and soul, and the lot fell on him, through the envy of the devil. For the devil, who has power over all, did not endure him, but this one was like thorns in his heart, and the accursed one tried to destroy him and set the people. And those who were sent to him, having come, said: “The lot fell on your son, the gods chose him for themselves, so let us sacrifice to the gods.” And the Varangian said: “These are not gods, but a tree: today there is, but tomorrow it will rot; they do not eat, they do not drink, they do not speak, but they are made by hands from wood. God is one, the Greeks serve and worship him; he created the sky, and the earth, and the stars, and the moon, and the sun, and man, and destined him to live on earth. And what did these gods do? They themselves are made. I will not give my son to demons." The messengers left and told the people about everything. The same, taking weapons, went to him and smashed his yard. The Varangian stood in the hallway with his son. They said to him: "Give me your son, let us bring him to the gods." He answered: “If they are gods, then let them send one of the gods and take my son. Why are you doing what they want?" And they called, and cut down the canopy under them, and so they were killed. And no one knows where they were put. After all, there were then people of ignorance and non-Christ. The devil rejoiced at this, not knowing that his death was already near. So he tried to destroy the entire Christian race, but was driven out by an honest cross from other countries. “Here,” thought the accursed one, “I will find a home for myself, because the apostles did not teach here, because the prophets did not predict here?” Not knowing that the prophet said: “And I will call people not mine my people”; about the apostles it is said: “Third words went out all over the earth, and to the end of the world their words.” If the apostles themselves were not here, however, their teaching, like trumpet sounds, is heard in churches throughout the universe: by their teaching we defeat the enemy - the devil, trampling him under his feet, as these two of our fathers trampled, accepting the crown of heaven on a par with the holy martyrs and the righteous. ("The Tale of Bygone Years")

“When night fell ... the Scythians went out onto the plain and began to pick up their dead. They piled them up in front of the wall, made many fires and burned them, slaughtering many captives, men and women, according to the custom of their ancestors. Having made this bloody sacrifice, they strangled several infants and roosters, drowning them in the waters of Istra (Danube) ”
(Leo the Deacon. History. Book 9.)

“Bishop John, an old man, captured with other Christians in Magnopolis, that is, in Mikilinburg, life was saved for the triumph [of the pagans]. For his adherence to Christ, he was [first] beaten with sticks, then he was taken to reproach in all Slavic cities, and when it was impossible to force him to renounce the name of Christ, the barbarians cut off his hands and feet, threw his body on the road, cut off his head and, sticking it on a spear, sacrificed it to their god Redegast as a sign of victory. All this happened in the capital of the Slavs, Retra, on the fourth ides of November.
(Germold. "Slavic Chronicle")

“How many regions (Slavs) are in that country, there are so many temples and images of individual demons that the infidels revere, but among them the mentioned city (temple) enjoys the greatest respect. They visit him when they go to war, and upon returning, if the campaign was successful, they honor him with appropriate gifts, and what kind of sacrifice the priests should bring in order for it to be desired by the gods, they guessed about it, as I already said, by means of a horse and lots. The wrath of the gods was propitiated by the blood of people and animals.
(Ditmar (Titmar) Merseburg "Chronicle")

“They have healers, they rule over their king, like masters, they order them to sacrifice to the creator what they want from men, women, herds of horses; if the healers order, no one can avoid the fulfillment of their order: the healer captures either a person or a domestic animal, throws a rope around his neck and hangs it on a tree until his spirit leaks out; they say that this is a sacrifice to God ... When one of the nobles dies among them, they dig a grave for him in the form of a large house, put him there, and with him put his clothes and the golden bracelets that he wore into the same grave. Then a lot of food supplies, vessels with drinks and a minted coin are lowered into it. Finally, the living beloved wife of the deceased is placed in the grave. After that, the opening of the grave is laid, and the wife dies in custody ...
... They are brave and courageous, and if they attack another people, they do not lag behind until they completely destroy it. The defeated are exterminated and [or] enslaved ...
... All of them constantly carry swords, as they trust each other little, and deceit between them is common. If one of them manages to acquire at least a little property, then his brother or comrade will immediately begin to envy him and try to kill him or rob him. »
(Ibn-Rust "Dear values")

“... I was told that they do such things with their heads at their death, of which the least is burning; wherefore I very much desired to be present at this, as I learned of the death of a noble among them. They put him in the grave and covered it with a lid for ten days, until they finished cutting and sewing his clothes. This is how they do it: they make a small vessel for a poor man, put it there and burn it; they collect from the rich man his property and divide it into three parts: they give a third to the family, for a third they cut his clothes, and for a third they buy a hot drink, which they drink on the day when his girl kills herself and is burned with her master. They are devoted to wine, they drink it day and night, so that sometimes one of them dies with a mug in his hand. When their head dies, his family says to the girls and boys: Which one of you will die with him? and one of them says: me! When he said so, then it is already obligatory for him, it is by no means permissible for him to turn back, and even if he wished, this is not allowed; mostly girls do it. Therefore, when the aforementioned man died, they said to his girls: who will die with him? and one of them answered: I! Therefore, two girls were appointed to watch over and be with her wherever she went, sometimes they even washed her feet with their own hands. Then they took over him, cutting his clothes and preparing what he needed. The girl drank every day and sang, having fun and rejoicing. When the day came for the burning of him and the girl, I went to the river where his ship was, and behold! it had already been pulled out (ashore) and four supports were made for it from the wood of the river branch and other wood, and wooden images like giants were placed around. They dragged the vessel onto these trees (pillars), and began to walk back and forth and speak words that I did not understand, but he (the dead man) was still in his grave, they had not yet taken him out. Then they brought a bench, put it on the ship and covered it with embroidered carpets, Rum dibaj and pillows from Rum dibaj. Then came the old woman, who is called the angel of death, and laid all the above on the bench; she also manages the sewing and its preparation, she also receives the girl and I saw her black (dark red), fat, with a fierce look. After they came to his grave, they removed the earth from the tree, as well as the tree itself, took out the dead man in the veil in which he died, and I saw him blackened from the cold of this country. They first placed a hot drink, fruits and a lute (or balalaika) with him in the grave; now they have taken it all out. He hasn't changed in anything but the color. They put on him sharavars, socks, boots, a jacket and a caftan made of dibaj with gold buttons, put a kalansuva made of dibaj with sable on his head, carried him to the tent, which was on the ship, put him on a carpet and propped him up with pillows; they brought a hot drink, fruits and fragrant plants and put it to him; they also brought bread, meat and onions and threw them before him; They also brought a dog, cut it into two parts and threw it into the ship. Then they brought all his weapons and laid them by his side; then they took two horses, drove them until they sweated, then cut them with swords and threw their meat into the ship; then they brought two bulls, also cut them and threw them into the ship; then they brought a rooster and a hen, slaughtered them and threw them in the same place. The girl, who was about to die, walked back and forth, went into each of their tents, where one by one they were combined with her, and each one said to her: “Tell your master that I did this out of love for you.” When the middle time came between noon and sunset, on Friday, they took the girl to something that they had made like a cornice at the door, she put her feet on the hands of men, climbed this cornice, said something in her own language and was lowered. Then they raised her a second time, she did the same as the first time, and they lowered her; lifted her a third time and she did as the first two times. Then they gave her a chicken, she cut off her head and threw it away, they took the chicken and threw it into the ship. I asked the interpreter about her action and he answered me: for the first time she said: “I see my father and my mother!” for the second time: “I see all the dead relatives sitting!” for the third time she said: “I see my master sitting in paradise, and paradise is beautiful, green; grown men and boys are with him, he is calling me, so take me to him.” She was led to the ship, she took off the wrists that were on her, and gave them to an old woman, called the angel of death, the same woman kills her. Then she took off the buckles that were on her legs, and gave them to two girls who served her; they are the daughters of the angel of death known as the angel. Then they took her to the ship, but did not bring her into the tent, and the men came with shields and sticks and gave her a mug of hot drink, she sang over it and drank it; the interpreter told me that by this she said goodbye to her friends. Then they gave her another mug, which she took and sang a long song; the old woman hurried her to drink a mug and enter the tent, where her master was. I saw her in indecision, she wanted to enter the tent and put her head between the tent and the ship; the old woman took her by the head, led her into the tent, and entered with her herself. The men began to beat with sticks on the shields, so that the sounds of her cries were not heard, and so that the other girls would not be deterred, (so) they would not wish to die with their masters. Then six people entered the tent and all combined with the girl; then they stretched her side by side with her master, the dead man, two grabbed her by the legs and two by the arms, and the old woman, called the angel of death, wrapped a rope around her neck, the opposite ends of which she gave to two to pull, came up with a large wide-bladed dagger and began to thrust it between her ribs and take it out, and those two men strangled her with a rope until she died.
(Ibn Faddlan. X century. Description of the funeral of a noble Rus.)

Paganism is an ancient religion, a characteristic feature of which were sacrifices. Sacrifice in paganism is what the gods and nature need. And the needs of the latter are similar to those that people have. In general, the sacrifice was called differently by the word treba.

Paganism and sacrifice

Sacrifice in Slavic paganism is a well-known fact. Their gods, or rather their idols, brought animal meat, grain, flowers, some material values. They did this in order to appease God, ask him for something or thank him. Also, sacrifice was a typical rite for various kinds of holidays. Sacrifices in paganism were carried out not only for the gods, but also for other creatures and spirits, for example, for the brownie. In addition, ancestors could be appeased in this way on the so-called memorial days.

The Slavs were sure that if they did not make a sacrifice to one or another deity or spirit, then they could become angry. And their anger will definitely not lead to anything good. Slavic paganism assumed differentiated sacrifices. That is, the approach in this case was individual. Each god or spirit had its own requirement.

Victims were most often brought to temples (as pagan temples were called at one time), where idols of the gods were installed. If the demand had to be brought to the brownie, wood goblin and other spirits, then, accordingly, to their place of residence.

Varieties of sacrifices

The victims of the Slavs were divided into bloody and bloodless. The second brought spirits, ancestors, female deities. For example, for the ancestors, food was a typical requirement, for the goddess Lada, women brought fresh flowers and berries, for a bannik, a broom and soap, and so on. As for the bloody sacrifices, those, according to the ancient Slavs, were demanded by the main gods, especially revered. These include Perun, Yarilo. In this case, animals, birds and, in question, people acted as a requirement. If, nevertheless, animal meat was brought, then after the holiday or ritual it was eaten by the people themselves. And the bones and other inedible "components" were used for divination. After that, they were thrown into the water, a fire or buried.

• A typical requirement for land, for example, was grain. After all, it personifies the harvest, which means it should bring good luck in its collection.
• Also, the treba could be a dining room. This is the sacrifice of food that the person himself eats. He seems to share his meal with God. And this food should be taken from the common "cauldron", from where everyone eats.
• A construction requirement is the bringing of a horse or poultry.
• The wedding requirement was a rooster.
• For the health and fertility of livestock, a white lamb was slaughtered.

Human sacrifice among the Slavs: yes or no

The question remains whether the pagan Slavs had human sacrifices? There are written sources that clearly mention them. They belong to the tenth century AD. Moreover, such sacrifices were brought only to especially revered deities. According to archaeological excavations, even children were brought as sacrifices. Bone remains of human skeletons were found on one of the temples. But where is the probability that these were not burials?

Proponents of neo-paganism refer to the Slavic-Aryan Vedas and the Book of Veles, in which there is not even a hint of bloody, let alone human sacrifices. Like, the Slavs were very peaceful and brought milk, grain, drinks to their gods. However, the annals of foreign authors, archaeological sources speak of the exact opposite. Here are some examples:

• At the beginning of the tenth century AD, an Arab author wrote about the burial ceremony of some rich Slav. And as a sacrifice on it were chickens, dogs, cows, horses and ... a girl.
• According to other medieval authors, at the funeral of a man there were often sacrifices "in the form" of the widow of the deceased.
• For example, in the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" it is said that a young Christian man was sacrificed to Perun (it was supposedly in 983). The choice of this unfortunate youth was decided by lot. Similar stories are also described in relation to the gods Svyatovit, Triglav.
• It is known that after the baptism of Rus' there was a fierce struggle between Christianity and paganism. So, once the pagans literally tore the bishop to pieces and sacrificed his body. It was in the second half of the eleventh century. We learn about this case from a German chronicler.

It turns out that the Slavs themselves did not want to advertise and leave their descendants at least some information about human casualties? After all, all the sources from which we learn about such acts are not written by them, but by outside observers. Or did the latter fabricate the facts, falsify them? But why did they need it? In any case, whether human sacrifice and Slavic paganism were somehow connected, we can neither confirm nor deny. We leave this question to you as food for thought.

Slavonic Iskon. Bloody sacrifices in Rus'?