World history is full of examples when women took up arms and performed feats. There were representatives of the beautiful half of the human race, whom the tongue would not dare to call the "weaker sex", women - professional warriors, who, along with men, carry out military service and fight enemies. The Greeks called them Amazons. In Russia, such virgin warriors were called polyanitsy.

Even the ancient Greeks at one time composed legends about female warriors, or Amazons. Allegedly, they lived somewhere in the north-east of Asia Minor, on the southern coast of the Black Sea. The Amazons lived separately from men, they were brave in battles, captured men, having lived with them, were killed. Born boys were maimed or turned into slaves. Girls were taught horseback riding and weapons.

Heirs of Scythia
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote in detail about the Amazons. He reported that once in a battle the Amazons were captured by the Greeks in Asia Minor. On the way to Greece, the Amazons rebelled, killed the guards, but it turned out that they did not know how to control the ships. In the end, three rebellious ships washed up on the coast of Meotida (Sea of ​​Azov).

The Amazons found free lands on the left bank of the Tanais (Don) and began to live there. On the other, right bank, the Scythians lived. Once the Scythians fought with unfamiliar warriors who attacked their lands. When, according to the killed opponents, it was found out that these were young girls, the young Scythians contacted the Amazons and began to visit them, and then live with them. From the marriages of the Amazons and the Scythian youths, the Savromats descended. Such is the story of Herodotus.

You can not trust what the ancient historian reported. But modern archaeologists, during excavations in places where, according to Herodotus, Sauromates lived, find female burials, in which, like in male ones, there are weapons. It turned out that the Scythians also had female warriors.

Women with weapons are also known among the nomads of the Middle Ages. In Russian folk tales, epics, there is also an image of a woman-warrior-polanica.

In the words of epics
In the epics, the meadows in their prowess and ability to wield weapons are not much inferior to the male heroes. And sometimes they surpass them. The name "Lolyanitsa" comes from the word "Polish". This was the name of the custom, which was as follows: a warrior seeking honor and glory alone traveled to an open field and looked for a “combatant” there to match himself. In the event of a victory, prisoners were not taken, trophies, too, and the heads of the opponents, put on display, were confirmation of the victory.

Here is how the northern Amazon looks in epics:

The clearing is going away,
The remote clearing is great,
The horse under it is like a strong mountain,
A meadow on a horse is like a haystack,
She leaves the damask club
Yes, under the cloud, under the walking
With one hand picks up a club,
Like a swan feather plays with it.

Alyosha Popovich and Dobrynya Nikitich were wary of contacting such a militant lady. The latter, however, managed to marry one of the meadows. It was Nastasya Mikulishna, the daughter of the heroic plowman Mikula Selyaninovich.

Nastasya was so strong and powerful that she easily defeated Dobrynya Nikitich in single combat. Their duel proceeded in a very peculiar way. The valiant Dobrynya decided to "combat" in the open field with the meadow in his own way. He rode up behind her and hit her twice as hard as he could with a club on the head. But Mikulishna did not look at the insolent man and did not even feel the blow.

Dobrynya hit Nastasya even harder. The hero looked back at him and said: “I thought mosquitoes bite. But the Russian heroes are clicking!” She grabbed Dobrynya by the curls and stuffed her into a bag. But her good horse did not want to carry two heroes. Then Mikulishna took Dobrynya out of the bag and said: “If the hero is old, I will cut off his head, If the hero is young, I will take it full. If it comes to me in love, I will marry, If I don’t fall in love, I will put it in the palm of my hand, I will press the other, I will make a hero in an oatmeal pancake.

But she liked Dobrynya, and she said to him: "When you take me, Dobrynya, in marriage, you make a great commandment with me - I will let you go." Dobrynya, of course, immediately agreed to marry.

The wife of the bogatyr Danube Ivanovich was another Polanka named Nastasya. First, the Danube fought with the warlike maiden and defeated her. But the marital life of the heroic couple ended tragically. At the wedding feast, the Danube boasted of his courage, and Nastasya boasted of his accuracy in archery. The Danube took this as a challenge and set up a test. Nastasya shot the silver ring lying on her head by the Danube three times.

Danube was unable to recognize the superiority of his wife and ordered her to repeat the dangerous test in the reverse version: Nastasya has a ring on her head, and Danube shoots. The arrow of the Danube hit Nastasya, and she died. In grief, the Danube threw himself on his sword and died next to his wife. From his blood, the Danube River originates.

In later times, a legend appeared about the boyar Stavr Godinovich and his wife Vasilisa Mikulishna (also the daughter of Mikula Selyaninovich). And although the wife of the boyar is not called a Polanica, she defeats the warriors of Prince Vladimir in archery and in wrestling. Why not a rich woman!

There are women in Russian villages...
In the historical era, which we can judge not from folk legends, but from written documents, in Western Europe, the traditions of female warriors gradually disappeared. However, among the Slavs in general and in Russia in particular, they survived the centuries. In the campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav, according to Leo the Deacon and John Skylitsa, first Russian and then Bulgarian female warriors took part. Enemies learned about their existence only after the battles, when, while looting, they removed armor and clothes from the dead.

Russian chronicles report on women who took part in the defense of cities besieged by the Tatar-Mongols, crusaders, Lithuanians and Poles. Moreover, they participated, not only bringing arrows or pouring boiling water and resin on enemies from the walls, but also with weapons in their hands. It is known that in 1641, during the famous "Azov Sitting" in battles with the Turks, in addition to male warriors, Cossack horsewomen also participated. They were excellent archers and inflicted considerable damage on the Turks.

However, the Cossacks were no strangers to fighting seriously. Russian military historian Vasily Potto wrote about the Cossacks: “A woman, an eternal worker in peacetime, in moments of danger was a full-fledged fighter among the Cossacks, like her father, husband, son or brother.”

Young Cossacks were taught to ride a horse and fight. The Cossack girl was brought up as a future wife, mother, keeper of the hearth, who knew any work, including men's. Until the age of 13, they even played the same games with boys, learning some military wisdom, such as riding a horse. The girl could already not only ride, but also deftly wield a lasso, a bow and a self-propelled gun. To survive in the conditions of the Caucasian war, one had to be able to defend oneself.

For more than two centuries, Cossacks have been celebrating December 4 (November 21, old style) Mother Cossack Day, which falls on the feast of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos. Empress Catherine the Great instituted the “Babi holiday” in honor of the victory in the battle for the village of Naurskaya. In 1774, the village was surrounded by a detachment of nine thousand Tatars and Turks. Combat Cossacks were on the march, and a hundred and fifty women came out to the rampart to repel the onslaught.

How desperately they fought, the Mozdok commandant described: “Some with guns, and others with scythes ... some of the women turned out to be those who fired up to twenty charges from guns, and one of them, being with a scythe, at the enemy, when he rushed to shaft to the slingshot, cut off his head and took possession of his gun.

Women dragged cannons, beat with buckshot. They boiled resin, poured it on the heads of the invaders. According to legend, even a vat of “boiling pork soup” was used... Catherine II awarded the brave Cossack women with medals and established a holiday in their glory.

Our ancestors believed that a nation that does not know its history has no historical future. The Slavic people have an ancient history, rooted in the distant past. One of the pages of this story are the legends about the ancient Slavic Amazons.

Most people know that the Amazons are called female warriors who had relationships with men only for the purpose of replenishing their own ranks with new female warriors. Born boys, the Amazons returned them to their fathers, and the girls remained with their mothers.

But the role of the Amazons in the history of Ancient Russia is quite large, and everyone who is not indifferent to the history of their people should know about them in more detail.

It is believed that on the Asian-European continent, the Amazon tribes lived in the foothills of the Caucasus, in Asia Minor and on the shores of the Azov (in ancient times called Metis) and the Black Seas.

The fact that the Amazon tribe existed in ancient times is evidenced by the fact that stories about them are contained in the legends and tales of many peoples.

Let's turn to mythology. Theseus and Hercules experienced the rage, skill and military abilities of the warriors on the battlefield and defeated them. Theseus was lucky enough to marry the bravest of the Amazons - Antiope. And when the Amazons attacked Athens, Antiope defended Athens next to her husband. The fight was stopped when the spear plunged into the chest of the brave Antiope. Together with the Athenians, the Amazons mourned the death of their queen and returned home.

In the Trojan War, the Amazons fought on the side of the Trojans. In one of the battles, the queen of the Amazons, Penthesilea, died at the hands of Achilles.

It would be a mistake to think that the Amazons tried to prove to the world that they can not only stand on a par with men, but also do without them in everyday life. Most likely, the origins of such a phenomenon as female warriors lie in the existence of a matriarchal period in the history of mankind. It was during this more than a thousand-year period of time that women fought and ruled, and men were given the right to take care of the household.

The ancient historian Diodorus Siculus wrote about them this way: “These women lived on the borders of the inhabited world. Their men spent their days doing household chores, doing the bidding of their Amazon wives, but not participating in military campaigns or government as free citizens. When children were born, the care of them was entrusted to men who raised them on milk and liquid food. The legendary kingdoms of the Amazons were reported by Herodotus, Strabo, Homer and many others.

Even in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata there was a place for legends about the country of the Amazons, into which the hero Arjuna falls with his army. He made sure that the Amazons implicitly obeyed their queen. She led them into battle and made decisions in all aspects of life. Arjuna was struck by the extraordinary beauty of Paramita, the queen of the Amazons, and invited her to become his wife. The beautiful warrior agreed, and the young people set off with a caravan of wealth to the homeland of Arjuna - to Gastinapur.

Ancient Greek and Roman sources contain information about the Amazons who lived in the Middle East, northern Africa and on the banks of the Terek River. However, many kingdoms of female warriors in North Africa, in Libya (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia ...) flared up brightly and disappeared. Modern researchers found not far from Lake Shergi (Algeria) palace and religious buildings in the rocks and the tombs of the Amazons.

According to the stories of Herodotus, in the Trojan War there was a battle between the Amazons and the Hellenes. The Hellenes captured the Amazons and carried them on three ships. The warriors killed all the Greek warriors, but did not know how to control the ships. Uncontrolled ships rushed along the waves for a long time, until they were washed up on the shores of the Meotian Lake in the territory of the Scythians. The Amazons stole a herd of horses from the Scythians and went to plunder their country. Herodotus wrote: “The Scythians could not understand what was the matter: after all, they knew neither the language, nor the clothes, nor the tribe itself, and were at a loss where they came from; it seemed to them that the Amazons were young men, and therefore they entered into battle with them. When the Scythians took possession of the corpses left after the battle, they learned that they were women. The Scythians were able to "tame" the proud Amazons with a friendly attitude towards the warriors. The female warriors quickly learned the language of the Scythians, but refused to join the Scythian tribe and formed their own people, called the Savromats. Savromats women adhered to the customs of the Amazons: they went to war, hunted, wore men's clothes. In the Northern Black Sea region and the Caucasus, material evidence was found that Amazons lived there - in the burials of women there were not only beads, but also combat knives, armor, shields and the remains of a harness - what is an Amazon without a horse?

According to the legends, the Amazons conquered territories from the North Caucasus to the Don itself. Beautiful warriors constantly expanded the possessions of their empire. The Amazons were engaged in the education of young girls from the age of seven. They were taught to read and write, engaged with them in physical and spiritual education, taught hunting, ancient methods of treatment, martial arts, the art of enduring the hardships of a military campaign, managing, mutual assistance. The Amazons had the skills to stop the blood and heal wounds with improvised means. To rule the country, the queen of the Amazons appointed the most knowledgeable and wise woman. Much attention was paid to the formation of a combat army. The Amazons could at any time put up at least 120 thousand mounted fighters, not counting the guards. As a rule, the Amazons' weapons included copper bows, hatchets, swords, knives, lassoes, crescent-shaped shields and, of course, a fast horse - the most valuable property of every warrior.

The Amazons possessed esoteric knowledge, which was passed on to them by the High Priestess. Amazons could read and write. Many Amazons, having grown old, went to neighboring peoples, where they taught children to read and write, the wisdom necessary in life, and girls - the medical craft. These wise Amazons, who possessed yogic knowledge, were called "yogins", "women yoshki". In Russian folk tales, the magical help of “byby yoshka” (“woman yaga”) to heroes is often mentioned. Their knowledge was passed down from generation to generation and brought good and help to people.

According to historians, the Amazons took part in the campaigns of Alexander the Great. They seconded 500 of the bravest warriors to his army. The queen of the Amazons, Fermodont, met with Alexander the Great in one of his victorious campaigns. Fermodonta was not only remarkably beautiful, but also possessed extraordinary physical strength. She arrived at the Macedonian camp accompanied by 300 Amazons. When asked by the commander what brought her to the military camp, Falestria boldly replied that she wanted to have a child from him, she was sure that their child, taking the best from their parents, would surpass all people in the world. After 13 days, she left the Macedonian camp, taking the rich gifts of Alexander the Great to her state on the southeastern coast of the Black Sea. Nothing is known about the further fate of the queen.

It should be noted that several kingdoms of the Amazons were located around the Caucasus, forming an empire of female warriors. The possessions of the empire stretched from the shores of the Black Sea to the bends of the Don and Volga, Thrace and the Northern Black Sea region. At the mouths of the rivers there were fortresses of the Amazons, who controlled the waterways that ran in the south and north directions, including Persia. The Amazons built a lot - they were cities and places of worship.

The collapse of the Amazonian empire around the Caucasus coincides with the time of the decline of the empire of the great Alexander the Great. The main part of the Amazons remained in their former places of residence, and the most active moved to other lands. It is believed that in the middle of the 1st millennium AD, part of the Amazons went to the mountains of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and then to the Rhine (Germany) and Brittany (France) and further to Spain and eastern England. In these countries, it is still believed that the descendants of the legendary Amazons live among them.

But the Slavs are also proud of the heroic girls. In the era of the early Middle Ages, the Mordovian princess Borislavna, who lived near Samarskaya Luka, became famous. She was known for her militancy and strength. Until now, the locals of Samarskaya Luka keep legends about the Usolki - fearless Amazons who controlled the local salt deposit. In local legends, heroic girls were called "polyanitsa" or "seven-eyed".
The most famous Polanicas are two Nastasyas, the spouses of the Danube and Dobrynya. Vasilisa Mikulishna, Stavr's wife, occupies a special place among them. Vasilisa Mikulishna with honor passed the tests of strength and accuracy invented by Prince Vladimir, who for a long time refused to believe that he was a woman. All warrior girls knew how to shoot accurately from a bow and fight in hand-to-hand combat.

It is possible that the word "glade" comes from the word "field". In ancient Russia, when they talked about "awarding the field", it meant that we are talking about a competition or a duel of fighters. The Russian researcher Dmitry Balashov was convinced that the Russian warriors-polyanytsy very much resembled the Sarmatian warriors - they skillfully handled horses and were skilled archers.

It is also noteworthy that Amazonian bodyguards existed at the court of the Moscow tsars until the 18th century. Foreign travelers who visited Russia spoke a lot about them. For example, one of the attendants of the Danish Prince John, who came to woo the Muscovite Princess Xenia, described the guards of Princess Xenia as follows: ““... All the women maids rode on horseback like men. On their heads were snow-white hats lined with flesh-coloured taffeta, with yellow silk ribbons, with gold buttons and tassels falling over their shoulders. Their faces were covered with white veils up to their mouths, they were in long dresses and yellow boots. Each rode on a white horse, one next to the other (in pairs). All of them were 24.

It should also be noted that among the heroes who defeated the enemy on the Kulikovo field (1380) were two Russian Amazons - Daria Andreevna Rostovskaya and Feodora Ivanovna Puzhbolskaya. Here is a fragment of a legend written about Russian heroes by our contemporary Alena Norilchanka:
“It was a girl’s dress, light,
Pearls, gold jewelry ...
But the wicked rose up against Christ -
Evil Mamaev Horde...
In the field beyond the Don - with a lot of strength,
Boasts of new misfortunes:
He plans to rule Russia,
Princes threaten to be expelled from Moscow!

Lover of mankind, all-glorious Russia
Convened Orthodox squads!

I also threw off secular outfits
Yes, I put on a valiant dress!

Today, modern Amazons travel, walk the streets, run companies and corporations, and raise children. They are strong, smart, educated, self-sufficient, they easily conquer the hearts of men, they know their worth and are sure that everything is in their hands. Take a closer look - perhaps a beautiful Amazon is next to you!

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OK. 5th - 1st centuries BC: Sarmatians or Savromats (in ancient Iranian "archers"), the general name of the nomadic pastoral Iranian-speaking tribes (IV century BC - IV century AD), inhabiting the steppe regions from the Southern Urals and Western Kazakhstan to the Danube. The Sarmatians mixed with the more ancient nomadic tribes of the Scythians. Herodotus describes the origin of the Sarmatians in this way. "After the battle of the Hellenes with the Amazons in the Trojan War, the Hellenes captured them and carried them on three ships. But the Amazons killed all the Greek soldiers. Not knowing how to control the ships, they, carried by waves and wind, arrived to the shores of Meotian Lake (Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov) and landed on the land of the free Scythians near some Kremnos. Having stolen a herd of horses from the Scythians, the Amazons began to plunder their country. After several skirmishes between the Amazons and the Scythians, the latter sent their youths to them, wishing that children would be born from these women. understood that they had come without any malicious intent, and did not pay attention to them, and every day the Scythians brought their camp closer to the camp of the Amazons.Like the Amazons, the youths had nothing but weapons and horses, and were and they, a way of life, engaged in hunting and robbery ... In the end, having united the camps, they began to live together. Men could not learn the language of women, while women learned the language of men. And after they understood each other, men We invited the Amazons to return with them to their people. But the freedom-loving warriors did not want to live in a tribe where the occupation of women is the household: they did not want to either contradict local customs or change their own. And they, along with the men, crossed the Tanais (Don) River and began to live on their own. So, according to legend, the people of the Savromats appeared, speaking the Scythian language with errors, since the Amazons learned it incorrectly. "Since that time, the wives of the Savromats adhered to the ancient way of life, going hunting on horseback and together with their husbands, and separately from their husbands; they also went to war and wore the same clothes as their husbands. And no girl married before she killed a man from among the enemies. Traces of the Amazons can be found not only in the texts of ancient authors. Now there is also material evidence that they In the Caucasus, in the Northern Black Sea region and in other places, burial places of women were found, where next to the beads on a decayed thread lay combat knives, shields and armor - what served the warriors in this world and was supposed to accompany them on their way to another world. Along with weapons, the remains of a harness are often found: can an Amazon be without a horse? Scientists have found that about 7% of the female population were warriors and 3% were priestess warriors.

We all know about epic heroes from childhood. Everyone can easily name even their names. But many did not hear about the warriors, who were in no way inferior to men.

In Russia, they were called polyanitsy (or polenitsy). In the old days in Russia there was a custom called "Polishing". A warrior rode a horse into the field in search of another warrior with whom he could fight. It was forbidden to take prisoners and trophies. The severed head of the enemy served as proof of victory. Among those with whom the bogatyrs fought, there were also Polanicas - warrior maidens.

When the Turkic word "hero" appeared in Russia, they began to call all the warriors. By that time, the meadows from the epics had disappeared, so they were not renamed in the Turkic manner, and the Slavic name "glade" remained with them forever.

Often in epics it is said that male heroes did not have much love for female warriors, and when they met with them, they behaved extremely aggressively. The well-known scientist and writer D.M. Balashov believed that such behavior of the heroes could be associated with the origin of the meadows. The fact is that the “heroes” with their skills to fight and manage horses are very reminiscent of the Sarmatian warriors. And the Sarmatians are a nomadic tribe whose members regularly raided Russia.

Be that as it may, some epic heroes took Polanits as wives. So the well-known Dobrynya Nikitich, at first having entered into battle with the Polanica, subsequently married her. This warrior was called Nastasya. With her namesake, a hero named Danube also married, and the warrior Vasilisa Mikulishna was the wife of Stavr Godinovich. All the Polanians were excellent at wielding a sword, shooting accurately, mastering the techniques of hand-to-hand combat, and distinguished by excellent riding skills.

Wife - Nastasya Mikulishna - was the daughter of the hero Mikula Selyaninovich. According to the epics, Dobrynya Nikitich, spotting a mighty hero, who Nastasya turned out to be, entered into an unequal battle with him. In unequal because the Polanica easily defeated Dobrynya and ... put it in her pocket. After some thought, Nastasya decided to take a look at her prey. “If I like him, I will marry him, but if I don’t like him, I will cut off his head!” the girl said to herself. Dobrynya liked Nastasya. And soon they became husband and wife.

However, the happiness of the young was short-lived. Prince Vladimir sent the hero to the Horde with an important state assignment. Nastasya waited for her husband for twelve years. But she didn't wait. The terrible news of Dobrynya's death broke her heart. The cunning prince forced the Polanica to marry another hero - Alyosha Popovich. However, Dobrynya returned alive and unharmed. Having learned about the wedding, he changed into a buffoon and came to the celebration. But Nastasya recognized him.

Another Nastasya - Korolevichna - married the hero Dunay Ivanovich, also after a duel with him. However, before marrying Nastasya, Danube had tender feelings for her sister Apraksa. But Prince Vladimir also wanted to see Apraksa as his wife. The prince sent the Danube in search of Apraksa. Along the way, the Danube met a hero, with whom he fought. In the course of the struggle, he recognized Apraksa's sister Nastasya in his opponent. Soon Danube and Nastasya were already sitting at the table at their own wedding. Too bad this story has a sad ending. In the midst of the feast, both: the bogatyr and the Polanica began to brag about their fighting skills. As proof of her accuracy, Nastasya shot a ring from her bow that was on the head of her young husband. Danube considered his wife's behavior a challenge and invited her to switch places. But he missed, and the arrow hit Nastasya. The Polanica is dead. Seeing this, the hero committed suicide. According to the epic, a river of the same name was formed from his blood.

The wife of Stavr Godinovich Vasilisa was Nastasya Mikulishna's sister. Vasilisa Mikulishna was a very modest warrior and used her strength only in the most extreme cases. However, her husband Stavr was very proud of his wife and boasted of her abilities to Prince Vladimir. Only the prince did not believe the hero and once ordered Vasilisa to be brought to him, and Stavr himself was thrown into prison. Vasilisa found out about the misfortune that had befallen her husband, changed into men's clothes and, having appeared in the prince's chambers, pretended to be a foreign ambassador. But the prince suspected that a woman was hiding under a man's dress. In order to avert all suspicions from herself, Vasilisa Mikulishna demanded that Vladimir's niece, Zabava Putyatishna, be given to her as a wife. At the wedding feast, Vasilisa pretended that she did not like the harp and asked the prince to bring Stavr, who was famous for his playing the harp. When Stavr was brought in, Vasilisa, in disguise, offered the prince a deal: Vladimir gives Stavr, and the ambassador tells his authorities to forgive the tribute to the prince for twelve years. Vladimir agreed. And Vasilisa jumped on her horse and, seating Stavr behind her, galloped away. Later they both came to the prince. And he admitted that Vasilisa Mikulishna was really as good as Stavr praised her.

These are the Russian Poles - not only strong and smart, but also loving. However, like all women.

The bright rays of the sun hit the window and illuminated the stately figure of the Slavic beauty. Vasilisa Mikulishna stood in the middle of the room and seemed to be preparing for some kind of ritual. Suddenly her sister came into the room and helped Vasilisa put on a linen shirt embroidered with red threads. It was not an easy shirt; warriors wore it before a decisive battle with the enemy. Vasilisa looked at her reflection and picked up her sword. Very soon, this beauty in a man's attire will ride a horse to the Grand Duke Vladimir to fight him not for life, but for death.

This story, according to an ancient legend, happened to the Slavic maiden Vasilisa Mikulishna. The text of the old Russian epic says that Vasilisa had incredible beauty and a persistent, truly masculine character. She knew how to shoot a bow and fight with swords on an equal footing with a man. That is why researchers call Vasilisa the first Slavic Amazon, the mention of which has survived to this day.

Dmitry Gromov, a leading researcher at the Center for Russian Folklore, says: “Vasilisa Mikulishna is a character from an epic about a hero who had a conflict with Prince Vladimir because the prince oppressed her husband. And she saved her husband by dressing in a man's dress, she came as a foreign envoy, a foreign knight to the court of Vladimir the Red Sun and fought there with local heroes.

Vasilisa appeared before the prince in a male guise and introduced herself as an overseas ambassador. However, Vladimir decided to test the guest. And he offered to compete with his shooters. Incredibly, the girl easily coped with the five best archers of the prince.

Dmitry Gromov continues: "And when she won, the prince asked what she wanted, and she asked to let her husband out."

This story still causes a lot of controversy among historians, because, not only was Vladimir the Red Sun a real historical figure, under him Russia adopted Christianity. And from that time on, the role of a woman in any business, except for raising children and honoring her husband, was strictly limited. However, in the twentieth century, archaeologists managed to find unique traces proving the existence of the Slavic Amazons.

Vladimir Petrukhin, Doctor of Historical Sciences: “Indeed, there are stories that in the campaigns of the same Svyatoslav, his squad was accompanied by women who were, as it were, Amazons who accompanied their husbands in battles. That is, the soldiers fought along with their wives and children, just to conquer the space of civilization.”

In 1928, Soviet scientists made a sensational discovery. During excavations in the town of Zemo-Akhvala on the Black Sea coast, they discovered a prehistoric burial place in which the “prince” was buried in armor and fully armed. However, a detailed study of the skeleton showed that these remains actually belong to a woman! Who was this Slavic Amazon? Is that very Vasilisa Mikulishna buried in an ancient grave?!

Alexander Belov, a researcher of the Slavic tradition, believes: “Were women allowed to take up arms? Of course, they were admitted: the heroes of the meadows, for example. When we examine Svyatoslav's warriors skeletal in the most famous battle, when he says “I'm going to you,” then in the excavations, judging by the pelvic bones, we see a large number of women in the army of the brightest Slavic prince. How is this possible?”

The discoveries of archaeologists did not end there. In 1971, an unusual burial of a woman was found in Ukraine, buried with truly royal honors. Next to her lay the skeleton of a girl, just as luxuriously decorated. Together with them, weapons and golden treasures were put in the grave, and in addition, two men who died, as scientists found out, "an unnatural death." Is the real queen of the Amazons buried here with slaves killed in her honor?

Igor Bessonov, a leading researcher at the Center for Russian Folklore: “The Byzantine writer Leo the Deacon, speaking about the war between the Greeks and Svyatoslav, wrote that when, after the Battle of Dorostol, the Greeks removed the armor from the dead Russian combatants, they saw that women fought on an equal footing with men in battle against the Byzantines.

Legends about the Amazons exist not only among the Slavs. Almost all peoples of the world talk about female warriors.

Men both feared these women and admired them. For many centuries, legends have been preserved about the invincible Amazons, who conquered the warriors of antiquity not only with weapons, but also with their beauty. The ancient Greeks told that the realm of warrior maidens was somewhere in the east. Few have been there. Those who have ever seen the Amazons could no longer forget them. The hearts of the bravest heroes were broken by the recalcitrant warrior maidens.

Recently, historians have discovered in the writings of the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus an amazing story about an event that occurred during the great military campaigns of Emperor Alexander the Great.

After one of the heavy battles in Hyrcania, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the commander returned to his tent. Alexander had already taken off his heavy armor and sipped from a goblet of wine, when suddenly a beautiful stranger appeared before him. Her gaze was bold and proud. The slender body of the guest was wrapped in a light tunic, and a short sword hung from her belt. But the warrior came to the emperor not to fight.

The Amazon queen Thalestria offered Alexander an unusual alliance. She declared that she wanted to give birth to a child from him, since the illustrious conqueror surpassed all men with his exploits, and she surpassed all women with her beauty and courage. Falestria promised that if a son was born, she would give him to her father, and keep her daughter for herself. According to the source, Queen Falestria spent thirteen days in the camp of Alexander the Great, and all this time the great commander almost did not leave his tent. Leaving, the Amazon received generous gifts from the emperor. Whether Falestria and Alexander had a child is not known for certain. But the historical fact is that the emperor did not begin to engage in battle with the Amazons and seize their lands.

Light as the wind, the elusive Amazons made their raids on ancient cities and again returned to their distant land. Contemporaries were amazed by their ability to ride without a saddle, while accurately shooting from a bow. And the coherence of their actions made the Amazons invincible.

Alexander Shirokov, a mixed martial arts coach, comments: “They did not seek close combat: they jumped up and fired from bows - they won in general onslaught and speed, these were pinpoint partisan actions.”

Who taught the Amazons martial arts? Maybe it was not for nothing that they were called the daughters of Ares, the god of war himself?

As the ancient Greek legend says, Ares descended from Mount Olympus to find out which of the earthly women dared to take up arms, no longer wanting to obey men. But his anger turned to mercy when he saw the delightful, like Aphrodite herself, the queen of the Amazons, Otrera. Otrera changed women's dresses for light leather armor, and she wielded a sword better than any man. Instead of punishing the wayward woman for her unheard-of impudence, Ares gave her his love...

According to this ancient myth, the god of war and the beautiful Amazon had a daughter, Hippolyta. She received from her father a gold belt adorned with precious stones, a symbol of power and military prowess. Together with him, the Amazons inherited from the god Ares a passion for battles and an uncontrollable desire to win.

What is it - just beautiful legends or a true story, hidden under the veil of mysterious myths? One thing historians from different countries are forced to admit is that the Amazons undoubtedly existed.

Janine Davis-Kimball, archaeologist, director of the Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads, is sure: “The most reliable evidence for their existence for me was the work of Herodotus, who wrote about the wars of the Amazons with the Scythians. In the end, the Scythians won and captured the cattle and yurts of the Amazons. They went three days to the east and three days to the north, and thus founded a new state.

On the battlefield, the ancient Greeks, Romans and Turks met with the Amazons more than once. The warrior maidens not only were not inferior to men in courage, they often turned out to be much more cunning and agile. As the most authoritative ancient historian Herodotus testifies, even, it would seem, having lost the battle, the Amazons never gave up.

Valery Chesnok, senior researcher at the Tanais Archaeological Museum-Reserve, says: “Here is the episode that Herodotus tells about: the Greeks in one of the skirmishes with the Amazons took them on a ship, sailed along the Pontus Euxinus - this is the Black Sea. The Amazons threw them into the sea, let them swim with dolphins, but they themselves, not knowing how to control the ship, were confused. They were thrown out by a storm at the mouth of the Tanais River, and they returned to their ancestral home.

But where to look for this ancient ancestral home of the Amazons? Who were these legendary maidens who did not want to obey men?

Archaeological finds prove that the kingdom of the Amazons really existed.

And not just anywhere, but on the territory of Russia!

Thirty kilometers from Rostov-on-Don, near the ruins of the ancient city of Tanais, back in 1994, archaeologists discovered the first amazing burial. The young girl was buried along with the weapon. Next to her remains lay a shield and a short sword - an akinak. The bones of the girl's legs turned out to be twisted from constant riding - a clear sign of belonging to nomadic warriors. To date, about 800 ancient burials have been discovered here. The remains of an entire squad of warrior maidens have been found!

Valery Chesnok comments: “There are hundreds of graves here, including women with weapons. So in the future (the museum complex is at the design stage) all this will be shown, expanded, told.

Was the mysterious Amazon located in the lower reaches of the Don? Valery Chesnok, senior researcher at the Tanais Archaeological Museum, has no doubts about this. He is convinced that warrior maidens lived on the territory of modern Russia. And it was, by historical standards, in the recent past. On a map compiled in the 16th century for Emperor Charles V of Habsburg, the country of Amazonym is also indicated.

Valery Chesnok says: “In ancient times, the Don River was called the “River of the Amazons”, and on ancient medieval maps it is sometimes written that way - the Amazonian River, the River of the Amazons.”

In the 10th century, the ambassador of the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Focas, the noble patrician Kalokir, arrived in Kievan Rus. Judging by the notes left by this nobleman, he was struck by the order that reigned at the court of the Kyiv ruler. Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich, whose life was under constant threat due to the endless war with the Drevlyans, entrusted his protection to women. He was surrounded by young stately maidens, armed with swords and bows. All the time, while the negotiations with the Byzantine ambassador lasted, the warriors remained next to the prince; they followed him during military campaigns.

What made the Kyiv ruler entrust his life to women? Really in Russia virgin warriors surpassed men in military skill? Historians believe that these women were direct descendants of the very Amazons who once terrified the ancient Greeks, Romans and Turks with their raids.

Alexander Shirokov, a mixed martial arts coach, comments: “Among them, riders, horse riders, and from there all variants of horse fighting were predominant.”

It turns out that women's military units existed in Russia only a few centuries ago. During the famous Azov Sitting in 1641, Cossack horsewomen took part in the battle with the Turks. Pasha Hussein-Delhi, who headed the Ottoman army, wrote to the Sultan that even women in Azov pose a great danger to his Janissaries. Excellent riders quickly and accurately shoot from a bow, surround the enemy in a matter of seconds. Yielding to men in physical strength, the Russian Amazons defeated them with the help of female cunning.

Says researcher Andrey Sinelnikov: “The Amazons pretended to retreat, and when they were chased, they turned on the move, they killed those who were chasing from the bow. Nobody could do this. Here are the Amazons.

The name "Amazon" came into the Russian language recently. It seems that earlier in Russia they were called polyanitsy. In historical documents, scientists collect information about them bit by bit, but in epics and tales many legendary warriors are described. Zlatogorka, Usonsha the hero, Nastasya Mikulishna. Who were these ladies armed with swords and bows, if not Russian Amazons? Few heroes dared to fight them one on one ...

As one of the epics of the Kyiv cycle narrates, the hero Ilya Muromets twice left the battle with the Polanica Savishna. Not a fairy-tale character, but a real historical person. But for the third time, the maiden-warrior of the hero overtook. In the open field they fought not for life, but for death. Ilya turned out to be stronger than the meadow. Savishna surrendered to the mercy of the winner. When the maiden lowered her sword, took off her helmet, Ilya Muromets saw how pretty she was. He fell in love with his rival-polyanitsa. But even after the wedding, as the epic tells, Savishna “didn’t like to weave or spin, but she loved to ride across the wide meadows on a kavurenka al brown horse.”

Experts differ in the etymology of the name of the Russian Amazons (pronounced as "polyanitsa", and "polonitsa", and "woodpile"). As we already wrote, the Slavic historian, candidate of historical sciences Marina Krymova believes that “the word “polyanitsa” is not from the word “mace”, a projectile for fighting. Polyanitsa - from the word "burn, burn."

But the researcher Andrey Sinelnikov is sure: “We have whole epic cycles about polonitsy, “polonitsy” from the word “full” - to take prisoner. Polonitsa - from the word "field", let's go out into the field, measure ourselves with strength. We know perfectly well that Ilya Muromets had a wife from polonits, that is, from female heroes, who defeated him in the field. This is a huge Slavic cycle.

But how did the ancient Amazons live? Today, scientists can answer this question. The famous Italian merchant and traveler Marco Polo traveled east in the 14th century. Returning to his homeland, he wrote The Book of the Diversity of the World. It contains information about the Amazons. According to Marco Polo, the warriors lived apart. But once a year - from March to May - they met with young men from neighboring settlements. Dates were held directly under the open sky.

Similar stories about the Amazons have been passed down from generation to generation by the peoples of the Caucasus from time immemorial.

Valery Chesnok says: “Well, how can you imagine, for example, women without men? For example, in the South Caucasian version of the legend, they turned to men as tribes, so to speak, made friends with them, fell in love with men, then became pregnant, migrated, the boys were returned to this tribe, and the girls were left for themselves.

But without an invitation to come to the settlements of the Amazons was not worth it. Sources claim that with one glance, any of them could turn the enemy into stone. What superpowers did they have? Was it hypnosis? Or a brilliant command of the famous non-contact combat, which today is an almost forgotten martial art?

What made the Amazons invincible warriors? How did they manage to terrify entire armies? According to one version, they owned a system of ancient knowledge. To master them, it was necessary to undergo a long training in a closed settlement - three stages of initiation, each of which lasted about seven years.

Andrey Sinelnikov: “This is an occult-esoteric martial art system, where you learn at the first degree how to shoot a bow, how to cut with a saber, how to ride a horse, how to cook some kind of decoction, and this lasted six or seven years. The second step is how to start doing without many things, that is, to treat yourself no longer with decoctions, but with conspiracies, and so on, and so on, and also for six or seven years. And the last, third, part - six or seven years - this is when you could already deflect an arrow with willpower, stop a saber, make a person go crazy, that is, influence him with willpower.

The legend about Avdotya Ryazanochka has survived to this day. Allegedly, a simple, fragile girl was not afraid to go to the Golden Horde from Ryazan, devastated by the Mongolotatars. She wanted to save her sisters from captivity. How is this possible? And aren't there too many mysteries in this story? Judge for yourself.

Firstly, Avdotya goes to the rescue of his loved ones all alone. Secondly, she easily overcomes a gigantic distance at that time and gets to the capital of the Golden Horde - the city of Sarai-Batu. And, finally, the Ryazan commoner, unarmed, tired of the hard road, achieves a personal meeting with Batu Khan himself.

How did Avdotya Ryazanochka manage to convince the ruthless conqueror to let her sisters go? Moreover, as the legend says, everyone who was taken captive in the Ryazan land was released from the Horde. The fame of this event immediately spread throughout Russia. Maybe Avdotya Ryazanochka used the magical knowledge of the Amazons? Was she one of the legendary warrior maidens? One of those who underwent serious training in the Amazon settlement.

Mixed martial arts coach Alexander Shirokov is convinced: “Naturally, they chose from among the girls the most suitable for combat, more aggressive girls, more resilient, strong, and, of course, they trained - they passed on their skills, some secrets of fighting. It did not spread widely, so practically nothing has come down to our time.

Coach Alexander Shirokov has been working with women for many years. In his opinion, the strength and aggression of the Amazons is still hidden in many Russian women. Those who manage to awaken this energy and learn to control it become true masters of hand-to-hand combat. The specifics of women's combat, according to Shirokov, remains unchanged at all times - it is much more emotional and faster than men's. The Amazons knew how to turn this into an advantage.

The word "Amazon" itself is of ancient Greek origin, in translation it means "with a scorched chest." According to experts, this name did not arise by chance. But it does not mean at all that they burned out one breast. After several years of training, the young warrior had to demonstrate her martial prowess in a real battle. Those who passed the test were accepted into the ranks of the Amazons. A fiery brand was placed on the body of the warrior - a sign of belonging to the female army. From that moment on, the new sister-in-arms was not afraid of pain or death in battle.

Researcher Andrey Sinelnikov believes: “It was a kind of military brotherhood, even sisterhood, let's say so. Entering a sisterhood involves a ritual of initiation. Military initiations have always been characterized by something like this - a warrior burned his hand with a dagger, or something else. Here they branded their breasts, put a brand that they belong to this sisterhood, the community of warriors.

Archaeological finds made on the Don and in the Volga region today force scientists to reconsider our history. All this time, we clearly underestimated the role of women in the political and social life of our ancestors. It was in the hands of the warrior maidens that the weapons, and hence the power, were located.

Valery Chesnok, senior researcher at the Tanais Archaeological Museum-Reserve, says: “This, of course, is a phenomenon that our generation of historians will not unravel, the phenomenon of the Amazons. Psychologists, archaeologists are needed here... And here's another point: in women's burials, they usually find weapons made in such a way that it was impossible for them to fight - made of gold.

Golden swords, shields and arrows, discovered by archaeologists in female burials, were symbols of unlimited power. The Amazons dominated these parts.

Modern technologies have allowed scientists to recreate the costumes of female warriors using the gold threads and stripes that have survived to this day. It turned out that in ancient times, these ladies preferred to wear pants - it was more convenient to ride, hunt and shoot from a bow in them. Moreover, as a rule, this part of the outfit was sewn from leather.

Apparently, the Amazons also masterfully wielded weapons of seduction. The arsenal of the ancient beautiful warriors included numerous bracelets, rings, beads, combs, bronze and silver jewelry. The Amazons knew how to seduce any man. They used balms and incense, rouge and perfume.

Valery Chesnok says: “Balsamaria are perfume bottles, bowls for rubbing cosmetics. That is, everything is the same as now. Pexides - toilet boxes, a lot of things. The concept of female beauty has not changed over the millennia.”

The Athenian king Theseus considered his wife Antiope to be the main treasure of his palace. She was so perfect that, once seeing her snow-white face, men lost their heads forever. Brighter than gold jewelry shone Antiope's golden locks, more radiant than the most beautiful precious stones was her smile. According to ancient authors, many noble Hellenes were conquered by the beautiful Antiope. One of them, the Athenian Soloent, unable to bear the pain of love, committed suicide.

Antiope's heart was forever given to Theseus. This union was one of the first in the history of interstate marriages - the ruler of Athens married the queen of the Amazons. It happened during the campaign of Theseus in the country of the Amazons. To stop the invasion of the ancient Greeks, Queen Antiope agreed to go with Theseus to Athens.

But the cold political calculation was replaced by real feelings. The love of Theseus and Antiope in Ancient Hellas was legendary. At the temple of the goddess Gaia at the entrance to Athens, the tombstone of Antiope is still preserved.

Love was not alien to the Amazons. But only brave warriors could win their hearts.

Valery Chesnok explains: “On one of the Chinese mirrors, there was such an inscription in hieroglyph: “As long as the sun shines for us, we will love each other.” It's beautiful, right? Two thousand years. Bronze mirrors are rather poorly preserved, but silver mirrors, when they are in the cultural layer, you wait until the earth dries out under the sun, breathe, and you see yourself. So to speak, a chill on the skin, such sensations that are difficult to convey in words.

Legends about young female warriors who possessed incredible strength and mastered the art of hand-to-hand combat are also told in Southeast Asia. When in the second century Chinese troops occupied the lands of the Viet, the territory of present-day Vietnam, a nineteen-year-old girl named Chin stood up to defend her homeland. The Asian Amazon is still revered by the people as a real heroine.

Indologist Yuri Pleshakov says: “She rallied around herself a colossal number of men, warriors, and in fact became the head of this huge Vietnamese army. She was bewitchingly beautiful, but she was huge."

And in modern India, schools of traditional women's wrestling still operate today. After a serious selection, only the fastest and hardiest young girls get here. It is said that mastering the art of blind wrestling is considered the highest degree of skill.

Indologist Yuri Pleshakov explains: “A huge number of girls study at this school, and they achieve such high skill that even if they are blindfolded, they feel so subtly what is happening around, literally by the movement of air, and, catching the subtlest vibrations of sound, they can fight with an enemy who is armed with cold weapons or some other types of weapons. And they are winning. So they are very trained."

How did women warriors manage to see blindfolded? Predict the actions of the enemy? According to one version, this skill is only a few that have survived to this day from the martial art of the ancient warrior maidens. Traditions tell that the daughters of the ancient Indian warriors of the Kshatriyas were in no way inferior to their fathers in military prowess.

Indologist Yuri Pleshakov says: “Unlike other classes, they were allowed to kill animals. They specifically went to the jungle to train in order not to lose their military strength, they shot from a bow, they used other types of weapons, including astravidya, or divine weapons, in order to keep themselves in proper shape.

One of the Indian legends tells about the daughter of the ruler of the ancient city of Madurai - Queen Thadatagai. The gods themselves ordered her to be raised as a warrior. This beautiful Amazon knew how to subdue even the elements of nature. When her father died, Thadatagai took his place on the throne. She gathered an army and went on a victorious campaign. Neighboring kingdoms one after another submitted to the warrior. And only the young king Sundareshvara did not want to submit to the ancient Indian Amazon.

Tradition says that Thadatagai tried to storm even the sacred Kailash. Sundareshwara went out to meet the girl to resist her onslaught. But, seeing the radiant youth of unearthly beauty, Thadatagai surrendered without a fight. Sundareshvara ordered her to return home and prepare for the wedding.

Indologist Yuri Pleshakov continues: “She was skilled in archery, she skillfully wielded a sword, horseback riding, knew various secrets of using sacred mantras that launch heavenly weapons. She possessed the secret of reincarnation, movement in space and so on, the so-called mystical perfections, or Sith.

What heavenly weapon are we talking about? The ancient Indian texts of the Purana say that it always hit right on target. The one who possessed it became invincible. It turns out that in ancient times, the heavenly arrows and spears of the beautiful Amazons were significantly superior to their counterparts of modern weapons?

Indologist Yuri Pleshakov explains: “Moreover, it is said that sometimes these arrows were charged with some unknown force, which, according to the description, resembles the action of a nuclear weapon. That is, they could destroy the embryos in the womb, they could destroy entire cities at the request of the shooter, the warrior. They could smash entire cohorts of warriors with just one shot.”

Legends describe how the ancient Indian Amazons, using mantras - the Vedic spells known to them - used the power of the elements - air, water, solar fire. Without difficulty, they sent heavy rains or endless heat to the lands of opponents. Is it really a kind of climate weapon, which even in our time is called the weapon of the future?

Yuri Pleshakov says: “It is believed that this is not some kind of trick, but a real impact on the power of nature, and in the old days people really possessed such an ability. They could, with the help of secret mantras, influence water, influence heat, the sun, the rays of the sun, influence the movement of the wind, and the earth. In fact, they could even change, in a sense, the laws of nature, turning one element into another. For example, they could turn earth into water, water into fire, fire into air, air into ether, and use ether as a destroying celestial weapon.”

In India, it is believed that the first woman to receive a heavenly weapon was Durga, whose name translates as "invincible." In her honor, the Navratri festival is celebrated every year. It is believed that in ancient times it was the warrior maiden who saved the entire universe from the powerful tyrant Mahishasura, whom neither earthly kings nor gods could resist.

Ksenia Kiseleva (Nalini), a researcher of the Vedic tradition, explains: “The gods who were overthrown from heaven turned to the supreme gods: Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma, asking for protection to be protected. And the angry Shiva and Vishnu opened their mouths, and from these mouths a sparkling flame appeared, from which a beautiful woman appeared, it was Durga. She was given a mount - a tiger. And each of the gods gave her his weapon: a mace, a sword, a trident, a disk, a rope, a bow and arrows.

The warlike Durga let out a loud roar, hearing which the evil Mahishasura threw all his best generals into battle. According to ancient Indian legend, a great battle unfolded on the top of the mountain. And there was no equal in that battle to the warrior Durga, she alone coped with a whole horde of enemies.

Ksenia Kiseleva (Nalini) tells: “After all the supreme commanders of Mahishasura were killed, he himself came to the battle. And he incarnated either as a bull, or as an elephant, or as a lion, and led the battle, either on the ground or in the air, in order to fight with her, becoming either invisible or visible. He became strong at night, so he fought all the battles at night. There were nine such nights."

The ancient Indian Amazon managed to win. But when exactly on Earth did the events, so detailed and colorfully described in the legends, take place?

It is almost impossible to establish the date of the prehistoric wars that left their mark on the ancient Indian epic. But researchers have one clue. According to the sacred texts, King Rama himself revered Durga, and the time of his reign fell at the end of the Treta Yuga, an era that, according to the Vedic chronology, ended more than a million years ago.

Ksenia Kiseleva (Nalini) explains: “Rama himself also worshiped Durga, the Divine Mother, in order to win the battle with Ravana, with the demon. Arjuna of the Mahabharata also worshiped Durga in order to win the battle with the Kauravas and Kurukshetra."

Were women so powerful in ancient times? Could it be that they owned power over the territory of the entire Earth? ..

Matriarchy reigned on our planet for a long time. According to many scientists, there is a very specific explanation for this. Man has been attached to his mother for too long. The formation of a child in the womb of a woman and its subsequent maturation, unlike most mammals, is not synchronized with the astronomical year of our planet.

Back in the 18th century, astronomers Titius and Bode stated that, according to the law of geometric progression, there should be another planet between Mars and Jupiter. But where could she have gone? Over the past centuries, several dwarf planets have been discovered in this part of the solar system - scientists believe that this is the wreckage of the deceased Phaethon. The planet literally shattered into pieces as a result of a cosmic catastrophe caused by a collision with a giant asteroid.

Did the inhabitants of Phaeton manage to escape shortly before the catastrophe? Maybe the Phaetonians really moved to Earth millions of years ago?

The Mordovians and the Mari, who since ancient times inhabited the lands between the Oka and Volga rivers, have preserved the legend of the goddess - a woman in childbirth, one of whose names is Mastorava. The supreme mother was the progenitor of all gods and people. And female deities dominated the pantheon of celestials. After all, Ava was responsible for the element of water, Tol-ava was subject to fire, Vir-ava was considered the goddess of the forest.

Nikolai Mokshin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head. Department of Archeology and Ethnography, Moscow State University. N. P. Ogareva: “Their husbands, as a rule, are Vir-atya or Ved-atya, Kud-atya, although they are in the background, these male deities. In the foreground were women, female deities.

Doctor of Historical Sciences Nikolai Mokshin has been studying the beliefs of the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia for decades. The professor came to the conclusion that matriarchy dominated in our country longer than anywhere else. And the Amazons were the last reminder of the former boundless dominance of women.

Nikolai Mokshin says: “The maternal family did not give up so easily. The traditions of motherhood were very strong, and in many respects they have been preserved even sometimes up to the present day. You just need to be able to see them. And to be able to see means you have to be an expert, to be a real ethnographer, an expert on these things.”

The Mordovians addressed their female deities on all important everyday issues. When moving to a new house, the newlyweds took a blessing from Kud-ava, the patroness of the hearth. The couple asked for the gifts of children from the goddess Ved-Ava.

According to custom, to appease her, a whole bowl of millet was thrown into the water. It was important to approach the pond without too much noise, so as not to frighten off the mermaid goddess; it was believed that she was sitting on the shore and combing her long hair.

Like their supreme deities, Mordovian women stood at the head of the family and clan. They made all the key decisions. According to scientists, the elements of female supremacy in the family structure of the Mordovians are alive to this day. The memory of the long era of matriarchy was preserved for a long time even by Mordovian national costumes.

Nikolai Mokshin says: “Professor of Kazan University Ivan Nikolaevich Smirnov wrote about this in his book Mordva, a researcher of the Finno-Ugric peoples. He wrote that the Mordovian women's costume is similar to the Dalmatian of the Byzantine kings. What does dalmatic mean? These are royal clothes, and a Mordvinian in a festive dress looks like a queen. And when a Mordovian dresses up for a holiday, the costume looks like royal clothes.

Not only the richly decorated costume emphasized the special status of women. It was the mistress of the clan and family who was the keeper of all the valuable things in the house. Traditionally, each married muzzle had a personal “chest” - a chest made of a solid linden trunk with a metal lock. The right to conduct ritual ceremonies also belonged to women.

Inna Kudashkina, historian, head of the ethnography department of the Mordovian Republican Museum of Local Lore, explains: “Special women’s prayers were arranged, the so-called baban-kashi, or girls’ beer houses, where men were invited, if at all, as spectators or as an auxiliary force. During family ceremonies aimed at begging for well-being for family members, the main role was played by an elderly woman who turned to her ancestors, turned to the gods with a request that the family not be cut off, the family would continue and the gods would be favorable to them. She scraped a coin and kneeled to the higher powers for the future of her kind.

But why did men so resignedly obey women? The fact is that for centuries, a significant age difference between spouses helped to consolidate the matriarchal foundations of the ancestors of the Mordovians. The wife, as a rule, was 10–15 years older than her husband. Life experience made her the sole mistress of the house, the man could only obey unconditionally.

Nikolai Mokshin says: “The Mordovians have for a long time preserved the tradition of so-called early marriages, when the boy is still small, and he has already been married to an adult girl. And even in folklore there are such songs when a girl shakes a shank where her fiancé is sitting, still small, and she shakes and expresses dissatisfaction that here you are, such and such, what kind of husband you are to me ... and so on.
Photo 17. Arjuna without Paramit

Even the seemingly primordially masculine craft, foundry, was under the control of women. Cast metal products from the collection of the Mordovian Museum of Local Lore were found at the site of the ancient settlements of Moksha and Erzya. They date back to the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. Jewelry and household items were made, most likely, by women.

Inna Kudashkina believes: “Objects of foundry craftsmanship were found in numerous female burials. These were crucibles, lyachki, ladles, molds for molten metal. Still, the attitude towards a person involved in smelting, working with metals, was quite serious. This man was respected. Somewhere he was even considered, as it were, a sorcerer, that is, a knowledgeable person.

The woman herself decided what kind of activity she would choose. It could be both foundry craft and martial art. Maybe merchants, ambassadors and simply curious travelers from Europe and the Arab East knowingly mistook these fearless and strong women from the banks of the Volga for Amazons?

Anatoly Votyakov is convinced: “The Amazons meant the tribes of Mordovia. They still have these Amazonian elements in all rituals, especially pagan ones: women were warriors, and the main virtue of women was the number of killed enemies, the enemies were men.

The fact that strong and warlike women lived on the territory of modern Russia in ancient times, it seems, was well known to the ancient Indians.

The famous "Mahabharata" tells how the hero Arjuna with his troops goes far to the north and ends up in the country of the Amazons. The legendary ancient Indian warrior was fascinated by the extraordinary beauty of Paramita, the queen of warriors. Arjuna invited her to become his wife and go with him to Gastinapur. The northern Amazon went to distant India with a whole caravan of wealth.

In Ancient India itself, the birth of militant women on Earth has always been associated with such a phenomenon of the world order as reincarnation.

Did the Amazons inherit aggressiveness and courage, the desire to win and rule from their own past lives? How is this possible? According to ancient Indian legends, life in the guise of female warriors was a punishment for delinquent warriors. An opportunity to atone for your sin before the gods.

Yuri Pleshakov says: “The soul wanders in space, changing body after body. This, in particular, is mentioned in ancient books. Just as the soul passes from the body of a child to the body of a young man and the body of a mature person, after death it will also enter a new body and begin to live. And it is also said that the one who is born will surely die, and the one who has died will certainly be born.

In ancient sacred texts, cases are described when a man in the next life became a woman, and this happened under a curse for his transgressions. This applies even to the inhabitants of heavenly planets, when, under a curse, they were forced to be born as women, moreover, on Earth. So, not only because of a curse, but because of my attachment to a woman, constant meditation, constant remembrance of a woman, constant thinking about her - all that we call ardent love.

The authors of the ancient Indian epic argued that if on the verge of death the consciousness of a man is filled with thoughts about his beloved woman and earthly passions, then in the next life his soul will be embodied in a female form. What is it - fiction or ancient knowledge that has not yet found scientific confirmation?

American biochemist, University of Virginia professor Ian Stevenson conducted a large-scale study in the field of parapsychology in the 20th century. The scientist over 40 years has studied more than 3,000 cases of alleged reincarnation - cases where children described in detail their previous lives and even called their past names. In the course of the study, many stories were confirmed. Professor Stevenson himself said that the study of the phenomenon of reincarnation can help modern medicine understand how human memory works, to understand how personality develops.

So the rebirth of sinning warriors in the guise of Amazons is not fiction at all? It's just that there is no scientific confirmation of this either.

Indologist Yuri Pleshakov believes: “Reincarnation is not a theory, it is the same law of nature, like the law of gravity, like the law of conservation of energy. Just due to some stereotypes, due to their limitations, modern man cannot yet accept this.”

After patriarchy spread on our planet, the Amazons were forced to lay down their arms.

But until now, from the most lost corners of the earth, from time to time there are news that a new tribe similar to the Amazons has been found. Allegedly, women who prefer to do without men can still be found in New Guinea and South America. Amazons are very good archers. They don't have horses, but the female warriors get along just fine without them. They run so fast that they seem elusive.

Anatoly Votyakov is convinced: “There are Amazons in South America, and all the local tribes are terribly afraid of them, because they are very severe. They are more or less soft in one period - this is in the spring, when they spend their mating games. And yet, they then throw the boys back into their families, and leave the girls with them. This is a complex structural element - the Amazons. They are still in nature today.

On the territory of Eurasia, only legends about the beautiful Amazons have survived. But if they existed, then where did their descendants go? The director of the American Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads, Janine Davis-Kimball, has been looking for an answer to this question all her life.

At the disposal of the American was a unique DNA material obtained during archaeological excavations that were carried out in the USSR - on the banks of the Volga and in the South Urals. A large-scale genetic study carried out by Davis-Kimball showed that over the past centuries, the daughters of Russian Amazons settled thousands of kilometers from the ancient settlements of their foremothers.

Janine Davis-Kimball, director of the American Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads, says: “Intravital DNA analysis of one Mongolian girl, Miramgul, showed that she and her mother had the same allele, haplotype, as the woman whose remains we removed from the earth in Pokrovka. Miramgul has pretty blonde hair and freckles. She is absolutely charming. She helped her parents set up the yurt and could ride like an adult. She is a typical representative of the nomadic people, a real Amazon.”

In Western Mongolia, the traditions of livestock farming are still preserved. Like hundreds of years ago, today people graze herds on pastures, live in yurts and wear clothes reminiscent of the ancient outfits of nomads. True, the descendants of the Amazons do not shoot from the bow now.

Blond hair and freckles, uncharacteristic of the Mongoloids, according to Dr. Davis-Kimball, this can be seen as a direct sign of kinship with the ancient Amazons, who came here from the north. Scientists recognize that for thousands of years the Amazons lived in the vast territory of modern Russia - from the Don and Volga to the south of the Ural Mountains.

To date, Janine Davis-Kimball has discovered the genes of the ancient Amazons in the inhabitants of Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Ireland, England ... All of them turned out to be descendants of the same warrior maidens who once lived on the territory of modern Russia. Based on archaeological finds and DNA analysis, scientists even managed to create portraits of the legendary Amazons of antiquity.

Janine Davis-Kimball says: “One of them has very wide cheekbones. The type of face is similar to Caucasian. As for the second woman, we did a DNA analysis of her, and her reconstructed face is more of a Mongoloid type. It's not as subtle as the first one. I think the Amazons were also completely different, like modern people.

The most basic similarity between the Amazons, that is, warriors, from different countries is that they occupied a dominant position in society. In some cases they had a matriarchal society."

The beautiful Antiope from ancient Greek myths, the ancient Indian princess Thadatagai, the fearless meadow Savishna - they all preferred simple earthly love to the ringing of swords and military glory. The warrior maidens voluntarily laid down their arms in front of their chosen ones. But those who consider themselves descendants of warrior maidens did not become the weaker sex. To this day, on the Don and on the Volga, among thousands of women, one can easily recognize the daughters of the Amazons. They still conquer any man with only one fiery look.

But what is the secret of the unusual heroic strength that the Slavic Amazons possessed? On this account, the historian Andrei Tyunyaev has his own revolutionary version, according to which, many centuries ago, a kind of genetic selection took place in Russia. The most beautiful maidens and the strongest young men had special children, conceived on the great Slavic holiday of the solstice. It was believed that on this day the unborn child receives not only the genes of his parents, but also the power of the most powerful god of the sun - Yarila. Once a year, the pagans held a grand celebration of the summer solstice, which was called "kupala" and fell on June (according to the new style) month. During this incredible celebration, the most beautiful young men and women found their perfect match and united in a love impulse.