The vanished ancient civilization of Siberia.
The vanished ancient civilization of Siberia.
"In these (Siberian) countries, they do not plow, sow, consume neither bread nor money, feed on wild animals, drink only water, and live in dense forests in wicker huts. Forest life has made people resemble mindless beasts: they dress in coarse animal skins, stitched together haphazardly, and most of them are mired in idolatry, worshiping the sun, moon, stars, wild animals, and anything else they can find." In short, they are savage and backward people with savage customs.
This is how the first foreigners to visit these harsh lands described Siberia back in their homeland, Europe.
Incidentally, the Cossacks and Streltsy, who after Yermak conquered Siberia, all the way to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, truly saw only the savagery and backwardness of the local peoples. There were practically no cities or even large settlements in Siberia anymore. Not a soul was to be seen for thousands of kilometers.
Indeed, even today, looking at the impenetrable Siberian forests and swamps, the lifeless taiga, the permafrost, and the abject cold, it's hard to believe that just 500 years ago, these lands were bustling with life, huge stone cities and roads were built, and a truly advanced ancient civilization with a rich culture flourished. It sounds incredible, but it's true. Let's take it one step at a time.
Many medieval Arab travelers and writers mention this mysterious land of white, fair-haired, blue-eyed people with enormous stone cities in southern Siberia. This is how the 14th-century Arab geographer al-Omari wrote about the unusually beautiful people living in Siberia: "Their figures are the perfection of creation in beauty, whiteness, and astonishing charm; their eyes are blue."
Archimandrite Pallady Kafarov, head of the Russian Orthodox Spiritual Mission in Beijing and a distinguished Russian orientalist, traveled through the Far East and the lands of Eastern Siberia in the 19th century. During his journey, he also discovered numerous ruins of ancient stone cities and fortifications.
So how could a highly developed civilization, one that built stone cities with palaces and temples, have emerged in Siberia and the Far East? After all, since the 17th century, when the mass settlement of these lands by Cossacks and Streltsy began, there has been no trace of civilization in Siberia. Not even a hint.
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Sources:
1. Information on the expeditions of Captain Arsenyev (V.K.) (Traveling in the Ussuri Region). 1900-1910 // "Notes of the Amur Branch of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society." - Khabarovsk, 1912.
2. Journey across Siberia from Tobolsk to Nerchinsk and the borders of China by the Russian envoy Nikolai Spafariy in 1675. Spafariy's travel diary. - St. Petersburg, 1882.
3. Konovalova, I.G., Eastern Europe in the works of al-Idrisi. Moscow, 1999.
4. L.R. Kyzlasov, Urban Civilization of Central and Northern Asia. Historical and Archaeological Research // Moscow: "Vostochnaya Literatura". 2006.
5. L.R. Kygyusov, Reports from Russian Sources on Ancient and Medieval Cities of Siberia // Russian City. Research and Materials. Issue 8. Moscow, 1986;
6. In the Wilds of the Ussuri Region / illustrated by S.I. Yakovlev. – 2nd ed. – Khabarovsk; Vladivostok: Kn. Delo, 1928.
7. A.G. Selezneva, Baraba Tatars: Origins of Ethnos and Cultures – Science, 1994.
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