ИЗВЕСТИЯ СОИГСИ

Keywords: Ossetia, Kartli, Persians, Arabs, Turks, fortifications, dating, construction equipment.

The article discusses various versions of the appearance of the barrier walls in North Ossetia, in particular, of the Kasar fortification, which has come down to us in the form of ruins. The author refutes the opinion established in historiography about the construction of these fortifications through the efforts of the Georgian kings, based on the statement of Vakhushti Bagrationi. A number of researchers consider the information of Vakhushti Bagrationi reliable, without subjecting it to critical analysis. However, historical facts may indicate that the defensive walls in Ossetia could have been erected by the Persians (VI‑VII centuries) or the Arabs (VIII‑IX centuries), rather than by the Georgian or, more precisely, the Kartlian kings, for whom such scale and magnitude were overwhelming. The Persian and Arab presence and the construction of powerful defensive walls in the Central Caucasus are documented by the written and archaeological sources, on the basis of which the author puts forward a thesis that the defensive structures in North Ossetia were constructed by the Persians or Arabs.

Keywords: canonical territory, confessional practices, integration initiatives, legacy of the past, Muslimism, Russian Orthodox Christianity, expansion of Christianity, civilizational alighment.

The article provides insight into one of the understudied aspects of the Russian policy in the Caucasus in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The study relies on both published data and previously unreleased scientific sources and evidence. The author argues for the legitimate nature of the attempts intended to disseminate Christianity, including Orthodox Christianity, in the Caucasus in the postwar era. This is also corroborated by the retrospective heritage that had to be incorporated for intellectual comprehension. The analysis also covers the approaches supporting interfaith interaction. As follows from the stated hypothesis, state-wide alignment was ensured thanks to the phenomenon of emerging national Muslimism. The proposed format of the research also gains relevance in the light of multifaceted modern geopolitical and civilizational challenges related to Russian co-citizenship. Research findings will help search for specific solutions, particularly in the context of the initiative recently undertaken to separate the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate. Appealing to the historical experience of expanding Orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus will not provide direct answers to the emerging threats. However, this approach may end up helpful in searching for ways to navigate difficult scenarios.

Keywords: Ossetian ethnic religion, Wacilla, Christianity, Judaism, Tbau-khokh, Mount Tabor, Mount Sinai, Mount Carmel, Mount Zion.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the cult of one of the main Dzuars (Deities) in the Ossetian ethnoreligiuos system — Wacilla based on the ethnographic descriptions of the festive rituals belonging to the turn of the XIX‑XXth centuries. In addition to the obvious connection of the name of the holy patron of the harvest and at the same time the thunderbolt Wacilla and the eponymous holiday dedicated to him with the name and image of the biblical prophet Elijah, the study of the notes of travelers suggests a number of Abrahamic (mainly Judaism-related) traits in the ritual practice, the calendar of the holiday as well as his character. Over the past century and a half, the Ossetian ethnoreligious system has undergone significant dynamics. Most cult practices are irretrievably lost. In this regard, the ethnographic descriptions of travelers and representatives of the Ossetian intelligentsia of that period are an invaluable source, containing important fragments of the people’s religious life, as it was, probably, in the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries. In this article, therefore, the cult of Wacilla is considered in the folk tradition within the specified time interval. The study of the Abrahamic influences in the Ossetian ethnic religion is gaining particular popularity in the light of the distribution of publications, often unscientific, in which the idea of «ethnoreligious purity» and absolute primary uniqueness is increasingly advocated. As a rule, supporters of the concept of primordial Ossetian pra-monotheism reject the possibility of borrowing. In fact, this is a denial of cultural exchange in the development of the ethnos, that with regard to so ancient nomadic people of Eurasia, which were the ancestors of modern Ossetians, given their active external interactions and wide geography of displacement, it is absolutely impossible.

Keywords: libraries, reading rooms, public readings, cultural and educational activities, state ideology, Ossetia.

The article deals with the issues related to the emergence and functioning of new organizational forms of cultural and educational work with broad strata of the urban population in the post-reforms Vladikavkaz. Libraries, reading rooms, public readings were among most significant forms of such work. Due to the fact that these institutions performed important functions of disseminating socially important information among the masses, their activities were strictly controlled by the state and relied on a specially developed legislative and legal framework. But despite tight government control, such forms of leisure organization became real foci of education for the poorest categories of citizens, who gradually joined the achievements of Russian and world culture and science. In this context, of interest is the relationship between the specific manifestations of cultural and educational activities in Vladikavkaz and the state policy of regulating social activity in the social-cultural and educational spheres in the post-reform decades. The article based on legislative acts, documentary sources and historiography data shows that changes in domestic state policy, determining the change of official ideology, had a significant impact on the organizational forms of cultural and educational activities on the outskirts of the empire, particularly in Ossetia. Complementing the school system, libraries, reading rooms, public readings, and similar institutions, besides performing educational and educational functions, carried a significant ideological burden, meeting the demands of the government for the formation of all-Russian citizenship among all peoples living within the Russian Empire.

Keywords: Kabardino-Balkar Republic, history, politics, deportation, rehabilitation, Caucasian war, Сircassian question.

In the conditions of the Post-soviet political transition sharp rise of the influence of historically rooted political factors of regional development in the North Caucasus became visible. In Kabardino-Balkaria they manifested themselves in intra-republican as well as in «center-periphery» relations. The first aspect of the problem was related to the consequences of deportation of the Balkar population in 1944 and the problems of their subsequent rehabilitation. The second one most saliently revealed itself in the discussions of the Caucasian war aftermath and of the so called «Circassian question». The article presents comparative analysis of these two historically rooted political factors that essentially differed in the forms and intensity of their influence on the social situation in modern Kabardino-Balkaria. «Complete rehabilitation» of the Balkar people implied not only symbolic but also immediate material result — securing for the Balkar population the meaningful share of territorial and power resources of the republic. Eventual outcomes of the Circassian question’s solution were more far away and abstract and did not imply immediate improvement of the KBR Kabardin population’s condition. Demand of «complete rehabilitation» of the Balkar people was based on Russia’s and Kabardino-Balkar republic’s political and legal acts and took the form of realizing of the decisions already made, while «Circassian question» represented a set o claims by the Adyghe national organizations devoid of powers and resources to implement them. Rehabilitation was meant to change only inner ethno-political structure of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic while «Circassian question» involved actions on the national and international level etc. Nevertheless they have essentially common traits being oriented at the «overcoming the consequences» of the past events by creating the special conditions for separate ethnic groups today.

Keywords: Iranian languages, Persian, Dari, Tajik, Afghan, Kurdish, Ossetian, unwritten languages, status, language policy, written tradition.

The Iranian languages are part of the Indo-European language family. They are closely related Indo-Aryan languages. The ancestors of the Indo-Aryan and Iranian peoples in ancient times lived in close communication, occupied common territory and spoke closely related Aryan dialects. The divergence of the Iranian and the Indian dialects took place prior to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Numerous ancient tribes and nationalities who played important role in the world history spoke Iranian languages. All Iranian languages trace back their origin to one language, which was the material basis of their historical community. The status of each of the modern Iranian languages is different. The most significant Iranian languages widely used in the official sphere are Persian, Dari, Tajik, Afghan (Pashto), Kurdish, Ossetian, and Baluchi. Modern Persian is widely spoken in Iran. Of all modern Iranian languages, the closest to it are Tajik and Dari, which share common origin. Persian is the largest, most developed and widespread Iranian language, which covers all vital areas. One of the largest in number of Iranian peoples are Afghans (Pashtuns). In Afghanistan the official languages are recognized as Afghan (Pashto) and Dari (Farsi-Kabuli). Dari held and holds a stronger position. A large Iranian-speaking people are the Balochi. Baluchi is divided into two main groups. Another Iranian people are the Kurds, who for centuries have inhabited the territory of Western Asia. The number of Kurds in the world is about 40 million people. The Kurdish language is represented in numerous dialectal varieties. There are two groups of dialects — north and south. Although Kurdish has a centuries-old literary tradition, its official status is low. The Ossetian language is a remnant of the north-eastern Scythian-Sarmatian branch of the Iranian languages. For almost two thousand years, it has been developing without any direct contacts with Iranian languages. The official status of the Ossetian language is relatively high, but the number of speakers is decreasing.

Keywords: the Ossetian language, Digor dialect, composite, composite word formation, compounding.

Composites have been and remain the object of close attention of linguists. Compounding in the Ossetian language, especially in the Digor dialect, is one of the least studied problems. Meanwhile, in the Ossetian language today there are a significant number of complex entities, the status of which has not yet been determined. This leads to certain difficulties in the compilation of textbooks and dictionaries of the Ossetian language. This is due to the fact that the semantic fusion of two or more bases into one whole is not always accompanied by any changes in the grammatical forms of the words that make up the phrase. Due to the fact that the theoretical issues of composite word-formation are not sufficiently developed in Ossetian linguistics, many constructions do not lend themselves to definitive definition and occupy an intermediate position between compound words and phrases, acquiring some characteristics of a word combination and retaining some features of a compound word. This study addresses the problem of identifying a composite, which is closely related to the problems of spelling and lexicography of these language formations — inconsistency in the spelling of various types of complex words, the lack of uniform selection principles and their presentation in dictionaries. The questions of the typology of composites in the Ossetian language, which are distinguished by a variety of both the nature of the semantic relationship between the components of the structure and their formal and structural characteristics, are considered.

Keywords: Ossetian literature, «thaw», realism, socialist realism, party membership, novel-myth, mythological subjects.

Ossetian Soviet literature in the 60-80s of the XXth century in accordance with its aesthetic principles convincingly reflected both the socio-historical conditions of life of its subject — the Ossetian people, and the spiritual and moral features of the existence of Soviet society, due to the dialectics of its ideological views on social and national reality. A significant evolution of social consciousness was caused by the political atmosphere in the postwar years, in particular, in the second half of the 1950s, the «thaw» of the 1960s and brewing in the first half of the 1980s. trends in public life and public consciousness that led to the restructuring in the second half of the 1980s, the most Important «tools» for Ossetian Soviet literature in the 60‑80‑ies of XX century was its leading artistic method of socialist realism. A significant evolution of public consciousness led to qualitative changes in fiction, which affected primarily the essence and features of socialist realism. In the proposed article socialist realism is considered as an artistic method and as an artistic direction. As the method of socialist realism remains true to its historical mission and continues the tradition of the first «hard» type, which, according to our concept, functioned in 30‑50‑ies of XX century the Second type of socialist realism is evident in the 60-80s While leading his principles (partisanship, bias), defined the «hard» character in the first type, in the 60-80s a few start to weaken, in the artistic consciousness there are elements of philosophical reflection, generalization. This leads to the deepening of the analytical principle in Ossetian Soviet literature, to the expansion of its philosophical, moral and ethical outlook. This process generates serious qualitative changes in the genre system of the Ossetian literature. In particular, a new type of novel — a myth novel-is emerging. In addition, these processes, which determined the quality and character of the socialist realism of the second type as an artistic direction in Ossetian Soviet literature, gave us the opportunity to define this direction as a philosophical and mythological, as well as the novel-myth, which most vividly embodies the evolution of the realistic type of thinking, is structurally formed on mythological subjects and with the participation of mythological heroes.

Keywords: linguonym, ethnonym, Hatiag language, Narts, Alans, East Iranian language, the Ossetian language, epics.

The glossonym Hatiag (Hatiag ævzag), repeatedly mentioned in the texts of the narratives of the Narts’ epic, has constantly been in the focus of the researchers’ attention, due to the fact that it contains historically important information relevant to the chronological and geographical localization of the number of plots and plot motifs. The length of the history of the emergence and existence of the epic, spacious territories inhabited by its creators, pushed by their unprecedented migration activity account for the emergence of a sufficiently large number of alternative interpretations. All of them meet certain requirements for the Hatiag language, derived from the texts of the sagas. The basis for the existing hypotheses, in the first place, is a phonetic similarity of the linguonym with known roots, terms. Most of the hypotheses correlate Hatiag with well-known ethnonyms, the names of peoples with whom the Sarmatians, Alans, and Ossetians had contacts confirmed by the known historical sources. The article provides an overview of the etymologies, which have been so far advanced. The problem of the Hatiag language is still unsolved which allows us to continue the development and refinement of the existing hypotheses, to put forward and formulate new ones as well. The paper proposes to include in the terms of the search of the etymon: Hay, self-designation of the Armenian people, the long-term historical neighbors of the Alans; the first element of the designation of Eastern Iranian language of the Khotanese Sakas, who have closely related genetic ties with the proto-Ossetian; and the name of the East German tribe of Goths. From these three author’s hypotheses, preference is given to the latter.

Keywords: aphorism, proverb, proverb, oath, mystery, benevolence, curse, personification, comparison.

The poetic-semantic structure of the various genres of the Ossetian folk aphoristics form poetic tropes, among which, alongside with metaphor and epithet, impersonation and simile occupy a special place. The above-mentioned means of creating figurativeness bear not only ornamental, decorative, but also structuring, semantic functions: such ambivalence of the poetic tropes is predetermined by the uniqueness of the poetic nature of folk aphorisms, artistic aesthetics of minimal folk forms intended to enclose depth in a laconically formulated phrase. Comparative analysis of impersonation and simile in various types of Ossetian folk aphoristics reveals that these poetic figures fully fit the whole composition of aphoristic utterance containing edifying instructions and warnings, a description of various social and natural phenomena, as well as the qualities and characteristics of objects, people, animals. The idiomatics of such utterances, which determines the difficulty of their perception by people of a foreign ethnic culture and translation into other languages, is based on the semantic keys and symbolic images of the Ossetian cultural tradition. The latter are a kind of cultural code that allows people of this ethnic group to «unlock» the entrance to the matrix of traditional heritage. And a special linguistic-cultural study of this folklore stratum, together with consideration of foreign aphoristic analogies, provides not only an idea of he nature of nationally specific aphoristic images, but a methodological possibility to comprehend the deep meanings of the Ossetian language and culture by representatives of other languages and cultures.

Keywords: Ottoman Empire, Circassians, immigration, Health Council, infectious diseases, mortality, Dr. Barozzi.

The Circassians exodus to the Ottoman Empire of 1863‑1864, which is one of the largest social catastrophes of modern history, is reflected in various documents and evidences of the era. The materials published for the first time in Russian in this paper provide an opportunity to evaluate this phenomenon primarily from health and humanitarian points of view. The reports of Dr. Barozzi, the special commissioner of the Ottoman Health Council at Trabzon and Samsun, the main points of landing of Circassians, contain a detailed description of the causes and process of the spread of infectious diseases, which were the main direct factor in the mass death of immigrants in the region during this period. Unlike the Ottoman documents, which rarely emphasize the mortality rate among Circassians or operate with its relatively low figures, Barozzi’s dispatches testify to human losses of at least 25‑30 % of the total number of arrivals, which, judging by the data he cites, by the middle of 1864 amounted to about 350 thousand people only in these two ports. Responsibility for the rapid deterioration of the epidemiological situation and the accompanying socio-economic problems is laid by Barozzi primarily on the provincial and partly Istanbul authorities, who ignored the recommendations of the competent (mainly European) medical staff of the said council. At the same time, the reports admit that the experience acquired by the Ottoman administration during this period contributed to a reduction in the incidence of morbidity and mortality among Circassians by the end of the time spell under consideration.

Keywords: Ossetian Historical and Philological Society, Kosta Khetagurov, Ossetian studies, Khetagurov studies, minutes of meetings, preservation and study of the heritage.

The paper is dedicated to the activities of the Ossetian Historical and Philological Society for the preservation and study of the creative heritage of a outstanding public figure, journalist, artist, founder of Ossetian literature Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov. The Society has made a significant contribution to the solution of these issues. The year of 1921 was particularly successful and fruitful in the search, accumulation and popularization of biographical facts, literary and artistic heritage of Khetagurov. This year the fifteenth anniversary of the poet’s death was honored. Published excerpts from the minutes of the meetings of the Society from February to May 1921 reveal little-known pages of the activities of the «first scientific institution in the North Caucasus». They significantly complement the knowledge about the initial stage of the formation of the school of the Ossetian studies and the identification of Khetagurov studies as a special direction. The documents show a gradual change in the concept of «celebrating» the event, which was filled with special socio-political content and turned from an event of local significance into an event of all-Caucasian scale. The information contained in the sources gives an idea of the techniques, methods and results of exploration, in particular, allows to reconstruct the process of discussing and adjusting plans and programs to commemorate the memory of Kosta in preparation for the memorable date. The texts contain valuable material on the personal composition and intellectual potential of the members of the Society, on priority areas of activity, on sources of funding, on interaction with authorities and individuals — voluntary assistants to a scientific institution. They also include indirect information, which is important for analysis the socio-political situation in a multinational region in turning-point period of the country’s history. The materials are extracted from fund 13 of the Scientific Archive of North Ossetian Institute for the Humanitarian and Social Studies.

Keywords: Stavropol Region, Great Patriotic War, Battle of the Caucasus, historiography.

This review provides an assessment of the collective work of historians of the Stavropol Area, devoted to the study of poorly or completely unexplored aspects of the Battle of the Caucasus during the Great Patriotic War. The main focus was on the regional component of one of the most important war episode. What role in the plans of the Nazis was assigned to the Battle of the Caucasus? What means were they supposed to realize and what prevented their accurate implementation? How did the Caucasus defend itself, and how was the regional specificity manifested in this process? These and some other issues were considered in the monograph under review. For a long time there were no summarizing works on the regional history of the Caucasus in that most difficult period of the life of the state. In connection with the preparations for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, the team of Stavropol authors published a major work on the history of the Stavropol region, North Ossetia and other regions of the Caucasus during the Great Patriotic War. In modern conditions, a new, systematic reading of these events is required, not only victorious but also tragic, extracting the moral sources of the Victory for every nation. The source base of the monograph is represented by numerous, diverse sources: materials of federal and regional archives, memories of participants in the events, statistical data. An important aspect of the book is a comprehensive analysis of the main aspects of the life of the population of Stavropol as a region of the Caucasus during the Great Patriotic War. On the local material (which is especially important), the authors, as they say, «from the inside,» consider various aspects of those events, displaying and analyzing various information: about the course of hostilities, about the difficulties caused by the specifics of the region, about its social life.

In “Criticism and Bibliography” section the editorial board starts the project “Alans-Ossetians in Russian and foreign historiography”, presenting a series of review articles with the analysis of the works of pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern Russian and foreign scientists. The historiographic project, which will give ideas on the main stages of the study of the problem of Alan-Ossetian succession, will allow to assess the current state of knowledge of the problem, to identify promising trends and topics, to promote objective scientific research.

Keywords: Alans, Ossetians, Yassi, Miller, Potocki, Klaproth, Haxthausen, Sjögren, Šafařík, Pfaf, Lavrov, Kovalevsky, Kulakovsky.

The Alans, one of the most powerful political tribal confederations of the ancient times, have always stirred researchers’ imagination. They left a significant mark in history, military arts, and culture not only within their habitat, in the south Russian steppes, but throughout Europe as well, in history and culture of the emerging civilization of the early Middle Ages where, being under pressure of the Huns, the majority of them was forced to migrate. The remaining part established an early-feudal state Alania in the Northern Caucasus and Ciscaucasian steppes. Among other things medieval Alanian tribes played a vital role in All-Caucasian and European history. Myths and legends on the origin of the Europeans vividly testify to this. This article is a short historiographic review of almost all the existing sources on Alanian-Ossetian succession. The researchers, whose views conform with the opinion of such continuity, ground their approach on several essential points: the Ossetian language that is deeply rooted in the Indo-Iranian world, Narts’ epics and other prominent elements of the Ossetian spiritual culture.