ИЗВЕСТИЯ СОИГСИ

The image of a ram was loaded with high and complex semantic charge. This polysemantic image was widespread since the Bronze Age in the culture of the peoples of the Central Caucasus and is being present in the traditional material and spiritual culture of Ossetians so far. The semantics of the image of a ram has undergone certain changes over time. In the Koban culture the earliest images are associated with the idea of a winged ram (farn). This tradition has further ethnographic parallels.In the Ossetian Narts epos a flock of sheep serves as a wealth indicator and an exchange equivalent. In magic fairy tales a ram is a sacrificial animal, and a mediator providing the transition of the protagonist to different worlds and defining his destiny. In the Ossetian ethnography the ram functions generally in cults of fertility and as a storm deity. In the Ossetian traditional culture some parts of an animal were esteemed. In Koban applied art a head of a ram often replaces an image of the whole animal. The heads of rams when looking in different directions mark space.In numerous cases the number of rams is multiple of three which is reflected in Ossetian traditions. Dual figures of rams have also been found.In the Koban culture there are images both of the single separate head of a ram, as well as compositions of horizontal and vertical rows of the heads of rams. The heads of rams are usually dimensional, while the figure of an animal is imitative. During the Sarmatian, Alan, and medieval periods the image of a ram in the monuments of Central Caucasus becomes stylized. In small bronze plasticity rams during this period become scarce. Images of the heads and horns of rams have been preserved in the ornamental arts, namely decorating anOssetian wedding dress.

Keywords: Koban culture, decorative art, Central Caucasus, traditional material and spiritual culture, image of a ram, stylization.

On the basis of wide range of archaeological evidenceand ethnographic material the present article advances a historical-comparative analysis of the similarities in the funeral and memorial ceremonies of the North-Iranian peoples –Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans and Ossetians. The Scythian-Sarmatian burial traditions are characterized by making fires near graves, the use of coffins in the form of boat, dedicating horse to a woman. The same elements are recorded in the Ossetian ethnographic practice. The facts of the presence in Alan burials of iron adzes, hops, coal bedding also find parallels in the Ossetian traditional culture. The Ossetian folklore and the Narts sagas contain accounts for stone millstones of Alanian burial places and for unusual whetstone in Scythian graves. The analysis reveals a large number of archaeological and ethnographic parallels in the given field. The whole scope of data illustrates the actuality and feasibility of the comparative study of Scythian-Sarmatian-Alan archeological data and materials of Ossetian ethnography and folklore. Especially promising this direction of scientific research is for the reconstruction of the ideological representations of the ancient Iranians and the spiritual world of modern Ossetians in its retrospection.

Keywords: funeral and memorial rites, Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Ossetians, archeology and ethnography of North-Iranian peoples.

The origin of one of the unions of privileged families of the North Ossetian Digorian society became a focus of scientific interest and complex analysis for the first time. The historical and genealogical research of the Ossetian feudal families of the Alievs, Asseevs, Elbievs, Kabanovs, Kanukovs, Kobegkaevs, Naifonovs and Khoranovs is presented, as based on the archival sources and the data of travelers and researchers. The social and kinship relations of the representatives of these families with aristocracy of the other Ossetian societies and the neighboring Caucasian peoples, Kabardians and Balkarians, are revealed. The participation of emigrants of gaguata in the second half of the XIX century migration to Turkey is investigated. The historical fates of the representatives of these families in the XIX – early XX century, in the era of revolution transformations in Russia and Caucasus, are also investigated. The research materials significantly expand the existing notions about the Ossetian aristocracy, and promote deeper and renewed study of genealogy of Ossetian families.

Keywords: Russia, Caucasus, North Ossetia, privileged estate, family, marriage, muhajirun, revolution.

The process of formation and development of industry in the town of Petrovsk of the Dagestan region is reviewed in the present article. It is noted that Petrovsk, as well as the town of Temir-Khan-Shura, was a young town, being transformed from Russian military fortifications in the 50s – 60s years of the XIX century. The third town of the region – Derbent – had a centuries-old history. It is shown that Petrovsk originally was planned as a commercial and industrial center of Dagestan, as it is indicated by “Regulation on the management of the port town of Petrovsk”. It had to revitalize the north-western coast of the Caspian Sea, make Petrovsk the transit center of trade with Central Asia and Persia. The role of the seaport and the Dagestan branch of the Vladikavkaz railway in the development of industry in the Petrovsk, appearance and development of factory enterprises in the town are reviewed in the article. Special attention is paid to the cotton factory “Caspian manufactory”, the largest in the North Caucasus, whose products were exported to Persia, Central Asia. The work of small industrial enterprises is shown. It is pointed out in the article that fishing industry took a prominent place in the economy of Petrovsk, in this branch the main role was played by Russian industrialists and the main labor force were fishermen from the Volga region. The formation of the working class from the indigenous population is highlighted. This happened at the enterprises of factory industry, on the railway, fisheries. Dagestanians took over the production experience from highly skilled Russian workers. The authors conclude that the development of industry in Petrovsk and in Dagestan as a whole was the result of the development of Russian capitalism in breadth. Mainly manufacturing was developed in Petrovsk. There was small commodity production and large-scale machine industry, based on the Russian capital. Many industrial enterprises appeared by the initiative of the Russian bourgeoisie and in accordance with the needs of the Russian market.

Keywords: Russian Empire, Petrovsk, “Caspian manufactory”, fishing industry, capitalism.

The article discusses the problem of the expansion of Russian national identity in the period of the post-reform modernization in the second half of XIX – early XX century, which was crucial for military-strategic and wellbeing within Russia. The object of research is Russian school as a socio-cultural mechanism for the rooting of Russian national identity in Ossetia, where this process was the most effective. Number of archival sources, pre-revolutionary periodical press publications, and recent literature on the problem were studied during the work. The author concludes that the process of approval of Russian national identity in Ossetia in particular and in the North Caucasus as a whole was of great strategic importance for the foreign and domestic policy of the Russian Empire; leading role in this process belonged to the Russian school, which was implemented not only educational, but also pedagogical, ideological, consolidating functions in the Ossetian society; Ossetians have realized the benefit of the Russian school and revealed a phenomenal interest in education; Russian school promoted the transformation of identity assertion and Ossetians among them the foundations of Russian statehood and identity.

Keywords: Ossetia, Russia, Russian national identity, socio-cultural mechanism, Russian school, education, self-identification.

The article is devoted to the history of foundation and definition of the role of Grozny Highland schools in the process of establishing a secular system of education in the North Caucasian region. The processed materials were taken from the collections of the Archives of the Office of the Government of the Chechen Republic. Grozny Highland School – male primary two-year board school– was opened November 28, 1863. The school building was a private property and belonged to the wealthy residents of the city of Grozny, and it was sustained by the Russian government allocating necessary sums. This educational institution provided education both for Russian and Chechen students and though the language of education was Russian, Chechen children studied and Arabic (the Chechen language was not a compulsory subject for Russian students). Among the subjects taught in Grozny Highland school were the Russian language, reading, mathematics, prayers studies, as well as optional disciplines: singing, gymnastics, joinery and turning crafts, gardening, horticulture, sericulture since acquiring various skills became quite relevant within the study period (especially for indigenous people). Archival documents show that the teachers, who taught in the educational institution, were high professionals whose competence was at a high enough level for that time; they knew their job well and were interested in its outcomes. Perhaps because of the problems with educational literature, the Russian language ignorance of the locals, the financial problems or other subjective reasons academic outcomes in Grozny Highland school students regardless of nationality, were more than modest.

Keywords: Grozny Highland School, secular learning, achievement, rural schools, learning various crafts.

The paper pioneers examination of questionnaires as nonconventional sources on the history of the post-war everyday life of former red partisans of Ossetia. Great attention is paid to the originality of the source, its informational potential. Application of the content analysis allowed conducting a socio-demographic analysis of the deposited material, to study the behavior and activity of combatants during the civil war and in the postwar period. The problem of integration of red partisans into the postwar society, their sometimes stressful relations with the Soviet power was mainly rooted in their social origin and attitude. The study of the social composition of the guerrilla movement in Ossetia gave rather complete information on the categories of the population, joined the ranks of the supporters of the Bolsheviks: a certain part of peasants, Cossacks, workers and intellectuals became red partisans. The postwar adaptation of warheroes to the new economic policy, collectivization was painful, and this was indicated in the questionnaires. The latter allow tracing the main trends in filling by the combatants of different social niches, as well as career growth or lack of it, etc. Red partisans, even more than other social strata of the new society, reacted to the excesses in the policy of the Bolsheviks in the agrarian and social issues. Combatant reflections often resulted in participation in the anti-kolkhoz movement.

Keywords: war, partisans, daily, profile, privileges, adaptation, social lift.

The article examines the socio-political aspect of realization of the Strategy of development of the North-Caucasian Federal District till 2025. The analysis of the labor market in the subjects of the District is made, the data on the quality of life, welfare and economic wellbeing of population is revealed. The data for the region is generalized, as presented by the Committees on employment, Ministries of labor and social protect, and other profile institutions of the Stavropol Region, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkar Republic, Chechen Republic, Karachay-Cherkes Republic, Republic of Ingushetia. The authors analyze the results of the first stage of realization of the Federal Strategy and Program of development of the North-Caucasus.

Keywords: North-Caucasus, Strategy of socio-economic development of the North-Caucasian Federal District, social programs, economic wellbeing of population, Employment Service, Ministries of Labor and Social Protect, Russian Ministry of North Caucasus Affairs.

The Ossetiс language, alongside with most languages of the Euro-Asian linguistic area has borrowed the root אָדָם. The uniqueness of the situation is that the reflex of this root in Ossetic has the seme of plurality and is equivalent to “people”, “men”, whereas in most cases known cognates of this root have the seme of singularity and mean “a human being”, “a man”. In the languages closely related to the Ossetic language the reflexes of this root are bisemic “a man” – “people”. Semantics of the word in Ossetic, in our opinion, reflects the age and nature of the borrowing. In this article, the direct nature of the borrowing is assumed from the languages where it originated and functioned as bisemic unit at a stage when they were languages of communication, rather than written sources.

Keywords: borrowings, Hebraism, reflexes, semantic development, assimilation of a borrowing, etymon.

The lexical-semantic system of any language is unique as it reflects the peculiarities of ethnic culture of a native-speaker of a certain language. In its turn, dwelling is one of the most important components of the material culture of an ethnic group. This article focuses on the structural-semantic analysis of the lexical-semantic group of words “tsærændonæ / dwelling” in the Digorian variant of the Ossetian language. The article summarizes theoretical information available in the national linguistics on the problem under study. Study of the semantic aspect of the vocabulary of any language is based on the analysis of definitions of the lexical unit of interest to the researcher in the explanatory dictionaries, separation of components of these dictionary definitions, and their interpretation as separate distinctive features of the word meaning. Due to the absence of a complete explanatory dictionary of the Ossetian language, the author for the first time introduces the interpretations of the words included into the lexical-semantic group under consideration in the scientific discourse. As a result of the analysis of the meanings of these words, the lexical-semantic group of the words “tsærændonæ / dwelling” has been formed reflecting the present stage of the development of the Digorian variant of the Ossetian language. Structural-semantic regularities of the analyzed lexical-semantic group have been identified; systemic organization of the group has been undertaken; systemic links between the components of the group have been described.

Keywords: Digorian variant of the Ossetian language, vocabulary, word semantics, seme, lexical-semantic groups of words, dwelling.

It is believed that there are no white spots at the ethnic map of Russia. However, the gaps are identified in the identification of separate ethnic societies with well-known in modern science ethnocultural groups. The villagers of Dzhalgan of the Derbent region of the Republic of Dagestan are pertained to them. The aim of folklore-ethnographic and linguistic expedition was to reveal linguistic affiliation of the Dzhalgan habitants, study their traditional culture and determine the degree of Dzhalgan-Ossetian cultural similarities. Language of Dzhalganians is converged with Farsi, and their traditional culture – with the culture of Ossetians. Many elements of traditional culture of Dzhalganians have analogies in the traditional culture of Ossetians, which, however, cannot be attributed as the typological convergences. In the religious beliefs of Dzhalganians veneration of sanctuaries and their patrons take a significant place. The system of sanctuaries and worship of their patron spirits are paralleled with traditional Ossetian religious beliefs. Like Ossetians, around the sanctuaries the oral stories appeared, intended to persuade a listener in the sanctity of the holy places and inevitability of punishment for violator of sacredness. The role of dreams is significant too, as they convince the sanctity of the place or cause for a new Pir, as Dzhalganians name both the very sanctuary and its spirit-patron. The etiquette norms of Ossetians and Dzhalganians are largely similar, not finding parallels among the other peoples of the Derbent region. Direct analogies can be seen in wedding rites that can be characterized as a mix of the Dagestan and “Ossetian” wedding rituals. The explanation for this synthesis is given by the historical data, according to which Persians and Alans participated in the genesis of Dzhalganians.

Keywords: Dzhalgan, ethnography, traditional culture, language Dzhalganian, Pir.

At the present stage of the development of the Ossetian literary studies, as part of the Ossetian studies, the formation of a theoretically and methodologically based concept of the historical development of realism in the artistic consciousness of the Ossetians, the definition of the stages of its genesis, formation and development, formation of the concept of historical typology of realism have particular relevance. The solution of this scientific problem is the purpose of the present article. The authors come from a major methodological setup according to which two processes: the development of the artistic consciousness and the development of realistic types of thinking are always interconnected and interdependent in the history of Ossetian culture. Moreover, realistic method defines the conceptual essence of the artistic culture and artistic consciousness of the Ossetians; it is reflected throughout the social history of the Ossetian people. In addition, the authors take into account the methodologically important assumption of the scientific aesthetics that in the formation of the rational paradigm of the historical formation and development of the artistic consciousness of the Ossetians and their ancestors creative unity of a triad is implemented in the artistic consciousness in the specific form: local nature, society and the nature of Ossetian people, the latter is the subject with specifics of creative thinking, consciousness, and this triad is realized due to the functioning of the realistic type of artistic thinking in the proposed forms and ways. On the basis of this methodological assumption, the authors solve the following problems: firstly, analyze the process of birth, formation and development of realism as an essential tool of artistic consciousness at different stages of spiritual and aesthetic development of the reality by the Ossetian people, and, secondly, develop the concept of historical typology of realism in the Ossetian literature.

Keywords: the principle of imitation of reality, folklore, realism, critical realism, social realism, philosophical and mythological direction, artistic consciousness.

The article traces the mythological foundations, historical dynamics and suggests further development of the traditional instrumental culture of Ossetians. It also disclosed the sacred significance of Ossetian authentic musical instruments, which constitute an integral part of people’s ethnic memory.

Keywords: Ossetian folklore, musical instruments, historical development, Ossetian ethnomusicology.

The article by a Jesuit missionary in the Ottoman Empire Antoine Poidebard, which was published originally in 1907, contains observations and evidence concerning the North Caucasian, namely Ossetian, community settled in the Tokat region of Central Anatolia. The most valuable feature of this publication appears to be the text of an Ossetian song, obviously reminiscent of the “Saghæstæ” (“Thoughts”) by Temirbolat Mamsurov. Comparison of the two verses reveals both multiple coincidences and indisputable discrepancies between them along with the distinctly lesser completeness of the plot of the newly published version in whole. Rather interesting is Poidebard’s indication that the poem has been created by a person named Murad Bey, who, in our opinion, is identical to T. Mamsurov. Besides, noteworthy is the wedding ceremony of the member of the local princely family comprising a lot of elements characteristic of the model traditional wedding, as well as a number of other socio-cultural details: from musical and choreographic preferences of local residents to the specificity of inter-class relations within the North Caucasian immigrant groups. The material in question is currently one of the most significant and informative written sources to shed light on the past of the Ossetian diaspora in the Middle East.

Keywords: Ottoman Anatolia, Tokat, Jesuit missionaries, North Caucasian immigrants, Temirbolat Mamsurov, Ossetian song, traditional culture, wedding ceremony.

Letters of Mussa Hakim (Moses Grigorievich Domba) to Hadji-Murat Magometovich Muguev are being introduced into the sphere of scientific and literary-critical investigation, as they contain interesting comments on the literary process and cultural atmosphere in North Ossetia in the middle of the past century, critical judgments about the works of contemporary writers (including novel H.-M.M. Muguev “The Wild Terek”), the facts and circumstances relevant to the political-military history and Ethnography of the peoples of the Caucasus, etc. Documents are interesting as the epistolary heritage of the doctor, poet, historian and ethnographer; they represent an original literary phenomenon, and are authentic testimonies of the era. It is also important that the letters shed some light on the personal life of Mussa Hakim, in his time one of the most respected citizens of the city of Vladikavkaz, but who is in oblivion today.

Keywords: Mussa Hakim (M.G. Domba), Hadji-Murat Muguev, “The Wild Terek”, Maharbek Tuganov, Kazi-Mulla, Yermolov, N.I. Pirogov, Kh.S. Cherdzhiev, Ossetians, Digors, Cossacks.

The article is a response to the quite significant, in the author’s opinion, cultural and historical event, i.e. the publication by Princeton University (USA) of the English translation of the Ossetian Narts epics, made at the end of the last century by Walter May. Starting with a review of the book and description of its structure, the author then introduces a brief history of the translation of the Ossetian epics into English. Later on he shares personal impressions the interpreter produced on him, and recollects the data of personal nature, little-known to the wide range of readers. The author criticizes the way proper names are introduced as well as some comments made. The main shortcoming of the comments is insufficient account of the social structure of the epic of society, of its Indo-European origin, convincingly reconstructed in the works of G. Dumezil, G. Bailey, V.I. Abaev and others. Finally, he acknowledges the undoubted artistic and scientific merits of the book under review, the publication of which will contribute to the emergence of new academic translations of Ossetian epics, but not through the mediation of the Russian language, but directly from the language of the original source.

Keywords: Narts, epics, English translation, comments, propositions.