The question of the end of the world and the afterlife has always interested people, which explains the presence of various myths and ideas, many of which are similar to fairy tales. To describe the main idea, eschatology is used, which is characteristic of many religions and different historical movements.

What is eschatology?

The religious doctrine of the ultimate destinies of the world and humanity is called eschatology. There are individual and global directions. Ancient Egypt played a big role in the formation of the first, and Judaism played a big role in the second. Individual eschatology is part of a universal trend. Although the Bible does not say anything about the future life, in many religious teachings the ideas of posthumous reward are perfectly read. Examples include the Egyptian and Tibetan Book of the Dead, as well as Dante's Divine Comedy.

Eschatology in philosophy

The presented teaching not only talks about the end of the world and life, but also about the future, which is possible after the disappearance of imperfect existence. Eschatology in philosophy is an important movement that considers the end of history, as the completion of a person’s unsuccessful experience or illusions. The collapse of the world simultaneously implies the entry of a person into an area that combines the spiritual, earthly and divine parts. The philosophy of history cannot be separated from eschatological motives.

The eschatological concept of the development of society has become widespread in the philosophy of Europe to a greater extent thanks to the special European thinking, which considers everything that exists in the world by analogy with human activity, that is, everything is in motion, has a beginning, development and end, after which the result can be assessed . The main problems of philosophy that are solved with the help of eschatology include: understanding history, the essence of man and methods of improvement, freedom and opportunity, as well as various ethical problems.

Eschatology in Christianity

When compared with other religious movements, Christians, like Jews, refute the assumption that time is cyclical and claim that there will be no future after the end of the world. Orthodox eschatology has a direct connection with chiliasm (the doctrine of the coming thousand-year reign of the Lord and the righteous on earth) and messianism (the doctrine of the future coming of God's messenger). All believers are confident that soon the Messiah will come to earth for the second time and the end of the world will come.

At its inception, Christianity developed as an eschatological religion. In the letters of the apostles and in the book of Revelation one can read the idea that the end of the world cannot be avoided, but when it will happen is known only to the Lord. Christian eschatology (the doctrine of the end of the world) includes dispensationalism (ideas that view the historical process as a sequential distribution of divine Revelation) and the doctrine of the rapture of the church.

Eschatology in Islam

In this religion, eschatological prophecies concerning are of great importance. It is worth noting that discussions on this topic are contradictory, and sometimes even incomprehensible and ambiguous. Muslim eschatology is based on the injunctions of the Koran, and the picture of the end of the world looks something like this:

1. Before the great event occurs, there will come an era of terrible wickedness and unbelief. People will betray all the values ​​of Islam and they will wallow in sins.
2. After this, the reign of the Antichrist will come, and it will last 40 days. When this period ends, the Messiah will come and the Fall will end. As a result, within 40 years there will be an idyll on earth.
3. At the next stage, a signal will be given about the offensive, which will be carried out by Allah himself. He will interrogate everyone, both living and dead. Sinners will go to Hell, and the righteous will go to Paradise, but for this they will have to cross a bridge through which they can be transferred by animals that they sacrificed to Allah during their lifetime.
4. It is worth noting that Christian eschatology was the basis for Islam, but there are also some significant additions, for example, it is indicated that the Prophet Muhammad will be present at the Last Judgment, who will be able to mitigate the fate of sinners and will pray to Allah to forgive their sins.

Eschatology in Judaism

Unlike other religions, in Judaism there is a paradox of Creation, which implies the creation of a “perfect” world and man, and then they go through a stage of fall, reaching the brink of extinction, but this is not the end, because by the will of the creator, they again come to perfection. The eschatology of Judaism is based on the fact that evil will end and good will ultimately win. The book of Amos states that the world will exist for 6 thousand years, and the destruction will last 1 thousand years. Humanity and its history can be divided into three stages: the period of desolation, the teaching and the era of the Messiah.

Scandinavian eschatology

Scandinavian mythology differs from others in its eschatological aspects, according to which everyone has a destiny and the gods are not immortal. The concept of the development of civilization implies the passage of all stages: birth, development, extinction and death. As a result, a new one will emerge from the ruins of the past world and a world order will be formed from chaos. Many eschatological myths are built on this concept, and they differ from others in that the gods are not observers, but participants in events.

Eschatology of Ancient Greece

The system of religious views in ancient times was different among the Greeks, since they had no idea about the end of the world, believing that what has no beginning cannot have an end. The eschatological myths of Ancient Greece were largely concerned with the individual fate of man. The Greeks believed that the first element is the body, which is irrevocable and disappears forever. As for the soul, eschatology indicates that it is immortal, originates and is intended for communication with God.

Eschatological myths(from ancient Greek εσχατος, “last”), myths about the impending end of the world. In contrast to most of the myths that tell about the most important events of the past - mythological time, Eschatological myths contain prophecies about the future end of the world. Cosmogonic and etiological myths constituted the main content of archaic mythologies; Eschatological myths were absent among peoples who preserved their primitive way of life and culture. Archaic mythologies are characterized by the idea of ​​a catastrophe separating mythical times from the present: a flood, a fire, the death of a generation giants(Narts, Onars, etc.) who lived on earth before the advent of humanity. Without being strictly eschatological, these myths allowed for the possibility of world catastrophes. At the same time, ideas about the death of the world are prepared in archaic mythologies by calendar myths about the death and resurrection of nature, about the forces chaos, evil spirits and monsters that threaten existence space(which is seen as one of the factors in the formation of the ethical doctrine of struggle good and evil), as well as myths about death and the afterlife. Apparently, ideas about cosmic cycles - periods of formation and death of the world, already known to archaic mythologies, go back to calendar myths.
More relevant for humanity were Eschatological myths Nahua, Aztecs, etc. (see Art. Central American Indian mythology) about the cyclical epochs of the four suns: the death of the sun, the embodiment of the stability of the cosmos, meant the end of the world, so the powers of the sun and the gods had to be supported by regular bloody sacrifices designed to delay the next catastrophe, earthquake and famine, from which people would die. Here, as in primitive society, ritual turns out to be a means of harmonizing the life of the universe and humanity, a guarantor of their longevity.
The ethical assessment of the world catastrophe can be traced in the eschatologized German-Scandinavian mythology, which reflected the death of tribal foundations in the late period of its development. The eschatological "Divination of the Völva" tells of oaths trampled upon by the gods themselves; and on earth in the last century of “storms and swords” brothers will begin to kill Friend friend out of self-interest, close relatives will die in strife, etc., until the day of the “fate of the gods” comes (see. Ragnarok).
The most consistent idea of ​​the cosmic cycles of death and renewal of the world is given by Hindu mythology: the universe dies (pralaya - the death of the world and gods) when it falls asleep Brahma and his night comes; When the day comes, God creates the universe again. However, Hindu mythology, especially at the later stage of its development, is also characterized by ideas about the gradual decline in the virtue of people from the Kritayuga - the golden age - to the modern Kaliyuga, during which vice will prevail, only a quarter will remain in the world dharma, the varnas will mix, religious rituals will cease, cruel foreigners will rule, and which will end with the destruction of the world in fire that rises from the bottom of the ocean. The idea of ​​the future judge and savior of mankind, Kalkin, is also connected with these eschatological motives. However, the cyclical nature of the death and renewal of the universe deprives eschatology of its ultimate meaning: it is significant that the universe is conceived in late Hinduism in general as the result of the game of God Vishnu.
A well-known analogy to the Hindu teaching about the yugas is the ancient concept of the succession of four centuries (Hesiod, Ovid). See Art. Golden age.
Ideas about the complete subordination of the destinies of humanity to impersonal cosmic cycles, as well as the inclusion of the race and the individual in the universal process of renewal through death, were disrupted by social changes, the crisis of archaic foundations with the emergence of huge empires, the subordination of the community and the individual to the despotic authorities, a sense of social instability, which, according to Eschatological myths, threatened the stability of space. The search for a way out of the universal circulation, indifferent to human destinies, led to another extranatural world and was aimed at achieving a supersensible state - the Buddhist nirvana, or to achieve eternal bliss in the afterlife, as in Egyptian mythology. In connection with the growing sense of the transience of existence and the historicity of the world, the Eschatological myths. The archaic desire to strengthen the stability of the cosmos through ritual means is replaced by tense anticipation of the final universal catastrophe, designed to bring deliverance from the troubles of this world. This process reached particular completion in Iranian mythology. Iranian Eschatological myths influenced the development of similar stories in Judaic mythology And Christian mythology. Christian apocalypticism inherited the messianic ideas of Judaism, but overcame its national limitations. The expectation of salvation became more and more persistent among the multinational oppressed lower classes of the Roman Empire.
Throughout world history, especially during periods of social crises, Eschatological myths actualized and developed in prophecies Mani, commentaries of the Talmud, in the teachings of the Reformation era and the Russian schism of the 17-18 centuries. (the schismatics believed that the last times had already arrived and that Antichrist, as Peter I was considered to be), some modern Christian sects (Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses), who promised salvation to their adherents, right up to the philosophical and cultural concepts of N. Berdyaev and O. Spengler. In the colonial era, with the spread of world religions among enslaved peoples, the ideas of salvation, liberation from the colonial yoke, gave rise to a new surge of eschatological myth-making. At the same time, messianic ideas could simply be adapted to local beliefs and had only a superficial impact on traditional mythology. From the middle of the 19th century. the revival of eschatological ideas was observed in countries where the anti-colonial movement began to grow rapidly, which at first almost everywhere took on a religious form (local “prophets” became the leaders of the movement).

9. Myth and fairy tale...

WITH The careful distinction between myth and fairy tale is of great importance, theoretical and practical. Theoretically, this is a question of the relationship between primitive syncretic ideology (and at a later stage - religious ideology) and art. A fairy tale is usually interpreted as a purely artistic phenomenon, but in myth the unconscious poetic elements, the beginnings of religious and pre-scientific ideas are indistinguishable, and there are often traces of connections with rituals. In practice, the distinction between myth and fairy tale in archaic culture is very important, since “primitive” fairy tales themselves have not yet completely branched off from myths and mythologized “fables”, to which their genre genesis ultimately goes back. The difficulty of such a distinction within the framework of primitive folklore has been repeatedly pointed out by the greatest experts in the mythology of the American Indians, for example, F. Boas and S. Thompson. S. Thompson considers myth, in principle, a type of fairy tale 1 . Some, on the contrary, tend to call all primitive tales myths 2 . The term "mythological tales" appears sporadically as a compromise. 3 . When publishing such texts, the terminological discrepancy is very great. It reflects both the fact of the real closeness of myths and archaic “fairy tales”, and the confusion in science itself.

It should be noted that it is not only in primitive folklore that myth and fairy tale are mixed. Such confusion also exists in the ancient Greek tradition, to which the very term “myth” belongs. Many Greek "myths" can be seen as typical fairy tales or historical tales. The word “myth” itself means a story, narration, fable, etc. This initial understanding of myth cannot be considered completely anachronistic, because myths are not reducible to pure “ideas,” “explanations,” the embodiment of elementary emotions, descriptions of rituals, etc. Mythical ideas about the cosmos, social and clan relations, customs, rituals, forms of behavior, etc., as a rule, are conveyed in the form of a story about the origin of certain elements of nature, culture, and the establishment of rituals and customs. In other words, primitive myth is fundamentally etiological and fundamentally narrative. The events of long-past times of first creation turn out to be unique “building blocks” of the world order. Therefore, the opposition of myth and fairy tale as belonging to different spheres - “worldview” and “narration” - is untenable.

Over the hundred and fifty years of the existence of the science of folklore, various specific criteria have been put forward for separating myth from fairy tales. Representatives of the so-called mythological school of the 19th century distinguished primarily between stories about gods or heroes, heavenly themes (before Mannhardt, who discovered earthly “lower” mythology) or earthly ones. Neo-mythologists-ritualists (Sentiv, Raglan, etc.) highlight the strength of the connection with ritual. Psychoanalyst O. Rank considers myth to be an overt expression of the Oedipus complex, and the fairy tale (which arose during the period of ordered family relations) as a veiled expression, with repressions and substitutions 4 . Another psychoanalyst, Geza Rohaim 5 , similarly distinguishes myth and fairy tale in their relation to the so-called Super ego: myths are created from the point of view of “fathers” and depict the tragic death and apotheosis of the “first father”, and fairy tales - from the point of view of “sons”, which leads to subconscious replacements (demons - bad parents), as well as to the triumph of eros and a happy ending.

The neo-mythological school of literary criticism, popular in the West (largely based on the psychoanalyst C. Jung), tends to completely transfer the signs of myth not only to fairy tales, but to literature as a whole, thus erasing all boundaries. A. Yolles 6 , who saw in fairy tales and myths “simple forms” that directly grow out of language itself, associated myth with the interrogative form, and the fairy tale with the ideal level of the optative. The German fairytale scholar Friedrich von der Leyen calls the fairy tale a “game form” of myth 7 . The classic of American ethnography F. Boas pointed out the importance, recognized by the aborigines themselves, of attributing action in myths (as opposed to fairy tales) to ancient times. American scientist W. Bascom 8 contrasts myth and fairy tale on the basis of faith (reality - fiction), time and place (definite - indefinite), relationships (religious - non-religious), characteristics of the main character (non-human in myth - both non-human and human in a fairy tale), according to the setting of the story . American structuralist Alan Dundes sees the differences between myth and fairy tale in the collective or individual nature of the initial “lack” or broken taboo in the plot of the story 9 . A similar criterion was previously put forward by the author of this article 10 . It is noteworthy that the American structuralists A. Dundes and the Marandas 11 do not find structural differences between myth and fairy tale, and the leader of the French structuralists C. Lévi-Strauss believes that the difference between myth and fairy tale is purely quantitative: in a fairy tale, the transposition of the theme is weakened (freer replacement, greater possibility of “game”), and fairy tales are constructed on the basis weaker oppositions (local, social, moral, and not cosmological, metaphysical, natural) 12 .

The scope of this article does not allow us to provide a systematic overview of the various opinions on the issue of interest to us. Yes, this is not necessary, since our goal is not to choose one of the given points of view. We propose to start not with such a choice, but, on the contrary, with fixing the optimal set of distinctive features (most of them coincide with individual “points of view”). Only after a brief examination of these features, both in diachronic (historical) and synchronic (systematic) aspects, will we try to identify from this optimal set the most fundamental, specific, necessary features for distinguishing between myth and fairy tale, i.e., the minimum set of distinctive features and its possible options.
An approximate optimal set of differential features (a fairy tale will, as a rule, of course, have a purely conditional negative rating):
A: I- rituality-non-rituality, II- sacredness-non-sacredality, III- reliability-unreliability (or absolute reliability-relative, allowing for invention), IV- ethnographically specific type of fantasy - conventionally poetic;
B:V- mythical hero - non-mythical, VI- mythical (prehistoric) time of action - fabulous (exhistorical), VII- presence of etiology - its absence (or substantial-ornamental etiology), VIII- collectivity (cosmicity) of the image object - its individuality.

The distinctive features of group A correspond to the interpretation of the environment, and group B corresponds to the content of the work itself: its theme, characters, time of action, result of the action.

In diachronic analysis, that is, when considering history, the formation of a fairy tale, the process of transition from myth to fairy tale, all these distinctive features are found to be significant to one degree or another. We should not forget that we proceed from the optimal set of features. The presence or absence of some of them is not a necessary property of a myth or fairy tale. But under all conditions, deritualization, desacralization, weakening of strict faith in the truth of mythical “events”, development of conscious fiction, loss of ethnographic specificity, replacement of mythical heroes with ordinary people, mythical time with fabulously indefinite, weakening or loss of etiology, shifting attention from collective destinies to individual - all these are moments, steps in the process of transforming a myth into a fairy tale. The difficulty of studying the transformation of myth into a fairy tale lies, in particular, in the fact that the change in stages of evolution occurs in parallel with genre differentiation from the original syncretism.

There is still debate about whether the connection with ritual is obligatory for the myth. Modern neo-mythologists, as already noted, tend to see in myths exclusively a reflection of rituals and even, in a certain sense, their integral part. Naturally, they see the separation of myth from ritual as the main prerequisite for the transformation of myths into fairy tales. This concept is one-sided. Even the Australians have recorded numerous myths that have no ritual equivalents and no ritual basis for their plots. E. Stanner showed in his interesting study "On the Religion of the Aborigines" 13 , that between the myths and rituals of the North Australian tribes, for the most part, internal unity and structural identity are found, but this is not at all the result of the origin of myth from ritual, that along with ritual myths there are “amythic” rituals and “non-ritual” myths.

In cultures less archaic than Australian, there are even more non-ritual myths. However, for those myths that do have a ritual basis and are closely intertwined with rituals (being their components or an obligatory “commentary” to them), breaking the direct connection with the ritual life of the tribe is certainly the first step towards a fairy tale.

It should be noted that, regardless of the living connection with a specific ritual action, the telling of myths in primitive society was surrounded by certain conditions and prohibitions in terms of place and time, narrator and audience, based on the belief in the magical power of words and narration. Relics of various prohibitions of this kind persist for a very long time.

The abolition of specific restrictions on the telling of myths and the admission of “uninitiated” (women and children) into the number of listeners involuntarily entailed a change in the narrator’s attitude and the development of an entertaining moment. We are talking about desacralization - the most important incentive for turning a myth into a fairy tale. The very “mechanism” of desacralization and its significance are clearly visible in the same Australian examples. Sacred information about the mythical routes of totemic ancestors is removed from totemic myths; but there is increasing attention to the “family” relationships of totemic ancestors, their quarrels and fights, to all kinds of adventurous moments, in relation to which greater freedom of variation and thereby invention is allowed 14 .

Desacralization inevitably weakens faith in the authenticity of the narrative. It, of course, does not immediately lead to conscious invention, to the perception of the narrative as a “tall tale,” but strict reliability gives way to non-strict reliability, which in turn opens the way for a more free and permitted invention, the imagination of the narrator. The relationship between sacredness (reliability) and non-sacredality (unreliability) is precisely the basis of terminological differences among the aborigines - bearers of archaic folklore traditions - between the two categories of narrative folklore. Of course, belief in the authenticity of what is being told is, in principle, possible without sacralization. On the other hand, a desacralized myth is not yet a fairy tale in the strictly scientific sense. Among the Melanesians and Polynesians, unlike the Australians and Papuans, most popular myths are not of a sacred character, and it is not certain that they had such a character in the past.

A very characteristic feature of a myth is the attribution of action to mythical times such as the Australian “dream time”. This feature clearly appears in the folklore of most American Indian tribal groups. The idea of ​​mythical time and totemic ancestors goes back to ideas like the following: “It was when animals were people,” “When Raven and his people lived,” “When the earth was just being created,” etc. With complete oblivion of totemic beliefs Such beginnings take on an ironic connotation. In a developed fairy tale, they are replaced by the beginning, indicating an indefinite time and place of action.

The “demythologization” of the time of action is closely related to the “demythologization” of the result of the action, i.e., with the rejection of etiology, since the etiology itself is inseparable from the attribution of the action to the times of first creation. Etiology is formalized in the form of a certain mythical ending. This ending itself, as the plot loses its specific etiological meaning, turns into an ornamental appendage. In such a relict form, it is preserved for a long time in many fairy tales about animals and only gradually (especially vivid examples are provided by Africa, the birthplace of classical fairy tales about animals) is pushed aside by a didactic ending - a “moral” that opens the way to the fable.

In a fairy tale, etiological endings die out even faster, giving way (at the last stage) to endings of a completely different type, hinting at the fictionality and unreliability of the narrative. Mythical times and etiology form an indissoluble whole with the cosmic scale of myth and its attention to the collective destinies of the tribe, subjectively identified with humanity as a whole (“real people”). Promethean noble pathos is not necessary for myth, but the demiurge’s deeds (even if they resemble in nature the tricks of a mythological rogue) have a cosmic “collective” meaning; this is the production of light, fire, fresh water, etc., i.e. the original origin, the cosmogonic process. As we move from myth to fairy tale, the “scale” narrows, and interest shifts to the personal fate of the hero. In a fairy tale, the theft of fire, losing its cosmic character, is committed by the hero to light his own hearth; the search for healing water - to cure the hero’s father from blindness; in African fairy tales about animals, the Hare cunningly tries to adapt for himself a well with fresh water, dug by all the other animals. In general, it should be noted that the egoistic greed of a trickster is a very clear expression of the loss of the “Promethean” meaning of the actions of a cultural hero. A haunting motif in animal tales is the destruction of the friendship of two animals due to treachery. However, the “altruistic” noble hero of a fairy tale, who obtains living water and miraculous objects, saves his sick father or princesses kidnapped by a snake, acts in the interests of a rather narrow circle (his own family community, father, father-in-law, king, etc.) and in its own way it also opposes the “cosmism”, “collectivism”, “etiologism” of myth. The deheroization of the mythical hero by turning him into a mythological rogue competes with the demythologization of the hero while maintaining his “seriousness” and “altruism,” which, however, as said, extends to a very narrow circle.

Fairy-tale heroes in the folklore of the indigenous population of America and Oceania are no longer demigods - demiurges, although (in order of idealization) they may still have divine parents or more distant ancestors, retain totemic relic features (the son or son-in-law of the Sun among North American Indians, the descendant of a witch who descended from the sky - Tafaki - and his family in Polynesia, etc.). High “mythical” origins in the form of the miraculous birth of a fairy-tale hero can also be found in European fairy tales. However, there, much more often, “high” origin has social forms (“prince”). In the process of demythologization, the interaction of the tradition of mythological storytelling itself and all kinds of “fairy tales”, the central characters of which from the very beginning were ordinary people, sometimes unknown and even nameless, apparently played a role. The demythologization of the hero in a fairy tale is often complemented by the deliberate promotion as a hero of a socially disadvantaged, persecuted and humiliated representative of a family, clan, or village. These are the numerous poor orphans in the folklore of Melanesians, Tibeto-Burman mountain tribes, Eskimos, Paleo-Asians, North American Indians, etc. They are offended by their uncle’s wives (Melanesia), relatives and neighbors (North America), etc., and spirits come to their defense . The bakers, Cinderellas, younger brothers and stepdaughters from the European fairy tale are similar. The fairy-tale hero is deprived of those magical powers that the mythical hero possesses by his very nature. He must acquire these powers as a result of initiation, shamanic skill, and the special protection of spirits. At a later stage, miraculous forces seem to be completely torn away from the hero and act to a large extent instead of him.

The formation of the classical form of the fairy tale was completed far beyond the historical boundaries of the primitive communal system, in a much more developed society. The prerequisite was the decline of the mythological worldview, which has now “transformed” into the poetic form of a fairy tale. This was the final break in the syncretic connection with myth. A very significant moment in the formation of the classical form of a fairy tale is the separation of fairy-tale fiction from specific “tribal” beliefs, the creation of a very conventional poetic mythology of the fairy tale. Mythical creatures, for example, in a Russian fairy tale are different from those in a Russian bylichka, which reflects superstitions preserved in a certain environment. The conventional nature of fairy-tale fiction is combined with an open focus on fiction, in contrast not only to the simultaneously existing fairy tales, but also to the primitive, still syncretic forms of fairy tales. The classical fairy tale is structurally different from myth and the primitive fairy tale that is not completely separated from it.

A primitive myth is a series of “losses” and “gains” connected by the actions of mythical heroes (for example: it was dark, the cultural hero Raven pierced the firmament and splashed light, or he stole the balls - heavenly), and the classical fairy tale gives a complex stepwise hierarchical structure , the basis of which is the contrast between the preliminary test and the main one. As a result of a preliminary test (testing the hero’s properties, his knowledge of the rules of behavior, his kindness), the hero receives from the “donor” (the term of V. Ya. Propp 15 ) is only a miraculous means with the help of which he, in the main test - a feat - achieves the most important fairy-tale goal - the elimination of the initial loss, misfortune, “lack”. Very often, the main test is followed by an additional test - identification: the hero must prove that it was he who accomplished the feat, and not rival impostors; The “replaced” or “forgotten” bride must also show her truth. As a result, the hero is awarded the princess and half of the kingdom.

The structure of a primitive myth (and fairy tale), in which all the actions (trials) of the hero are equal, where there is no opposition between means and ends, can be considered as a kind of metastructure in relation to the classical fairy tale. In the classic fairy tale, on the ruins of the mythological “cosmos,” the “microcosm” is firmly outlined in the form of a fairy-tale family as an arena of conflicts of a social nature. These conflicts are resolved by interference in the personal destinies of wonderful persons and objects from the world of conventional fairy-tale mythology. If in the myth the theme of the hero’s initiation played a large role, and marriage acted only as a means of social “communication” and the acquisition of magical and economic “benefits”, then in the fairy tale marriage is the ultimate goal and the most important value. Thanks to marriage, the hero acquires a higher social status and thus “overcomes” the conflict that arose at the “family” level.

This is the briefest description of the picture of development from myth to fairy tale. The nature of this movement and its mechanisms are clear. The distance between the classic primitive myth and the classic fairy tale is very great.
In practice, however, it is often difficult to judge whether a particular folklore “text” is still a myth or already a fairy tale. These difficulties are especially striking when simultaneously examining “texts” within the folklore of a particular archaic society. As already indicated, the aborigines themselves sometimes very clearly distinguish two categories in narrative folklore (mainly on the basis of “sacredness-non-sacredness”), only very conditionally comparable to “myth” or “fairy tale” (for example, adaoh and zhaleek - among the Tsimshian Indians, hvenoho and heho - among the Dahomeans, background, pynyl and lymnyl - among the Chukchi, etc.). But very similar works may be valued differently by different tribal groups. Hesitations regarding tales about tricksters are especially strong in cases where they are also serious creators. North American Indians for the most part distinguish the anecdotal antics of Raven, Mink, etc. from their own serious deeds. You can talk about the tricks of the gluttonous Raven without any restrictions on time, place, or audience. But among the Dahomeans, stories about the antics of the lustful trickster Legba are considered as hwenoho ("myths"), since Legba is associated with the pantheon of the highest gods, and the antics of the gluttonous trickster Io are considered as heho ("fairy tales"). This instability, as already noted, is explained by the fact that tricksters, for all their “carnival”, often continue to be thought of as mythological characters.

The family relationships of “high” fairy-tale heroes with the gods also sometimes lead to discrepancies in the classifications of aborigines. In addition, the division into two main groups on the basis of sacredness and authenticity often leads to the unification of myths and historical legends (among the Dahomeans or Chukchi) and the exclusion of desacralized etiological stories from myths. The nature of the etiology is not always clear; it is difficult to determine to what extent it is connected with the very core of the plot, and to what extent it is ornamental. The poetic biography of another purely mythological hero sometimes grows so much and is enriched with fabulous details that the interest of the narrative is entirely focused on his personal “fate” (for example, in popular tales about the “childhood” of the mythical hero and his relationship with the heavenly father who does not recognize him, about his love affairs connections, etc.), and not to the etiological results of his actions. Specific difficulties and misunderstandings for the researcher sometimes arise when getting acquainted with the records of texts in which various adventures of heroes appear, but it is not always clear from the text what kind of heroes they actually are - mythical ancestors (for example, “dema” among the Papuans Marind-Anim) or modern People. As already noted, there are no structural differences between a primitive myth and a primitive fairy tale; “losses” and “gains” can have both a collective-cosmic (in a myth) and an individual (in a fairy tale) character.

Thus, if in the diachronic aspect the differences between myth and fairy tale are obvious, especially when comparing historically extreme forms (primitive myth and classical fairy or even “animal” fairy tale), then in the synchronic aspect these differences are much more fragile due to the “fluidity” of perception "text" by the bearers of folklore themselves and due to the abundance of intermediate cases. Of course, the presence of such intermediate cases does not, in principle, exclude a distinct classification, but the point is that the syncretism of myth and fairy tale actually remained undefined within the framework of the archaic folklore of culturally backward peoples. And we are dealing not only with fluctuations in the distribution of “genres”, but also with the fact that many “texts” represent both a myth and a fairy tale, partially combining the functions of both, for example, they simultaneously explain the details of cosmogenesis and authorize some then a ritual, they demonstrate the consequences of breaking a taboo, entertain with the comic antics of a mythological rogue, admire the resourcefulness and power of the hero, evoking a certain “empathy” for his fate, etc.

It is necessary to develop a methodology for analyzing primitive myths and fairy tales in different aspects at once, especially in comparing the “syntagmatics” of the narrative and the deep ethnographic “paradigmatics” (using the original scientific research of Lévi-Strauss and his school).

In conclusion, it is necessary, based on the above considerations, to identify a minimum set of distinctive features of myth and fairy tale.

Ritual restrictions and sacredness are undoubtedly characteristic of myth, but myth remains a myth even in a desacralized state, as shown by etiological myths and cycles of cultural heroes, for example, in the folklore of Oceania. It is typical, but not necessary, to indicate prehistoric times and the etiological result in the “beginnings” and “endings”. All this rather signals the mythological nature of the story than expresses its essence. The essence is most clearly expressed by the substantial nature of etiology and the cosmic-collective pathos of the mythical act inseparable from it and, of course, authenticity. The mythological nature of the characters themselves does not define the essence of the genre. We can easily imagine "fairytale" adventures attributed to a mythical character. Nevertheless, the inclusion of a fairy tale plot in the cycle of a mythical character forces us to consider such a narrative on at least two levels - not only as a fairy tale, but also as a myth. Thus, the minimum set of distinctive features includes, from the list proposed above, primarily positions III, VII, VIII.

What is a myth and how does it differ from a fairy tale?
Myth and fairy tale. “Myth” is a Greek word, and translated it means “story.” Myths are stories created by people thousands of years ago about gods and heroes, about miracles and transformations. There is not a single people on earth that does not have its own myths. For some peoples, myths remain in their past - no one believes in them anymore, but they have taken on a new life in monuments of art and works of literature. Some peoples (for example, Indian tribes and aborigines living in Australia) still believe in the truthfulness of what myths tell. What is the difference between a myth and a fairy tale?
Let's start with the simplest. Where is, for example, the Kalinov Bridge, on which Ivan, the peasant son, defeated Miracle Yudo? The fairy tale answers this question precisely: in the Far Far Away Kingdom, the Thirtieth State, on the Smorodinka River. But there is no map on which these places would be marked. But the Yenisei and Podkamennaya Tunguska rivers, along which Alba pursues Khosyadam, are on any map of Russia. Similarly, in Greece you can see Mount Olympus, on which, as myths say, the gods lived; on the banks of the Euphrates River are the ruins of the city of Uruk; which was ruled by the hero Gilgamesh, and in India - the ruins of the city of Ayodhya, in which the noble Rama reigned. Unlike a fairy tale, the action of a myth does not take place in some fairy-tale country, but in the world where the people who created this myth lived, only a very long time ago. When? Of course, the myths will not say exactly when exactly, how many years ago; but they will explain that it was in those days when the gods had just created the world, when they descended to the earth, when everything around was not the same as it is now, and powerful heroes cleared the earth of monsters, making the lives of other people safe.

Ancient people never doubted what myths told them. Myths helped them understand the world around them; myths taught them how to act; myths preserved the history of their ancestors. The world of myths was an integral part of the life of ancient people.

The word “fairy tale” is attested in written sources no earlier than the 16th century. From the word “to say”. What mattered was: a list, a list, an exact description. It acquires modern significance from the 17th-19th centuries.
The word “fairy tale” suggests that people will learn about it, “what it is” and find out “what” it, a fairy tale, is needed for. The purpose of a fairy tale is to subconsciously or consciously teach a child in the family the rules and purpose of life, the need to protect one’s “area” and a worthy attitude towards other communities. It is noteworthy that both the saga and the fairy tale carry a colossal information component, passed on from generation to generation, the belief in which is based on respect for one’s ancestors.

Local gods (religious geography)

It is important to divide all the Egyptian deities known to us into general Egyptian deities, mentioned in mythological and other texts (these include cosmic deities, such as Nut - the goddess of the sky, Nun - the god of the primeval ocean, Hapi - the god of the Nile, etc., deities personifying abstract concepts, for example Maat - the goddess of world order, Sia - the god of reason and knowledge, Hu - the god of the creative word, etc.), and local deities associated with a specific area. This chapter will focus on local gods.

“There was not a single more or less significant settlement that did not have its divine patrons. Not only the main city of each district or nome had its own gods, but also small villages within the nomes. And these gods were a significant help to local patriotism, so as not to say chauvinism."

However, it would be completely wrong to conclude from this that there were many religions in ancient Egypt. There was one religion, but its forms were varied. The cults of local deities, which originated in prehistoric antiquity in the form of totemism, turned out to be unusually tenacious in Egypt and disappeared only with the disappearance of the Egyptian religion. Local cults, of course, underwent significant changes - their content and form changed, but the very fact of their existence for thousands of years is one of the main features of Egyptian religious development. For a resident of a given area, at least for the overwhelming majority of residents, the local god was everything. This was the case not only in time immemorial and at the dawn of history, but also in Greco-Roman times. The didactic demotic text, known in science as the Insinger Papyrus, says: “The life and death of the inhabitants of the city depends on the god worshiped in the city. The wicked one who goes to a foreign land gives himself into the hands of the enemy.” By "wicked" is meant a person who abandons his nome and his nome god. In this case, we are dealing with outright propaganda of primordial local religious separatism. Science, unfortunately, has rather limited, but nevertheless indisputable data on local views and cults. What the local cults have in common boils down to the following:

1) ancient local totemism turned into the cult of a local god, either manifested in the form of an animal or anthropomorphic, often with the presence of zoomorphic elements;

2) the local god very early becomes the central figure of the myths emerging about him, cycles of local mythology arise;

3) the local god is the demiurge, the creator of gods and the world, he is higher than all other gods;

4) the gods of settlements subordinate to this local center are grouped around the god of the local center. The heavenly hierarchy reflects the earthly, real one. Groupings in the form of a triad were especially common: god-father, goddess-mother, god-son, but there were also more numerous ones.

It is worth dwelling on the above-mentioned anthropomorphization of the gods. This process has nothing to do with the migration wave of foreigners in Egypt, which supposedly swept the entire country at once and brought with it a higher level of religious thinking, as some scientists claimed. Anthropomorphization of totems, i.e., humanization of primordial totemistic and fetishistic ideas, is a completely natural process. “Every religion is nothing more than a fantastic reflection in the heads of people of those external forces that dominate them in their daily life - a reflection in which earthly forces take the form of unearthly ones. At the beginning of history, the objects of this reflection are primarily the forces of nature, which, with further evolution, pass through various peoples through the most diverse and variegated personifications... But soon, along with the forces of nature, social forces also come into play - forces that confront man as equally alien and initially as inexplicable to "He, like the forces of nature, and like the latter dominate him with the same apparent natural necessity. Fantastic images, which initially reflected only the mysterious forces of nature, now also acquire social attributes and become representatives of historical forces."

In other words, the humanization of totems begins with the increasing importance of social forces (i.e., people’s actions) in the life of an individual. It is very significant, for example, that the god of the city and nome Busiris (Lower Egypt), whose name has hitherto been read as “Anti” (in reality it should be read “Nemti”, as proved by the Soviet Egyptologist O. Berlev), is depicted as a man with the insignia of the pharaoh , and in the “Pyramid Texts” he bears the historical title of nomarch - “the head of his nome”, or “the head of the eastern nome”. In this case, the iconography and titles in the Pyramid Texts reflect the process of anthropomorphization of the deity, originally a falcon. After all, the social forces on which a person found himself dependent are, first of all, the persons who began to control his fate - first of all, the nomarch, then the pharaoh.

Egyptian iconography indicates that a small number of gods underwent complete anthropomorphization - Osiris, Ptah, Amon, Khonsu, Min, Atum, Isis, etc. Some of them were worshiped in large religious centers, in which theological thought went far ahead of totemistic and fetishistic ones representations. The process of anthropomorphization occurred everywhere in Egypt approximately simultaneously, for the growth of productive forces and the development of production relations (i.e., the process of decomposition of primitive tribal society) occurred throughout the country basically evenly. Most of the minor religious centers lagged behind Heliopolis, Koptos, Memphis, Thebes in their development, and this is probably why in these minor centers, despite the intensive work of theological thought, the anthropomorphization of deities in iconography was not so complete.

In any case, the priesthood of all religious centers was under the powerful influence of ancient religious traditions and, contrary to all earthly logic, united in one image the incompatible - human and animal principles. Anthropomorphization did not weaken, however, totemism and the cult of animals.

It should be emphasized that the local gods of historical times (i.e., starting from the Old Kingdom) are not always the original local gods. Thus, in Heliopolis, the solar god Ra supplanted the more ancient local Atum, who, however, was not completely forgotten and was left by the will of the priests in honorary roles in the Heliopolis pantheon. In Abydos, the local god of the dead, Hentimentiu, was supplanted by Osiris and merged with him. In Thebes, the local god Montu was replaced by Amon, etc. We can only state the fact of these changes, without being able to reveal their reasons. The political history of the country had a huge impact on the development of Egyptian religious ideas; Some local gods were promoted in the course of history to the position of general Egyptian deities, revered throughout the country. This happened when this or that city, this or that region became, due to the development of historical events, central, in other words, metropolitan, and represented the residence of the pharaoh! Or when this or that city, without becoming the capital, but using the patronage of the pharaoh, rose above others. The local deity emerged from the shadows of provincial existence into the general Egyptian religious arena, and religious ideas associated with him spread widely, overlaying local views and beliefs, and became the property of the entire country. This was the case with the Heliopolitan Ra, the Memphis Ptah, the Hermopolitan Thoth, the Theban Amon and some others. As a result, inconsistencies and contradictions arose in religious views, to the elimination of which the theological thinking of the Egyptian priests made many generally unsuccessful efforts, reflected in religious texts.

Finally, one more circumstance must be emphasized - in Lower and Upper Egypt, in a number of places, there was a cult of the same deities, for example, the cult of the god Osiris in Upper Egypt and in Busiris (Lower Egypt), the cult of the god Horus in several cities of Upper and Lower Egypt and etc. This, of course, could not be an accident. Unfortunately, due to the lack of sources, science still cannot give a specific explanation in each individual case, but the general explanation is not so difficult: we are undoubtedly dealing with the fruits of religious propaganda of fans of one or another deity, which arose as a result of often hidden from us historical and political events. Here we should remind the reader of what was said above: in Egyptian religion throughout its centuries-old history there have always been two streams - the views of the ruling circles (a stream that is far from homogeneous, with many contradictions), reflected in a huge number of religious texts and therefore relatively easily accessible for research, and the religious views of the masses (the stream is also not homogeneous, not attested by monuments and therefore not accessible to the researcher.

Let's start our review of local cults with Upper Egypt. At the first threshold of the Nile is the island of Elephantine. At the southern tip of the island there was a temple to the god Khnum, depicted as a man with a ram's head. From time immemorial, Khnum was considered the ruler and demiurge in the territory adjacent to the first threshold. The wife of the god Khnum was the goddess Satis, and the goddess Anuket was her daughter. Both of these goddesses, whom Egyptian iconography depicted as anthropomorphic, apparently were originally revered in the territories located south of Egypt, therefore, these are deities “borrowed” by the Egyptians from their southern neighbors.

The goddess Anuket was considered the mistress of Sehel, one of the islands of the archipelago of the first Nile cataract. Much later, in Greco-Roman times, the cult of the god Osiris and the goddess Isis flourished on the two islands of this archipelago. It is unknown when exactly their cult penetrated here and established itself here. On the island of Bige, known in Greco-Roman times as Abaton, the ashes of the god Osiris allegedly rested. On the neighboring island of Philae, a temple was erected in honor of the wife of Osiris, the goddess Isis, and the son of Osiris and Isis, the god Horpacrates (which means “Chorus the child”). Every ten days the goddess “visited” the grave of her late husband (her idol was taken there), where a funeral libation of milk was served. Access to Bige was extremely difficult, especially for foreigners.

On Philae, along with the temple of the goddess Isis, there was a temple in honor of the goddess Hathor; Divine services there were accompanied by nightly singing and dancing. Finally, here, on Philae, a small temple was erected in honor of the god of healing Imhotep, whom the Greeks called Asclepius.

In Greco-Roman times, the cult of the goddess Isis in Egypt was extremely popular. The same should be said about the temple of the goddess Isis on the island of Philae. It was visited not only by Egyptians, but also by crowds of Greek pilgrims, who left numerous graffiti on the walls of the temple. Somewhat later, already during Christianity, the temple of the goddess Isis on Philae enjoyed exceptional attention and veneration among the Blemmye tribe, who inhabited the territory south of the first cataract during this period. The goddess Isis was considered by the Blemmyes to be the mother goddess, the highest deity. Her cult on the island of Philae was administratively liquidated under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 535 AD. This was the last center of paganism in Egypt.

Thus, in the territories adjacent to the first threshold, there are traces of more ancient, primordial beliefs in the god Khnum and in the Nubian deities and traces of the later cults of Osiris, Isis and other deities mentioned above. One should not think that later cults led to the displacement and oblivion of the more ancient ones: they continued to coexist peacefully.

The Temple of Isis at Philae is one of the pearls of Egyptian architecture of Greco-Roman times. In ancient times it was an object of pilgrimage and continues to attract numerous tourists to this day. Somewhat further north, down the Nile, is the area now known as Kom Ombo. Here, on the eastern slope of the hill, above the bend of the river, an Egyptian temple from Roman times is quite well preserved. It was a temple of two deities who dominated it on equal terms - the crocodile-shaped god Sebek and Harur (Hor the Great - one of the hypostases of the god Horus). It has been established that there was a temple here before, dating back to the 18th dynasty, but whether it was dedicated to two gods is unknown. It is difficult to say how to explain the combination of Sebek and Harur, but the fact is obvious. The priests of Kom Ombo endowed each of these gods with a “family.”

Even further north, where the Nile flows through the Gebel Silsila gorge, in the rocks through which the great river made its way, during the New Kingdom, chapels were carved and hymns were inscribed to the god of the river - Hapi. Downstream of the river, after Gebel Silsila, in Edfu, there is a large temple built during the time of the Lagids. It is dedicated to the god Horus of Bekhdet (more about him will be said in the chapter - “Edfu and Horus of Bekhdet”). This temple has been preserved better than all other temples of ancient Egypt; moreover, it can be said without exaggeration that it has reached us almost undamaged by time; visiting it leaves an indelible impression. The incarnation of the Horus in Edfu was a falcon. Near the temple there was a poultry house for falcons. The priests in the temple on certain days acted out a ritual drama containing episodes from the Chorus's struggle against his enemies. The cult of Horus in Edfu dates back to the Old Kingdom, and it dates back to the era before the unification of Egypt. Horus of Edfu was considered the husband of the goddess Hathor (from Dendera), and their son was Khorsmataui ("Hor - the unifier of both Lands"). In later times, the Bekhdetsky Khor was revered as one of the most important gods of the country.

Downstream of the Nile, on its western bank, was the very ancient city of Nekhen, modern Kom el-Ahmar. One of the hypostases of the Chorus was also revered here - in the form of a mummy. Nothing is known about this deity and his cult, other than the very fact of their existence. On the eastern bank of the Nile, almost opposite Nekhen, was the city of Nekheb. Here the goddess was the already mentioned Nekhbet - the white kite (more about her in the chapter - “Some other local and non-local deities”).

Somewhat further north, on the western bank of the Nile, was located a city now called Esne (ancient Ta-Sni). In the middle of this small town stands an Egyptian temple from Roman times. Here, already in the time of Thutmose III, the god Khnum was worshiped, as on Elephantine, who was considered as a demiurge who created humanity from clay on a potter's wheel; It was believed that in the same way he created a newborn pharaoh each time. The goddess of earthly fertility Nebetuu appeared as his wife, and the god Heka as his son. Very little is known about these two deities. In later times, the powerful goddess Saisa (Lower Egypt) - the goddess Neith - became the wife of the god Khnum. The cult of the goddess Neit existed in Sais constantly; when and under what circumstances it appeared in Esna is unknown. It should be noted that, having settled in Esna, the goddess Neith did not lose her bisexual appearance - a characteristic feature with which she was distinguished in Sais, where she was considered both a god and a goddess - the creator of the universe. In Sais, Neith was not paired with any god, and this is logical. Having appeared in Esna and becoming the wife of the god Khnum, she, contrary to logic, retained her bisexual character and the role of the supreme demiurge. The divine couple Khnum - Neith embodied an obvious contradiction, but in the religious consciousness of the Egyptians who inhabited Esne, this was quite consistent, as evidenced by the corresponding texts.

Further, north of Esne, in four cities - Hermont, Thebes, Medamud and Tod - the cult of the god Montu, whose sacred animal was the falcon, flourished mainly. Since the 19th Dynasty, Montu has been considered the god of war. Beginning with the XII Dynasty, one of the local Theban deities, the god Amun, mentioned only once in the Pyramid Texts, gradually comes to the fore and is identified with the sun god Pa, the ancient god of Heliopolis. This identification began early: on the back of a figurine of Pharaoh Pepi I (VI Dynasty, end of the Old Kingdom), found at Karnak, it is stated that the pharaoh was “loved by Amun-Ra, ruler of Thebes.” Over time, especially during the New Kingdom, Amun-Ra becomes the pan-Egyptian god, the “king of the gods,” as he is repeatedly called in many texts. The god Amun was “married” to the goddess Mut, and their son was the moon god Khonsu. Temples were erected in their honor in Thebes. In iconography, Amon had an anthropomorphic appearance. In Thebes, the cult of many deities flourished, in particular the goddess of the Theban necropolis Mertseger (which means “loving silence”), the god Khnum, etc.

North of Thebes, in Koptos, the original local god was Min, an ithyphallic deity with an anthropomorphic appearance. The goddess Isis was considered his wife, and the god Horus was their son. The god Min was worshiped not only in Koptos, but also in the vast areas crossed by Ouadi Hammamat.

Downstream of the Nile was the city of Dendera, ancient Tentyura. Since ancient times, the deity here was the goddess Hathor, already mentioned in the Pyramid Texts as the goddess of Dendera; The goddess was depicted as a woman with cow ears. In Dendera, the god Horus of Edfu, who was already mentioned above, was considered her husband in Dendera, and their son was the god Ihi. In Dendera there remains a huge temple from Ptolemaic times dedicated to Hathor, who was considered the goddess of love and fun and with whom the Greeks identified their Aphrodite.

A quick glance at the map is enough to see how significant the distance is between Dendera and Hermopolis, a former important religious center where the god Thoth was worshiped (this will be discussed later). On the way from Dendera to Hermopolis there were a number of settlements in which cults of various deities were celebrated. Let's say just a few words about these cults, since science does not have sufficient information about them.

On the western bank of the Nile, slightly lower downstream than Dendera, two ancient cities are located almost next door - Abydos and Thinis. The latter was the main city of the nome, from where the first two dynasties originated; The god of Thinis was Inchar (Greek form - Onuris), and his wife was the lion-like goddess Mehit. In neighboring Abydos, from ancient times, the god of the necropolis and the dead was Hentimentiou, later supplanted by Osiris. The latter became the main god in Abydos. Starting from the era of the Middle Kingdom, the mysteries of Osiris were played out here by the priests. The burials of the pharaohs of the first two dynasties were discovered in Abydos, and during the 19th dynasty, the pharaohs Ramesses I, Ramesses II and Seti I erected their mortuary temples here. In the best of them, the temple of Seti I, there are seven sections: one of them is dedicated to the deceased pharaoh, another to the god Ptah, the third to the god Harakhti, the fourth to Amun and the remaining three to Osiris, Isis and Horus.

Even further down the Nile, in the city that the ancient Greeks called Panopolis (now Akhmim), since ancient times there has been a cult of the already mentioned ithyphallic god Min.

Further to the north, in the ancient city of Tiebou, which the Greeks called Anteopolis and which is now called Kau el-Kebir, the god Seth was honored, who, according to myth, killed his brother Osiris. Downstream of the Nile there was a city called by the Greeks Lycopolis (“wolf city”), modern Assiut. The god Upuaut, which means “opener of ways” in Egyptian, has been worshiped here since ancient times. This was a local chthonic deity, depicted as a jackal or wolf.

Even further to the north was the large religious center of Shmoun, which the Greeks called Hermopolis (currently El Ashmunein). Here, since ancient times, Thoth, a zoomorphic god with the head of an ibis bird, who headed the local Ogdoad (eight) of gods, with the help of which Thoth created the whole world, was worshiped. He was not only a local god, but also the pan-Egyptian deity of writing, knowledge, magic, and the patron of scribes. In this capacity, he appears in many texts of various types. His sacred animals were the ibis and the monkey.

Along with Thoth, the god Shepsi and other gods were worshiped in Hermopolis, which are mentioned in one of the texts from the 19th dynasty. Here we find Ra and Atum, Osiris and Min, Horus, Ptah, Khnum, Anubis, etc., and also an ancient goddess in the form of a hare. When and how these cults penetrated Hermopolis is unknown.

At some distance from Hermopolis, downstream of the Nile, ancient Ninsu was located, called Heracleopolis by the Greeks, modern Ihnasya el-Madina. The local god here was Harshef, who was identified with the sun god Ra himself. Somewhat north of Heracleopolis, at some distance from the western bank of the Nile, is the Fayum oasis. Here the main god was the god Sebek, the local demiurge.

Let's move on to the deities of Lower Egypt (i.e. the Delta). Let's start with Memphis. Memphis is located in the upper reaches of the Delta near modern Cairo - this is where it begins. According to Egyptian legend, Memphis was founded by the founder of the First Dynasty, Menes (Mina), and immediately became the capital of a united Egypt. Subsequently, when Thebes and then other cities became the capital of the country, Memphis continued to remain one of the largest cities in the country and one of the important centers of religious life.

The oldest local god here was Tatenen, an anthropomorphic chthonic deity, who then merged with the anthropomorphic god Ptah, who acquired a “family” in the form of the lion-like goddess Sekhmet and a son, the god Nefertum, also anthropomorphic. But, of course, not only the cult of these gods existed in Memphis; Many other deities were worshiped here - for example, Amon-Ra, Anubis, Osiris, Hathor, etc.

In the very north of the Delta, just east of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, is modern Tel el-Faraun, Buto. ancient Greeks, which the Egyptians called Pe or Dep. Since ancient times, the local deity here has been the cobra goddess Wadget, the patroness of Lower Egypt. The names of Wadjet and the goddess of Upper Egypt Nekhbet (kite) were included as mandatory components in the title of the pharaohs of a united Egypt.

The city of Sais, located somewhat south of Tel el-Faraun, just east of the Rosetta branch of the Nile, played a major role in the religious life of the country. During the XXVI Dynasty, which originated from this city, Sais played a prominent role. It was the center of the cult of the ancient goddess Neith, who was considered the demiurge and supreme deity. It is already mentioned in the Pyramid Texts. Today there is practically nothing left of Sais.

Approximately in the center of the Delta, not far from each other, two cities were located: to the north, in the Sevennite nome, modern Behbet el-Haggar (the ancient Greeks called it Iseum); to the south is the main city of the Busirite nome Per-Usir (other - Greek Busiris, modern Abu Sir-Bana). From Iseum, only a certain number of granite blocks have survived - the remains of a large temple. From Busiris - even less, in its place there is now a village. These cities were the “homeland,” so to speak, of the two largest gods of the Egyptian pantheon. The first is the goddess Isis, the second is the god Osiris. Probably, the geographical proximity of these places contributed to some extent to the rapprochement of the god and goddess and their transformation into a married couple, repeatedly mentioned in the Pyramid Texts.

Modern Tel el-Balamun (ancient Egyptian Behdet), located east of the Damietta branch, has been the center of the cult of the god Horus from time immemorial. Modern Tel Basta, near Ez-Zakazik (ancient Egyptian Per-Bast, another Greek Bubast) has been famous since ancient times for the cult of the cat goddess Bastet, mentioned in the Pyramid Texts.

Let's finish our quick review with the city of Heliopolis. One cannot help but regret the complete disappearance of the Heliopolis temple - only the obelisk of Senusret I has survived. The local god in Heliopolis was Atum, a chthonic deity. When and how the god Ra replaced him, without displacing him completely, however, is unknown. Like Atum, Ra was a demiurge in Heliopolis, the head of the great nine (ennead) of gods. The names of these gods, like Ra himself, are constantly mentioned in the Pyramid Texts. Many other gods were also honored in Heliopolis.

It is necessary to emphasize once again that this outline of religious geography in no way claims to be complete. Only the main deities are mentioned, and not all of them, just as not all of the points where certain deities were honored and where even the most modest temple was erected in their honor. It would be more than difficult to provide comprehensive information based on the available sources, but even if this were possible, such information would be an incomplete reflection of historical reality: after all, not all cults and not all points of cults are listed in the sources.

In conclusion, I would like to focus the attention of the researcher of Egyptian religion on three very important points:

1) the history of the emergence and development of the cults of Egyptian deities, with relatively rare exceptions, is little known to us;

2) the appearance of Egyptian deities (this does not mean a more or less stable external, iconographic appearance, but a functional appearance - their role in religion) is most often very vague, lacks clarity, and is unstable. This applies to an even greater extent to the mythological biography of individual characters in the Egyptian pantheon, to the relationships of these characters in different versions of myths, often containing mutually exclusive statements;

3) in many areas of Upper and Lower Egypt the cult of the same gods was discovered. So, for example, the goddess Hathor is the “mistress” not only of Dendera, but also of a number of other points - in the Roman-era mammisi at the temple of Dendera, the goddess Hathor appears as the “mistress,” that is, as a goddess, of 29 different localities. We find the cult of the god Horus in many places in Upper and Lower Egypt. The same can be said about other deities. At the same time, it should be emphasized that in the same large religious center the gods appear in different guises. It is known, for example, that in Thebes, in at least three parts of the city, local varieties of the god Amun were worshiped, and in different parts of Memphis, several varieties of the god Ptah were worshiped.

Egyptian (ancient Egyptian) religion is a system of polytheistic beliefs of the tribes and peoples of the Nile Valley in the era of primitive communal and early slaveholding society.

The worship of nature played a huge role in the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, and the zoomorphism and totemism characteristic of their religion are explained by the important role of cattle breeding and hunting in the country's economy. The cult of the sacred stone dates back to ancient times in Egypt.

The religion of the ancient Egyptians also had ideas about the “sacred land”, “mother nature”, as well as about the god of the earth Hebe. They called the first water chaos, the basis of all nature, the god Nun. The Egyptians idolized the Nile, calling it Hapi, comparing it with the god of life-giving forces Osiris and calling him “the eldest among the gods, the Nile (Hapi), who created everything, which pours out to give life to people.” Rain and water, in the ideas of the ancient Egyptians, came from the “eye of the sun god Horus,” or from the body and eyes of the weeping goddess Isis, and the sacred spring near Heliopolis was perceived by the Egyptians of the Ancient Kingdom as a manifestation of the water deity. They inhabited all the waters with spirits “who dwell in the water” and among whom reigns the god of the watery abyss Sobk, depicted as a crocodile or a man with the head of a crocodile.

The cult of animals (zoolatry) was widespread in Egypt since the archaic (predynastic) era. The Egyptians worshiped sacred lions and lionesses. Such were the cult of Miisiss in Bubastis, the cult of lioness goddesses in the cities of Thinis, Memphis and Eske, among which the cult of the lion-headed goddess Somkhet enjoyed special respect. And in the city of Buto they revered a poisonous snake, calling it the goddess Wajit. The Egyptians also honored domestic animals: for example, the sacred bulls Apis and Mnevis in Memphis and Heliopolis God Khnum, revered as the god of creative power, was depicted in the form of a ram. The cult of the sacred cow, the goddess Hathor, became especially widespread throughout Egypt. The patrons of royal power were considered to be the falcon, the bee, the kite and the snake, and the pharaoh himself was often depicted as a lion with a human head - the Sphinx.

Since the era of the tribal system in Egypt, there has been a cult of ancestors and a funeral cult associated with it. Believing that the afterlife is only a continuation of earthly existence, the Egyptians protected the body of the deceased (Khat) through mummification so that the soul of the Ba person could reside in it forever.

Associated with the body (Khat) was Ka, or the “double” of a person, his energy phantom, endowed with all the attributes of a person and capable of existing independently of him, moving around the earth, ascending to heaven and talking with the gods.

The soul was called by the Egyptians Ba, Ba was depicted in the form of a falcon with the head of a man, and by its nature consists of pure ether, having the ability to leave the tomb and rise to heaven, enjoying eternal existence there.

In the minds of the Egyptians, there also existed a spiritual mind, or the spirit of a person - Hu, which had the appearance of a luminous intangible image of his body. Another very important part of the human essence was Sekhem (ancient Egyptian - to rule over something) - strength. The next component of a person was Khanbit - the Shadow, always present near the soul.

One of the most important components of a person’s essence was his Ren - the Name, with the destruction of which all other human essences are destroyed, because a nameless creature cannot be presented to the gods.

Of particular importance in Ancient Egypt was the solar cult - the cult of the sun god, the center of which in ancient times was the city of Iunu, which the Greeks later called Heliopolis - the City of the Sun, which played the role of the largest religious center of Egypt throughout its ancient history.

In the era of the Old Kingdom, the supreme god of the Sun is the god Ra. The cult of the god Horus, depicted as a solar disk with the wings of a bird, gradually merges with the cult of Ra. In the era of the New Kingdom, the dogma of the king as the son of the supreme god of the Sun received perfect embodiment and development.

Eschatological myths are myths about the end of the world; they exist along with cosmogonic myths and are associated with the confrontation between the forces of chaos and space. One type of such myths are myths about the supposed end of the world in the future, for example the German myth of Ragnarok, another type are myths that similar events have already occurred in the past, and between the mythical world and the modern one there are periods of catastrophes. In various myths, the cause of the destruction of the world can be a global flood, a global fire, the destruction of previous generations, the death of the gods, and other subjects.

Calendar myths are a mythologization of the change of time cycles - day and night, winter and summer, up to cosmic cycles. They are associated with astronomical observations, astrology, New Year celebrations, harvest festivals and other calendar events.

In Egyptian mythology, Thoth is the lord of time. Being the god of the Moon, Thoth, through its phases, was associated with any astronomical or astrological observations. In addition, he was credited with the invention of a year consisting of 365, rather than 360, days. According to Plutarch, he won 5 additional days, amounting to 1/72 of a year, in a game of dice, and, adding them to the end of the year, dedicated them to festivals in honor of Osiris, Set, Horur, Isis and Nephthys (Nephthys) - the gods born precisely in these 5 additional days (a later version of the myth tells that the goddess Nut was forbidden to give birth in 360 calendar days, so her children were born during the 5 days won by Thoth).

In Sumerian-Akkadian mythology, Marduk was considered the founder of the calendar. In honor of him, the New Year was celebrated in the month of Nissan (which coincided with the vernal equinox). In Babylon, this holiday was called Akitu and was a 12-day ceremony, which was the heir to the Sumerian holiday Akiti ("Birth of Life on Earth").

In ancient Rome, the division of the year into 10 months was attributed to Romulus. Numa Pompilius introduced two more months - January and February (from the name of February - the atoning sacrifice made at the end of the year). A special priest determined the beginning of each month by the new moon and announced this to the people. From the Latin calare, “to announce,” comes the word “calendar.”

The division of the year into months is closely connected with astral myths, in particular with the personification of the signs of the Zodiac, which existed in Mesopotamia at the dawn of civilization. Also, lunar myths are associated with the division of the year into months, thanks to the phases of the Moon.

The daily cycle in mythology is associated among the Egyptians with the descent into the underworld of the solar barge of the god Ra, as well as with the confrontation between Horus and Set (day and night). In Mesopotamia, the daily cycle is associated with the journey of Shamash (the sun) from the “mountain of sunrise” to the “mountain of sunset”. In Greece, this is the journey of Helios on a celestial chariot. These myths belong to solar myths.

A type of calendar myths are myths about a dying and resurrecting god. They symbolize the change of seasons.

In ancient Greek mythology, such a myth was the myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, stolen by Hades. Demeter, the goddess of fertility, missed her daughter so much that the earth stopped bearing fruit. Then Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone. But Persephone had already tasted pomegranate seeds, and was forced to return to the underworld every year. Persephone's presence at Hades symbolizes winter and the lack of harvest.

Other dying and resurrecting gods were Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, Balder, Dionysus (Zagreus, Bacchus, Sabazius), Attis, Telepinus, possibly the Slavic gods Yarila and Kostroma, Mithra, Serapis.

Another type of myth about the seasons is the myth about the quarrel between Ra and Tefnut. When they quarreled, there was a drought; when they made peace, the Nile overflowed.

The Slavic Maslenitsa is also associated with the change of seasons.

Myths about cosmic cycles are a type of both eschatological and calendar myths. These are myths that the world goes through development cycles, after which it is destroyed and then created again.

For example, in Aztec mythology, the history of the world is divided into eras of different suns, the era of the first sun ended with the destruction of a generation of giants by jaguars, the era of the second sun ended with hurricanes and the disappearance of people, the era of the third sun ended with a universal fire, the era of the fourth sun ended with a flood. According to their beliefs, in order to prevent another end of the world from happening, it is necessary to make human sacrifices to the gods.

Another example of such myths is the concept of kalpas and yugas in Hinduism. The era of the destruction of the world is associated in Hinduism with Kali Yuga and the goddess Kali - the embodiment of destruction and annihilation.

A variety of myths about cosmic cycles are the myths about the Golden Age, the blissful state of man who once lived in harmony with nature. Many nations have similar myths. One of them is the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, which dates back to ancient Semitic mythology. Another example is the legend of Satya Yuga in Hinduism.

Eschatological myths (from ancient Greek εσχατος, “last”), myths about the upcoming end of the world. In contrast to most myths that tell about the most important events of the past - mythological time, Eschatological myths contain prophecies about the future end of the world. Cosmogonic and etiological myths constituted the main content of archaic mythologies; Eschatological myths were absent among peoples who preserved their primitive way of life and culture. Archaic mythologies are characterized by the idea of ​​a catastrophe that separates mythical times from the present: a flood, a fire, the death of a generation of giants (narts, onars, etc.) who lived on earth before the advent of humanity. Without being strictly eschatological, these myths allowed for the possibility of world catastrophes. At the same time, ideas about the death of the world are prepared in archaic mythologies by calendar myths about the death and resurrection of nature, about the forces of chaos, evil spirits and monsters that threaten the existence of the cosmos (which is seen as one of the factors in the formation of the ethical doctrine of the struggle between good and evil), as well as myths about death and the afterlife. Apparently, ideas about cosmic cycles - periods of formation and death of the world, already known to archaic mythologies, go back to calendar myths.
More relevant for humanity were the eschatological myths of the Nahuas, Aztecs, etc. (see article: Indians of Central America mythology) about the cyclical eras of the four suns: the death of the sun, the embodiment of the stability of the cosmos, meant the end of the world, so the powers of the sun and the gods had to be maintained regular bloody sacrifices designed to delay the next catastrophe, earthquake and famine from which people will die. Here, as in primitive society, ritual turns out to be a means of harmonizing the life of the universe and humanity, a guarantor of their longevity.
The ethical assessment of the world catastrophe can be traced in the eschatologized German-Scandinavian mythology, which reflected the death of tribal foundations in the late period of its development. The eschatological “Divination of the Völva” tells of oaths trampled upon by the gods themselves; and on earth in the last age of “storms and swords” brothers will begin to kill each other for selfish reasons, close relatives will die in strife, etc., until the day of “the fate of the gods” comes (see Ragnarok).
The most consistent idea of ​​the cosmic cycles of death and renewal of the world is given by Hindu mythology: the universe dies (pralaya - the death of the world and the gods) when Brahma falls asleep and his night comes; When the day comes, God creates the universe again. However, Hindu mythology, especially at the later stage of its development, is also characterized by ideas about the gradual decline in the virtue of people from the Kritayuga - the golden age - to the modern Kaliyuga, during which vice will prevail, only a quarter of dharma will remain in the world, varnas will mix, religious rituals will cease, edit there will be cruel strangers, and which will end with the destruction of the world in fire rising from the bottom of the ocean. The idea of ​​the future judge and savior of mankind, Kalkin, is also connected with these eschatological motives. However, the cyclical nature of the death and renewal of the universe deprives eschatology of its ultimate meaning: it is significant that the universe is generally conceived in late Hinduism as the result of the play of the god Vishnu.
A well-known analogy to the Hindu teaching about the yugas is the ancient concept of the succession of four centuries (Hesiod, Ovid). See Art. Golden age.
Ideas about the complete subordination of the destinies of humanity to impersonal cosmic cycles, as well as the inclusion of the race and the individual in the universal process of renewal through death, were violated by social changes, the crisis of archaic foundations with the emergence of huge empires, the subordination of communities and individuals to despotic power, a sense of social instability, which , according to Eschatological myths, also threatened the stability of the cosmos. The search for a way out of the universal circulation, indifferent to human destinies, led to another extra-natural world and was aimed at achieving a supersensible state - Buddhist nirvana, or at achieving eternal bliss in the afterlife, as in Egyptian mythology. In connection with the growing sense of the transience of existence and the historicity of the world, Eschatological myths have also become actualized. The archaic desire to strengthen the stability of the cosmos through ritual means is replaced by tense anticipation of the final universal catastrophe, designed to bring deliverance from the troubles of this world. This process reached particular completion in Iranian mythology. Iranian Eschatological myths influenced the development of similar stories in Judaic mythology and Christian mythology. Christian apocalypticism inherited the messianic ideas of Judaism, but overcame its national limitations. The expectation of salvation became more and more persistent among the multinational oppressed lower classes of the Roman Empire.
Throughout world history, especially during periods of social crises, eschatological myths were updated and developed in the prophecies of Mani, commentaries of the Talmud, in the teachings of the Reformation and the Russian schism of the 17th-18th centuries. (the schismatics believed that the last times had already arrived and that

It is common knowledge that most of the texts on which our knowledge of ancient Eastern myths is based were found in temple storerooms or archives. This indicates the existence of a highly developed urban civilization based on developed agriculture in the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates valleys. These texts show that the inhabitants of Egypt and Mesopotamia developed a complex system of actions that we called "ritual." Rituals were performed by numerous priests in the temples of these states. All actions were performed in a strictly defined sequence, at regular intervals, and only by those who had the right to do so. Only these people knew how to perform each action. Any complex ritual was developed to ensure the prosperity of the community, keeping under control the completely unpredictable forces that surrounded a person in life. But now we know that the ritual consisted of more than just actions; actions were accompanied by words, chants and spells. Their magical power was an integral part of the ritual. That is, the ritual consisted of two parts: certain actions (the Greeks called this part “dromenon”) and certain words (this part was called “muthos”, or myth). The myth described the situation, but it was not done to entertain the audience. The word was power. The repetition of magic words could create or recreate the situation that those words described. We will see later that the climax of the New Year's festival in Babylon was the moment when the priests told the creation myth "Enuma Elish". And the recitation really had an impact: it caused changes in the circumstances recreated by this ritual.

In a society where rituals were an important part of community life, the historical accuracy of the facts stated in the myth was, in principle, unimportant. The task of history as a science is to find out and record as accurately as possible the behavioral norms of human communities in the past, and then transfer knowledge to future generations. The function of the myth was to describe actions vital for the existence of a given community.

For a long time, humanity did not feel the need for science, but long before the advent of early forms of historical records, myth already played an important role in the life of the community. Being an integral part of the ritual, it could ensure the existence of those conditions on which the well-being of the community depended. That's why we call such myths ritual. This name comes from the function performed by these myths: they are to contribute to the effectiveness of the ritual. Perhaps this type of myth appeared before all the others.

Origin myth

These myths are also among the most ancient on earth. Some scientists consider them the most ancient. The purpose of these myths is to provide an imaginary explanation of the origin of a custom, a name, or even an object. For example, we will see that the Sumerian myth of Enlil and the hoe is intended to explain that the most valuable agricultural tools came into being through the activity of a god. Another example is the Jewish myth of Jacob's conflict with a supernatural being. This story explains the Hebrew prohibition on certain foods.

Cult myth

The development of the Jewish religion contributed to the emergence of another type of myth. The three seasonal festivals prescribed by the Book of the Covenant were celebrated at holy places such as Bethel, Shechem, and Shiloh during the early Israelite settlements in Canaan. Gifts to the gods were brought here, and for each of the holidays - Easter, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles - there was its own ritual, preserved and passed on from generation to generation by local clergy. Part of the ritual of each of these holidays was the recitation by the clergy of the main points of the history of Israel. It was accompanied by response exclamations from the listeners. One of Israel's most ancient traditions is the commemoration of the liberation of the Israeli people from Egyptian oppression. During the celebration of Easter, in honor of this event, a ritual was observed, the roots of which go back centuries, that is, it itself is much older than the event in memory of which it is carried out. An integral part of the ritual was a cult myth describing the event, but not from a historical point of view, but from the point of view of similar Babylonian and Canaanite myths. The purpose of the cult myth is to establish the divine connection between Yahweh and Israel, to magnify the power and glory of Yahweh. In its new form, the myth has lost its magical power inherent in it as a ritual myth. The cult myth developed a prophetic component as a means of establishing the idea of ​​salvation for the people of Israel. Myth still describes existence and still has the task of ensuring the continuation of existence - whether through magical or moral powers. But in the cult myth this is carried out at a higher level, since it was used by the prophets of Israel.

The myth of prestige

Among the myths there are some that are different from all the others. You should pay special attention to them. The purpose of such myths is to surround the birth and exploits of the hero with an aura of mystery and miracles. It is likely that the story of the birth and appearance of Moses to the world in the reed thickets is based on real events. It can be compared with similar stories about the birth of Sargon, Cyrus, Romulus and Remus and other legendary heroes. The birth and exploits of Samson are surrounded by a mystical aura in order to exalt and glorify the Danish family and its hero. It is worth noting that attempts to find some features of the myth of the sun god in the story of Samson usually cause mixed reactions. The stories about the exploits of Elijah fall into the same category of myths, although in this case there is also a moment of glorification of Yahweh. Myths of prestige tend to surround stories of the emergence of large cities. Troy was built by the hands of the gods, and even Zion is described in a mystical way: supposedly it was “built on the sides of the north.” This metaphor is often used in Babylonian and Canaanite myths to describe the abode of the gods.

Eschatological myth (end of the world myth)

Eschatological myths are a distinctive feature of the Jewish and Christian thought traditions. Perhaps they learned something from the eschatology of Zoroastrianism. In the writings of the prophets, and most of all in apocalyptic literature, the idea of ​​a catastrophic end of the world occupies a significant place. The prophets believed that the "history of salvation" must involve the decisive intervention of divine powers. “And it will happen in the last days” is a typical phrase in prophetic literature. When prophets try to describe the end of the world, they are forced to resort to the language of myth. The description of Marduk's victory over the dragon, the lord of chaos in the Babylonian creation epic, provides them with the images and images needed to describe Yahweh's decisive victory over the forces of evil. Just as the divine act of creation lies somewhere outside of historical realities and can only be described in the language of myth, so the divine act that completes history can only be described in the same language. From Judaism, the eschatological use of myth was transferred to Christianity, where it was fully manifested in the Revelation of John the Theologian.

It must be said that the use of this category of myths in the Gospel texts in no way calls into question their historical accuracy. However, for those who believe (as did the prophets and the first disciples of Christ) that God entered human history, there are some moments in history when events occur whose causes and nature lie beyond the boundaries of historical causation. Here the function of myth is to express through symbolic images that which cannot be expressed in any other way. So myth becomes a continuation of symbolism.

Spread and destruction of the myth

There are two ways to explain the presence of myths in any society: firstly, they can spread, and secondly, they are created by the independent work of the imagination when faced with similar situations. Yuzner's research has proven that the myth of the flood in one form or another exists in almost all parts of the world. When we look at the Sumerian and Babylonian versions of the flood myth, we will see that their appearance in the Tigris-Euphrates valley can be explained by frequent floods. But when we find flood myths in countries where such floods are impossible (as, for example, in Greece or Canaan), it becomes clear that this myth was “introduced” there; alas, it is no longer possible to trace exactly how this happened. An example of the “journey” of a myth is the cuneiform tablets found in Egypt with the text of the Babylonian myth of Adapa, which we will discuss below. They were used by Egyptian scribes to learn the art of cuneiform writing. Much the same thing happened when a fragment of the Gilgamesh myth was found during excavations at Megiddo. The legend of Cadmus tells us how the Phoenician alphabet was carried to Greece and became the ancestor of all Western alphabets. Thus, there is good reason to believe that travel, trade, migration of people and campaigns of conquest were the means of dissemination by which myths could get from one country to another. As rituals became obsolete and disappeared, or were transformed along with the decline of the civilization in which they had previously played such an important role, the myths associated with them were freed from ritual associations and became purely literary forms, penetrating the cultural traditions of other peoples. For example, the myth of the victory over the dragon, which is central to the Babylonian creation myth, gave rise to the myths of Perseus and Andromeda, Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra, Siegfried and Fafnir, Beowulf and Grendel, and still exists today in the legend of St. George and his victory over snake