On December 10-12, 2007, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted the international scientific and practical conference "The East in the Ancient Era: New Research Methods, an Interdisciplinary Approach, Society and the Natural Environment", organized by the Department of History and Culture of the Ancient East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences*. Traditionally, the conference was dedicated to the memory of E. A. Grantovsky (since 1996) and D. S. Rayevsky (since 2005). Scientists from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev took part in the conference (directly or indirectly - through the publication of abstracts).

The meeting was opened by Deputy Chairman of the Board. Directors of IB RAS V. M. Alpatov, acad. Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan B. A. Latvian, zav. Department of History and Culture of the Ancient East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences V. P. Androsov, S. V. Kullanda.

V. M. Alpatov highly appreciated the contribution of E. A. Grantovsky and D. S. Raevsky to Russian science. Welcoming the participants of the conference, he stressed that the topic of the reports reflects various aspects of studying the East. Research on the topic "Society and the natural environment"is extremely relevant.

V. P. Androsov spoke about the work of the Department of History and Culture of the Ancient East, where E. A. Grantovsky and D. S. Rayevsky worked. He compared the activities of scientists in modern society to the role of brahmins, and stressed that both scientists were dedicated to serving science as Brahmins.

S. V. Kullanda noted that both E. A. Grantovsky and D. S. Rayevsky were distinguished by a broad outlook and a desire to go beyond the narrow specialty. E. A. Grantovsky was one of the few historians who were fluent in comparative historical linguistics. Continuing the traditions of Russian science, he interpreted the reports of ancient authors about the Scythians with the help of ethnographic materials, and he did it much more professionally than the ethnographers who were engaged in Scythology. D. S. Rayevsky masterfully used the achievements of related sciences (semiotics, folklore studies, etc.) in interpreting Scythian images and formulated an original theory of the origin and functioning of Scythian art. The works of E. A. Grantovsky on Iranian studies are an example of the most thorough and detailed analysis of the material leading to non-trivial, but always deeply grounded conclusions. S. V. Kullanda said that the efforts of the Department of History and Culture of the Ancient East of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences have prepared and will soon be published a reprint of the "Early History" published for the first time in 1970, but has not lost its value for specialists. the Iranian tribes of Fore Asia " by E. A. Grantovsky. The department staff provided her with comments based on all the latest literature (compiled by S. V. Kulland), an index (compiled by G. Y. Kolganov) and a summary in English (E. A. Grantovsky. Early history of the Iranian tribes of Near Asia. 2nd ed., ispr. and dop. Moscow: Vostochny lit., 2007).

B. A. Litvinsky spoke about the formation of Russian scientific Oriental studies in the second half of the XVIII - first quarter of the XIX century, the period of accumulation of material, the first attempts to study the Russian language.

* Abstracts were prepared for the opening of the conference: "The East in Ancient Times: new research methods, an interdisciplinary approach, Society and the natural environment". December 10-12, 2007 Moscow, IV RAS, 2007.

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study of sources. He noted three main sources of formation of Russian scientific Oriental studies: practical Oriental studies; traditional schools of the Eastern peoples that became part of the Russian Empire; and Western Oriental studies. He spoke in detail about the life and scientific activities of scientists such as Gottlieb (Theophilus) Siegfried Bayer (1694-1738), Bernhard (or Boris Andreevich) Dorn (1805-1881), Christian Martin (Christian Danilovich) Fran (1782-1851), Vasily Vasilyevich Grigoriev (1816 - 1881).

Further, the conference was organized in several areas, grouped into three sections: "South and East Asia", "Ancient Near East" and "History of Material Culture".

The section's presentations were extremely interesting and fruitful "History of the Ancient Near East". 14 reports were heard and discussed.

S. S. Solovyov (MSU) in the report " Harran (Karry): factors of development of an ancient Near Eastern city " analyzed the factors that contributed to the development of a small Eneolithic settlement at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC and its transformation by the 2nd-1st millennium not only into a large city with an extensive agricultural district, but even into a royal residence and practically the capital of Assyria. Along with the favorable both economically and strategically geographical position of S. S. Solovyova, favorable natural conditions, religious "tourism" were noted, as well as the war that rarely stopped in this region, which forced the peaceful commercial city to take on the appearance and function of a military fortress.

In the report B. E. Alexandrova (MSU) "Fragments of historical texts from Bogazkey (KVo 28.113, KVo 50.24, 76, 92) " parts of the texts that shed light on the history of Upper Mesopotamia of the XIV-XIII centuries BC were considered. The author of the report believes that the fragment of KVo 28.113 refers to the agreement of the ruler of the Hittite kingdom Suppiluliuma I with the king of Upper Mesopotamia Mitanni Shattivaza. The fragment of KVo 50.24 (published in 2006, linked to KUB 19.15+) contains interesting information about events in Syria at the beginning of the reign of Mursili II (the rebellion of Tette, the ruler of the vassal state of Nuhashshe, in the 7th year of Mursili's reign). Fragments of KVo 50.76 and 92 belong to the second half of the XIII century BC. The first of them is a fragment of a draft version of the letter to Assyria, compiled in Hittite. B. A. Alexandrov noted that the preserved address "my brother" gives grounds to speak about formally friendly relations between the rulers of Hatti and Assyria. The fragment of KVo 50.92 mentions the troops of the city of Karkemish, the city of Irride, located in the west of Hanigalbat, as well as the name of the Assyrian king - Tukulti-Ninurta I (1233 - 1197). In the opinion of the author of the report, this document may indicate some conflict in Upper Mesopotamia in the late 13th century. A period that involved both the Hittites and the Assyrians.

N. V. Lavrentieva (RSUH) devoted the report "Papyri "of the Am-Duat Book" in the collections of Russian Museums " to one of those materials whose degree of study can be said to be approaching zero. That is why the work done by N. V. Lavrentieva is extremely relevant not only for Russian Egyptology. The report examined ancient Egyptian papyri preserved in the Oriental Collection of the M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin Library, in the Oriental section of the Department of Art and Archeology of the Ancient World of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (including the papyrus collection of the V. S. Golenishchev collection), in the Ancient Oriental section of the State Hermitage Museum, as well as in Kazan University. According to the author, papyri reflect ideas about the other world (Duat) at the level of religious and magical written and visual languages. Based on the materials of the papyri of the Book of Am-Duat, N. V. Lavrentieva traced the change in the style of papyrus graphics of the Third Transition Period in relation to the era of the New Kingdom.

By report M. A. Chegodaeva (RSUH) "Trident Strike" Osiric theme was opened in the work of the section. The author has demonstrated that the Osiric myth is a kind of universal tool: it is simultaneously (simultaneously)applied to the world. describes (explains, classifies) the entire surrounding world in all its manifestations. The history of Osiris, according to M. A. Chegodaev, reflects both the history of the first shaman, and part of the history of the universe, and the "mythopoetic" description of the annual natural cycle. Listening to the myth, the neophyte immediately gained knowledge on a set of problems. Egyptian theology operates in the same way as mythology: it operates through tropes within the framework of the three fundamental foundations of mythology.-

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dynamic thinking ("binary oppositions", "action of the world", "quantity of the world"). The Osiric myth is probably the result of the highest centuries-old theology, which has built such a system with the help of which it is possible to describe phenomena of a historical order, for example, the unification of Egypt as a gathering (reunion) Osiris through the principle of transition: one-many-one (completeness, Atum). M. A. Chegodaev believes that in this respect Egypt becomes a" scene " of a grandiose historical ritual, where all its nomes are connected with one or another event of the Osiric myth. In the language of tropic thinking, each of them is the burial place of one of the body parts of Osiris (tomb - iat), and the whole-it turns out to be a single body of the deity. M. A. Chegodaev's report caused a lively discussion.

V. A. Bolshakov In his report "The Accession of Hatshepsut in the context of changing her political status", Vladimir Bolshakov proposed to abandon the well-established foreign and domestic historiography characterization of Hatshepsut's reign as a usurpation of power in the presence of a legitimate heir, Thutmose III, and a gross violation of the ancient traditions of succession to the throne. influential courtiers and priests of Amun-Ra, who established its legitimacy. Hatshepsut's accession, in his opinion, was not a usurpation of power, but the result of the regent's increasing powers, reflected in the changing titles, epithets and iconography of the queen. V. A. Bolshakov drew particular attention to the fact that after the accession of Hatshepsut, Thutmose III was not completely eliminated from the royal texts and images, on the contrary, in a number of monuments he appears as her co-ruler. This, according to the author, does not give us any reason to believe that Hatshepsut wanted to get rid of the younger Pharaoh.

Report O. A. Vasilyeva (Moscow State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin), which continues the Osiric theme of the section, "Nephthys and Osiris: adultery or legal matrimony?" - reaction to the Brooklyn Museum papyrus published in 2006 by D. Meeks, which dates back to the 26th Dynasty and contains a number of interesting information on Delta mythology. Some data from this source helped the author of the report to take a fresh look at certain episodes of the Osiric myth, both in the Egyptian version and in the interpretation of ancient authors. It is noteworthy that in the Brooklyn papyrus there is no hint of adultery, on the contrary, Nephthys appears here as the legitimate spouse of Osiris. O. A. Vasilyeva believes that this is primarily because in this case Nephthys is closer to Hathor, and not to Isis. In the text of the Brooklyn papyrus, the presence of the goddess Isis is surprisingly small, and, on the contrary, attention is noticeable to the image of Nephthys, who was usually "in the shadow" of her famous sister. According to O. A. Vasilyeva, Nephthys is the consort of Osiris in the underworld. It is Nephthys, not Isis (the earthly consort of Osiris), who accompanies Osiris in the underworld. Nephthys, the author of the report notes, replaced Hathor in the late era; Diodorus identifies Nephthys with Aphrodite, i.e. a goddess identical to Hathor; Plutarch says that Nephthys is what is under the earth and invisible, and Isis is what is revealed and is above the earth. O. A. Vasilyeva suggested that the deceased could be called "Nephthys", like any deceased - "Osiris."

I. A. Ladynin (Moscow State University) made a report "Tsar Ukhorevs (Diod. I. 50.3-5) and his place in the scheme of the history of Egypt by Hecateus of Abder and Diodorus of Sicily". The ideas of the report were born in the course of preparation (in the summer of 2007) by the author of an external review of the doctoral dissertation of A. E. Demidchik, in which the data of the "Historical Library" of Diodorus Sicilius, dating back to the work of Hecateus Abdersky, were analyzed. The analysis conducted by I. A. Ladynin allows us to draw two important conclusions : about the degree of freedom of late Egyptian interpreters of the history of their country in constructing its schemes and about the "survivability" of classical literature of Ancient Egypt at that time. Manipulation of the image of Uhorevs is easier to explain, according to I. A. Ladynin, not by indirect acquaintance with the time of Khety III, but directly by reading the "Teachings to the King of Merikar" - a landmark work of his time. An additional argument in favor of this, according to the author of the report, is a clear allusion to the ecological disasters of the First Transition period and their consequences in assessing the legitimacy of the kings of this time in the Canopic decree of 238 BC.

A. A. Nemirovsky (IVI RAS) and A. V. Safronov (IB RAS) in the joint report " Did Kamos Besiege Avaris? (To the interpretation of the "Second Kamos Stele") " revised more practically-

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compare the generally accepted view in Egyptology that during the war with the Hyksos, Kamos raided the Hyksos capital of Avaris, ravaging it (or only part of it, or a suburban district). The authors offer their own reconstruction of the events reflected in the Kamos stele. They believe that there are no reliable grounds for identifying the center destroyed by Kamos with Avaris and its district. Their analysis of the text shows that Kamos did not advance beyond the XVII Upper Egyptian nome, and the description of the defeat clearly refers not to Avaris, but to the" royal city " of Inputin the XVII Upper Egyptian nome. At Avaris, the successor of Kamos, Yahmose, was already successfully fighting.

Thematically, the report looked somewhat isolated in the work of the section A. S. Desnitsky (YVES RAN) " The 'Sons of God' in the Old Testament." However, from the methodological point of view, it perfectly illustrated the dominant trends. The speaker noted that the texts of the Old Testament were constantly reinterpreted, starting from the Septuagint, in the light of the theological and philosophical ideas of subsequent times. Out of a desire for pure monotheism, Jews and later Christians began to interpret "sons of God" either as a name for angels or as a metaphorical designation for powerful people. According to A. S. Desnitsky, both of these meanings are directly related to the original idea of these beings (as supernatural, influencing the world of people and subordinate to the supreme deity), but put them in a completely different system of categories. The report provided interesting examples of texts and examples of their interpretation by interpreters of subsequent times.

N. S. Timofeeva (RSUH) made a report "The life and work of V. I. Avdiev based on the documents of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences". A number of archival data presented by her turned out to be quite unexpected even for the sophisticated audience gathered. N. S. Timofeeva analyzed V. I. Avdiev's correspondence with V. M. Vikentiev, V. V. Struve, and M. E. Mathieu's letters. In addition, S. S. Solovyova (a student of V. I. Avdiev), who was present at the conference, supplemented it with her comments and observations.

V. A. Golovina (IVI) devoted her report "Nefrusebek-Neferkara - the first queen-Pharaoh" to the one who, in the author's opinion, although usually overlooked by historians, was an undoubted forerunner and role model for Hatshepsut, despite the latter's efforts to emphasize the uniqueness of her reign and ascension to the throne. This speech is a kind of roll call with the report of V. A. Bolshakov. According to V. A. Golovina, the sources that came down from the queen-ruler of Nefrusebek (the end of the 12th dynasty) provide the oldest and brightest example of the implementation of an ideological program in non-standard conditions. Aimed at confirming the legitimation of power, this program also solved the super-task of correcting (meaning the tender aspect) the verbal (titulature) and visual (iconography) forms in which power expressed itself. The author of the report suggests summarizing the direction and content of this process as a combination of seemingly mutually exclusive trends - the feminization of traditional tsarist titulature and the masculinization of Tsarist iconography, in support of which a very convincing visual material was presented.

Report M. I. Sokolova (IVI) "Osiris: the Meaning of the Name" was a continuation of the Osiric discussion initiated by the reports of M. A. Kropotkin. A. Chegodaev and O. Vasilyeva, and deserves close attention. The author notes that among the huge number of existing opinions about the meaning of the name "Osiris" in Russian Egyptology, the version of O. D. Berlev has now been recognized. According to M. I. Sokolova, O. D. Berlev's version has one advantage, the essence of which is that the interpretation of the word "Osiris" as "vision" allows us to explain why in Egyptian funeral texts the deceased is called "Osiris". It is now generally accepted that the Egyptians identified the deceased with Osiris. But M. I. Sokolova believes that the naming of the deceased "Osiris" has two specific features that give reason to believe that this phenomenon is not so much the identification of the deceased with God, but rather the addition of a significant epithet to the name of the deceased (i.e., an epithet that has its own specific meaning). Preference, therefore, should be given to such a translation of the name "Osiris", which allowed We would like to interpret two types of use of this name - as the name of a god and as an epithet of the deceased (in the context of a sacrificial ritual). O. D. Berlev's concept is the only one,

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which allows such an interpretation. But M. I. Sokolova disputes his interpretation, which is based on the statement that "the combination of the word 'place' and the name of a body part denote the function of such", at least in the general aspect in which he understands 'function', suggesting translating the phrase st-jrt as 'vision'. The author of the report claims that funeral texts do not allow us to say that vision plays a special role in them, which is attributed to it in the concept of O. D. Berlev. When the name "Osiris" is literally read as "the place of the eye", according to M. I. Sokolova," the eye "does not mean the sun, the crown, or the organ of vision, but the victim - that is, the word jrt is considered as" The Eye of Horus", a specific name for any victim in the Egyptian funeral ritual. The author of the report suggests interpreting the reading of the name as a "place of sacrifice", i.e. the place where the sacrifice is brought, for which the sacrifice is intended. Therefore, Osiris is a kind of" sacrificer","acceptor/receiver of the sacrifice". The proposed translation, according to M. I. Sokolova, best meets the specific contexts of the use of this name. The report caused a lively discussion, which generally appreciated a fresh look at the usual "axioms" of Egyptology.

As always, the report was extremely interesting A. A. Nemirovsky ""The inscription" to Lugalannemund, King of Adab: apocrypha, copy or variation?". The analysis of the text of three Old Babylonian tablets (CBS 342, 474, 1217), conducted by A. A. Nemirovsky, clearly demonstrates the fallacy of the dominant point of view among specialists, and forces us to admit that the source in question really reproduces the original texts of Lugalannemundu. It is significant that the main criterion for "dating" is the geographical representations displayed in the text (a list of regions subject to the king, covering the entire world immediately surrounding Mesopotamia) and clearly showing that later than the Early Dynastic period (i.e., the era of the real Lugalannemundu) it couldn't have been made up.

The final report of the section was devoted to the analysis of geographical representations of the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia based on the materials of Akkadian texts G. Y. Kolganova Akkadian sar kibrat erbetti: on the Question of geographical representations in ancient Times. It also holds the view that the geographical descriptions contained in Akkadian texts, including even the so familiar "sar kibrat erbetti" of the Assyrian kings, are reliable historical sources to a much greater extent than is usually said in modern Assyriology (and not only domestic).

On the section "South and East Asia " nine reports were heard.

V. P. Androsov In his report "The Samadhi-Raja Sutra: its role and significance in the doctrines of the Great and Diamond Chariots of Buddhism", he noted that among the Buddhist population of the Great Chariot there are texts that have not yet received proper coverage in Western scientific Buddhology. These texts played a huge role in the doctrines of Mahayana, Vajrayana, and Tibetan-Mongolian Buddhism. They were constantly quoted and commented on by ancient and medieval authors. "Samadhi-raja-sutra "("Sutra of the King of concentration") The madhyamikas and yogacharyas of India, beginning with Nagarjuna (II-III centuries), were actively quoted. In his opinion, this text cannot in any way be considered a guide in trances. Technical methods of concentration are not mentioned here. Word samadhi Rather, it denotes an object of concentration, a verbal formula that should be meditated on. The speaker emphasized that the sutra is characterized by Madhyamik teachings about the absence of a real entity (nim-svabhava) in all the dharma-particles, about the two bodies of the Buddha (as in the Prajnaparamite sutras), the emphasis is not on the fact of two bodies, but on the fact that there is an absolute dharma-kaya and an illusory rupakaya - " a phantom created by the magical power of the Buddha."

E. S. Lepekhova In the report: "The specifics of curses in Shinto and Buddhist folklore of ancient Japan", the author considered the following concepts: tama, mono, shire, tsukimono, mono-no-ke, wo: onre: description of curses in the historical chronicles "Kojiki" and "Nihongi", a collection of Buddhist legends "Nihon reiki". She concluded that in the Shinto mythology of ancient Japan, curses were an extreme measure that the deities were forced to resort to - komi republic (since curses belonged to the realm of the impure), and in the Buddhist folk-

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lore curses become a form of protecting the three Treasures (the Buddha, his teachings, and the Sangha) from the enemies of Buddhism.

E. V. Leontieva In her report titled "Tantra as the Basis of Schools of Tibetan Buddhism," she noted that Tibetan Buddhism has developed four large schools (Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelup) and many small schools or lines of teaching transmission. Each school has its own characteristics, specific philosophical views and systems of practices, i.e. methods of understanding the nature of the mind. She focused on the approach to the classification of tantras by the outstanding Tibetan scholar Bud (1290-1364). Buton classified tantras as methods of overcoming " poisons of the mind "(obscurations) based on which of the three "poisons" they work with and how much pure vision, i.e. the student's ability to identify with enlightenment, is represented in them."poisons of the mind."

In the report D. N. Lelyukhina (YVES RAN) " The dharma - setting King. Practical aspect of the ideological concept " it was said about the existing idea of the king as the founder and giver of dharma. The gift was considered an element of duty for the tsar. The essence of giving gifts to monasteries was that they (viharas) They ensured the authority of the tsarist government in Nepal. Gifts were also made to representatives of different faiths.

V. V. Vertogradova (IV RAS) report " Search for the outline of an utterance within a single epigraphic text (On the interpretation of the Ashoka inscription from Ahraura)" She dedicated an inscription to Ashoka found in 1961 near the village of Ahraura (Uttar Pradesh). Interpretation and reading of this inscription raise a number of questions among researchers. V. V. Vertogradova noted that in general the text corresponds to the small rock edict of Ashoka I (MREI), which has been preserved in 12 versions in different regions of India. But the last line of the label compared to MRE I has a continuation. According to the speaker, important aspects of the early Buddhist religion and culture are touched upon here. She made an attempt to discuss this particular line of the decree. The inscription from Ahraura, like the MRE I, was composed during a ritual detour of the territory by Ashoka. The end of the inscription indicates the time when the decree was issued: "256 nights since V. V. Vertogradova believes that there is every reason to read the text of the 11th line of the inscription as follows: "This decree was issued 256 nights after the body of the Buddha was raised on the bed."

O. E. Filippov In his report titled "The place of Kangyur and Tengyur in the Religious Life of Tibet," the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that researchers are currently working on many projects related to digitizing collections of texts. The most famous collections are Kangyur and Tengyur, which contain more than 300 volumes. These texts were compiled by teachers in India and then translated into Tibetan. O. E. Filippov tried in his report to answer questions about the peculiarities of the origin of these texts, about brief descriptions of other collections of texts and about possible methods of their research. Currently, he believes, it is customary to talk about the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon tradition, but this was not always the case. He believes that these schools are "heterogeneous" in terms of methods and philosophical views, and it is also impossible to talk about the unity of textual writings even within the school. As for the methods of studying texts, in the speaker's opinion, to determine the essence of the text, it is necessary not only to study it, but also to know the transmission line and the level at which it was used (dispute, meditation practice, etc.).

In the report N. V. Alexandrova (YVES RAN) " Shraman. The Brahman. Tsar. Stereotypes of plots and characters "it was said about the "Notes on Western Countries" by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, which reveals a certain stereotype of a limited set of plots and the composition of characters acting in them. The most clear opposition is made up of the figures of shraman, a Buddhist who represents fo fa (the teaching of the Buddha), and the brahman representing wai dao ("external teachings"). N. V. Alexandrova comes to the conclusion that the stereotypical nature of the plots and characters of Buddhist legends, which are largely common in Xuanzang and in the Buddhist literature of India, is indicative for understanding the ways of developing these plots and identifying in them the component coming from the tradition of plot formation, which is important for an adequate assessment of the historicity of such narratives.

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V. M. Yakovlev his report "On the description of the Wheel of Time scroll from the Roerich Collection" was dedicated to a unique scroll from the collection of the Roerich family, which in 1977, together with other works of Oriental art, paintings by N. K. and S. N. Roerich, archival materials and books, was donated to the State Museum of the East by the President of the Museum N. K. Roerich in New York, Catherine Campbell-Stibbe. This scroll illustrates an astrological treatise by Desrid Sanye Gyamtso, regent of the Sixth Dalai Lama, called "Vaidurya karpo". V. M. Yakovlev considered the color symbolism of numbers and the orientation of the scroll tables according to the colors of the five elements (fire-south, water-north, wood-east, metal-west, earth-center and intermediate directions), which is confirmed in in some cases, with inscriptions.

During the work of the section "History of Material Culture" 21 reports were made.

L. I. Avilova (Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) made a presentation "Models of ancient metal production in Anatolia and the Balkans: on the problem of regional specifics". The results of a comparative analysis of metal production in Anatolia and the Balkan-Carpathian region in the Eneolithic, Early and Middle Periods of the Bronze Age, based on computer databases on metal products in Anatolia (37 thousand finds) and the Balkan-Carpathian region (4700 finds), led L. I. Avilova to conclude that the development models of metal production in them differed from each other. a friend. Anatolian metal production was formed on the spot. In the early urban centers and state structures, there was an elite-the organizer of production and exchange, the consumer of prestigious, including metal, things. In the Northern Balkans and the Danube region, knowledge about metal penetrated from the Middle East, along with the achievements of the producing economy. There was no basis for the formation of a hierarchical social structure, which led to the preservation of the village community, and the local elite organized the search and production of metal within the chiefdom.

N. M. Nikulina (MSU) in the report " On the functional and symbolic in the architecture of the Ancient World (4th-1st thous. BC) " spoke about the dominance of the construction method in the architecture of the Ancient world - the rack-and-beam system. The author traced how an important part of the rack-and - beam structure-the support-was solved and designed. The earliest supports in the architecture of the Ancient world were emphasized functional, had an increased margin of safety. N. M. Nikulina described the architecture of Egypt of the Middle Kingdom era (XXI-XVIII centuries BC), the architecture of the Two Rivers of this time, and the Egyptian architecture of the New Kingdom era (the time of the XVIII-XX dynasties) (the beginning of the XVI - mid-XI centuries BC)., when the papyrus column type was most popular. N. M. Nikulina agreed with A. Evans ' opinion on the origin of the Aegean column from early Minoan cave-type sanctuaries. She stressed that classical monuments of Greek architecture became the basis for the development of later European and world architecture. However, we must not forget that the basics of the Greek building code itself the arts were not founded without the participation of ancient cultures that preceded the Greeks.
A. L. Alexandrovsky, V. I. Balabina, T. N. Mishina (Institute of Archaeology) in the report: "Experience of applying natural science methods to multi-layered settlements (on the example of two Thracian monuments)", we compared the results of soil, chemical and micromorphological studies of sediments of two adjacent multi - layered settlements-Tell Yunacite and an open settlement to the west of Tell, against the background of a comparative analysis of their archaeological stratigraphy. Some other paleoecological studies were conducted on Unacite - sporopylcevy, phytolithic, and diatomaceous. The data obtained indicate a change in climate humidity over the course of one and a half thousand years. Two buried soils are characterized.

A. R. Kantorovich (MSU) and V. R. Ehrlich In their report "Anthropomorphic images in Maeoto-Scythian Art", the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation noted that zoomorphic images form the basis of the repertoire of Maeotic art of the Scythian era, while images of anthropomorphic characters are not numerous. Some of the images of anthropomorphic characters found on the monuments of the Maeotian culture are the product of ancient Greek masters. According to the speakers, there are a number of anthropomorphic images, the stylistics of which makes them recognized as works of Maeotic or Maeotic-Scythian art, which originated in ancient times.-

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what, under some external influence - both direct and indirect. These include a horse nanosheet of the second half of the IV century BC from the 1st mound of necropolis II of the Tenginsky settlement, an anthropomorphic image on a horse headpiece from the horse complex of the 14th mound of the 2nd necropolis II of the Tenginsky settlement. The local character is also inherent in the image on the famous golden cap from the Kurjips mound. Stylistically syncretic is the bronze horse nanosheet from the horse grave of mound 1 near the station. Kuzhorskoy.

N. V. Ryndina and I. G. Ravich Moscow State University (MSU) in its report "Near Asian origins of rare metal production technologies of the Maikop culture of the North Caucasus" reported on the study of 150 products of the Maikop culture, dating from the middle of the 4th - first third of the 3rd millennium BC, using optical and electron microscopy on the Kamebaks installation. Among the items are weapons, religious objects, vessels, jewelry made from arsenic or arsenic-nickel bronzes, gold, silver, as well as copper and silver alloys. It was revealed that the Maikop craftsmen had mastered unique technologies that, apart from the Caucasus, were known only in the center of metal production in Front Asia, for example, the technology of casting on a wax model. The technology of" silvering " is recorded on the surface of a ritual dog from the burial ground of the Kladyj tract. The closest to the Maikop techniques are examples of the use of the depletion method in the processing of copper-silver alloys found in Eastern Anatolia.

S. Ya. Berzina In her report "Gems from Berkut-Kala", MS Berzina focused on the fact that, despite the smallness of their size, gems accumulate the main ideas and main ideas of the public consciousness of ancient civilizations. S. Ya. Berzina analyzed five gems from the Golden Eagle takyrs collected by the Joint Venture. Tolstoy and received for storage in the State Museum of Arts of the Peoples of the East. All the gems, in her opinion, are of Khorezmian origin. They are all intaglians. All of them are due to the Asian-Persian prototype and date back to the V-III centuries BC. The images and plots of most of the mentioned gems are the pictorial embodiment of the Khorezm heroic epic, calendar and cosmogonic myths.

A. S. Balakhvantsev (MSU) dedicated his report " Epigraphic monuments from Iberia (Eastern Georgia): addenda et corrigenda" of a Greek inscription found in 1993 - 1995 during excavations on the Mtskheta - Armazistsikhe acropolis, whose publication in 1996 by T. S. Kaukhchishvili raises serious doubts about the proposed restoration and reading of the text. The peculiarities of its paleography allowed him to date the inscription from the last quarter of the second to the very beginning of the third century AD.The importance of the report is explained by the fact that there are very few references to Iberia in the works of ancient authors. Therefore, the discovery of each new epigraphic document is very important. The report also analyzed the inscription on the carnelian gem from Zhinvali, whose language the author defines as Alanian, and the monument itself - the oldest available samples of writing in the Alanian language, although the inscription is made in Greek letters.

SV Kullanda In his report "On the name of Bactria", he proposed to reconsider the opinion that has been established in the literature since the XIX century, according to which the natural development of the name Bactria reflects the "Indian" version. Baxtri-, and the Avestan one Baxdi- - or an artificial archaized formation based on the Middle Iranian language. Baxl, either goes back to *Baxdri- - with subsequent dropout - r -. S. V. Kullanda believes that in fact, the Median form should be considered artificial, in which there is no regular Iranian crossing *tr > Or. Answering the question of how this form came about, the author suggests that the Medes, like the Assyrians and Greeks, tried to use their language to reproduce the phoneme that was missing in it d. The author of the report complains that the proposed interpretation of the ratio of forms Baxtri- and Baxdi- it is confirmed by a minimal number of examples, but it is reasonable to note that alternative hypotheses are about falling out r or about the transition *tr > l In East Iranian, they are not confirmed by any example of similar development.

Report by N. A. Nikolaeva (Moscow State University) "Myths as a source for the reconstruction of Indo-European prehistory" was devoted to the problems of comparative historical study of Indo-European mythology and myths of the peoples of the world. The author proposed dates for the emergence of a number of mythological subjects, as well as outlined the circle of their distribution. Based on the data of the archaeological ana-

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After analyzing the chronology of Ancient European cultures in Europe (in accordance with the theory of V. A. Safronov) and the Early Bronze Age cultures of the Caucasus, she comes to the conclusion that the formation of the core of the "Nart epic" is due to the arrival of Ancient Europeans - carriers of dolmens of the Novosvobodnaya, then Kuban-Tersk and Catacomb cultures from the XXII to XVI centuries BC to the Caucasus. The Indo-Aryan component of the" Nart Epic " is connected, according to N. A. Nikolaeva, with the coexistence of Indo-Aryans and ancient Europeans in the North Caucasus from the XXS to the XUSH century BC. The origin of Indo-Iranians from proto-Indo-Europeans who reached Scandinavia explains, from the point of view of the author of the report, the preservation of "polar plots" in both Iranian and Indian mythology as their own knowledge of the distant northern country. At the same time, N. A. Nikolaeva notes that her interpretation of "polar plots" is an alternative to the interpretation of "polar motifs" given in the book "From Scythia to India"by E. A. Grantovsky and G. M. Bongard-Levin. In her opinion, based on the data of archeology and linguistics, it was possible to restore the Eurasian, Nostratic, Early Indo-European, and Middle Indo-European languages., later Indo-European, Ancient European, and Greek-Indo-Iranian stages of Indo-European prehistory, adding to each of them the worldview concepts of Indo-Europeans that have come down to us from the depths of time in the form of myths.

S. N. Korenevsky (Institute of Archaeology) in his report "On zoomorphic prototypes of stone scepters of the Eneolithic period" noted that some researchers suggest that zoomorphic and abstract scepters represented the heads of horses, thereby illustrating the widespread use of horsemanship; others do not share this view, and some do not consider it possible to establish an exact prototype of the animal at all, and therefore they see in the zoomorphic pommels a certain fantastic beast. The speaker believes that zoomorphic stone sculptures could be influenced by the types of both land and sea animals: horse, dolphin and wild boar (however, in addition to the snub-nosed profile of this creature [as it is represented, for example, on the stone axe-scepter of the Neolithic (Eneolithic) era from Cornecel (Romania)] it also has frog legs with flippers instead of hands, as well as a dolphin tail). According to S. N. Korenevsky, this "magical beast" reflects the image of a water lizard or a mythical dragon. The pommel with the image of a mythical snake-lizard with a boar's head could be considered as an object associated with the magic of ancestors, the magic of the master of the underworld, as well as the cult of fertility. The author suggested that the prototype of the mythical sea dragon of the Greeks goes back to this image. S. N. Korenevsky suggests calling it a snub-nosed "dragonkamp".

Subject of the study S. A. Zinchenko The Russian State Pedagogical University (RSUH), which made a report on "Methods of art studies and their application in the research of an archaeological site (on the example of the Scythian animal style)", is also located at the junction of two sciences - archeology and art history. The relevance of the issues raised in the report is obvious. One cannot but agree with S. A. Zinchenko, who complained after Ya. A. Sher about the extremely weak development of the theory and methods of a special approach to the analysis of pictorial archaeological sources. D. S. Rayevsky paid much attention to this approach in his time (D. S. Rayevsky Scythian Animal style: Poetics and Pragmatics // Ancient civilizations of Eurasia. Moscow, 2001, p. 368). S. A. Zinchenko considered in detail the problems of the method of stylistic analysis, often used in the study of archaeological sources represented by art monuments. She believes that the essence of this method is largely determined by what each individual researcher takes as the initial data to be analyzed. Iconographic and semantic methods are also often used in the study of Scythian art. Ideally, the structure of interpretative constructions, according to the author of the report, will only be complete when several methodological approaches are used, and the method of stylistic analysis should be the leading one, and the iconographic and semantic ones are necessary as complementary (but not additional).

A great illustration of this approach, but based on the material of a different culture, was the report K. A. Vyazovikina (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts) "End ceramic disk with a deer and the search for immortality in Ancient China". It was noted that the study of this type of monument, which is part of the ancient Chinese art tradition, is an independent scientific problem, which few sinologists and art historians have addressed. Meanwhile, this phenomenon reveals the processes of formation of ancient Chinese culture and allows us to trace the ways of its development. Therefore, the author considers an end ceramic disk with a re-

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The image of a deer is used in relief not only in the framework of the architectural tradition, but also in a cultural and historical context. This allowed the author of the report to make a number of important observations, starting from the dating of the monument in question (the second half of the 1st millennium BC). BCE), determining the place of its origin (the ancient Chinese kingdom of Qin) and ending with the symbolic component of the completion of figured tiles in Qin architecture (not only emphasizing the integrity of the architectural form, but also asserting the universal nature of the ruler's power and his truly cosmic power).

V. V. Lebedinsky and Yu. A. Pronina In their report "Lifting material from shipwrecks of the II-IX centuries discovered in the water area of the Heraclea Peninsula, in a historical and cultural context", the authors noted that the results of underwater archaeological research make it possible to trace events that took place over almost a thousand years of history: trade contacts of the Chersonesites, traditional occupations of the population and military and political changes.

A. G. Kozentsev (MAE, St. Petersburg) made a presentation "Scythians and Central Asia: new anthropological data". He believes that new anthropological data allow us to speak about the possible formation of the Scythian community on the territory of the Central Asian region (presumably in the Tuva region).

One of the most hotly debated topics was the report T. M. Kuznetsova (Institute of Archeology) "Northern Black Sea folklore tradition about the Scythians and the Middle East". The author of the report noted that the only information that was not corrected either in chronographic or historical literature was the information that limited the presence of Scythians on the territory of the states of the Ancient East to divine signs, and not quantitative data, so the probability of obtaining reliable results when using them is quite high. The solar eclipses (608, 585, and 509 BC) that marked both the beginning and end of the Scythian" rule "in the Middle East and the campaign of Darius could have been" divine signs". Chronological constructions were carried out by T. M. Kuznetsova in accordance with the text of Herodotus ' "History", by comparing it with the cuneiform texts of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. As a result, the author concludes that the date of the fall of Nineveh falls in 608, and not in 612 BC. e.; that the last years of the reign of Kiaxar were 582/581 BC. e., when there were two more eclipses; that the Scythians appeared in" Lower Asia " before the Media-Lydian war (614/613 BC). ad), i.e. before The armies of Media invaded "Upper Asia" (608 AD). and finally, that the Persian invasion of Scythia dates back to 509 BC. The probability of these dates is confirmed, according to the author, by four different types of sources: astronomical, documentary, literary and archaeological. During the discussion of the report, A. A. Nemirovsky made critical comments (primarily concerning the use of cuneiform sources by T. M. Kuznetsova) and additions.

Report A. Y. Skokova (Institute of Archeology) "On the functioning of pass communications in the Western and Central Caucasus in ancient times" aimed to show that the situation with communications crossing the Main Caucasian Ridge in ancient times was much more complex than is commonly believed. The author of the report sees the main reason for the errors of the prevailing view in the extremely insignificant attention to purely archaeological data. The archaeological material (partly demonstrated during the report) allows us not to reduce the nature of contacts between the tribes of Western Transcaucasia and the Central Caucasus only to trade relations, but to assume the migration of a group of the Central Caucasian population to Colchis in the X-IX centuries BC and a group of people from Northern Colchis to the Baksan Gorge region in the VII century BC.

I. V. Palaguta (IIMK, St. Petersburg) in the report "Reflection of ideas about space in architecture and visual art of early European farmers", although (unlike the previous speaker) and complained about the obvious limitations of archaeological sources when trying to reconstruct the worldview of carriers of any culture, if there are no written sources and the possibility of retrospective ethnographic data, still he argued that certain aspects of spiritual culture can also be reconstructed on the basis of archaeological data alone. I. V. Palaguta based his report on the analysis of spatial representations embodied in architectural structures (first of all, at the regional level).-

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not a planning solution) and ornaments. He noted that the Balkan telles are based on a static model of planning solutions in the form of a square or rectangle, while in the area north of the Danube, the planning solutions are different: a circle (or rather an oval) is based on the plan of the Trypillian settlements, the rounded "rondell" shape of Central Europe. I. V. Palaguta notes the same tendencies in the ornamentation of ceramics. The author of the report believes that within the Balkan-Carpathian circle of cultures of the Neolithic and Eneolithic eras, zones of stable and mobile settlement are outlined, clearly marked by the corresponding types of architectural layouts and ornaments. I. V. Palaguta suggests that the differences that should also appear when comparing other categories of sources reflect the formation of differences in ideological archetypes.

In the report "Geometric motifs in the image of the world of the bearers of the Anau culture and the Bactrian-Margian archaeological complex" E. V. Antonova (IV RAS) noted that the image of the world with a minimum number of components (four cardinal directions, top, middle and bottom) began to form from the era of the emergence of the productive economy and settlement. Space, according to the author, is implicitly and explicitly embodied in things, but it is not separated from time. BMAC (5th-2nd millennium BC) is genetically related to the Anau culture of the Eneolithic, but it should not be overlooked that its formation took place during an era of intense contacts between the population of not only neighboring, but also remote regions. Therefore, the appearance of the BMAK differs significantly from the Anau culture. The author of the report believes that one of the important sources for reconstructing the world perception of its bearers are seals-amulets made of metal and stone, their dominant shape is round with various fillings (geometric shapes, including cross-shaped and multipath). Using a square and a circle with additional images and elements, the image of the world, Earth and Sky with its main landmarks and creatures filling them was modeled. It is significant, according to E. V. Antonova, that the cross-shaped figures inscribed in the circle of seals-amulets have additional features. elements, just as the plans of some settlements had the form of rectangles with additional external corridors (cf. comparisons proposed by I. V. Palaguta).

In the report V. B. Kovalevskaya (Institute of Archeology) "Ways and destinies of precious stones" also paid great attention to the "amulets" that decorated clothing, hats, shoes and personal belongings of people in ancient times. Gems, according to the author, are a chronograph of the events of the studied time, determining the direction of trade routes and the intensity of their use, and indirectly those historical events that characterized the political and historical and cultural life of ancient societies.

L. A. Chvyr In her report "Ancient Turkic funeral and memorial traditions in the ethnography of Turkestanis (XIX-XX centuries)", she briefly described the main elements of the funeral and burial customs of the ancient Turks, Uyghurs, Kyrgyz and Mongols, as well as highlighting some features of medieval Turkic-Mongolian customs and customs in the funeral sphere. traces of these traditions in the modern peoples of Turkestan and Southern Siberia, but also showed how different versions of transformations and modifications of the original ancient customs are embodied in the ethnography of Central Asia and Shinjiang. It was noted that such diversity was obviously formed under the influence of different world religions and as a result of the influence of nomadic or sedentary life.

The conference ended with a report M. M. Pogrebovoy (IB RAS) "Eastern Transcaucasia at the end of the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age". She recalled that a clear cultural difference had long been noted between the regions located to the south and north of the Kura and its tributary Mashavera, and that the Kura-Arak Interfluve was not covered by a single archaeological culture (although the archaeological sites of the Central and Eastern Transcaucasia of the XV/XIV-first half of the VII century BC are largely similar). In general, the territory of Interfluve was divided by researchers into regions to the east and west of Lake Sevan. However, the cultural features of both regions, which also differ in their landscape, show, according to M. N. Pogrebova, that in the studied era the population of each of them was more closely connected with each other than with the population of the neighboring region, which is also supported by computer mapping of a number of elements of the funeral rite and inventory with the help of

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This confirms the idea of dividing the Mesopotamia culture into western and eastern regions and makes it possible to draw a more precise boundary between them. M. N. Pogrebova suggests dividing the considered epoch into five periods (XV-XIV centuries; XIII - early XII centuries; the second half of the XII - XI centuries; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century; X-th century;IX centuries; VIII-the first half of the VII century BC). The studied material made it possible to identify the features of the relationship between the population of the eastern and western regions in the first chronological period, to trace the influx of population from the Eastern European steppes in the second period, and to determine their future fate and significance for local culture and social development, to establish the existence of close, long-term and diverse contacts It was also noted by M. N. Pogrebova that the environs of Kedabek, Nagorny Karabakh and the southeastern coast of Sevan at the end of the Late Bronze Age were covered by almost a single culture, which was not observed in previous periods.

In general, the work of the conference once again demonstrated that the comprehensive and large-scale approach to the study of sources laid down by E. A. Grantovsky and D. S. Rayevsky remains relevant and in demand today by scientists of various profiles.

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