A special cult of the book in Ancient Rus and other countries of the world

Books, appearing in a person's cultural life, undoubtedly began to play a key role in the development of world civilization. With the invention of printing, their scope of use has expanded considerably. Modern man needs to remember that our ancestors always had a special cult of the book. In ancient and other countries of the world, she occupied a separate place in the general culture.

Book functions

The invention of writing and book printing has led to the fact that the book has been for centuries a means through which the whole life experience accumulated by mankind is transmitted.

Through books, the people are enlightened. Thanks to the book, people have the opportunity to communicate with each other. For this they do not need to be in close proximity. Communication through the book does not depend on either spatial or temporal boundaries.

A special cult of the book in Ancient Russia, Europe, Asia led to its worldwide worship and love. There is an opinion that humanity has two main inventions - writing and printing. All the rest is just a consequence.

The Great Miracle

At all times, in any part of the world the book was considered a miracle of miracles. After all, she could heal the soul, enrich her with knowledge, give strength and wisdom. A special cult of the book in Ancient Russia and other countries of the world is confirmed, for example, by such statements:

• A book is a treasure store;
• The book is a river, filling the entire Universe with life-giving moisture;
• A book that sunshine lights up the way for everyone.

When the first book appeared

The exact date and place of birth of the first book is not yet available to scientists. But the interesting fact is that many Slavic peoples sound the words very similar. And to understand that this is a book, a Russian, a Ukrainian, a Belorussian, a Czech, a Pole, no special translation will be required: people will understand each other.

It remains to make the assumption: the man knew the ways of making books, it was in his use even before the division of peoples on the basis of territorial and linguistic grounds occurred. And the preservation of the word in the modern language of different peoples in an unchanged form also determines a special cult of the book.

In ancient Russia, as some modern scholars suggest, books already existed in the middle of the first millennium. True, they were hand-written and did not correspond to our ideas about them. I must say that even then the first attempts were made to invent the printing method.

The creation of manuscripts was an expensive procedure, but people did not stop, which also points to a special cult of the book. In Ancient Russia this treasure was very highly appreciated. The cost of the book was equated with the value of the average estate with all buildings, lands and peasants living here.
The dominant position of the church in the rewriting of books could not be disputed at that time by anyone. The church also defined the contents of the volumes, it was subordinated to the interests of the clergy. Most of the books rewritten in Russia were translated.

Development of book publishing

The state of affairs began to change after the adoption of Christianity. This affected the development of interstate relations. During the entire subsequent period, a special cult of the book in Ancient Rus continued to be created.

The 4th class of some modern educational programs contains a list of literary works created at a time when rewriting books was no longer just a matter of the church. The first examples of secular literary creativity have survived to this day. "The Lay of Igor's Host", "Russian Truth", "The Instruction of Vladimir Monomakh" and other works, which are examples of ancient literature, are studied in the primary and senior classes of the school. This fact also points to a special cult of the book.

In Ancient Russia, the definition of a person's status took place depending on whether he knows how to read, how much he knows how to read and write. Therefore, not only the ministers of the church, statesmen, but also potters, warriors, architects were drawn to the book. Evidence of this - numerous birch bark letters and other samples of writing, which are found by archaeologists and historians.