НОВЫЕ СВЕДЕНИЯ О ХРИСТИАНСТВЕ В ДЕЛЬТЕ ВОЛГИ В ПРЕДМОНГОЛЬСКОЕ ВРЕМЯ
NEW INFORMATION ON CHRISTIANITY IN THE VOLGA DELTA DURING THE PRE-MONGOLIAN PERIOD

Summary/Abstract: The study was performed in order to introduce into scientific circulation the part of an Orthodox “encolpion” from the ancient settlement site of Samosdelka in the Volga delta (layers of the 12th century). The objectives of the study are cultural and historical interpretation of the artifact and its dating. This cross gives an indication of the extent of Christianity in the city of Saqsin during the pre-Mongolian period. Furthermore, it allows to identify another way of contacts between the worlds of Islam and Christianity, i.e., through the area of Saqsin and Russia. The paper provides a number of examples to prove that crosses of this type were most popular in the 11th–13th centuries. Such artifacts were well known in Medieval Russia, but they originate from the vicinity of Kiev. The cross from Samosdelka settlement refers to the period from the middle to late 12th century. It is likely to have been brought to the Volga delta by one of the Russian merchants. The small quantity of objects of Christian worship, as well as the lack of any information about the Christians in the Lower Volga region during the 12th–13th centuries in written sources make us to conclude about the weakness of direct contacts between the Christian regions and the area of Saqsin, which was generally Islamized at that time. The obtained results are important to describe the cultural situation in the Lower Volga region on the eve of the Mongol invasion.

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