If we turn to the ancient Russian chronicles, we find out that our ancestors lived in an environment of enduring holiness. "God's regiment" in heaven helped Alexander Nevsky to defeat the Germans. "Bright youths" (innocently killed Boris and Gleb) helped the Russian army on the Kulikovo field, and so on. And at the same time, in the confessional canons and prayer books of the sixteenth century. the repentance of monks (monks, not laity!) is described, who "in the church, standing singing and sitting reading, erected with their own hands … their shameful udas and, having done reprisals, in that filthy way entered the holy altar and touched the holy thing." And in the lists of sins characteristic of the black clergy, even such as "thinking on holy icons with lust" is called. But icons are not Playboy magazines, are they? That is, literature is one thing and life is quite another. And what is most interesting - it has always been this way and this is the most amazing thing. It is one thing when the artist Jan Matejko depicts on his canvas "The Battle of Grunwald" St. Stanislaus, one of the heavenly patrons of Poland, who asks God for the gift of victory, and quite another when, as a historical fact, the historian reports, for example, that can hardly be taken as historical evidence.
Well, are there examples of the distant past when people, in spite of everything: education, public opinion, traditions, opposed religion and God, or gods (and the latter, of course, required special courage, because in the era of polytheism, the amount of people's knowledge was very small!) … Any facts about that? Yes there is!
Anubis weighs the heart of the deceased on the scales of truth of the goddess Maat.
For example, here is the history of ancient Egypt. What is she talking about? That there was a universal cult of death. People only did so that, to the best of their strength and capabilities, they prepared to continue their existence in the next world. Pharaohs built tombs, and even the poor, collected ushabti from clay. Moreover, they were also embalmed, albeit in a very simple way. So … they believed in their gods? But here we are reading the "Speech" of a certain Ipuser (beginning of the 18th century BC), and what then? In them, he informs not only that “the tsar has been captured by poor people,” but also that the most “hotheads” have come to the point of disbelief in God. He writes that they say: "If I knew where God is, then I would sacrifice to him."
But, perhaps, the most remarkable monument expressing the doubt of the ancient Egyptian in the divine is the "Song of the Harper", which has come down to us in the record of the 14th century. BC NS. And here's what it says:
Nobody comes from there
to tell - what happened to them, To talk about their stay
To cheer up our hearts …
Follow your heart while you are alive
Put myrrh on your head
dress in fine fabrics, Wash yourself with beautiful real ointments of the gods, Multiply your pleasures even more, Don't let your heart be upset
Follow his desire and your good, Do your thing on earth
according to the dictates of your heart
And do not be sad until you come
day crying for you, -
The one whose heart does not beat does not listen to complaints, And crying won't bring anyone back from the grave.
So, celebrate a joyful day and don't be sad
For no one takes away his good with him, And none of those who went there
haven't come back yet.
That is, it is obvious that even in Egyptian society there were atheistic ideas and they were formed on the basis of denying belief in an afterlife. Although the reality of the gods themselves was not disputed, they recognized the natural phenomena around man, plants and animals.
And here is another text of an ancient rationalist: “A man perished, and his body became dust, and all his relatives died, but the scriptures do what he recalls in the mouth of a reader, for a scroll is more useful than a builder's house than a prayer house in the west; it is better than a fortified castle and than a slab dedicated to a temple”(Translated by M. E. Mathieu). Just think about his words: a scroll is more useful than a prayer house! This happened in the Middle Ages, the author would have been waiting for a fire as the most vile of heretics!
However, this is passive atheism, at the level of the expressed opinion, even if it has become (most likely, has become) the property of the broad masses. But were there in ancient times people so shameless and courageous as to use their disbelief in personal wholes?
The Maya Indians, when they came under the rule of the Spaniards, knew the "Book of Chilam Balam" from Chumayel (the name of the village where it was discovered), which preserved a sample of the ancient Maya epic. In it, an unknown scribe wrote down an ancient legend: "Song of the capture of the city of Chich'en-Itza." In the translation of Yu. V. Knorozov, it sounds like this:
Such a mark was left by Vladyka Hunak Keel.
Song.
… I was a young boy in Chich'en Itza, When the evil leader of the army came to seize the country.
They are here!
Chich'en Itza is now grief.
The enemies are coming!
Hey! On day 1 Imish
The lord (Chich'en-Itza) was captured at the Western well.
Hey! Where have you been, god?
Hey! It was on day 1 Imish, he said.
Chich'en Itza is now grief.
… I speak in my song about what I remembered.
It is clear that the "Song of the capture of the city of Chich'en Itza" was composed by an eyewitness to the events associated with the defeat of this city-state. He cries about the terrible invasion of enemies and calls the name of the leader of the enemies who destroyed the city of Chichen Itza - "lord Hunak Keel." But who is this Hunak Keel and why did he go to war against the city of Chich'en Itza? "Song" does not answer these questions. However, we are lucky, we still know a lot of this story.
An important source of information about the life of the Maya Indians are the "codes" that have come down to us, texts written on sheets of ficus and the book "Chilam Balam", which appeared after the arrival of the Spaniards. There is also a famous temple in Bonampak, which in the Mayan language means "painted wall", which gave the city its modern name. Today he is widely known for his wall murals, which are outstanding works of art in pre-Hispanic America. Wall murals are found in the first Bonampak temple, the city's only multiplex facility. The total area occupied by frescoes in three rooms is 144 m². Each room is a room 9 meters long and 7 meters high. The walls and ceiling depict the ruler and his successor, scenes of war, court, dance scenes, as well as the sacrifice of women from high society. The frescoes help represent the social structure of Maya society in the second half of the first millennium AD. NS. This is how these murals look unadorned.
And here is the reconstruction of images.
It is known that after the invasion of the Toltecs, the pantheon of local gods was enriched by a new supreme deity - K'uk'ulkan, the Feathered Serpent. The fact that the name of the god is named in the Mayan language suggests that the aliens adopted not only the culture, but even the Mayan language, otherwise why would they need to translate the name of their god, the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl, into their language?
"Temple of Kukulkan" - a nine-step pyramid (height 24 meters) - "Mecca" for modern tourists in Yucatan.
The city of Chich'en Itza ruled over other Mayan cities for over 200 years. This time is usually called the hegemony of the city of Chich'en-Itza. "Chen" in the Mayan language means "well", and "Chich'en" literally means "mouth" or "hole". “Itza” is the self-name of one of the Maya-Kiche tribes, so Chich'en-Itza can be translated as “Well (of the people) Itza”. And, yes, indeed, within the city to this day there is a giant well (cenote - as they are called here), created by nature itself.
The famous cenote of the city of Chichen Itza! The depth is about 50 m.
And not only the name of the city is connected with it, but also the beginning of the end of the two-hundred-year hegemony of its rulers over other Mayan cities. Here is what the famous historian Yu. V. Knorozov writes about this in his monograph “Writing of the Maya Indians”: “In the end, the hegemony of Chich'en Itza began to cause discontent in other cities. All sources associate the beginning of internecine wars with the name of the Mayapan ruler Hunak Keel (from the Kavich clan), who at first was in the service of the Mayapan ruler Ah Mesh Kuk.
And here is the dredge, with the help of which from this well his first explorer, the American consul Edward Thompson, extracted various archaeological finds from the bottom of the cenote in 1904-1907.
At this time, there was a custom to throw living people into the Sacred Well of Chich'en Itza as "messengers" to the gods. These "messengers", of course, never returned. Ah Mesh Kuk chose Hunak Keel as such a victim, but the latter managed to somehow get out of the well, after which, as a messenger who visited the gods, he achieved the proclamation of himself the lord (ahav) of Mayapan …"
Procession of priests on a fresco from Bonampak.
This is what Yuri Knorozov wrote, but now let's see what could be behind these words of his. Firstly, the famous well is simply striking in its size: it is almost round, as if it had been drilled with a giant drill, and reaches a diameter of about sixty meters!
And you think that someone could get out of here without help?
From the edge of the well to the surface of its water - twenty meters, so hitting the surface of the water (if you are thrown there), the pleasure is below average. But even if you jumped there yourself, then … in the lush attire of the "messenger to the gods", with jewelry made of jade and gold on your hands and feet, it was easier to drown in it!
The Bonampak Temple: Another Modern Renovation.
Looking from above at the blue-green waters of the Sacred Well, it is impossible to imagine how a person could get out of there without outside help. But not only did no one help Hunak Keel, on the contrary, there were priests at the edges of the well, and if the “messenger” to the gods had a desire to get to the surface, they would dissuade him of the correctness of such an intention with a hail of stones.
The temple was erected in 790 in honor of the city's victory over the neighboring kingdom. Here it is to the right of the stele under the roof. The room has three entrances. The murals in one of the rooms are not finished yet.
And here is how the same is described in the book by V. A. Kuzmishchev "The Mystery of the Mayan Priests": this event happened in the "twentieth anniversary" of 8 Ahab. (In a transfer from the "short account" of the Maya 1185 - 1204 AD.) Itza, because of the conspiracy of Hunak Keel, ruler of the Mayapan fortress …"
Mayapan: pyramids and observatory.
"Pyramid of the Wonderworker" - the city of Uxmal.
That is, it seemed little to the designated Hunak Keel that he escaped from the well and the priests made him the ruler of Mayapan. He harbored a fierce resentment in his heart … the ruler Chuck Shib Chuck, who can be seen there in the well and sent and overthrew him!
Battle scene from Bonampak.
That is, look at what happens: this same Hunak Keel A - did not believe in the gods (is it with the Mayans ?!), did not believe in their revenge, did not believe in the priests, B - besides him, there were at least two other people, who helped him. A - to be saved in the well (how he settled down there, that he was not seen from above and how he breathed until the priests left, we can only guess), B - to escape from the well, which required a rope ladder or at least a rope with knots. C - they hid him for three days, D - they got him red paint and helped him down again on the third day, when the priests came to ask the messenger if he had returned from the gods.
Observatory "Karakol" in Tsichen Itza.
Okay Copernicus, okay Giordano Bruno and Galelevo Galilei - there is already science and a telescope. And besides, they did not deny the existence of God. Martin Luther did not deny him either, he wanted a cheap church. However, the Mayans also had their own observatories … Almost in every city of them!
Ahab - to win, and in front of him are defeated enemies with torn nails. They certainly won't run away like that! The white rectangle at the bottom is the door.
And then the man knew that he was a "messenger to the gods", that the well-being of the people depends on him, whether it will rain or not, and whether there will be a harvest or there will be famine. And so he was not afraid of any of this, he managed to organize his salvation and appearance in advance, that is, he found people who were not afraid of the wrath of the gods either and did not denounce him. Could it be the priests themselves?
Full storyboard of Bonampak's "battle hall".
No, they couldn't! Reason should have told them that they were creating a dangerous precedent in the eyes of the people. And what could he, the returned messenger, give them, the almighty priests of the almighty gods, who sent hundreds of people to the sacrificial tables of the almighty Kukulkan. After all, he himself was on horseback, that is, a commander, but come on - he fell into a well as a victim! That is, everyone was sent as a sacrifice, regardless of their faces! And only one person, who did not believe in anything, managed to use the faith of other people in his favor. And neither gods nor people punished him!
Halach Vinik Bonampaka.
