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DOI: 10.46698/VNC.2022.84.45.009

MATERIALS ABOUT THE CULT COMPLEX МIĞDÆW IN THE SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE OF E.G. PCHELINA

Darchiev, Anzor V.
Izvestia SOIGSI. 2022. IIS 45 (84).
Abstract:
This publication contains the ethnographic and archaeological research by Evgenia Georgievna
Pchelina (1895-1972) of the Мiğdæw sanctuary complex, located in the Ursdon Gorge (a branch of
the Alagir Gorge) in North Ossetia. Pchelina based her monographic research on the data collected
over a long period of time, none of which has so far been published, which is why it is an urgent task
to introduce at least a part of them into the scientific community. Pchelina was the first one to offer
a scientific interpretation of the theonym Мiğdæw, and all further etymological searches were based
on it. She was also the first researcher to express the idea of this deity possessing certain agrarian
functions. Pchelina describes the sacred objects in the sanctuary complex, focusing on its main part,
Мiğdæw Dzuar. She gives a lot of details on the festive rituals, religious, legal and military ceremonies
that took place there. The folklore texts she recorded about that sanctuary are of particular value,
because they shed light on certain little-known ethnographic details. Pchelina’s pictorial materials
related to the Мiğdæw sanctuary complex were extracted from scientific archives in Vladikavkaz
and St. Petersburg and have been published for the first time. They include photographs of the sacred
juniper trees in Мiğdæw Dzuar, views of its interior, the priests of the sanctuary etc. The topographic
map of the Мiğdæw sanctuary complex and plans of the sanctuaries of Мiğdæw Dzuar and Мiğdæw
Dzuar deserve special attention. The map can be used to create a unified database of cultural and
historical objects of North Ossetia with the necessary cartographic support, and professionally made
plans of sanctuaries can help in the restoration of them. The information contained in the published
materials should contribute to a deeper study of the traditional Ossetian society.
Keywords: Eugenia Pchelina, Ursdon gorge, Мiğdæw, sanctuary, cult complex, Dzugaevs, Ambalovs
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