The study of the pagan culture of the
Early East Slavs is based on
excavations. One of the finds was the
Zbruch Idol, a stone figure of a
deity with four faces.
Dobrynya and the Dragon was one of the monuments of
epic literature of Rus’. This new cultural era dates back to the
Christianization of Kievan Rus’ in 989, when the principalities of
Kievan Rus' came under the sphere of influence of the
Byzantine Empire, one of the most advanced cultures of the time.
Vladimir the Great's political choice determined the subsequent development of the Rus’ culture. The
metropolitan Hilarion of Kiev wrote his work
Sermon on Law and Grace in the mid-11th century, confirming the basics of Kievan Rus' new Christian world outlook. Nevertheless, the text mentions the non-Christian, pagan, shamanistic Turkic title of
khagan () throughout the text, a total of five times, and applies it to both
Vladimir the Great, ), and his son Georgij, baptismal name of
Yaroslav the Wise (). Scholar
Charles J. Halperin (1987) agreed with Peter B. Golden (1982) that this reflected Khazar influence on Kievan Rus', and argued that the use of a "steppe title" in Kiev 'may be the only case of the title's use by a non-nomadic people'. Halperin also found it "highly anomalous" that a Christian prelate like Hilarion would 'laud his ruler with a shamanist title', adding in 2022: "The Christian ethos of the sermon is marred by Ilarion's attribution to Vladimir of the Khazar title
kagan, which was definitely not Christian." The metropolitan of Kiev was subordinated to the
Patriarch of Constantinople. The Rus' principalities adopted the Byzantine culture during a time when the
apogee of the
Eastern Roman Empire had already been overcome, but its decline was still far ahead. Byzantium remained the only direct successor of the
Hellenistic world, which had applied the artistic achievements of antiquity to the spiritual experience of Christianity. Byzantine culture differed from the rest of the world by its refined taste and sophistication.
Byzantine art differed in the depth of religious substance and virtuosity of formal methods. The principal achievement of Byzantine
theology was the
ecclesiastic writings of the holy fathers. The high cultural level of Greek teachers posed difficult tasks for Kievan Rus'. Nevertheless, art of the Rus' principalities of the tenth century differed from Byzantine
prototypes of the same period. The peculiarities of the first Rus' works of art, created by the "visiting" Greeks, included a magnitude and representativeness which demonstrated the ambitions of the young Rus' state and its princely authority. Byzantine influence, however, couldn't spread quickly over the enormous territory of Rus' lands, and their Christianization would take several centuries. For example, there were numerous
pagan uprisings in the principalities of
Suzdal and
Rostov until the twelfth century, led by the
volkhvy (pagan priests). There are different concepts on the correlation of Christianity and pagan beliefs among the East Slavs. Among them is the concept of a "double faith", the coexistence and mutual penetration of two
religions—the "popular" and the "official". Popular culture has long been defined by pagan beliefs, especially in the remote regions of Kievan Rus'. Subsequently, it was defined by a simplified interpretation of Christianity and by
superstitions, similar to what had happened in
Western European culture. However, Russian historians' idea of the popular culture after Christianization is primarily based on indirect data and suppositions. At the same time, the culture of the ecclesiastical and secular
elite is known for its monuments, which do not allow historians to make confident conclusions on pagan penetration of religious beliefs of Medieval Rus'. Historians prefer to speak of a parallel development of popular and "elitist" cultures. They certainly give credit to the earlier traditions of the Early East Slavs and
Finnic peoples without, however, overestimating their significance in forming elements of the culture. == Ornament ==