Arsania

And Russ three groups. The group closest to Bulgar , and their king in a city called Kuyaba , and he is larger than Bulgar . And the upper group of them, called al-Slaviya , and their king in the city of Salau, and their group, called al-Arsaniya, and their king sits in Ars, their city. And people with the commercial goals of Cuiaba and its environs reach. As for Arsa, I did not hear anyone mention the achievement of it by strangers, because the local people kill all the strangers who come to them. They themselves go down the water for trade and do not report anything about their affairs and goods, and do not allow anyone to follow themselves and enter their country. <...> Black sables, black foxes and tin (lead?) And a certain number of slaves are taken from Ars. ^[one]

- Abu Ishaq al-Istahri , “Kitab al-masalik wa-l-mamalik”, 970s

The information goes back to the lost work of the geographer al-Balkhi , written about 920, and is reproduced by his followers, the so-called "classical school" of geographers: Istahri , Ibn Haukal , and later authors: Khudud al-alam , Al-Idrisi . It is reported that the Arsans have their own ruler, whose residence is the city of Ars. They do not let strangers in and trade themselves, swim in Cuiaba and sell lead and sables . It should be noted that black sables live in the taiga of modern Russia , namely from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean , to the north to the limits of forest vegetation ^[2] , exactly the same way, black foxes live in Siberia . ^[3]

Unlike Cuiaba and Slavia , whose etymology and location are quite transparent ^[4] , the identification of Arsania remains an unresolved historical problem due to the absence of any parallel data.

Southern Version

The southern hypotheses were based on the inaccurate translation of Istahri made in the 19th century, in which Arsania was placed between the Khazars and the Volga Bulgars . In historiography, points of view were expressed about its location on the site of Tmutarakan ( V.V. Mavrodin , G.V. Vernadsky ), about the identity with the Dnieper city of Roden ( B.A. Rybakov ), about the identity of Arsa and Ryazan ( V.F. Minorsky ). Opinions were also expressed about the Yutanovsky settlement in the floodplain of the Oskol River, in which adherents see the largest “metallurgical complex” in Eastern Europe ^[5] .

Northern Version

The list of goods exported from Arsania indicates rather the northern location of Arsania.

A fascination with the similarity of names led to speculation about the identity of Arsania with the Slavic sanctuary on Cape Arkona ^[6] and with the land of the Erzyan .

In Russian historiography of recent decades, the dominant hypothesis is the location of Arsania in the Rostov region. At the same time, the availability of rich archaeological material in the Sarskoye fortification , Timerev and other points of the Volga Trade Route is at the forefront ^[7] .

Less often than Rostov, in connection with Arsania, Suzdal and Beloozero , as well as Smolensk and Orsha are mentioned in scientific publications.

Artania is a Russian symphonic black metal band.

• Asgard
• Gnezdovo mounds
• Russian Kaganate
• Yutanovskoe settlement
• Guy

• Damask steel from Yutanovka: a story about the Russian Haganate and the medieval city of Arsa / A. G. Nikolaenko, A. V. Stepova. - Fiber, 2005.
• Dubov I.V. Cities shining with majesty / Reviewers: dr. Sciences G. L. Kurbatov , Ph.D. East. Sciences E.N. Nosov . - L .: Publishing house Leningrad. University, 1985.- S. 53. - 184 p. - 20,000 copies.
• Novoseltsev A.P. Eastern sources about the Eastern Slavs and Rus of the VI — IX centuries. - M. , 1965.