Stary Dzyedzin ( be, Стары Дзедзін; russian: Старый Дедин, Stary Dedin) is a village in

Klimavichy District Klimavichy District ( be, Клімавіцкі раён, russian: Климовичский район, ''Klimovichsky raion'') is a district in Mogilev Region, Belarus. The administrative center is the town of Klimavichy Klimavichy ( be, Клiм� ...

Mogilev Region Mogilev Region or Mogilev Oblast or Mahiliow Voblasts ( be, link=no, Магілёўская вобласць; ''Mahiloŭskaja voblasć''; russian: link=no, Могилёвская область; ''Mogilyovskaya Oblast''), is a region (''oblast'' ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. It is part of Kisyalyova Buda

selsoviet Selsoviet ( be, сельсавет, r=sieĺsaviet, tr. ''sieĺsaviet''; rus, сельсовет, p=ˈsʲelʲsɐˈvʲɛt, r=selsovet; uk, сільрада, silrada) is a shortened name for a rural council and for the area governed by such a cou ...

. It is situated on the right bank of the

Ostyor River The Ostyor (russian: Остёр), or Ascior official transliteration ( be, Асцёр) is a river in Pochinkovsky, Roslavlsky, and Shumyachsky Districts of Smolensk Oblast in Russia and in Klimavichy and Krychaw Districts of Mogilev Region of Be ...

(a left tributary of the Sozh River), north of the Ivatsevichy– Babruysk– Krychaw highway which leads to the border with Russia.

Etymology

According to local legend, the first settler of this area was an old man (" be, дзед, dzyed), who lived for 125 years. Hence, "Dzyedzin" comes from the word "dzyed". Other sources say that the name comes from the word "dzyedzina" which was used in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and meant a type of feudal household that transferred from the grandfather (also called "dzyed" in Belarusian) to the grandson. Thus "dzyedzina" literally means “grandfather’s”. Initially, it was the center of an estate that included several nearby villages. Later, another village with the same name appeared nearby and people began to call them Stary (Old) Dzyedzin and Novy (New) Dzeydzin. These names remain to this day.

History

Archeological investigations discovered that the first appearance of man in this area took place in the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

. Several thousand years ago these territory was inhabited by Finnic peoples that is evident by the name of the Ostyor River that has Finnic origins. First Indo-Europeans approximately came here in the 2nd millennium BC, probably from the south, going up the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

, the Sozh River and their tributaries. Those people were ancestors of modern Baltic people. First

Slavic people Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

came here from south the same way approximately in 8th-9th centuries, they were the Radimichs. But in the nearby area were found the traces of Krivichs, another Slavic group of tribes, who lived to the north. This shows that this area could be a mixed ethnic zone. Archeological investigations in 1926 of several tumuli ( kurgans) near the village discovered Radimichs’ burial sites referred to 10th-13th centuries. Dzyedzin's

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

''(see below)'' buried here in late 10th century can be considered as evidence that a settlement existed on this place at those times but that it was not necessarily a predecessor of Stary Dzyedzin itself. Nevertheless, 985 was taken as a symbolic date of its foundation. In August 2010 the 1025th anniversary of the village was solemnly celebrated. A settlement under the name "Dzyedzin" was first mentioned in the documents of 16th century. Archeologists discovered the traces of houses that were built in 14th-18th centuries. In the 12th-14th centuries this area belonged to the

Principality of Smolensk The Principality of Smolensk (eventually Grand Principality of Smolensk) was a Kievan Rus' lordship from the 11th to the 16th century. Until 1127, when it passed to Rostislav Mstislavich, the principality was part of the land of Kiev. The princip ...

, in the 14th century it became a part of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

, then was later included in the

Mścisław Voivodeship Mstislaw Voivodeship or Mścisław Voivodeship ( be, Амсьці́слаўскае ваяво́дзтва, pl, Województwo Mścisławskie, la, Palatinatus Mscislaviensis) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand ...

. At the time of Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars it was situated near the new frontier and suffered from the wars of the next two centuries. In 1740–1744, Stary Dzyedzin probably was touched by the Krychaw peasant rebellion under Vasil Vashchyla. Stary Dzyedzin became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

after the first partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. At the time of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the Soviet-Polish War the village was located near the front line, but wasn’t touched by it. Stary Dzyedzin became part of the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

in 1924, after the first enlargement of the territory of the republic. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the village was occupied by German troops in early August 1941 and liberated in the late September 1943. 138 inhabitants of Dzyedzin died in this war.

Culture

The natives from the village conserve traditions that their ancestors followed for centuries. For forty years, Halina Brykava has led a folk ensemble "Astranka" ( be, Астранка) that is named after the Ostyor river. Its participants collect local folksongs and perform them. Scholars from the Leningrad University came here several times to listen and record these songs. Stary Dzyedzin is also known for its tradition of

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

and

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

, continued by Vera Tserentsievna Stalyarov. Stary Dzyedzin is famous for its ancient ritual of claiming for rain. When the weather is very dry the women "plough" the Ostyor River and sing special songs that first time were dedicated to claim for the spirit of rain. This ritual has very deep

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

roots.

Treasure of Stary Dzyedzin

Stary Dzyedzin became famous after one of the oldest monetary treasures on the territory of Belarus was found there. In 1926, a peasant named Traphim Hudkou found a pot full of ancient coins while working on his land.

Ales Ales may refer to: Places * Alès, a town and commune in southern France * Ales, Sardinia, a small town in the province of Oristano on Sardinia in Italy People with the surname * Alexander Ales (1500–1565), Scottish theologian * Mikoláš Aleš ...

and

Pavel Prudnikau Pavel Ivanovich Prudnikau (July 14, 1911 – March 16, 2000) was a Belarusian writer. He was a cousin of another Belarusian writer, Ales Prudnikau. Early years and the first steps of activity in literature Pavel Prudnikau was born into a large pea ...

wrote an article in the newspaper "Belarusian village" about it. Scientists decided to explore it and the treasure was sent to Minsk. After a special analysis it was concluded that the treasure was buried between 980 and 985, and contained 204 ancient coins: 201 Kufic

dirham The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...

s, 2 German denarii and 1 miliaresion among them. Dirhams were printed in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, Hamedan,

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

and other places. Probably, this treasure belonged to the rich merchant and was buried here in the secret place because this area could be a collateral line of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. This treasure was kept in the Belarusian State Museum, but was lost during the Second World War. In 2010, a memorial sign about Dzyedzin’s treasure was established in Dzyedzin.

Notable people

* Ivan Dzemidzenka, doctor of veterinary medicine, professor, honoured scientist of BSSR * Mikalay Kavalyow, doctor of

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, professor * Lidziya Kirpichenka, honoured teacher of BSSR * Vital Makhanko, ingeneur-constructor of rockets of the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia * Ales Prudnikau, Belarusian poet *

, Belarusian poet, honoured worker of culture of the Republic of Belarus

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url = http://wikimapia.org/5134427/ru/Старый-Дедин , title = Satellite photo of the village – Wikimapia , accessdate = 2010-08-31 , language = ru Populated places in Mogilev Region Klimavichy District Villages in Belarus