Methods of food production and reflection of Bashkir food symbols in the epic Ural-Batyr

Abstract

The aim of the study is to consider the most important Bashkirs source of the spiritual culture – epic Ural-Batyr on the subject of the ritual of honoring some wild animals and birds reflect food simbolism, changes in the economic activities of the people, the move to producing forms of farming. The relevance of the article is due to the fact that no such analysis of the Ural-Batyr epic has been undertaken so far. The main methods used in this work are comparative-historical and retrospective. The main part of the article says that the epic Ural-Batyr, like many other ancient Bashkir epics, is rich in everyday stories. Food in the epic Ural-Batyr often appears in a symbolic, sacred meaning. It is emphasized that the head is a receptacle of wisdom, and the one who has tasted the head of a male animal receives its life force and courage. The animal's heart was also considered sacred, but with the opposite, female symbolism, representing personified softness and femininity. In the epic works of the Bashkirs, there are also features of a commercial cult, ritual veneration and taboo of some wild animals and birds (swan, crane, bear, etc.); the ban on hunting swans is particularly stipulated. Blood in the ancient culture of many peoples was strictly taboo, it was allowed to shed (for example, hunting, war) only after certain initialization rites. The symbolism of the apple is transparent and clear – this tradition comes from ancient times and is associated with eating the forbidden fruit that caused the fall of man; but at the same time, in mythology, the apple also gives a person knowledge. The epic Ural-Batyr also reflects pictures of the historical epoch of the period of transition of Bashkir society to the producing branches of the economy, in particular to cattle breeding. The main results of the study include the following conclusions: the food symbols of the Bashkirs, reflected in the epic Ural-Batyr, are similar to those of other peoples; this may indicate both the common historical roots and the development of the spiritual culture of the Bashkir ancestors in the mainstream of universal culture.

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