The culture of Russia is considered one of the richest and most diverse in the world, which is confirmed by the countless works of Russian artists recognized by world classics. However, Russia did not become a pioneer in cultural terms, since even the letter arose much later than its distribution in Europe and Asia.
The origins
Unfortunately, today there is too little information that allows you to accurately establish the presence of writing among the Slavs before the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet. It is known that the Slavs "read by features and cuts." Cyril, one of the creators of the first alphabet in the history of Russia, was able to discover the Gospel written in "Russian letters", but over the past years it is not known whether this was a Slavic letter. With the same degree of probability, this could be a text written by a certain Central Asian people. Arab travelers claimed that on the tombstones of certain "Russians" and in their religious buildings names were displayed by hand, but the nationality of the letter remained unsolved. German chronicles have preserved the memory of certain eastern tribes living in the territory of modern Russia and having their own written language, but their belonging to our ancestors is a big question. Archaeological excavations made it possible to establish that in the middle of the 10th century the inhabitants of present Smolensk left inscriptions on ceramics. However, most of the evidence does not have a solid foundation and cannot be taken as proof of the ancient Slavs writing.
Cyril and Methodius
Two famous educators, Cyril and Methodius, did not teach in the territory inhabited by the Eastern Slavs, although, of course, they knew about the peoples living here and hatched plans to spread their teachings in these parts. What ways their teachings fell into the territory of Russia is unknown. It is only known that even before the adoption of Christianity by Russia (988), there were groups of Christians who used the Cyrillic alphabet. After Baptism, the alphabet began its mass distribution, it was taught to the children of rich and noble people. A large number of monuments have been preserved, allowing to verify the penetration of the Cyrillic alphabet into Russia: birch bark letters, inscriptions on churches, swords, princely decrees. Literacy was considered extremely honorable, and a literate person was very much appreciated in society.
