thumb|[[Wax tablet|Cera (a tablet for teaching literacy) with a carved Rus' ornament. The reverse side. Novgorod. 12th century.]]
thumb|A miniature from the [[Spassky Gospels, Yaroslavl, made in the 1220s]]
The culture of Kievan Rus' spans the cultural developments in Kievan Rus' from the 9th to 13th century of the Middle Ages. The Kievan monarchy came under the sphere of influence of the Byzantine Empire, one of the most advanced cultures of the time, and adopted Christianity during the Christianization of Kievan Rus'. After the gradual fragmentation of the dynasty into many Rus' principalities in the 13th century, Kievan Rus' culture faded with the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, and Batu Khan's establishment of the Golden Horde as the regional hegemon of Eastern Europe.
Architecture
left|thumb|[[Kolt with two birds flanking a tree of life; 11th–12th century; cloisonné enamel & gold; overall: 5.4 x 4.8 x 1.5 cm (2 x 1 x in.); made in Kiev (Ukraine); Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)]]
Architecture was exemplified by Byzantine masters building their first cathedrals in the realm, and decorating their interiors with mosaics and murals. Samples of pictorial art, such as icons and miniatures of illuminated manuscripts, came to Kiev and other cities from Constantinople. The most important cathedral of Kievan Rus' became Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, named after the principal cathedral of the Byzantine capital, the Hagia Sophia.
Religion
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 ().
With the adoption of Christianity, the principalities of the Rus' became part of a book culture. Although written language had been in use in the Rus’ lands for quite some time, it was only after the baptism of the Rus' that written language spread throughout the principalities. The development of the local literary language was associated with Christianity, and strongly influenced by Old Church Slavonic. An abundance of translated literature laid the foundation for the development of Russia's own writing traditions. At its early stages, the most typical genres were sermons, lives of the saints (for example, Life of Boris and Gleb), descriptions of military campaigns (the famous Tale of Igor's Campaign), and compositions of chronicles (Primary Chronicle).
References
Bibliography
- (e-book).