Thanks to our knowledge of history and archeology, we can say with confidence about some peoples: they came from here, moved here, and became this and that. But in many cases, the origin of entire ethnic groups is lost in the darkness of ancient times.
I bring to your attention a fascinating overview of various mysterious nationalities, some of which have already disappeared, while others have survived to modern times.
Russians
Imagine, no one still knows for sure where the Russian people came from and when exactly they became Russian. We don't even know where this word came from. Our distant ancestors are also shrouded in darkness: among them anthropologists identify the Scythians, Sarmatians, and Normans, but we do not know which of them gave birth to the Russian nation.
Mayan
The Mayan civilization began before the beginning of our era and lasted until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century AD - 3,600 years. The Mayans were an amazingly advanced civilization: even before the beginning of our era, they developed a calendar, improved agriculture, had astronomical knowledge, and had hieroglyphic writing.
True, towards the end, the Mayan civilization was in deep decline. Where they came from and why they disappeared without a trace is still unknown to science.
Laplanders (Sami)
The origin of this ancient people, living on Earth for at least five thousand years, is unknown. We also do not know which race they can be attributed to: Mongoloid or ancient Paleo-European. The Lapland language belongs to the Finno-Ugric group of languages, but it is divided into a dozen dialects that differ significantly from each other.
Prussians
The first evidence of the existence of the Prussians appears only in the ninth century, and the last representatives of this people were destroyed by the plague of 1709–1711. References to the Prussians appear in many Indo-European languages, perhaps coming from the word purusa, which is translated from Sanskrit as “man”. However, we also know nothing about the Prussian language.
The Kingdom of Prussia appeared later, in the 17th century, and its population has little relation to the Russian tribe.
Cossacks
Cossacks consider themselves a separate people, but this is not so: modern Cossacks consist of representatives different nations. Researchers name the Scythians, Circassians, Khazars, Goths and other tribes among the supposed ancestors of the Cossacks. Cossack ancestral roots are found in the Azov region, in the North Caucasus and even in Western Turkestan.
Parsis
At the moment there are only 130 thousand Parsis on Earth. This ancient people comes from Asia and its representatives are united not only by ethnic, but also religious roots: the Parsis are followers of Zoroastrianism and very carefully preserve their culture and traditions for many centuries in a row. For example, their custom is known to leave the dead in the so-called “towers of silence”, where the bodies are eaten by vultures.
Hutsuls
The Hutsuls are called “Ukrainian highlanders,” but the origin of this name is not reliably known. Some researchers suggest that the word Hutsul comes from the word gots - robber (Moldavian), others that from the word kochul - shepherd. The Hutsuls support the traditions of witchcraft, and they still have sorcerers - white and black. They are called molfars and absolutely everyone obeys them.
Hittites
These people were highly respected in ancient times. The Hittites were quite developed; they had a constitution for the first time. The Hittites developed war chariots and worshiped the double-headed eagle. Where and when these people disappeared is unknown. Possibly mixed with ancient Germanic tribes.
Sumerians
Sumerian civilization is one of the most developed and mysterious. It is known for certain that the Sumerians had a written language, developed a water supply system for crops, spoke a complex tone language in which the meaning of words depended on intonation, and also had an amazingly deep understanding of mathematics. But we don’t know where the Sumerians came from and to what language group referred to their language.
Etruscans
The Etruscans inhabited the territory of modern Italy, and their civilization was quite developed. Researchers admit that it was the Etruscans who invented Roman numerals. It is not known what caused the decline of the Etruscans and where they subsequently went, but there is an opinion that it was from them that the Slavs subsequently descended: Etruscan and Slavic languages have a similar structure.
Armenians
Where did the Armenians come from? There are several assumptions. According to one of them - from ancient state Urartu, with the population of which the Armenians have a common genetic component. In another way, Hayas, located east of the kingdom of the Hittites, should be considered the homeland of the Armenians. Most likely, the Armenians appeared as a result of the mixing of several ethnic groups and the rooting of common traditions among them.
Gypsies
Gypsies are of Indian origin, but it was so long ago that Europeans in the Middle Ages called the Gypsies Egyptians - apparently, these people lived for a long time in the territory of Ancient Egypt. It is thanks to the gypsies that we know tarot cards - the tradition of fortune telling with them belongs to the Egyptians. In addition, the gypsies embalmed their dead and buried them in crypts, like pharaohs, accompanied by various property for the “afterlife.”
Jews
Everything about these people is so unclear that it is not even known what exactly the Jews were at the dawn of time: a nationality, a religious group or a social class. It is quite possible that in ancient times all fans of Judaism, regardless of nationality, were called Jews.
In the eighth century, researchers lost sight of the fate of as many as 10 of the 12 Jewish families. There is a version that most European peoples descended from the Scythians and Cimmerians, who, in turn, are descendants of those ten missing clans. We also don't know where the Ashkenazim come from or how close they are to the Jews of the Middle East.
Guanches
The Guanches inhabited the island of Tenerife, now part of Spain. They knew how to build rectangular pyramids, similar to the pyramids of the Mayans and Aztecs. We do not know what these pyramids were intended for and when they were built, nor how the Guanches got to Tenerife: they clearly did not have seafaring skills and did not have ships.
Khazars
We know about this tribe only from the records of historians of neighboring tribes. There is no archaeological data that can shed light on the question of what Khazaria was like and what language its inhabitants spoke. And also where they went over time.
Basque
The Basques speak a completely unique relic language, Euskara, the likes of which are not found anywhere on Earth. This language does not belong to any modern language group, just as the Basques themselves do not belong to anyone: their set of genes is quite different from other peoples living in the neighborhood.
Chaldeans
They lived at the end of the second and beginning of the first millennium BC in the territory of Mesopotamia. The Chaldeans have Semitic roots. From 626–538 BC, the Chaldeans ruled Babylon, founding the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. They became famous for the great importance they placed on magic and astrology: Chaldean astrological forecasts were very popular among neighboring peoples for a long time.
Sarmatians
The Sarmatians remained in history as “lizard-headed” according to the historian Herodotus. This people had a popular deformation of the skull, which was clamped in a vice from infancy, due to which the skull acquired a flattened shape, reminiscent of a reptile. There is an assumption that the Sarmatians had a matriarchy, and also that the Russian headdress kokoshnik takes roots in the Sarmatian tradition.
Kalash
The Kalash are a mysterious nation, whose representatives currently live on the territory of Pakistan. The Kalash belong to the “white Asians” and consider themselves direct descendants of Alexander the Great. Whether this is true or not is unknown, but it is known that the Kalash language has a similar composition to Sanskrit.
Philistines
This people is mentioned in the Bible, where it is stated that they originate from the island of Crete. The Philistines, like the Hittites, knew how to smelt steel, which was inaccessible to all other peoples. We do not know where the Philistines disappeared to, but they probably merged with other peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Only on the territory of Russia live 65 small peoples, and the number of some of them does not exceed a thousand people. There are hundreds of similar peoples on Earth, and each carefully preserves its customs, language and culture.
Our top ten today includes the smallest peoples in the world.
10. Ginukh people
This small people lives on the territory of Dagestan, and its population is only 443 people as of the end of 2010. For a long time, the Ginukh people were not identified as a separate ethnic group, since the Ginukh language was considered only one of the dialects of the Tsez language widespread in Dagestan.
9. Selkups
Until the 1930s, representatives of this West Siberian people were called Ostyak-Samoyeds. The number of Selkups is just over 4 thousand people. They live mainly in the Tyumen and Tomsk regions, as well as the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
8. Nganasans
This people lives on the Taimyr Peninsula, and their number is about 800 people. Nganasans are the northernmost people in Eurasia. Until the middle of the 20th century, people led nomadic image life, driving herds of deer over vast distances, today the Nganasans live sedentary.
7. Orochons
The place of residence of this small ethnic group is China and Mongolia. The population is about 7 thousand people. The history of the people goes back more than a thousand years, and the Orochons are mentioned in many documents dating back to the early Chinese imperial dynasties.
6. Evenks
This indigenous people of Russia lives in Eastern Siberia. These people are the most numerous in our top ten - their numbers are quite sufficient to populate a small town. There are about 35 thousand Evenks in the world.
5. Chum salmon
Kets live in the north Krasnoyarsk region. The number of this people is less than 1500 people. Until the middle of the 20th century, representatives of the ethnic group were called Ostyaks, as well as Yeniseians. The Ket language belongs to the group of Yenisei languages.
4. Chulym people
The number of this indigenous people of Russia is 355 people as of 2010. Despite the fact that most of the Chulym people recognize Orthodoxy, the ethnic group carefully preserves some traditions of shamanism. Chulyms live mainly in the Tomsk region. It is interesting that the Chulym language does not have a written language.
3. Basins
The number of this people living in Primorye is only 276 people. The Taz language is a mixture of one of the Chinese dialects with the Nanai language. Now this language is spoken by less than half of those who consider themselves to be Taz.
2. Livs
This extremely small people lives on the territory of Latvia. From time immemorial, the main occupations of the Livs were piracy, fishing and hunting. Today the people have almost completely assimilated. According to official data, there are only 180 Livs left.
1. Pitcairns
This people is the smallest in the world and lives on the small island of Pitcairn in Oceania. The number of Pitcairns is about 60 people. All of them are descendants of the sailors of the British warship Bounty, who landed here in 1790. The Pitcairn language is a mixture of simplified English, Tahitian and maritime vocabulary.
Some peoples still do not consider themselves to be a community of people. The most ancient inhabitants of the coast of Lake Titicaca, the Indians of the Uru tribe, who lived in its vicinity back in the 8th millennium BC. e., for some reason they left the earth and moved to man-made reed islands that float on the surface of the lake. To this day, their descendants continue to live on the floating islands, enduring frequent storms and eating mainly fish, and have no intention of returning to the fertile shores. The French ethnographer Jean Velar, who studied this strange tribe for a long time, gives the aborigines' story about their origin: We are different, we are inhabitants of the lake, we are a cat-sun, we are not people. We began to live here even before the sun began to illuminate the earth... Even at a time when the earth was immersed in twilight, and when it was illuminated only by the moon and stars... When Lake Titicaca was much larger than now... Even then our fathers lived . No, we are not people... Our blood is black, so we do not feel the cold of the lake nights... We do not speak the language of people, and people do not understand what we are talking about. Our heads are shaped differently than other Indians. We are very ancient, the most ancient... We are non-humans! On the Gulf Coast from the 3rd millennium to the 4th century BC. e. lived a mysterious tribe of Olmecs. They had a developed mythology with an extensive pantheon of gods, erected massive stone structures, were skilled stone carvers and excellent potters. According to ancient legend, the Olmecs (“people from the land of rubber trees”) arrived by sea to the territory of modern Tabasco about 5 thousand years ago, sages sailed away, and the remaining people settled these lands and began to call themselves by the name of their great leader Olmec Wimtony. According to another legend, the Olmecs appeared as a result of the union of a divine jaguar and a mortal woman. The first and most ancient city of the Olmecs is considered to be San Lorenzo (1400-900 BC), in which, according to archaeologists, up to 5 thousand inhabitants lived. Here is the oldest pyramid known today in America, built in the form of a cone with a diameter at the base of about 130 meters. Two earthen mounds stretch from the pyramid, between which there is a stone mosaic platform in the shape of a jaguar’s face. A ball court, drainage systems and stone sculptures were built at San Lorenzo. At La Venta there are monumental earthen structures over 30 meters high. Their construction began in the 10th century BC. e. According to archaeologists, the volume of the pyramid at La Venta was 4,700 thousand cubic meters; its construction required 800 thousand man-days. On the territory of the Tres Zapotes settlement, with an area of three square kilometers, archaeologists discovered about 50 pyramidal hills. The Olmec country was decorated with giant stone heads ranging from 1.5 to 3 meters in height and weighing from 5 to 40 tons. They were first discovered by American archaeologist Matthew Stirling in the 1930s. He wrote about the first find then in his report: The head was carved from a separate massive basalt block. It rested on a foundation of rough stone blocks. Having been cleared of the ground, the head had a rather terrifying appearance. Despite its considerable size, it is processed very carefully and confidently, its proportions are ideal. Thick lips, wide noses and elongated earlobes indicate that the Olmecs, in their anthropological characteristics, are more consistent with the Negroid race than with the indigenous population of Central America. Basalt deposits, from of which huge heads are carved, are located several tens of kilometers from San Lorenzo. Moving boulders weighing up to 40 tons over such distances over rough terrain is no easy task. The famous traveler and scientist Miroslav Stingl writes in “Secrets of the Indian Pyramids”: They often talk about the difficulties of transporting the famous stone sculptures on Easter Island. But when, during my expedition to Easter Island, I compared the conditions of movement of the moai there with the transportation of stone blocks to La Venta - a transportation that the “jaguar Indians” organized 2500 years earlier than the Polynesians from Rapa Nui - I had to bow my head respectfully before the great deed... To carry out such a titanic work, undoubtedly, a certain organization and planning was required. The Olmec civilization was distinguished by hierarchy and narrow professionalization: specially trained people dealt with religious, administrative and economic issues. In addition to heads, the ancient Olmecs left other examples of monumental sculpture - stone steles with carved images, sarcophagi with reliefs. All of them are carved from basalt monoliths or other durable stone. The hands of the “jaguar Indians” also created various body decorations and jewelry - mainly from obsidian, jasper and jade. The most common drawings on reliefs are anthropomorphic images of a jaguar and a child jaguar. Perhaps the jaguar people performed the same role as the Egyptian god Thoth in ancient Egypt, that is, they were mentors of people or overseers appointed by the gods. Such a “supervisor” had to inspire not only respect, but also fear. Where the Olmecs came from to South America and where this amazing people disappeared - scientists have yet to answer these questions. It seems that the Olmecs worked as shift workers in the alien mines and were returned to their homeland when their labor was no longer needed. In the territory where the Olmecs lived, almost no burials of the dead were found. The six remains of bodies covered with half-rotten cloth, which archaeologists discovered in one of the buildings, may belong to Olmecs who died as a result of industrial injuries, or to Indians of other tribes who used ancient Olmec buildings to bury their dead. With ancient peoples South America In general, something strange was happening. The cultures of Chavin, Huari, Paracas, and Nazca, which had reached their peak, suddenly disappeared into oblivion. Many assumptions have been made regarding the mysterious decline of ancient civilizations, but scientists have not yet come to a consensus. In the 18th century XVII centuries BC e. in the steppe region Southern Urals a Bronze Age civilization developed with the code name “Land of Cities”, a contemporary of Stonehenge, the famous palaces of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture and Egyptian pyramids Middle Kingdom. In the territory stretching along the eastern slopes of the Urals (400 kilometers from north to south and 200 kilometers from east to west), more than two dozen ancient settlements, associated necropolises and hundreds of small unfortified settlements are currently known. Unique in its preservation and the most studied cultural complex Arkaim was discovered in 1987. It is a fortified settlement, the largest metallurgical center for the production of bronze and an astronomical observatory. The city was surrounded by two rings of powerful defensive walls, their thickness at the base was 4-5 meters. The outer wall was built from log cages filled with soil with the addition of lime, and the outside was lined with adobe blocks. A ditch 1.5-2.5 meters deep was dug around it. Two ring streets of dwellings adjoined the walls from the inside. In the center there was a platform in the shape of a slightly flattened circle with a diameter of 25-27 meters. Under the flooring of the circular street there was a storm sewer ditch with drainage wells, from where water purified by sand flowed into the river. Numerous metallurgical furnaces for smelting bronze were discovered in the settlement. When analyzing production waste for arsenic content, it turned out that residents used both local metal and those delivered from other, remote regions, possibly from the Kargaly steppes ( Orenburg region). The charcoal necessary for smelting the metal was delivered to this steppe zone “from the outside,” and the origin of tin, which is part of the bronze, is still inexplicable. Almost no copper objects were found during the excavations, which is very strange for the settlements where this metal was smelted in huge ( for that time) quantities. Perhaps the residents traded bronze with their neighbors, but then the nearby tribes would have had an abundance of bronze items, which is not confirmed by archaeological excavations. Where the smelted metal went is unknown. The biggest mystery is further fate this civilization. According to archaeological data, it turns out that in the 16th century BC. e. residents of all settlements in the “Country of Cities” simultaneously collected their belongings, burned the cities and disappeared in an unknown direction. No traces of invasion of other tribes into their territory were found. Undoubtedly, in the distant past, some civilizations that reached a high level of development died as a result of several disasters that occurred in 10,500 and 3500 BC. e. The first cataclysm was caused by the passage of a massive object near our planet. The second is the Great Flood, which killed almost the entire population of the Earth. The descendants of the people who miraculously survived these cataclysms still live in various regions of the globe.
Despite the efforts of historians and ethnographers, the history of these peoples still keeps its mysteries.
1. Russians
Yes, Russians are one of the most mysterious peoples. Scientists still cannot come to a consensus either about when Russians became “Russians” or about where this word actually came from. The question of the origin of the people remains controversial. The ancestors of the Russians included the Normans, the Scythians, the Sarmatians, the Wends, and even the South Siberian Usun people.
We do not know the origins of the Maya people, nor where they disappeared to. Some scientists trace the roots of the Mayans to the legendary Atlanteans, others believe that their ancestors were the Egyptians. The Mayans created effective system agriculture, had deep knowledge of astronomy. The calendar developed by the Mayans was also used by other peoples of Central America. They used a hieroglyphic writing system, partially deciphered. The Mayan civilization was very developed, but by the time the conquistadors arrived it was in deep decline, and the Mayans themselves seemed to have disappeared into history.
3. Laplanders
Laplanders are also called Sami and Lapps. The age of this ethnic group is at least 5000 years. Scientists are still arguing about who the Laplanders are and where they came from. Some consider this people to be Mongoloid, others argue that the Laplanders are Paleo-Europeans. The Sami language is classified as a Finno-Ugric language, but the Laplanders have 10 dialects of the Sami language, which are so different from each other that they can be called independent. This even makes it difficult for some Laplanders to communicate with others.
4. Prussians
The very origin of the Prussian name is shrouded in mystery. The first time it is found only in the 9th century in the form Brusi in a draft by an anonymous merchant, and later in Polish and German chronicles. Linguists find analogies for it in many Indo-European languages and believe that it goes back to the Sanskrit purusa - “man”. There is also no sufficient information preserved about the language of the Prussians. Its last bearer died in 1677, and the plague of 1709-1711 exterminated the last Prussians in Prussia itself. Already in the 17th century, instead of Prussian history begins the history of “Prussianism” and the kingdom of Prussia, the local population of which had little in common with the Baltic name of the Prussians.
5. Cossacks
The question of where the Cossacks came from still remains unresolved. Their homeland is found in the North Caucasus, the Azov region, and Western Turkestan. The ancestry of the Cossacks is traced back to the Scythians, Alans, Circassians, Khazars, Goths, and Brodniks. Supporters of all versions have their own arguments. Today the Cossacks are a multi-ethnic community, but they themselves like to insist that the Cossacks are a separate people.
6. Parsis
Parsis are an ethno-religious group of followers of Zoroastrianism in South Asia, of Iranian origin. Its number now amounts to less than 130 thousand people. Parsis have their own temples and so-called “towers of silence”, where, in order not to desecrate the sacred elements (earth, fire, water), they bury the dead (the corpses are pecked by vultures). Parsis are often compared to Jews; they were also forced to leave their homeland and are meticulous in matters of religious observance. The Iran League in India at the beginning of the 20th century promoted the return of Parsis to their homeland, reminiscent of the Zionism of the Jews.
7. Hutsuls
There is still debate about the meaning of the word “hutsul”. Some scientists believe that the etymology of the word goes back to the Moldavian “gots” or “guts”, which means “robber”, others - to the word “kochul”, which means “shepherd”. The Hutsuls are also called “Ukrainian highlanders.” Among them, the traditions of witchcraft are still strong. Hutsul sorcerers are called molfars. They can be white or black. Molfars enjoy unquestioned authority.
8. Hittites
The Hittite power was one of the most influential forces on the geopolitical map of the Ancient World. The first constitution appeared here, the Hittites were the first to use war chariots and revered the double-headed eagle, but information about the Hittites is still fragmentary. In their “tables about the courageous deeds” of kings there are many notes “on next year", but the year of the report is unknown. We know the chronology of the Hittite state from the sources of its neighbors. Remains open question: where did the Hittites disappear? Johann Lehmann in his book “Hittites. People of a Thousand Gods” gives a version that the Hittites went north, where they assimilated with the Germanic tribes. But this is just a version.
9. Sumerians
The Sumerians are the most interesting and still one of the most mysterious peoples of the Ancient World. We don't know where they came from or what language family belonged to their language. A large number of homonyms suggests that it was tonal (like, for example, modern Chinese), which means that the meaning of what was said often depended on intonation. The Sumerians were one of the most advanced peoples of their time, they were the first in the entire Middle East to use the wheel, create an irrigation system, invent a unique writing system, and the Sumerians’ knowledge of mathematics and astronomy is still amazing.
10. Etruscans
The ancient Etruscan people suddenly arose in human history, but also suddenly dissolved in it. According to archaeologists, the Etruscans inhabited the northwestern part of the Apennine Peninsula and created a fairly developed civilization there. It was the Etruscans who founded the first cities in Italy. Historians also believe that Roman numerals can also be called Etruscan. It is unknown where the Etruscans disappeared to. According to one version, they moved to the east and became the founders of the Slavic ethnic group. Some scientists argue that the Etruscan language is very close in structure to the Slavic ones.
11. Armenians
The origin of the Armenians remains a mystery. There are many versions. Some scientists correlate the Armenians with the people of the ancient state of Urartu, but the genetic component of the Urartians is present in genetic code Armenians as well as the genetic component of the same Hurrians and Luwians, not to mention the proto-Armenians. There are Greek versions of the origin of the Armenians, as well as the so-called “Hayasian hypotheses”, in which Hayas, the territory east of the Hittite kingdom, becomes the original homeland of the Armenians. Scientists have never given a final answer to the question of the origin of the Armenians and most often adhere to the migration-mixed hypothesis of Armenian ethnogenesis.
12. Gypsies
According to linguistic and genetic research, the ancestors of the Gypsies left the territory of India in numbers not exceeding 1000 people. Today there are about 10 million Roma in the world. In the Middle Ages, Gypsies in Europe were considered Egyptians. The word Gitanes itself is a derivative of the Egyptian. Tarot cards believed to be the last surviving remnant of the cult Egyptian god Thoth, were brought to Europe by the gypsies. It was not for nothing that they were called “Pharaoh’s tribe.” It was also amazing for Europeans that the gypsies embalmed their dead and buried them in crypts, where they placed everything necessary for life after death. These funeral traditions are still alive among the Roma today.
13. Jews
Jews are one of the most mysterious living peoples. For a long time it was believed that the very concept of “Jews” was cultural rather than ethnic. That is, that “Jews” were created by Judaism, and not vice versa. There are still fierce discussions in science about what the Jews originally were - a people, a social class or a religious denomination.
Mysteries in history Jewish people multitude. At the end of the 8th century BC, five-sixths of Jews disappeared completely - 10 out of 12 ethnic groups. Where they disappeared to is the big question. There is a version that from the Scythians and Cimmerians, as descendants of 10 tribes, come the Finns, Swiss, Swedes, Norwegians, Irish, Welsh, French, Belgians, Dutch, Danes, Irish and Welsh, that is, almost all European peoples. The question of the origin of the Ashkenazim and their closeness to Middle Eastern Jews also remains debatable.
14. Guanches
Guanches are the natives of Tenerife. The mystery of how they ended up in the Canary Islands has not yet been solved, since they did not have a fleet and did not have seafaring skills. Their anthropological type did not correspond to the latitudes where they lived. The rectangular pyramids on the island of Tenerife, similar to the Mayan and Aztec pyramids in Mexico, are also controversial. Neither the time of their construction nor the purpose for which they were erected is known.
15. Khazars
Neighboring peoples wrote a lot about the Khazars, but they themselves left virtually no information about themselves. Just as suddenly the Khazars appeared on the historical stage, just as suddenly they left it. Historians still do not have sufficient archaeological data about what Khazaria was like, nor an understanding of what language the Khazars spoke. It is also unknown where they eventually disappeared. There are many versions. There is no clarity.
16. Basque
The age, origin and language of the Basques are one of the main mysteries modern history. The Basque language, Euskara, is considered the only relict pre-Indo-European language that does not belong to any currently existing language family. When it comes to genetics, according to a 2012 study by the National Geographic Society, all Basques contain a set of genes that significantly distinguishes them from other peoples around them.
17. Chaldeans
The Chaldeans are a Semitic-Aramaic people who lived at the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st millennium BC. in the territory of Southern and Central Mesopotamia. In 626-538 BC. Babylon was ruled by the Chaldean dynasty, which founded the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. The Chaldeans were a people who are still associated with magic and astrology. IN Ancient Greece And Ancient Rome Chaldeans were the name given to priests and fortune-tellers of Babylonian origin. The Chaldeans made predictions to Alexander the Great and his successors Antigonus and Seleucus.
18. Sarmatians
Sarmatians are one of the most mysterious peoples in world history. Herodotus called them “lizard-headed,” Lomonosov believed that the Slavs descended from the Sarmatians, and the Polish gentry called themselves their direct descendants. The Sarmatians left a lot of mysteries. They probably had a matriarchy. Some scientists trace the roots of the Russian kokoshnik to the Sarmatians. Among them, the custom of artificial deformation of the skull was widespread, thanks to which a person’s head took on the shape of an elongated egg.
19. Kalash
The Kalash are a small people living in the north of Pakistan in the Hindu Kush mountains. They are probably the most famous "white" people in Asia. Disputes about the origins of the Kalash continue today. The Kalash themselves are sure that they are the descendants of Macedonian himself. The Kalash language is called phonologically atypical; it has retained the basic composition of Sanskrit. Despite attempts at Islamization, many Kalash retain polytheism.
20. Philistines
The modern name "Palestine" comes from "Philistia". The Philistines are the most mysterious people mentioned in the Bible. In the Middle East, only they and the Hittites mastered the technology of steel smelting, marking the beginning of the Iron Age. The Bible says that these people originate from the island of Caphtor (Crete), although some historians correlate the Philistines with the Pelasgians. Both Egyptian manuscripts and archaeological finds testify to the Cretan origins of the Philistines. It is still not clear where the Philistines disappeared to. Most likely, they were assimilated by the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Despite all the attempts of historians and ethnographers to create a clear picture of the development of some peoples, there are still many secrets and blank spots in the history of the origin of many nations and nationalities. Our review contains the most mysterious peoples of our planet - some of them have sunk into oblivion, while others live and develop today.
As everyone knows, Russians are the most mysterious people on Earth. Moreover, there is a scientific basis for this. Scientists still cannot come to a consensus about the origin of this people and answer the question of when Russians became Russians. There is also debate about where this word comes from. Russian ancestors are sought among the Normans, Scythians, Sarmatians, Vends and even the South Siberian Usuns.
Nobody knows where these people came from or where they disappeared to. Some scientists believe that the Mayans are related to the legendary Atlanteans, others suggest that their ancestors were the Egyptians.
The Mayans created an effective system agriculture and had deep knowledge of astronomy. Their calendar was used by other peoples of Central America. The Mayans used a hieroglyphic writing system that has only been partially deciphered. Their civilization was very advanced when the conquistadors arrived. Now it seems that the Mayans came from nowhere and disappeared into nowhere.
3. Laplanders or Sami
The people, which Russians also call Lapps, are at least 5,000 years old. Scientists are still arguing about their origin. Some believe that the Laplanders are Mongoloids, others insist on the version that the Sami are Paleo-Europeans. Their language is believed to belong to the Finno-Ugric group of languages, but there are ten dialects of the Sami language that are different enough to be called independent. Sometimes the Laplanders themselves have difficulty understanding each other.
The very origin of the Prussians is a mystery. They were first mentioned in the 9th century in the records of an anonymous trader, and then in Polish and German chronicles. Linguists have found analogues in various Indo-European languages and believe that the word “Prussians” can be traced back to the Sanskrit word “purusha” (man). Not much is known about the Prussian language, since the last native speaker died in 1677. The history of Prussianism and the Kingdom of Prussia began in the 17th century, but these people had little in common with the original Baltic Prussians.
Scientists do not know where the Cossacks originally came from. Their homeland may be in the North Caucasus or on the Sea of Azov or in the west of Turkestan... Their ancestry may go back to the Scythians, Alans, Circassians, Khazars or Goths. Each version has its supporters and its own arguments. The Cossacks today represent a multi-ethnic community, but they constantly emphasize that they are a separate nation.
Parsis are an ethno-religious group of followers of Zoroastrianism of Iranian origin in South Asia. Today their number is less than 130 thousand people. The Parsis have their own temples and so-called “towers of silence” for burying the dead (the corpses that are laid out on the roofs of these towers are pecked by vultures). They are often compared to the Jews, who were also forced to leave their homeland, and who still carefully preserve the traditions of their cults.
The question of what the word “Hutsul” means is still unclear. Some scientists believe that the etymology of the word is related to the Moldovan “gots” or “gutz” (“bandit”), others believe that the name comes from the word “kochul” (“shepherd”). Hutsuls are most often called Ukrainian highlanders, who still practice the traditions of molfarism (witchcraft) and who greatly honor their sorcerers.
The Hittite state was very influential on the geopolitical map of the ancient world. These people were the first to create a constitution and use chariots. However, not much is known about them. The chronology of the Hittites is known only from the sources of their neighbors, but there is not a single mention of why or where they disappeared. The German scientist Johann Lehmann wrote in his book that the Hittites went north and assimilated with the Germanic tribes. But this is only one of the versions.
This is one of the most mysterious peoples in ancient world. Nothing is known about their origins or the origin of their language. The large number of homonyms suggests that it was a polytonic language (like modern Chinese), that is, the meaning of what was said often depended on tone. The Sumerians were very advanced - they were the first in the Middle East to use the wheel, to create an irrigation system and a unique writing system. The Sumerians also developed mathematics and astronomy at an impressive level.
They entered history quite unexpectedly and that is how they disappeared. Archaeologists believe that the Etruscans lived in the north-west of the Apennine Peninsula, where they created a fairly developed civilization. The Etruscans founded the first Italian cities. Theoretically, they could move to the east and become the founders of the Slavic ethnic group (their language has much in common with the Slavic ones).
The origin of the Armenians is also a mystery. There are many versions. Some scientists believe that the Armenians descended from the people of the ancient state of Urartu, but in the genetic code of the Armenians there is a component not only of the Urartians, but also of the Hurrians and Libyans, not to mention the proto-Armenians. There are also Greek versions of their origin. Most scientists, however, adhere to the mixed-migration hypothesis of Armenian ethnogenesis.
According to linguistic and genetic studies, the ancestors of the Roma left Indian territory in numbers that did not exceed 1,000 people. Today there are about 10 million Roma people worldwide. In the Middle Ages, Europeans believed that Gypsies were Egyptians. They were called the "tribe of the pharaoh" for a very specific reason: the Europeans were amazed by the gypsy tradition of embalming their dead and burying with them in crypts everything that might be needed in another life. This gypsy tradition is still alive.
This is one of the most mysterious peoples and many secrets are connected with Jews. At the end of the 8th century BC. five-sixths (10 out of 12 of all ethnic groups that form the race) of Jews disappeared. Where they went is a mystery to this day.
The Guanches are the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is unknown how they appeared on the island of Tenerife - they did not have ships and the Guanches knew nothing about navigation. Their anthropological type does not correspond to the latitude where they lived. Also, many disputes are caused by the presence of rectangular pyramids in Tenerife - they are similar to the Mayan and Aztec pyramids in Mexico. Nobody knows when or why they were erected.
Everything that people know about the Khazars today was taken from the records of their neighboring peoples. And practically nothing remained of the Khazars themselves. Their appearance was sudden and unexpected, just like their disappearance.
The age, origin and language of the Basques are a mystery in modern history. The Basque language, Euskara, is believed to be the only remnant of a Proto-Indo-European language that does not belong to any language group existing today. According to a 2012 National Geographic study, all Basques have a set of genes that is largely different from other peoples living around them.
The Chaldeans lived at the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st thousand years BC in the territory of Southern and Central Mesopotamia. In 626-538 BC The Chaldean dynasty ruled Babylon, founding the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Chaldeans are still associated today with magic and astrology. In Ancient Greece and Rome, priests and Babylonian astrologers were called Chaldeans. They predicted the future of Alexander the Great and his successors.
Herodotus once called the Sarmatians “lizards with human heads.” M. Lomonosov believed that they were the ancestors of the Slavs, and the Polish nobles considered themselves their direct descendants. The Sarmatians left behind many secrets. For example, this people had a tradition of artificial deformation of the skull, which allowed people to give themselves an ovoid head shape.
A small people living in the north of Pakistan, in the Hindu Kush mountains, is notable for the fact that their skin color is whiter than that of other Asian peoples. The debate about Kalash has been subsiding for centuries. The people themselves insist on their connection with Alexander the Great. Their language is phonologically atypical for the area and has the basic structure of Sanskrit. Despite attempts at Islamization, many Kalash adhere to polytheism.
Modern concept"Philistines" comes from the name of the area "Philistia". The Philistines are the most mysterious people mentioned in the Bible. Only they and the Hittites knew the technology of steel production and it was they who laid the foundation for the Iron Age. According to the Bible, the Philistines came from the island of Caphtor (Crete). The Cretan origin of the Philistines is confirmed by Egyptian manuscripts and archaeological finds. It is unknown where they disappeared to, but it is most likely that the Philistines were assimilated into the Eastern Mediterranean peoples.