- (Pygmaei, Πυγμαι̃οι). Mythical people of dwarfs, the size of πηγμή, τ. i.e. height no more than the distance from elbow to fist. According to Homer, they lived on the shores of the Ocean; Subsequently, the sources of the Nile, as well as India, began to be considered their location. Current... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

Group of peoples belonging to the Negrill race, indigenous population tropical Africa. They speak the languages ​​Bantu (Twa, 185 thousand people, 1992; Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire), Adamaua of the eastern group (Aka, Binga, etc., 35 thousand people; Congo, Central African Republic) and Shari... ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

- (foreign language) people are morally insignificant. Wed. For the crowd he is great, for the crowd he is a prophet; For himself he is nothing, for himself he is a pygmy!... Nadson. “Look, there he is!” Cf. In the midst of his wanderings, he loved his poor Fatherland. She is surrounded by blizzards, She is surrounded by pygmies... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Modern encyclopedia

From ancient Greek: Pigmaios. Literally: The size of a fist. IN ancient greek mythology Pygmies were the name given to the fairy-tale people of dwarfs who were so small that they often became victims of cranes, like frogs. Therefore, the dwarfs had to... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

A people of dwarfs who, according to the legendary tales of the Greeks, lived on the shores of the ocean (Homer) and on the sources of the Nile (late writers), where they waged a constant struggle with cranes. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907. Pygmies ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (Pugmaioi), own. people the size of a fist in Greek mythology, a fabulous people of dwarfs living in Libya. The Iliad (III, 6) tells about their battles with the cranes (cf. L. v. Sybel, Mythologie der Ilias, 1877, and L. F. Voevodsky, Introduction to Mythology ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Pygmies- PYGMIES, a group of peoples: Twa, Binga, Bibaia, Gielli, Efe, Kango, Aka, Mbuti with a total number of 350 thousand people belonging to the Negrill race, the indigenous population of Tropical Africa. The name comes from the Greek pygmaios (literally the size of... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

A group of peoples in Central Africa. Total number 390 thousand people (1995). They speak Bantu languages. Many pygmies maintain a wandering lifestyle, archaic culture, traditional beliefs. * * * PYGMIES PYGMIES, a group of peoples belonging to ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

PYGMIES- (from the Greek “fist” or “distance” from the fist to the elbow) in Greek mythology, a tribe of dwarfs, symbolizing the barbaric world. The name is associated with the small stature of the pygmies and symbolizes a distorted perception of the true ethnic group. The Greeks determined... ... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia

Books

• Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic achievements of the Leader, the current owners of the Kremlin look like mere dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy political...
• Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, or Russia, which must be found, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic achievements of the Leader, the current owners of the Kremlin look like mere dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy political...

Pygmies (Greek Πυγμαῖοι - “people the size of a fist”) are a group of short Negroid peoples living in equatorial forests Africa.

Testimonies and mentions

Mentioned already in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e., at a later time - in ancient Greek sources (in Homer’s Iliad, Herodotus and Strabo).

In the XVI-XVII centuries. they are mentioned under the name "Matimba" in the descriptions left by explorers of West Africa.

In the 19th century, their existence was confirmed by the German researcher Georg August Schweinfurt, the Russian researcher V.V. Juncker and others, who discovered these tribes in tropical forests basin of the Ituri and Uzle rivers (various tribes under the names: Akka, Tikitiki, Obongo, Bambuti, Batwa).

In 1929-1930 P. Shebesta's expedition described the Bambuti pygmies; in 1934-1935, researcher M. Guzinde found the Efe and Basua pygmies.

At the end of the 20th century, they lived in the forests of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, and Rwanda.

The most ancient mention of pygmies is contained in the story of the Egyptian Hirkhuf, a nobleman from the era of the Old Kingdom, who boasted that he managed to bring a dwarf from his campaign for the amusement of the young king. This inscription dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. In an Egyptian inscription, the dwarf brought by Hirkhuf is called dng. This name has been preserved to this day in the languages ​​of the peoples of Ethiopia: in Amharic the dwarf is called deng, or dat. Ancient Greek writers tell all sorts of stories about African pygmies, but all their reports are fantastic.

Pygmies lead a hunting lifestyle. In the economy of the pygmies, gathering apparently occupies the first place and mainly determines the nutrition of the entire group. Women do most of the work, since the extraction of plant food is the work of women. Every day, women of the entire living group, accompanied by children, collect wild root vegetables, leaves of edible plants and fruits around their camp, catch worms, snails, frogs, snakes and fish.

The pygmies are forced to leave the camp as soon as all the suitable plants in the vicinity of the camp are eaten and the game is destroyed. The entire group moves to another area of ​​the forest, but wanders within established boundaries. These boundaries are known to everyone and are strictly observed. Hunting on other people's lands is not permitted and may lead to hostile conflicts. Almost all groups of pygmies live in close contact with the tall population, most often the Bantu. Pygmies usually bring game and forest products to villages in exchange for bananas, vegetables and iron tips for copies. All pygmy groups speak the languages ​​of their tall neighbors.

Pygmy house made of leaves and sticks

The primitive nature of the pygmy culture sharply distinguishes them from the surrounding peoples of the Negroid race. What are pygmies? Is this population of Central Africa autochthonous? Do they constitute a special anthropological type, or is their origin the result of the degradation of the tall type? These are the main questions that form the essence of the pygmy problem, one of the most controversial in anthropology and ethnography. Soviet anthropologists believe that pygmies are aborigines of tropical Africa of a special anthropological type, of independent origin.

Height ranges from 144 to 150 cm for adult males, light brown skin, curly, dark hair, relatively thin lips, large torso, short arms and legs, this physical type can be classified as a special race. The possible number of pygmies can range from 40 to 280 thousand people.

By external type The Negritos of Asia are close to them, but genetically there are strong differences between them.

Pygmies (Greek Πυγμαῖοι - “people the size of a fist”) are a group of short Negroid peoples living in the equatorial forests of Africa.

Testimonies and mentions

Mentioned already in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e., at a later time - in ancient Greek sources (in Homer’s Iliad, Herodotus and Strabo).

In the XVI-XVII centuries. they are mentioned under the name "Matimba" in the descriptions left by explorers of West Africa.

In the 19th century, their existence was confirmed by the German researcher Georg August Schweinfurt, the Russian researcher V.V. Junker and others, who discovered these tribes in the tropical forests of the Ituri and Uzle river basins (various tribes under the names: Akka, Tikitiki, Obongo, Bambuti, Batwa) .

In 1929-1930 P. Shebesta's expedition described the Bambuti pygmies; in 1934-1935, researcher M. Guzinde found the Efe and Basua pygmies.

At the end of the 20th century, they lived in the forests of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, and Rwanda.

The most ancient mention of pygmies is contained in the story of the Egyptian Hirkhuf, a nobleman from the era of the Old Kingdom, who boasted that he managed to bring a dwarf from his campaign for the amusement of the young king. This inscription dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. In an Egyptian inscription, the dwarf brought by Hirkhuf is called dng. This name has been preserved to this day in the languages ​​of the peoples of Ethiopia: in Amharic the dwarf is called deng, or dat. Ancient Greek writers tell all sorts of stories about African pygmies, but all their reports are fantastic.

Pygmies lead a hunting lifestyle. In the economy of the pygmies, gathering apparently occupies the first place and mainly determines the nutrition of the entire group. Women do most of the work, since the extraction of plant food is the work of women. Every day, women of the entire living group, accompanied by children, collect wild root vegetables, leaves of edible plants and fruits around their camp, catch worms, snails, frogs, snakes and fish.

The pygmies are forced to leave the camp as soon as all the suitable plants in the vicinity of the camp are eaten and the game is destroyed. The entire group moves to another area of ​​the forest, but wanders within established boundaries. These boundaries are known to everyone and are strictly observed. Hunting on other people's lands is not permitted and may lead to hostile conflicts. Almost all groups of pygmies live in close contact with the tall population, most often the Bantu. Pygmies usually bring game and forest products to villages in exchange for bananas, vegetables and iron spearheads. All pygmy groups speak the languages ​​of their tall neighbors.

Pygmy house made of leaves and sticks

The primitive nature of the pygmy culture sharply distinguishes them from the surrounding peoples of the Negroid race. What are pygmies? Is this population of Central Africa autochthonous? Do they constitute a special anthropological type, or is their origin the result of the degradation of the tall type? These are the main questions that form the essence of the pygmy problem, one of the most controversial in anthropology and ethnography. Soviet anthropologists believe that pygmies are aborigines of tropical Africa of a special anthropological type, of independent origin.

Height ranges from 144 to 150 cm for adult males, light brown skin, curly, dark hair, relatively thin lips, large torso, short arms and legs, this physical type can be classified as a special race. The possible number of pygmies can range from 40 to 280 thousand people.

In terms of external type, the Negritos of Asia are close to them, but genetically there are strong differences between them.

And etc.; formerly supposed pygmy languages

Religion

Traditional Beliefs

Racial type

Negrillian type of the large Negroid race

Pygmies(Greek Πυγμαῖοι - “people the size of a fist”) - a group of short Negroid peoples living in the equatorial forests of Africa. Another name for African pygmies is negrilli.

Evidence

Mentioned already in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e., at a later time - in ancient Greek sources (in Homer’s Iliad, Herodotus and Strabo).

Pygmies in mythology

Physical type

Among the Efe and Sua peoples living east of the Baka, small children are initially born - the growth limiter is activated during intrauterine development. Baka children are born normal, but in the first two years of life, Baka children grow noticeably slower than Europeans.

Occupation

Pygmies are forest dwellers, and for them the forest is the source of everything they need for life. The main occupations are hunting and gathering. Pygmies don't make stone tools labor, previously did not know how to make fire (they carried the source of fire with them). The hunting weapon is a bow with arrows with metal tips, and these tips are often poisoned. Iron is exchanged with neighbors.

Language

Pygmies usually speak the languages ​​of the peoples around them - Efe, Asua, Bambuti, etc. There are some phonetic differences in the Pygmy dialects, but with the exception of the Baka people, the Pygmies have lost their native languages.

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Notes

Literature

• Putnam E. Eight Years Among the Pygmies / Anne Putnam; With a preface and ed. B. I. Sharevskaya; Artist B. A. Diodorov. - M.: Publishing House of Oriental Literature, 1961. - 184 p. - (Travel to Eastern countries). - 75,000 copies.(region)

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Excerpt characterizing the Pygmies

“Dr... or stupid!...” he said.
“And that one is gone! They were already gossiping about her too,” he thought about the little princess, who was not in the dining room.
-Where is the princess? - he asked. - Hiding?...
“She’s not entirely healthy,” said Mlle Bourienne, smiling cheerfully, “she won’t come out.” This is so understandable in her situation.
- Hm! hmm! ugh! ugh! - said the prince and sat down at the table.
The plate did not seem clean to him; he pointed to the spot and threw it. Tikhon picked it up and handed it to the barman. The little princess was not unwell; but she was so insurmountably afraid of the prince that, having heard how out of sorts he was, she decided not to go out.
“I’m afraid for the child,” she said to m lle Bourienne, “God knows what can happen from fright.”
In general, the little princess lived in Bald Mountains constantly under a feeling of fear and antipathy towards the old prince, which she was not aware of, because fear was so dominant that she could not feel it. There was also antipathy on the part of the prince, but it was drowned out by contempt. The princess, having settled down in the Bald Mountains, especially fell in love with m lle Bourienne, spent her days with her, asked her to spend the night with her, and often talked to her about her father-in-law and judged him.
“Il nous arrive du monde, mon prince,” said M lle Bourienne, unrolling a white napkin with her pink hands. “Son excellence le prince Kouraguine avec son fils, a ce que j"ai entendu dire? [His Excellency Prince Kuragin with his son, how much have I heard?],” she said questioningly.
“Hm... this boy of excellence... I assigned him to the college,” the prince said offended. “Why son, I can’t understand.” Princess Lizaveta Karlovna and Princess Marya may know; I don’t know why he’s bringing this son here. I don't need it. – And he looked at his blushing daughter.
- Unwell, or what? Out of fear of the minister, as that idiot Alpatych said today.
- No, mon pere. [father.]
No matter how unsuccessfully M lle Bourienne found herself on the subject of conversation, she did not stop and chatted about greenhouses, about the beauty of a new blossoming flower, and the prince softened after the soup.
After dinner he went to his daughter-in-law. The little princess sat at a small table and chatted with Masha, the maid. She turned pale when she saw her father-in-law.
The little princess has changed a lot. She was more bad than good now. The cheeks sank, the lip rose upward, the eyes were drawn downwards.
“Yes, it’s some kind of heaviness,” she answered when the prince asked what she felt.
- Do you need anything?
- No, merci, mon pere. [Thank you, father.]
- Well, okay, okay.
He went out and walked to the waitress. Alpatych stood in the waiter's room with his head bowed.
– Is the road blocked?
- Zakidana, your Excellency; Forgive me, for God's sake, for one stupid thing.
The prince interrupted him and laughed his unnatural laugh.
- Well, okay, okay.
He extended his hand, which Alpatych kissed, and walked into the office.
In the evening Prince Vasily arrived. He was met at the prespekt (that's the name of the avenue) by coachmen and waiters, who shouted and drove his carts and sleighs to the outbuilding along a road deliberately covered with snow.
Prince Vasily and Anatoly were given separate rooms.
Anatole sat, having taken off his doublet and resting his hands on his hips, in front of the table, at the corner of which he, smiling, fixed his beautiful large eyes intently and absent-mindedly. He looked upon his entire life as a continuous amusement that someone like that for some reason had undertaken to arrange for him. Now he looked at his trip to the evil old man and the rich ugly heiress in the same way. All this could have turned out, he supposed, very well and funny. Why not marry if she is very rich? It never interferes, Anatole thought.
He shaved, perfumed himself with care and panache, which had become his habit, and with his innate good-natured, victorious expression, holding his handsome head high, he entered his father’s room. Two valets were busy around Prince Vasily, dressing him; He himself looked around animatedly and nodded cheerfully to his son as he entered, as if he were saying: “So, that’s exactly what I need you for!”
- No, no joke, father, is she very ugly? A? – he asked, as if continuing a conversation he had had more than once during the trip.
- That's enough. Nonsense! The main thing is to try to be respectful and reasonable with the old prince.
“If he scolds, I’ll leave,” said Anatole. “I can’t stand these old people.” A?
– Remember that everything depends on this for you.
At this time, the arrival of the minister with his son was not only known in the maid’s room, but appearance both of them have already been described in detail. Princess Marya sat alone in her room and tried in vain to overcome her inner agitation.
“Why did they write, why did Lisa tell me about this? After all, this cannot be! - she said to herself, looking in the mirror. - How do I get out into the living room? Even if I liked him, I couldn’t be on my own with him now.” The thought of her father's gaze terrified her.
The little princess and m lle Bourienne had already received all the necessary information from the maid Masha about what a ruddy, black-browed handsome minister's son was, and about how daddy dragged them with force to the stairs, and he, like an eagle, walking three steps at a time, ran after him. Having received this information, the little princess and M lle Bourienne, still audible from the corridor in their animated voices, entered the princess’s room.

The most short people on earth, whose average height does not exceed 141 cm, live in the Congo River basin in Central Africa. “The size of a fist” - this is translated from the Greek pygmalios - the name of the pygmy tribe. There is an assumption that they once occupied all of Central Africa, but were then forced out into the tropical forests.

The daily life of these wild people is devoid of romance and is associated with a daily struggle for survival, when the main task of the men is to obtain food for the entire village. Pygmies are considered the least bloodthirsty hunters. And indeed it is. They never hunt for the sake of hunting, they never kill animals for the sake of the desire to kill, they never store meat for future use. They do not even bring a killed animal to the village, but cut it up, cook it and eat it right on the spot, calling all the village residents for a meal. Hunting and everything connected with it is the main ritual in the life of the tribe, clearly expressed in folklore: songs about heroic hunters, dances depicting scenes of animal behavior, myths and legends. Before the hunt, the men cover themselves and their weapons with mud and dung from the animal they are going to hunt, turn to the spear with a request to be accurate, and set off.

The daily food of the pygmies is plant-based: nuts, edible herbs and roots, palm pith. Seasonal activity is fishing. For fishing, pygmies use a special grass that makes the fish fall asleep, but does not die. The grass leaves are dissolved in the river, and the catch is collected downstream. Particularly dangerous for pygmies is the jungle, full of a variety of wild animals. But the most dangerous is the python. If a pygmy accidentally steps on a python more than 4 meters away, it is doomed. The snake instantly attacks, wraps itself around the body and strangles.

The origin of the pygmies is still not entirely clear. What is known is that the first Europeans only recently entered their world and were met with a rather belligerent reception. The exact number of members of the tribe is not known. According to various sources, there are about 280 thousand of them. Average duration life - no more than 45 years for men, women live a little longer. The first child is born at the age of 14-15, but there are no more than two children in a family. Pygmies roam in groups of 2-4 families. They live in low huts covered with grass, which can be made in a few hours. Boys aged 9-16 are circumcised and subjected to other rather cruel tests, accompanied by moral instructions. Only men take part in such rituals.

The tribe has lost its native language, so the dialects of neighboring tribes are most often used. The clothing consists only of a hip belt with an apron. But sedentary pygmies are increasingly wearing European clothes. The main deity is the forest spirit Tore, the owner of forest game, to whom hunters turn with prayer before hunting.

The culture and traditions of the Pygmies are gradually disappearing. New life slowly penetrates into their everyday life, dissolving in itself the way of life of the smallest people on the planet.

Watch interesting videos.

Unknown planet. Pygmies and Karamojongs. Part 1.

Ritual dances of the Baka pygmies.