Strange customs of the peoples of the world. The most unusual traditions in the world

Every country, every people has its own ancestral customs. But sometimes they seem too strange for modern man. We will tell you about some of them.

Residents of the Republic of Madagascar are distinguished by exceptional affection for their relatives. But sometimes such a relationship becomes abnormal, especially when we're talking about about the already dead. The Malagasy people to this day strictly follow ancient custom periodically dig up the dead from their tombs, dress them in the best clothes and take joint photographs with them. To a modern European this will seem wild, but the inhabitants of Madagascar believe that such behavior is nothing more than a manifestation of love and respect for those who are already in another world.

In India, there is a rather shocking custom associated with strengthening the spirit of a newborn. The newly born child is thrown from the wall of the temple (height 10-15 meters). Below, the newborn is caught; for this, a large piece of material is stretched, which is held by at least 8 people. It is believed that such a procedure with early years will make the child luckier and also give him courage.

In Scotland, in some regions, the medieval wedding custom. Bride dressed impeccably White dress, decorated with flowers (and rich in jewelry) is completely smeared in mud. Dirt can be spoiled food, soil, flour, honey. In this form, she must walk along the main street, go around the central square, and also ride a horse throughout the city. Today it's mostly done for fun, but before people They believed that through this the girl cleanses her soul from all earthly sins.

The relationship with death among most peoples has always been original. But in conducting funeral rites, Tibetan monks distinguished themselves most of all. The body of the deceased, according to their belief, was supposed to not only return to the earth, but also bring benefit. And therefore it was not buried, but was divided and carried to the top of the mountain, where wild animals live. Thus, people believed that the spirit of the deceased was reunited with nature in the most naturally: being included in the natural cycle of substances.

Walking on lit coals has been practiced in Japan and Africa since ancient times. But you can still find this custom there today. Fire was called upon to purify a person, to instill in him courage, firmness and perseverance. It was believed that if you walk along the road of fire without fear, then there is nothing more to be afraid of in life.

The Japanese, as practice shows, are quite strange in their customs. And the Japanese spring fertility festival is proof of this. At the beginning of spring, residents of the Land of the Rising Sun gather on the streets of cities (only some cities, since not everyone takes part in the holiday) to witness the sacred action. The strongest and healthiest men get the opportunity to carry a wooden male reproductive organ weighing 25 kilograms across the city. This tradition involves not only improving the land and increasing the level of productivity, but also bringing “fertility to the family,” increasing the birth rate and strengthening families.

In ancient times, in some settlements of Kamchatka, a night spent by a guest with the owner’s wife was considered a special honor for the house. The lady, by the way, tried to seduce the guest in every possible way. And if she also managed to get pregnant, then the whole village celebrated it. Which was, of course, reasonable - fresh genes. Such traditions are not uncommon: the Eskimos and Chukchi, for example, also used the beauty of their wives for the benefit of the clan. They gave them to “use” the men who went fishing. Well, in Tibet it was generally believed that if a guest liked someone else’s wife, then so be it. higher powers and there is no way to resist them.

About quirks

For example, in Tibet, a girl was considered an enviable bride only when she changed a dozen or two partners. Virgins, as you can see, were not held in high esteem in the Dalai Lama’s country. But the Brazilians from the Jerusalem artichoke tribe made impressive sacrifices to please their ladies. The fact is that girls found only huge genitals worthy of their attention. To do this, men exposed their penises to poisonous snakes, after whose bites manhood met the expectations of discerning Jerusalem artichoke women.

Girls have been training their intimate muscles since time immemorial. It is known that the wives and concubines of the Chinese emperor trained their vaginal muscles using jade eggs. According to legends, they knew how to control their vaginal muscles so skillfully that they could bring a man to orgasm while remaining motionless.
The ability to expand the vaginal opening made it possible to “absorb” fairly large objects, such as apples. And the wave-like contraction of the muscles from the arches to the entrance made it possible to throw out objects inserted into the vagina, sometimes over considerable distances.

In Japan and Korea, there was an interesting practice of enhancing male orgasm. To make it more vivid and memorable, an injection into the groin with a golden needle is enough, they say eastern traditions. The inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands were very inventive in bed pleasures. Just look at the habit of nibbling your partner’s eyelashes; this is considered their traditional caress. I would like to see the teeth of these entertainers, because in order to gnaw an eyelash, the teeth must be at least sharp.

But the Indians, experienced in love, had much more options extreme entertainment of such kind. For example, their treatises on the art of love taught the use of "apadravia" - male piercings made of gold, silver, iron, wood or buffalo horns! And the great-grandfather of the modern condom “yalaka” - an empty tube inside with pimples on the outside - was also invented in India.

The sex-seekers of the Batta tribe of Sumatra had a tradition of inserting pebbles or pieces of metal under the foreskin. They believed that this way they could give their partner much more pleasure. The Argentine Indians also had a similar idea in their arsenal. They attached horsehair tassels to the phallus. It’s scary to think about the hygiene of meetings with such fellows.

Tanzanian women increased their attractiveness in an interesting way. They did not decorate themselves or dress up. They stole from the man they desired... a hoe and sandals! In those parts, the things listed are of particular value, so the man, willy-nilly, had to go and rescue the property, and then - who knows?

What about our compatriots? In ancient times, in some settlements of Kamchatka, a night spent by a guest with the owner’s wife was considered a special honor for the house. The lady, by the way, tried to seduce the guest in every possible way. And if she also managed to get pregnant, then the whole village celebrated it. Which was, of course, reasonable - fresh genes. Such traditions are not uncommon: the Eskimos and Chukchi, for example, also used the beauty of their wives for the benefit of the clan. They gave them to “use” the men who went fishing. Well, in Tibet it was generally believed that if a guest liked someone else’s wife, then it was the will of higher powers and there was no way to resist them.

Japan - crawl up and "yobay"

An ancient sexual tradition with poetic name"Yobai" existed in the Japanese outback until the end XIX century. The essence of the custom “sneaking in the night” (approximate translation) was as follows: any young man, under the cover of darkness, had the right to enter the house of an unmarried young lady, crawl under her blanket and, if the chosen one did not mind, directly engage in the delightful “yobai” . In Russian, however, it does not sound like the name of a tradition, but more like a call to action.

If Japanese girl If she came across an intractable woman, the upset young man had to go home. Like any tradition, the custom of “yobai” was regulated strict rules. A potential lover had to go on a romantic date completely naked, since the night visit dressed man was considered robbery and could end disastrously for him. However, the guy had the right to cover his face and appear before the girl as a beautiful stranger. That's how Japanese they are role-playing games.

Tibet - a one-way journey

Once upon a time in Tibet, visiting men were greeted with genuine cordiality. IN travel notes famous traveler Marco Polo tells of a local sexual tradition that required all young girls to have intercourse with at least twenty women before marriage. different men. Either there were few men in Tibet, or, according to custom, fresh girls were intended exclusively for foreigners, but travelers were worth their weight in gold here. And those poor fellows who could not stand up for themselves were literally “torn like Tuzik’s slippers” by sex swindlers. Therefore, the trip to Tibet for some of our brothers was the last.

South America - Indian Babformation

The sexual traditions of the Kagaba tribe can forever discourage a man from conscientiously fulfilling his marital duty and having offspring. Representatives of the stronger half of the tribe are terribly afraid of women. It's all about the strange ritual of initiation of young men into men: a young Indian Kagaba must have his first sexual experience with the oldest lady of the family. For this reason in marital relations the man is lacking initiative, and if his wife hints at intimacy, then he prefers to cowardly hide in the jungle in a bunker pre-equipped for such purposes (like he went hunting).

It happens that several fugitives are hiding in a bachelor's den at the same time. Then the female half of the tribe equips a search expedition. Role-playing games of slave and mistress always end predictably. Unsatisfied wives comb the jungle until they discover the cache and return their faithful to the bosom of the family.

Africa - food preferences

Who is interested in military parades? Perhaps only to the military, but the common people demand bread and circuses. The King of Swaziland knows exactly how to make a holiday of the soul for his subjects, and therefore every year he organizes a grand procession of virgins. Thousands of seductive scantily clad beauties cheerfully march in front of the monarch. In Swaziland, it has become a good sexual tradition when the king chooses a new wife from the participants in the parade, and each failed wife is rewarded with a large bowl of food. And believe me, by local standards this is a royal gift!

In the late 1940s, German gynecologist Ernst Grafenberg discovered a new erogenous zone in his patients. It was located on the upper wall of the vagina and was the size of a pea. Grafenberg described it in scientific article"The role of the urethra in the female orgasm" (1950). Either the circulation of this publication was too small, or the title did not inspire the general public, but until the early 80s, even Cosmopolitan stubbornly ignored Grafenberg's discovery.
It took the writing talent of sexologists Alice Ladas, Beverly Whipple and John Perry for the whole world to know about a new source of pleasure. Their book, The G-Spot and Other Discoveries in Human Sexuality (1982), became a bestseller and was translated into 19 languages.

In the Baganda tribe (East Africa), there is a belief that sex directly on agricultural land significantly increases its fertility. By the way, such a sexual tradition was inherent in many nations. However, the natives did not organize vulgar orgies in the plantain beds (the main food crop of the Bagandans). For the ritual they chose married couple- parents of twins. The event was held in the field of the tribal leader and consisted of the following: the woman lay on her back, a plantain flower was placed in her vagina, and the husband had to get it out without using his hands, using only his penis. According to custom, the family of agronomists had to demonstrate the miracles of balancing act only in the leader’s field. There was no need to play role-playing games in the gardens of their fellow tribesmen; it was enough to dance a little.

The sexual traditions of the peoples of the world are different, as are the standards of beauty. How can a woman from the Zambezi River valley be considered attractive if her mouth is full of teeth like a crocodile? To become beautiful, a Batoka girl had to get married. On their wedding night, the satisfied husband turned an “ugly” girl into a beautiful woman by knocking out her front teeth. This custom, accompanied by a simple plastic surgery, makes a Batoka woman happy and a radiant smile never leaves her face again.

Mesopotamia - temple prostitution

Every inhabitant of ancient Babylon had to make a sacrifice to the goddess of love Ishtar. To perform the ritual, the lady went to the sanctuary of the goddess, sat in a visible place and waited for her to be chosen unknown man. The client gave the chosen one a coin, after which they went to some secluded corner, where they made a generous sacrifice.

Once was enough. However, some particularly zealous Babylonians constantly practiced similar role-playing games, offering strangers interesting vacation for money that later went to the needs of the temple. It was impossible to leave his territory before the end of the ritual, so the pretty girl “shot back” quickly, and the unsightly young lady had to wait for her prince for a long time, sometimes even years! Housing and food were provided. Similar sexual traditions existed in Cyprus, and Greek girls made sacrifices to the goddess Aphrodite.

Russia is a country of Soviets

Family life in Rus' is not easy! The getting married couple had to feel this statement already at the wedding. All night before the holiday, the bride, according to ancient Slavic custom, unbraided her braids and sang sad songs with her bridesmaids. In the morning, a bunch of tedious wedding rituals awaited her, which continued until late in the evening and on an empty stomach. Even during festive feast the bride was not allowed to eat. The groom was also not happy - throughout the celebration he was obliged to cheerfully jump around his numerous relatives.

And finally the feast ended. The exhausted young people found themselves alone in the bedchamber and were about to have unbridled sex and go to bed. Let's daydream! The sexual tradition assumed the active participation of relatives in the first wedding night of the newlyweds - guests shouted obscene ditties under the bedroom windows until the morning, and one of them (specially chosen for this purpose) periodically knocked on the door and asked: “Has the ice broken?” In such a situation, the groom soon began to realize that the mission was impossible, and his efforts were in vain, despite the body of his betrothed, immobilized from fatigue. That's why young spouse were given the opportunity to rehabilitate over the next few nights. If things still didn’t work out, then experienced advisers were involved: the groom’s brother or father. It is known that in some villages in Ukraine, an authorized prompter sat comfortably under the bed, from where he helped the newlyweds with good advice on how to do everything right, and at the same time, with his presence, created the atmosphere of an unusual holiday.

Micronesia – love with a sparkle

If you are sure that role-playing games with elements of sadomasochism were invented by the well-known marquis, I hasten to disappoint you - this is a common misconception. The natives of Truck Island were into self-mutilation during sex even before Marquise de Sade's mother faked an orgasm in a simple missionary position. The custom was as follows: while the partner diligently puffed, making back-and-forth movements, the ardent lover set fire to small breadfruit balls on his body. It is quite difficult to imagine how she did this during sex... One can assume that the man copulated not with the whole lady, but with a distant part of her (for example, the heel). These natives are such pranksters!

From time immemorial, every people surrounded their lives with regulated rules, hoping some to protect themselves from evil spirits, and others to come to an agreement with the forces of nature in their favor. As a rule, they were associated with religious views, economic and social restrictions accepted in a given society. It seemed to people that only by performing ancient rituals would they be able to achieve all sorts of benefits from fate, the favor of the gods, and ensure the health of all descendants of their family up to the tenth generation. Therefore, most of these rituals are associated with the most important episodes life: with the position and status of a member of a family or tribe among relatives, with the stages of sexual maturation, with childbirth and funerals, with calls for a rich hunt or catch, a large harvest...

Many of these traditions seem today to be devoid of elementary meaning and monstrously cruel, not to say misanthropic! However, they still exist in the world, they are studied by ethnographers and, surprisingly, they are found logical explanations even the strangest and most dangerous rituals.

The most unusual traditions, rituals and customs. Top 5

1. Here Africa, and the Maasai tribe from Kenya and Tanzania. In the life of the hunting community, the most important qualities of every mature man are considered to be endurance and fortitude. Boys remain there until they are almost 30 years old. To become a recognized man, you must undergo a special initiation rite called “emuratare”. It occurs every 10-15 years and ten- to twenty-year-old teenagers take part in it.

To carry it out, the entire population of the world is erecting an entire village. On the appointed day, ceremonial dancing and ceremonial singing and a feast take place, and the boys must drink a “cocktail” of bull’s blood, milk and alcohol, after which the elders subject them to circumcision. This is the most crucial moment in men's life this tribe. After circumcision, the boy is considered a man and a warrior who has proven his fearlessness, willpower and contempt for mortal pain.

The wound takes three months to heal, and all this time the circumcised wear black clothes and live separately, in huts built for them by women. It is believed that this is how women express their respect for new warriors. But the ritual does not end there: for ten years the young men live in village camps, where they study the military wisdom accepted in their tribe and the traditions of their ancestors, learn to hunt and defend their village, and also raise livestock. Then comes the second part of the initiation: “eunoto”. This great holiday, during which the mother young man shaves his head. From now on he is considered a senior warrior and only after that he is allowed to marry.

3. But in Japan women are cared for differently. A girl's first menstruation is celebrated as a great day in the life of both herself and her family. Among the treats there must be red rice - not because of the color, but because it is the most expensive type of rice. Agree, it is a wise and beautiful tradition to glorify a woman and her power to procreate!

4. The same cannot be said about some European countries. Here is an unexpected example - a rich and respectable Switzerland. Cleanest air, wonderful ecology, famous ski resorts, the most reputable banks... Well, who would have thought that in this most civilized country there is such a wild tradition of rolling the bride in the mud? Yes, yes, in the literal sense.

The customs and traditions of other peoples are interesting, surprising, and sometimes strange and even shocking. People of other nationalities may express their feelings or spiritual mood in a completely different way than is customary among us. Also among the peoples different countries the world there are unique rituals, beliefs and holidays that reflect their history or beliefs. Knowing all these nuances, you can better understand what they live in a particular country. Study national customs not only entertaining, but also useful if you are planning to travel.

The strangest and most original traditions of the peoples of the world

Undoubtedly, one of the important aspects of any culture is its rules of etiquette: the way of greeting, farewell, behavior at the table, etc. For example, among Russians it is customary to shake hands; loving and friendly Spaniards can generally kiss when meeting. But in Japan it’s better not to do this - they value personal space and only allow close friends.

What other unusual things are there in the world? Here is a ranking of the 10 most unusual traditions of other countries:

1. On the streets of India you can see men holding hands. This does not mean that they are romantic relationships. This is how they show their friendship. But Indian couples in love never express their love publicly.
2. In Germany they don't clap when they want to applaud. To express their feelings, the Germans are accustomed to knocking on the table.
3. The people of some Asian countries, such as China, Korea or Japan, believe in good form slurp while eating at a party. This way they show the owner that the dish is very tasty.
4. In Japan, it is considered indecent and rude to blow your nose in public. If someone needs to clean their nose, they do it away from everyone and very quietly.
5. For residents South Korea Writing someone's name in red is taboo, and all because red ink was previously used to write the names of dead people.
6. In Malaysia, pointing at something index finger– it’s rude and offensive. Instead, it is common to point at things with the thumb.

Another one interesting feature: While in many countries people shun cemeteries, in Denmark they are turned into parks of sorts where you can socialize. Quite a pragmatic use of space, isn't it?

Holidays are part of the culture of the people. They often involve unusual rituals and customs, which can be quite funny and sometimes frightening.

Monkey banquet

In Thailand, the Monkey Banquet festival is held annually, dedicated to the god Rama, who, according to legend, monkeys helped defeat his enemies in a great battle.

IN last month November, the monkeys, who live in the province of Lopburi and are considered sacred among the locals, are served with tables in the middle of the temple. a huge amount fruits, vegetables, sweets and drinks.

They say that more than five thousand primates gather there and it takes about 2 tons of food to feed them! Their feast looks very funny: uncultured guests throw food, fight for the right to get the most delicious fruit, and tease the visiting tourists.

Tomato fights

Snowball fight – last century. In Spain, tomatoes are used for these purposes! At the Tomatina festival, held there every August, thousands of people gather to take part in a tomato fight. Vegetables are brought in on carts and all participants in the action throw each other for an hour, turning everything around into red slurry. In total, approximately 15 tons of tomatoes are used in the battle!

Officially, the holiday is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Louis, but in fact it has long been a magnet for tourists.

Goose Day

On the occasion of this Spanish festival, held in the city of Bilbao, a goose is chosen, greased and tied over the water on a rope. Competitors swim up to it in a boat and jump up to catch it. The goal is to rip off the animal's head. The winner receives his carcass and everyone's respect.

It is worth mentioning that previously they used a live goose, but then, at the request of the Animal Welfare Society, it was replaced with a dead one. The competition may seem cruel to some, but for the Spaniards it is an indicator of the strength, endurance and dexterity of men.

Cobra Festival

Indians have worshiped snakes since ancient times; cobras are considered especially sacred. In Indian temples there are images and statues of these reptiles; they pray to them and make sacrifices.

In some cities and villages of India, a festival is held in honor of the worship of snakes “Nag Panchami”. It takes place in the middle of summer. Just then heavy rains They flood the holes of the reptiles and they crawl out.

Nag Panchami is directly dedicated to the god Shiva, who is depicted with cobras around his neck. During the festival, people dance to music while carrying potted snakes on their heads. The procession goes around the entire village and moves to the main temple. After chants and prayers, the snakes are sprinkled with turmeric, given honey and milk to appease them, and released into the courtyard temple. Animals crawl, performing peculiar dances. The holiday looks spectacular and bewitching, which attracts crowds of tourists.

It is noteworthy that people are often bitten during the holiday, and some snakes are poisonous, but no one suffers from this. Phenomenal!

Night of Krampus

This terrible holiday is celebrated in the first 2 weeks of December before Christmas in Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland. About a thousand men dress up as Krampus - devilish creatures with horns and hooves, the antithesis of Santa Claus. They walk the streets, scaring children and adults. The Krampus beat the caught “pranksters” with rods.

The celebration is accompanied by mass fairs, processions and competitions. City residents compete for the best and scariest costume. They are not afraid of evil spirits!

Rituals and rituals

Particularly unusual and strange are the customs and traditions of the peoples of the world associated with religion, marriage and various initiation rituals. Some of them may seem absurd, but the natives believe that it is important, so they should not be considered stupid. Perhaps some traditions of our country also seem meaningless to some.

1. Japanese warriors still adhere to the code of Bushido, according to which in case of defeat he must commit suicide. It is better to die than to fall into the hands of enemies.
2. In Muslim countries, 2 days before the wedding, a girl is covered with temporary henna tattoos - mehendi, which symbolize femininity, fertility and good luck. They should only be applied by a happily married woman. Mehendi is usually painted on the feet and hands. The longer the tattoo lasts, the better, so the bride is even exempted from housework.

Chinese brides, namely residents of the city of Fuji, must cry before the wedding whole month. This is how they prepare for married life. Maybe they think that they will cry all their tears and won’t have to cry in the future?

• Here is another unusual folk ritual. When a person of the Tanomani tribe (Brazil) dies, his body is cremated. Relatives of the deceased mix the ashes with plantain decoction and drink. They believe that this pleases the dead soul, which finds a resting place in their bodies.
• The Greeks have a strange custom of not giving a damn about everything. In their opinion, such a ritual brings good luck and scares away the devil. They perform spitting rituals in different special cases, for example, christenings or weddings. In the old days, guests had to give a good spit on the bride's dress, but now everything is done quite symbolically. It is enough to say “tfu tfu tfu.”
• Young boys in Brazil undergo an extraordinary rite of passage. To prove their bravery and strength, members of the Satare-mawe tribe put their hands in a glove filled with poisonous ants. You need to hold out for 10 minutes, but the bites are unusually painful, and the pain lasts the whole day! There were even deaths.

In fact, every culture has a lot of fascinating things. Some may consider these customs inhumane. Others still look for meaning in them, because even the most strange customs and traditions in the world there is an explanation.

Unusual traditions and rituals of the peoples of the world

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.

1. Russians

As everyone knows, Russians are the most mysterious people on the ground. 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.

2. Maya

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.

4. Prussians

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.

5. Cossacks

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 western Turkestan... Their ancestry may go back to the Scythians, Alans, Circassians, Khazars or Goths. Each version has its supporters and its own arguments. Cossacks today represent a multi-ethnic community, but they constantly emphasize that they are a separate nation.

6. Parsis

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.

7. Hutsuls

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.

8. Hittites

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.

9. Sumerians

This is one of the most mysterious peoples in ancient world. Nothing is known about their origins or the origin of their language. A large number of homonyms allows us to assume 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.

10. Etruscans

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).

11. Armenians

The origin of the Armenians is also a mystery. There are many versions. Some scientists believe that Armenians descended from the people ancient state Urartu, but in genetic code Armenians are 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.

12. Gypsies

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.

13. Jews

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.

For connoisseurs female beauty will definitely like it.

14. Guanches

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.

15. Khazars

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.

16. Basque

The age, origin and language of the Basques are a mystery 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.

17. Chaldeans

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, the priests and Babylonian astrologers were called Chaldeans. They predicted the future of Alexander the Great and his successors.

18. Sarmatians

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 nation had a tradition of artificial deformation of the skull, which allowed people to make their heads ovoid.

19. Kalash

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 adhere to polytheism.

20. Philistines

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 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.