The earliest mention of the golden idol is found in the 13th century in the Scandinavian "Saga of Olav the Holy", which is part of Snorri Sturluson's "Circle of the Earth" collection. The saga tells that around 1023, the Norwegian Vikings, led by the famous Thorir-Dog, set off on a campaign to Biarmia (Bjarmaland) - this was the name of the legendary state that stretched out in the 9th-12th centuries in the region of the Northern Dvina, Vychegda and the upper Kama. In Russia it was called the Great Perm. They managed to secretly infiltrate the Byarm sanctuary - Yomali, guarded by six shamans. There they saw many treasures and a large gilded statue. On the neck of the idol was a precious chain, on the head - a golden crown, adorned with twelve different images. On my lap lay a bowl filled with silver coins mixed with earth. The Vikings took with them as much money and treasure as they could carry. Finally, one of them, Carly, cut off the head of the idol, enticed by the chain. But on the way back, the Vikings were met by the guardians of the sanctuary, and they had to flee, throwing away all the loot.

We also find information about the cult of worship of the Golden Woman in the Sofia Chronicle for 1398 in connection with the death of Bishop Stephen of Perm. It says that Stephen sowed the faith of Christ on those lands where animals, trees, water, fire and ... the Golden Woman were previously worshiped.

In the 15th century, the Novgorod ushkuyniks, having visited the Ural lands with goods, brought news of "People unknown in the Eastern country, small growth, eating each other and praying to the golden idol".

A lot of legends about the Golden Woman are circulating among the Komi, Khanty and Mansi. So, the Mansi reindeer herders tell such a legend. The golden woman was alive and could walk on her own. When she was crossing the Stone Belt, as the Ural Mountains were called in the old days, the local shaman tried to detain her, as she considered herself the local mistress. Then the idol cried out in a terrible voice, and from his screams all living things died for many miles. The daring shamaness fell backward and turned to stone.

The Yakut epic describes a copper statue standing in the middle of impenetrable swamps. When enemies approached, she allegedly began to emit a sound resembling the chirping of many crickets, and also emitted a blue glow into the sky.

The Nenets have a myth that once a year, when the Great Sun appears in the sky, a Sun Baba rises from under the frozen ground, carrying a baby in her womb.

There are 35 days left before the start of the World Cup in Brazil. Sportbox.ru leads to the start of the tournament and tells about the legendary cup, which was awarded to its winners from 1930 to 1970.

The first FIFA World Cup was a sculpture of the ancient Greek goddess of victory Nike 35 centimeters high and weighing 3.8 kilograms, made of gilded silver and installed on a stand - originally marble and then lapis lazuli. The famous French sculptor Abel Lafler became the author of the prize ordered for the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay.

The Cup was brought to Montevideo by the first FIFA President Jules Rimet (in 1946 the trophy will be officially named after him). There the award remained for four years: the first world championship was won by the Uruguay national team.

Then Nika stayed for a long time in Italy: in 1934 "Squadra Azzurra" won it, and in 1938 she won it again. During the Second World War, the Golden Goddess, as the award was called, partly spent in a place that was not very appropriate for her status, but a safe place. Namely, in a shoe box under the bed in the house of FIFA Vice President Ottorino Barassi: when the Nazis came to the Apennines, he took the cup from the Roman bank where it was kept and hid it out of harm's way.

The adventure of the prize did not end there. In 1966, shortly before the World Cup in England, he was stolen from a philatelic exhibition in London dedicated to the tournament. But a week later, the goblet was found - he was accidentally found buried under a hedge in a country garden by a dog named Pickles, walking there with the owner. Both would later be invited to an England championship banquet, and the kidnapper would never be found.

And the Golden Goddess ended her journey with a criminal and mysterious story. After the Brazilian national team won the trophy for the third time and received it for eternal storage in 1970, the cup was kept at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro. He stood in a closet behind bulletproof glass, except that the back wall of that closet was made of ordinary wood. It was she who was hacked by unknown attackers on December 20, 1983, after which Nika disappeared without a trace. It is believed that it was simply melted down and sold as ordinary precious metal scrap.

Because of this, the World Cup did not remain without the main prize: having given the Golden Goddess to the Brazilians, FIFA ordered a new cup for the 1974 World Cup in Germany, which will be awarded to the winners of the tournament in Brazil. Its author was the Italian Silvio Gazzaniga, it is 1.8 centimeters higher than the Jules Rimet Cup, weighs more than 6 kilograms and is made of gold. Unlike the previous one, this trophy is the eternal property of FIFA: the winners are allowed to take home only a copy.

Full statistics of all FIFA World Cup final tournaments can be found

GOLDEN GODDESS

In the tenth year of the Trojan War, the Achaeans finally became convinced that they could not take Troy by storm. All that was left was to hope for cunning. And the impermanence of the gods ...

Once Zeus and Athena did not hide their sympathy for this city. The Dardanian king Il turned to them with a request to give some sign whether he had chosen the right place for the foundation of Ilion. The Olympian approved his decision and threw palladium from the sky - a statue of Athena, the guardian of cities. The two-meter wooden figure was carved by the goddess herself in memory of the daughter of Triton Pallas, whom she inadvertently killed.

The statue was kept in a temple dedicated to Athena, and as long as it was there, the walls remained impregnable. Even the harsh daughter of Zeus, who hated the Trojans and zealously helped the Achaeans, was unable to change anything. Now, if palladium disappeared from her sanctuary, then ... Then she would not feel bound by any promise and the previous sign would lose its meaning.

The most cunning of the Greeks, Odysseus and the fearless Diomedes, who were second only to Achilles in courage, secretly made their way into the camp of the besieged at night and carried the statue out of the temple, thereby depriving the Trojans of hopes of salvation.

This precedent was hardly remembered by the one who kidnapped the Golden Goddess from under the noses of the London police in 1966, whose masters were Brazilian footballers for 8 years. The almost two-kilogram goblet, cast from pure gold, was made in 1946 by a French sculptor, and the President of the International Federation, Jules Rimet, established it as a challenge prize for winning the world championship. The cup is a figurine of the winged goddess Nike, daughter of the titan Pallant, sister of Zeal, Perseverance, Strength.

As you know, the stolen (but soon found) Golden Goddess reacted very favorably to the kidnappers and did not want to leave the English land, betraying her former idols.

The ancient Greek Nika was distinguished by the same inconstancy. A companion of Zeus and Athena, she rarely appeared on Olympus - she had enough trouble on earth. The goddess barely had time to follow all the events and sometimes was late for the scene, or even did not appear at all where she was expected. Realizing that you can't please everyone anyway, she was not offended by the people who sacrificed and glorified her today, and tomorrow reproached for inconstancy and frivolity. With all due respect to the gods, the Greeks, however, dealt with them fairly freely, and superstition easily coexisted with practical sobriety. Therefore, in Sparta, for example, where the god of war Ares was especially honored, his wooden statue was simply chained, believing that in this way the sympathies of the formidable Olympian were ensured.

The Athenians, apparently, did not consider the shackles the best guarantee of love and preferred a more refined method: they erected a temple of the Wingless Victory, deciding that from now on, Victory would never leave them. Alas, they had to be disappointed very soon: the temple was built during the Peloponnesian War (431–404), which ended with the crushing defeat of Athens, who never recovered from this blow again.

Nika did not know rest either in peacetime or in war. She flew to the battlefields, fulfilling the will of Zeus and the even more inexorable will of Destiny. She was not responsible for the shed blood: after all, who is to blame that people have not yet learned how to resolve their disputes without the help of weapons? True, she was comforted by the fact that usually the goddess of peace Irena rushed after her, who for some time managed to establish harmony between mortals.

But during the holidays, Nika developed a vigorous activity. She was especially welcome in the south of Greece, in the region of Elis, where the small town of Olympia was located. Here Zeus once defeated Crohn, and in honor of this event his son Hercules established a five-day holiday, three days of which were devoted to the Olympic Games.

All those arriving at the Olympics were considered guests of Zeus, and the supreme ruler showed himself as a hospitable host.

People from various cities gathered in Olympia, often at odds with each other. But already in ancient times (and the first Olympic Games took place in 776 BC) this holiday was regarded as a demonstration of the unity of all Hellenes, regardless of the political contradictions between them.

When special heralds informed the citizens about the beginning of the games (they were held every four years from the 11th to the 15th day of the summer month corresponding with us July-August), categorical prescriptions immediately came into force:

From the moment of the announcement of the holy month of games, all hostile activities must cease.

All foreigners entering the territory of Elis are obliged to surrender their weapons.

Those who try to attack this territory will be subject to the curse of the gods.

A curse and penalty will be the lot of anyone who attacks a traveler on his way to Olympia.

Indeed, during the holidays in Olympia, everyone felt completely safe. Except for women. They were forbidden to attend the games: the offender was not expected to be very happy about the prospect of being thrown off a cliff. It is difficult to understand the Greeks: maybe they cared about the peace of mind of Zeus, who, as everyone knew, paid too much attention to the weaker sex? But then why did the ban only apply to married women and not apply to girls? Or perhaps the Greeks simply wanted to equally please both Zeus and his wife, to whom another holiday was dedicated - also in Olympia, but men were not allowed to attend. True, these games attracted few participants, because Greek women, and even more so young athletes, were not allowed to undertake long independent travels. The game program included only distance races, 1/6 shorter than men's. The idea that women are capable of mastering other sports - at least discus throwing, javelin throwing, long jump, obviously did not seem so tempting to the Greeks.

The guests of Olympia had the good fortune to contemplate Zeus and be imbued with the sweet confidence that he was watching their every step. They came to the temple altar and there, as the ancient poet wrote,

... signs asked Zeus to submit

on fiery sacrifices, will he tell people

a wise word ...

Here, in the temple, the walls of which were decorated with reliefs depicting the 12 labors of Hercules, there was a statue of Zeus, made by the famous Athenian sculptor Phidias and later declared one of the seven wonders of the world. The king of the gods was seated on a throne, holding in one hand a staff crowned with the image of a sacred eagle, and in the other - the goddess Nika. The pedestal of the statue read: "Phidias, son of Charmides, an Athenian, created me." The huge statue (17 meters high!), Made of gold and ivory, made a very impressive impression.

Zeus himself expressed his satisfaction to Phidias.

It was said that one day the master, having finished his work, entered the temple, where the giant figure of the almighty god was shining in the twilight, and turned to the statue with a request to give some sign from which one can conclude whether he liked his creation. And he was given an unambiguous answer - albeit in a somewhat peculiar form: there was a deafening thunder, and the black marble floor at the pedestal cracked. After that, of course, there was no need to doubt the approval of God.

As for the mortals, they spread the fame of this work all over the world. “Unhappy is the one who did not have a chance to see him,” they said in Greece for many centuries. And in one of the epigrams, the author asked with surprise:

Did Zeus come down to earth to show you, Phidias, his appearance,

Or did you yourself ascend to heaven to see him?

Later, the statue had an equally irresistible effect on the Roman emperors, who proved their love for art by taking her to the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire - Constantinople (where she died in the 5th century during a fire in the palace).

Images of Zeus in Olympia were met at every step, and the gifts to him grew with each holiday. Not only that, usually 1/10 of their trophies were presented to him by Greek military leaders and 14 treasuries of different cities could make up the richest museum of gifts to the supreme ruler. Copper statues were also regularly dedicated to Zeus, made with money received as a fine. The fact is that the thirst for victory at the Olympic Games was so great that athletes often broke the rules (often even by mutual agreement). And then, if the deception was revealed, one had to apologize to God, who, obviously, was ready to declare forgiveness to everyone who expressed his love to him. But nevertheless, for edification, an inscription was carved on one of these statues: "Not with money, but with the speed of legs and strength, the Olympic victory is obtained."

And this victory was highly regarded. The winner was crowned with a laurel branch and a wreath of olive branches, which were cut in the sacred forest (the athlete, returning home, brought this wreath as a gift to Zeus!). In his hometown, the hero of the games received special privileges - he was exempted from paying taxes, he was given the right to hold honorary positions. Often, at the entrance of the winner, frantic fans broke part of the wall, because "a city that has such brave and strong sons does not need fortifications."

The awards were given not only to the direct participants in the games. Pericles' ambitious nephew Alcibiades, who later became an outstanding military leader, achieved popularity primarily due to the number of chariots that he exhibited at the games. And although he himself did not enter the field of the stadium (the chariots were driven by special charioteers), he, as a winner, was given the greatest honors, since, according to Plutarch, he "surpassed everything that these competitions could bring with splendor and glory."

Euripides dedicated a solemn song to him, which said: “I want to praise you, O son of Clinius! The victory is wonderful. But incomparably more beautiful is what fell to you, the only one among the Greeks: to come first in a chariot, come second and third, and with an olive-crowned brow to hear your name from the mouth of a loud herald. "

In the Athenian Pinakothek, near the Acropolis, as early as the 2nd century AD, one could see a painting depicting Alcibiades kneeling by the goddess with signs of victories won by his horses on the lists.

More often, however, the winners were immortalized in marble or copper: statues were erected for them - both in Olympia and in their homeland. At the same time, it was believed that not only the heroes themselves, but also their images are under the protection of the gods. And statues sometimes worked wonders.

After the death of the athlete Theagen, his enemies on the island of Thasos tried to smash his image at night. The bronze statue endured for a long time, but, in the end, the Olympic endurance has its limits: the statue collapsed and crushed one of the intruders. The children of the deceased, not at a loss, went to court, accusing her of murder. Since no mitigating circumstances were found, the facts spoke for themselves, and the statue clearly shied away from testifying, she was found guilty and, in accordance with the verdict, was thrown into the sea. And what? A crop failure hit the island, and famine began. I had to pull the statue back and put it back on the pedestal.

Feagen was one of the most famous Olympians (as the winners of the games were called). On his account - 1,400 wreaths received at various games, including 6 - Olympic.

But other athletes were no less famous, setting incredible - from the current point of view - records. It is quite obvious that modern athletes, deprived of the support of Zeus, find it difficult to count on such successes.

Leonidas of Rhodes, for example, far surpassed the most famous runner of the 20th century, Jesse Owens (who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics). The Greek athlete received 12 awards in his sports career and did not know defeat for four Olympiads.

The speedboat Phidippides, who set off from Athens to Sparta to warn of the invasion of the Persians (in 490 BC), safely covered 240 kilometers in two days!

The Argosian Agei, having won the Olympic Games, immediately rushed 50 kilometers to his hometown to report his triumph and returned to Elis at night to participate in the next day's competitions.

And the results of the long jumpers seem absolutely fabulous. Only the masters of the triple jump could compete with them now. True, in those days jumps were performed to music, and athletes jumped with dumbbells in their hands from a small elevation, and yet it is difficult to imagine that anyone in the next few centuries will get close to the result of Fail, who reached ... 16.5 meters! The figure is truly fantastic. But the Spartan Khion, whom the sculptor Miron is supposed to have immortalized in the world famous statue "Discobolus", was content with a more modest result - only ... 16 meters.

Involuntarily, you will begin to believe that the matter was not without the intervention of the goddess Nike, sent by Zeus. For 293 Olympiads, she honestly worked at the famous stadium, which could accommodate 40 thousand spectators, driving the zealous fans into a frenzy. And often she appeared not alone, but accompanied by the god of death Thanat, who was by no means limited to the role of a modest contemplator. Sometimes fights between athletes - fist fighters - ended tragically. An even greater harvest was gathered by this gloomy god at equestrian competitions: in 426 BC, for example, out of 40 riders, only ... one remained alive. Often, his benevolent gaze fell on the stands of the stadium, and then ...

The philosopher Thales, an outstanding scientist of the 6th century BC, according to legend, died during the game "from heat, thirst and decrepitude."

They wrote about the sage Chilo that "the spectacle of his son's victory was too strong for the elder, and he died right there, at the stadium." Such a death was considered quite honorable, because what else could one wish in life after your son became an Olympian ?!

As you know, the Olympic Games ended at the end of the 4th century. The Christian Church could not allow the mental and physical strength of people to be wasted in such an irrational way. Having crushed the old gods, she destroyed all memory of them, destroyed monuments, forbade ceremonies and traditional holidays.

It took one and a half thousand years for the idea of ​​the Olympic Games to captivate again in 1896 - and now not only Greeks, but all of humanity. However, this time there was no Zeus. But the organizer of the games, the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, adequately replaced the forgotten god and fully deserved that his statue be erected in Olympia - among a huge open-air museum, where fragments of almost two thousand works of art are kept, which neither time nor people have spared. But in memory of the greatest sports festival of antiquity to this day, once every four years, on the ancient land of Olympia, in the sacred grove, under the rays of the sun, a torchlight flares up, which, like a relay race, is carried across the globe. It is delivered to the stadium of the Olympic city by the beginning of the holiday, which opens with a parade of participants, among whom, according to tradition, representatives of Greece, the country that gave the world the Olympic Games, are the first to pass.

The Ambassador came across information on the Internet about the Golden Goddess of the country of Shubi, with a magnificent golden image of the Golden Goddess that no one can find. But in the photo, the Chinese Golden Goddess Kuan Yin with a pearl in her hand, a similar sculpture the Ambassador saw in a Chinese monastery in Pattaya, Thailand. The rest of the information is often found on the Internet, so it's a grain, but it's hard to say gold or sand. The Golden Goddess of the Shubi country, the confirmation of the way people thought in antiquity, the creation of the golden progenitor, by itself changed the idea of ​​people about themselves. The ancient Slavs had a similar legend.
Reliable information about where the Golden Goddess stood has not survived, but all researchers agree that it is necessary to look for her in the South Primorye near the highest mountain. The Golden Goddess was the legacy of the Shubi country. Almost nothing is known about Shubi now, but quite a lot is known about the Bohais and Chzhurjens, to whom the Golden Goddess passed. Obviously, this is why the legend speaks of the Golden Goddess of the Jurdzheni. According to some sources, the Golden Goddess was called Gufei. The statue in the form of a female figure cast from gold was the cherished dream of many treasure hunters hundreds of years ago. The sacred statue disappeared without a trace, as did the people worshiping it. This prompts to fill in the missing knowledge with fantasies, fantasies in themselves have value, they develop a figurative perception of the world.
According to legends, there are several caves on Pidan, in which Bohai and Jurdzhen treasures are hidden. As a rule, such treasures are found under the "Bohai frog". The frog was also the guardian of treasures among the Jurdzhen, and they always processed one of the nearby stones, giving it the shape of a frog, thereby marking the place of storage and protecting it. It is noteworthy that none of the Bohai treasures has been found. The full-length figure of a woman, cast in gold and adorned with precious stones, is still somewhere with Pidan. Most likely it is hidden in a cave under Pidan. They have been looking for it for hundreds of years, but to no avail, although the guardian frog of this treasure is known to everyone. Baron Ungern, one of the initiates, had access to the gold of the Bohai. He devoted a lot of time so that no one else could find the treasure. The versions of their location indicate a hundred places, separated by thousands of kilometers. There is a legend that Ungern, having collected several treasures, hid them together, performed a Bohai magic ritual over him. These treasures, like the treasury of the Asian division, are hidden by Ungern at the headwaters of the Amur. But Ungern did not find the Golden Goddess, and to this day she is in Primorye.
Przhevalsky at one time also looked for the Golden Baba - an idol of ancient origin, who was worshiped by both the Bohai and Jurchens. Przhevalsky believed that the Golden Woman could be taken to Tibet. As you know, Przhevalsky conducted expeditions both in the Ussuriysk Territory and in Tibet, but there are no sources indicating that the researcher approached the clue of the location of the Golden Goddess.
In general, many famous people were looking for the Golden Goddess. And most of them leaned towards the version of the hidden golden idol on Pidan or near Pidan. Arsenyev was looking for the Golden Idol in the vicinity of Pidan. According to rumors, A.P. was also looking for the Golden Woman. Okladnikov - Doctor of Historical Sciences, laureate of the State Prize, who headed the Far Eastern Archaeological Expedition in 1953. And, again, according to rumors, he found a place where it could be stored. The legend is silent about further events, therefore, Okladnikov found only the place of storage, or he saw the Golden Goddess herself, is unknown.
There is information that supposedly two statues depicting goddesses were found, and in the 90s they were secretly taken to China. Firstly, these finds were not gold, and secondly, they were hidden by the "lucky ones" themselves to confirm the legend. The first is a small 30-centimeter marble "antique statue" bought in a Vladivostok store and hidden by the "finder" himself. The second is bronze, a little over 20 centimeters high, bought in the same place. It is noteworthy that both women have European facial features. The sculptures were both hidden and found to confirm the version that Primorye in ancient times was Atlantis. It is clear that these finds had nothing to do with the Golden Goddess and that it was not at all serious, they came up with numerous gold decorations on them. The marble sculpture is said to have over 8 kilograms of gold and 31 precious stones. On the second - an ornament from the coins of Mesopotamia, Greece, Near Asia, Europe. Of course, this joke had no success and was quickly exposed, since the hiding sculptures did not pay attention to the fact that the statuettes were stamped with the date of manufacture.
So it is only known for certain that the Golden Goddess is still somewhere near Pidan and that she has not yet been found.

Reviews

You will search for another 1000 years simply because the country of Shubi (as well as the Manchus) has never been in the north of China (just as the Manchus never came from the north, as historians argue).

The Manchus came and conquered China and Southeast Asia from the west - from Tibet (Shubi must be sought in the same direction). That is why the Dalai Lamas were the most honored guests in China - because they were the LORD of the homeland of the Manchu emperors (i.e. Tibet). This was the case until Empress Cixi (she staged a Chinese coup, removing the Tibetans). All the tombs of the "Chinese" Manchu emperors are painted in the TIBETAN style in the TIBETAN language - NOT a SINGLE Chinese character in the tombs (ground-based temples do not count - they were "restored" in the Cixi era for Chinese)

Read Fomenko's book "The Last Path of the Holy Family" - you will understand a lot about China. You might even find your statue.