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#1 The lands of Kiev Rus were in the forest zone of the great East European plain. The best soil was in the south, where fields opened out among the trees closer to the steppe.

#2 The Eastern Slavs were the predominant group in Rus from Kiev to Novgorod by at least AD 800. They had built many villages and fortifications of earth with wooden palisades, and they buried their dead with the tools and weapons necessary for life in the next world.

#3 The Rurikovich dynasty was originally Scandinavian, as legend and the early names suggest. They came to Russia around AD 900 and began to rule that area, quickly establishing their authority over the whole vast area of Kiev Rus.

#4 The great powers and centers of civilization were the Arab Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines were a Christian society with a rich monastic culture, and they were the heirs of classical antiquity. The Arabs were a nomadic people who had taken Islam to the far corners of western Eurasia.