The main points of the "honor code" among the peoples of the Northern and Western Caucasus
The article focuses on the moral and ethical code of the Abkhaz people, Apsuara, and on the meaning that the Abkhazians invest in such concepts as alamys, anamys and apatu as core components of the Apsuara, and how valuable these concepts are for them. The Apsuara has no lexical equivalent in Russian language. The term is difficult to describe, to define and to analyze, and its literal meaning — «abhazstvo» — is very conventional and fi gurative. The article analyzes the main components of the Apsuara structure: worldview of Abkhazians, norms of social behaviour, rules of life, a system of upbringing and etiquette, and prohibiting categories. It compares the Apsuara with the Circassians` ethical system, the Adygage (“dejstvo”). Since 1960 Abkhaz scholars such as Sh D. and Inal-Ipa, EK Adzhindzhal and others have been trying to interpret the concept of Apsuara and its system by providing their own interpretations. This article analyzes several interpretations of the concepts Apsuara.