Issyk gold man

In 1969, a group of Kazakh scientists led by Kemal Akishevich Akishev discovered a unique archaeological complex of the Issyk burial ground. The Issyk mound is part of the burial ground complex located on the left bank of the Issyk mountain river, near the city of Issyk, 50 kilometers east of the city of Alma-Ata . The burial ground consists of 45 large royal mounds with a diameter of 30 to 90 and a height of 4 to 15 meters. The Issyk Barrow was located in the western half of the burial ground. Its diameter is 60 meters, height - 6 meters. After the demolition of the embankment, at a depth of 1.2 meters from the level of the ancient horizon, two burials were discovered: central and lateral (southern).

The central was repeatedly robbed. The lateral grave was not disturbed, the burial and buried equipment were completely preserved. The burial chamber was constructed from processed spruce logs. The remains of the buried were discovered in the northern half. Over 4 thousand gold objects, an iron sword and a dagger, a bronze mirror, clay, metal and wooden vessels were found in the burial chamber.

In the lateral funeral chamber cut down from the trunks of the Tien Shan spruce, more than four thousand jewelry made of sheet gold , once sewn on clothes, shoes and a headdress, as well as gold rings, figurines, bronze and gold weapons, and various vessels were found. A silver bowl with 26 written signs was found in the burial (see Issyk letter ). The find dates back to the VI - V century BC. e. The inscription on the bowl has not yet been deciphered. In the southern and western parts of the side chamber, dishes made of wood, clay, bronze and silver were placed, and in the northern part, on the plank floor, the remains of a buried man lying with his head to the west were found.

On the skeleton and under it were found many gold ornaments of clothes, headgear and shoes. Nearby are weapons and various utensils that could be useful in the afterlife. An arrow with a gold tip is placed at the elbow of the left hand, here, but above the elbow, is a whip, the handle of which is helically wrapped with a wide gold ribbon, and even higher is a bag in which there was a bronze mirror and red paint.

According to the anthropological definition of O.I. In connection with the subsequent loss ^{[ when? ]} bone remains there is no opportunity to reconstruct the appearance or make a chromosome analysis. Items in burial may belong to either a man or a woman.

There are several options for the reconstruction of the costume and headgear.

Presumably, this is a sak-tigrahaud, because on his head there is a pointed headdress 70 cm high, decorated with gold plates and plates with the image of horses, leopards, mountain goats, birds, trees. On the neck there is a golden hryvnia with tips in the form of tiger heads. A gold earring adorned with grain and turquoise pendants was discovered on the left side of the skull.

The form of clothing and the method of burial suggest that the "Golden Man" was a descendant of a prominent Saka leader or a member of the royal family. Some Kazakh historians have suggested that the burial belongs to Usun .

Most likely he was buried in ceremonial or formal attire: in a thin silk shirt, a short camisole, tight trousers made of red suede and high boots without heels. On the leader’s head was a high conical cap - kulah . A three-turn tubular hryvnia with tips in the shape of a tiger head was found on the neck. On top of the camisole was a heavy typesetting belt of curly cast alloys. To the right of the deceased on a sword belt in a wooden scabbard was a sword for equestrian combat; on the left, in a sheath with plates in the form of an elk and a horse - an iron dagger. Its top looks like two griffin heads; it is covered with gold leaf. The blade is inlaid with gold plates with images of various animals. A symbolic rod with a gold tip and a whip decorated with gold was laid at the left shoulder. The armament features allow dating the Issyk mound to the 5th – 4th or 4th – 3rd centuries BC ^[9] .

In 1963, Lake Issyk broke through a powerful mudflow. As a result, the emergency literally washed away many of the houses and industrial buildings of the village, including the local motor depot. In 1968, Issyk received the status of a city, as a result of which the need arose to develop the infrastructure of the district center. Among other tasks was the construction of a new motor depot at the entrance to the city. According to the Law of the Kazakh SSR “On the Protection of Monuments of History, Archeology and Culture”, after allocating land for the construction of something, it is necessary to coordinate with the authorized body for the location of historical monuments in this territory. To do this, the archaeologist Beken Nurmukhanbetov went to the place with a laboratory assistant and photographer (Oleg Medvedev). The mentioned mound was located on the territory of the future motor depot / Its study began - the embankment was demolished throughout 1969, and in the spring of 1970, the central burial was opened, which turned out to be robbed several times. When the work was already being scaled down, B. Nurmukhanbetov, trusting his instinct, asked the bulldozerists to “walk” once again ten meters north of the central burial. after several visits, the bulldozer knife came across a wooden blockhouse, not disturbed by robbers. After clearing the entire log house, the young archaeologist then decided to call his colleagues. After this excavation, teacher Nurmukhanbetova Kemal Akishev took over.

Currently, Beken-aga has opened an open-air museum on the site of Issyk barrows, where he is the main keeper and shyraksha of Saki barrows.

The treasures of the Issyk barrow, including an exact copy, were exhibited at the Kazakh Museum of Archeology, located in Almaty , and now at the State Museum of Gold and Precious Metals of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Astana .

The “Golden Man” on the winged leopard has become one of the national symbols of Kazakhstan . Copies of the Saki warrior are installed in many cities of Kazakhstan, one of them crowns the Independence Monument on the main square of Alma-Ata .

In total, in Kazakhstan, as a result of archaeological excavations, five burials with the so-called “golden man” were found: the second “golden man” was found in the Araltobe Kurgan, the third in the Shilikty Kurgan Baygetoba, the fourth near fifth and the fifth “golden man” was found in the Taldy burial ground Karkaraly district.

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  Issyk Gold Cataphractory

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  Medal "10 years of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan"

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  The image of the “Golden Man” on a commemorative gold coin with a face value of 1000 tenge

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  Kazakhstan stamp dedicated to the Golden Man

• Altai golden man
• Saki (tribes)
• Cataphract
• Jade prince
• Dress armor
• Altynbekov, Crimea (restoration).

• K. A. Akishev “Issyk Barrow, Art of Saks of Kazakhstan” Moscow Art 1978
• AKISHEV AK. COSTUME OF THE “GOLDEN MAN” AND THE PROBLEM OF CATAPHRACTARIA
• Akishev K.A., Akishev A.K. Origin and semantics of the Issyk headdress. - In the book: Archaeological research in Kazakhstan, Alma-Ata, 1979
• AKISHEK A.K. Astana, department meeting. Talk about a golden man. 9/9/2015

• 10 facts about the Golden Man - a symbol of independence of Kazakhstan (PHOTO)
• Finds from Issyk Barrows (Golden Man) on YouTube
• Ismagilov R. B. "Golden Warrior" from the Issyk barrow: man or woman? // Legacy of the ages. Protection and study of archeological monuments in Bashkortostan. Vol. 1. Ufa, 1995.
• Altyn Madam: A New Look at the Famous Burial in Issyk Barrow