Half an hour up the hill under the hot July sun. There are no paths, but the walk is quite easy and even pleasant. It smells of thyme and mountain herbs. A lizard slips out from under his feet. Grasshoppers chirp. The view from above is mesmerizing: over the foothills of the Sayan Mountains - a huge sky. Between the hills, the Usinsky tract stretched like a thin thread. People have been walking along the ancient path for four thousand years. The Scythians roamed here, the troops of Genghis Khan went to conquer the world. At the beginning of the last century, the White Guards, under the onslaught of the Bolsheviks, were looking for ways to retreat to Mongolia.
Now in the territory Krasnoyarsk Territory and neighboring Tuva are archaeological excavations. One of the largest in Russia and the world. It has to do with building railway Kyzyl - Kuragino, part of which will pass along the ancient path.
Valley of the Kings
Back in the 60-70s of the last century on the territory of Tuva and the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Institute of History material culture Russian Academy of Sciences conducted archaeological research. At this time, a large number of historical monuments were discovered.
A real sensation, comparable in importance only to the discovery of Schlimann's Troy, happened in 1974. Then a mound with burials was discovered in Tuva (it was named after the neighboring village - Arzhaan), with a huge number of artifacts. This place was immediately nicknamed the Valley of the Kings.
Excavations of another mound - Arzhaan-2 - in the same area in 2001 made a splash. Here they found the royal couple, accompanied by many associates. The leaders went to another world with a huge amount of precious things: jewelry, utensils. Even the clothes were all covered with golden scales.
Nikolai Bokovenko, now the head of the second detachment of the Sayan archaeological expedition, working in the construction zone of the Kyzyl-Kuragino railway, was part of the group that excavated the legendary Arzhaan-2. Says those finds made on him unforgettable impression: there were really unique things. For example, just one of the 20-centimeter deer-shaped hairpins for women is estimated at about two million dollars. And almost 25 kilograms of similar gold jewelry were found!
However, the conclusions that these findings made possible are priceless.
It used to be that the territory of Tuva and the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory was a distant periphery of the powerful Scythian empire. But the results of the excavations confirm the hypothesis: the ancient civilization originated here. By the way, Herodotus spoke about the Central Asian origin of this legendary people.
Homeland of the Scythians
I must say that this territory - the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Central Asia in general - is a unique region that was a real generator of peoples, - explains Nikolai Bokovenko, associate professor at the St. Petersburg Institute of Culture and Arts. - We study the paleoclimate (that is, the ancient climate), compare different regions in terms of weather patterns. For example, it turns out that the region of Sayano-Altai was the most prosperous place in those ancient times. Here, in the Minusinsk Basin, there was a real ecumene (a region especially favorable for life). This is an incredibly interesting area in all respects, its study is very important for science.
About three thousand years ago there was a high population density. In the south of our region and in Tuva, the peoples concentrated, and then advanced to the west - up to Central Europe. From here, starting from the first millennium BC, there was a migration of Scythians, Huns, Turks, Tatar-Mongols. Why they moved west is unclear. Perhaps in search of a better share. Maybe they were led forward by those who were young, active and energetic (passionaries, according to Lev Gumilyov's definition). Perhaps they obeyed the instinct of the conquerors, as in the case of Genghis Khan.
All these peoples, who have long disappeared from the face of the earth, moved along the ancient road - now it is called the Usinsky tract. Along this unique path, ancient sites, burials and a kind of "camping" are being excavated (and three, and two thousand, and one hundred years ago, our ancestors, like us, traveled and had picnics on the side of the road). Each such parking lot is “multi-layered”: after all, if the place is really convenient, it will always be used. Therefore, it often happens like this - archaeologists begin to dig, for example, a cellar of the 19th century, and under it they discover artifacts from the Bronze Age.
Cauldron of nations
The amount of work to be done is huge. Therefore, they decided to attract volunteers to help archaeologists. For the third year now, the international volunteer camp "Valley of the Tsars" has been operating in Tuva. Since extensive excavations are also being carried out in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, it was decided to create a second volunteer camp here. So, last year, another camp appeared on the territory of the Ermakovsky district - "Ermak".
- "The Valley of the Kings" and "Ermak" were organized because the idea arose with the help of the Russian Geographical Society to make the project "Kyzyl-Kuragino" not only scientific, - explains the director of the international volunteer archaeological camp "Ermak" Denis Gergilev. - Guys from all over Russia and from other countries of the world come to us, to Siberia.
Of the volunteers, historians, archaeologists, geologists, and geographers are chosen first of all; for them, participation in excavations is a unique practice. However, everyone has a chance to take part in the project. For example, now oceanologists and journalists work in Yermak. Several students from Colombia arrived at once - a comrade who came here last year campaigned.
Many of those who have been here once want to come back again. Because this is an opportunity to see amazing edge and a chance to gain unique knowledge.
At the excavations, the guys work in the first half of the day. In the second - they go in for sports, communicate, - says Denis Gergilev. - For them, the leading teachers of the Siberian Federal University give lectures on the history, geography and ethnography of our region. The guys go on excursions, go on mountain hikes in Ergaki.
Every day for young people is scheduled by the hour. All of them are engaged in big, interesting business. It is this involvement that makes many people reevaluate their lives. Someone after a trip to the "Valley of the Kings" and "Ermak" quits an unloved job, someone begins to seriously engage in science. After all, one of the goals of archeology is to answer simple, human questions. What color did our distant ancestors have hair and eyes? Did they like to travel or were they homebodies? How did they dress? What were you interested in? To understand what the people who lived here three thousand years ago were like - and all in order to understand oneself.
REFERENCE
In the early 2000s, archaeologists gave the world a real sensation. On the territory of Tuva, two burial mounds were excavated - Arzhaan-1 and Arzhaan-2 in the Valley of the Kings, untouched by robbers. The burial of Arzhaan-2 belongs to the VI-V centuries. BC e. And it's the earliest historical monument Scythian culture.
Mound Arzhaan-2 has become a real Klondike for archaeologists. More than 20 kg of high 990 gold was extracted from it. This collection of gold objects is tacitly called the main archaeological discovery of the 21st century.
One of the most beautiful natural and historical monuments of Southern Siberia is located on the highest steppe basin of Tuva, Turano-Uyukskaya, surrounded by the peaks of the Uyuksky and Kortushibinsky ridges, in the area of the villages of Arzhan and Tarlyk. The locals call it the "Valley of the Kings". A large number of chains of large mounds are concentrated here, which are the graves of tribal and tribal leaders of the Scythian times. The chains probably reflect the consanguinity of the people buried in them.
The most famous burial mounds of the Valley are Arzhan-1 and Arzhan-2. The first has a diameter of 120 m and consists of pure stone with a spring in the center and huge wooden structures inside. Together with the ancient leader, another 16 people and 160 horses were buried. Despite the fact that the grave was plundered in antiquity, archaeologists managed to find many valuable finds - these are horse harness items, jewelry made of gold and silver, coins, luxurious woolen fabrics, the remains of clothes made from sable skins and the famous bronze plaque in the form of a coiled panthers. Excavated in 1971-1974 the mound dates back to the 9th-8th centuries BC.
The barrow "Arzhan-2", which is 2700 years old, was discovered in 2001. This grave, 80 meters wide, belongs to a noble couple. The remains of people and horses buried together with the leader were also found on the territory of the tomb. Near the remains, gold jewelry, copper and amber items, iron weapons, military armor, dishes, etc. were found. The total weight of gold recovered from the tomb was about 20 kilograms.
Obelisk Center of Asia
The obelisk "Center of Asia" is the main attraction of the city of Kyzyl and a symbol of the Republic of Tuva, symbolizing the geographical center of the Asian part of the continent. The obelisk is located on the banks of the Yenisei River (Ulug-Khem River), where Komsomolskaya Street approaches the embankment.
In its current form, the obelisk is a two-meter marble base, on which there is a large ball with the outlines of the continents. A ten-meter triangular spire rises from the globe into the sky. On the pedestal in three languages (Russian, Tuvan and English) the words "Center of Asia" are written in gold.
The monument was erected in 1964 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the voluntary entry of the Tuva People's Republic into the USSR. The authors of the project are the artist V.F. Demin and architects V.I. Bazhin and V.P. Vetchinov.
Ush Beldir
Ush-Beldir is considered one of the most beautiful corners of Tuva. Translated from Tuvan, the name means "merger of three". Three merge here major rivers Tuva - Shishigt-Gol, Busin-Gol and Belin, forming a violent Kyzyl-Khem. Thermal springs located in this place are famous for their healing properties.
Information
photo from the site
(modern), called in "sacred". The mention of her is found in the Qur'an in the context of the story of the prophet (Moses).
background
On the way to Egypt, on one of the cold nights, the prophet Musa and his family got lost. Musa tried to start a fire with his flint and flint, but he did not succeed. At that moment, when the darkness thickened, and the cold intensified, he thought that a fire was burning on the right side of the mountain, and headed in this direction. Musa set off with the intention of bringing a brand of fire and finding people who would tell him the right path. He approached the fire, which he saw from afar, and it turned out that in reality it was not fire, but light.
Prophet Musa in the Tuva Valley
In the Tuva valley, the Lord called Musa in a low voice. He told Musa that he was the Lord and ordered him to take off his sandals as a sign of respect for this blessed place.
According to some sources, Musa was ordered to take off his shoes, because in order to receive the blessings of Allah, the faithful, as a sign of the lowest obedience, should touch the sacred ground only with bare feet. Other sources cite as an argument the following statement of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which they characterize as trustworthy: “ His shoes were made from donkey skin (that is, they were not clean)» .
In the Tuva valley, Musa learned that the Lord had chosen him as a messenger who should follow what he was inspired to: Indeed, I am your Lord. Take off your shoes. You are in sacred valley Tuva. I have chosen you, and therefore listen to what is suggested to you in revelation.. Here the prophet Musa received a command from the Lord to meet with a stubborn and despotic ruler, before whom not one of the inhabitants of Egypt dared to argue: So his Lord called to him in the sacred valley of Tuva (Tova): “Go to the Pharaoh, for he has transgressed the boundaries of what is permitted. [
Valley of the Kings in Tuva
Not far from the villages of Arzhan and Tarlyk of the Piy-Khemsky kozhuun of the Republic of Tuva, in the Turano-Uyuk basin surrounded by mountains, a large number of chains of large mounds are concentrated, which are the graves of tribal and tribal leaders of the Scythian times. The chains probably reflect the consanguinity of the people buried in them. Scientists attribute the burials to the Uyuk culture of Tuva.
Because of a large number and the size of the ancient barrows, the locals call this place the "Valley of the Kings". The Tuvan Valley of the Kings, like its Egyptian "namesake", is full of historical secrets and treasures. Indeed, as soon as the excavations of ancient mounds began, archaeologists made amazing finds: golden armor, unique structures and unusual burials - not the whole list of discoveries.
The largest and most famous mounds of the "Valley of the Kings" - "Arzhan-1" and "Arzhan-2".
Located 70 kilometers northwest of Kyzyl and 26 kilometers from Turan, the Arzhan-1 mound got its name from the Arzhan village of the same name located nearby. This is perhaps the largest known in northern Asia royal burial of the Scythian period, dating back to the 9th-7th centuries BC. The mound was 120 meters in diameter and 4 meters high. The excavations of the mound were carried out by an expedition led by M.P. Gryaznov in 1971-1974. Under the earthen embankment, a complex wooden structure with a log ceiling was found, consisting of a central log cabin and 70 more log cabins located around it. About 5,000 massive larch logs were needed for their construction. The burial of the "king and queen" was found in the central log cabin; in total, 16 people and more than 160 horses were buried in the barrow. All these people were buried with due honors in individual logs and special log cabins. Despite the fact that the barrow was plundered in antiquity, many graves have preserved unique things that have all the signs of the Scythian "animal style" that is still taking shape. The discovered items made of gold and silver are indisputable evidence of the noble origin of the buried.
Mound "Arzhan-2" is included in the same "chain" of four visually identical mounds as "Arzhan-1", and is located in close proximity to it. It was explored in 2001-2003 by a Russian-German expedition. The mound has a truly impressive size: 80 meters in diameter and up to 2 meters in height. The huge size of the barrow made us assume the presence of "royal" burials in them. The result exceeded all expectations. This, indeed, was the burial of the Scythian leader of the second half of the 7th century BC. The mound was also once looted and the central stonework was broken. Fortunately, in one of the rooms of the mound there was an undisturbed burial, presumably, of the ruler of the tribe and his wife. And in the room adjacent to it, household items, weapons and gold jewelry were found. The total weight of the gold recovered from the tomb was about 30 kilograms. As in the barrow "Arzhan-1", 17 people and about 160 horses were buried here. Some of them were killed by hammering a wooden coin into the head. By the way, a woman dressed as a queen was killed in this way.
The value of the discoveries in the mounds "Arzhan-1" and "Arzhan-2" lies primarily in the fact that for the first time an undisturbed burial complex of the highest social stratum of the most ancient steppe nomads became the property of science. In addition, it turned out that the barrows of the Tuvan Valley of the Kings are much older than the Black Sea Scythian barrows. This gave scientists reason to believe that it was from here that the era of the Scythians began, and only then it spread to the Black Sea region.
"The completed archaeological season in the Tuvan Valley of the Kings brought a sensation: St. Petersburg scientists discovered Scythian burials of the 8th-7th centuries BC. The find radically changes the idea of the Black Sea origin of the Scythians - the burials found are older than the Black Sea monuments of nomads known so far.
Discussions about the origin of the Scythians begin since the time of Herodotus, who proposed the theory of the Asian origin of the tribes, whose burial grounds were discovered in the Black Sea region. For many centuries was treated with skepticism the theory of the "European roots" of the Scythians dominated, its indirect confirmation was the Caucasoid, and not the Mongoloid structure of the skulls found remains. The main identification mark of the Scythian culture is unique animal jewelry style - could scientists thought, appear after the return of the Scythians from the Asiatic campaigns, that is not earlier than the 7th century BC. This was confirmed by dated written sources of that time.
The study of the "royal burial" is the result of a long-term Russian-German scientific project. The excavations were carried out by the Central Asian Archaeological Expedition (created on the basis of the St. Petersburg branch of the Research Institute of Cultural and natural heritage Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Russian Academy of Sciences) and the Eurasian Department of the Berlin Archaeological Institute of Germany. The steppe in the vicinity of the village of Arzhan (in the Turano-Uyuk basin of the spurs of the Western Sayan in the north of Tuva) has long attracted the attention of archaeologists - it is here, in the "Valley of the Kings", that the largest burial mounds of the era of the early nomads of Eurasia are concentrated. The first scientific excavations were carried out at the beginning of the 20th century, and in the 70s the findings of the famous Leningrad scientist Mikhail Gryaznov became a sensation. The materials obtained during the excavations of the Arzhan mound made it possible to clarify the origin of the bright cultures of the early nomads of Eurasia in the first millennium BC...
The current excavations in Tuva, where monuments of the turn of the 8th-7th centuries BC were discovered, unexpectedly confirmed the correctness of Herodotus' assumptions. Scythian-type tribes are identified by the presence of components of the so-called "Scythian triad": weapons, horse harness and, of course, animal-style art objects. Finds in the so-called "Valley of the Kings", which unites several mounds, date back to the turn of the 8th-7th centuries BC, that is, the time when the Scythians in the Black Sea region, again according to archaeological data, were not.
The head of the Central Asian expedition, researcher at the Hermitage Konstantin Chugunov told Izvestia:
The finds in the Arzhan-2 barrow have no analogies in archeology. All samples of the components of the Scythian triad are so highly developed that initially we could not even imagine that they were created earlier than in the 6th century BC. A thorough analysis of both "royal" burials and burial grounds that did not belong to representatives of the Scythian nobility showed that they were created later than the 7th century BC. This overturns ideas about Asian nomadic culture: one can speak about the origin and development of Scythian art, which surpasses even the contemporary art of Archaic Greece in terms of development, in a completely different way. The antiquity of the finds suggests that the Scythian tribes came to the Black Sea region from Central Asia.
However, the populist "scientific" assumptions that appeared after the publication in Kyzyl of the first results of the expedition that modern Tuvinians are descendants of the Scythians are categorically refuted by St. Petersburg archaeologists. One of the main arguments is the Caucasoid skull of the Scythians, their belonging to the Iranian language group. And in general, scientists state, the fact of being in any territory of carriers ancient civilization does not mean that the ethnic groups that appeared there later are the "genetic successors" of this civilization. The excavations are completed until next May, which the Central Asian expedition is waiting with understandable impatience."
9300 gold coins were found, not counting "countless gold beads". Photo: Vera Salnitskaya
An unknown warrior was found literally covered in gold along with his woman. Photo: Konstantin Chugunov, Anatoly Naglera and German Parzinger; Vera Salnitskaya
The unknown Scythian warrior was dubbed the Siberian Tutankhamun, because the symbols of his wealth were discovered: the bodies of 14 horses were buried in the ancient necropolis. Burials of 33 more people were found next to this burial, five of which were children. The jewelry found was made in the "Animal Art" style.
The ancient ruler was buried with a heavy necklace of solid gold and a gold quiver adorned with fish scales. Photo: Vera Salnitskaya
This burial was not plundered, like Arzhan 1, so archaeologists got into the hands of items made of iron, turquoise, amber and wood, as well as gold.
The find was described by the director of the Hermitage, Dr. M. B. Piotrovsky, as an "encyclopedia of Scythian art", containing species of many animals that roamed the region, such as panthers, lions, camels, deer...
Reconstruction of costumes made by experts from the Hermitage. Picture: Hermitage
The warrior's outer garment, probably a type of caftan, was decorated with thousands of small Panther figurines, each 2-3 centimeters long, attached in vertical rows and forming motifs such as wings on the back.
Golden pectoral in animal style. Photo: Vera Salnitskaya
Thousands of small beads about 1 mm in diameter were sewn onto felt or leather boots, which made the boots look like they were made of gold.
The total weight of his jewelry - including the glass beads on his trousers - was 2 kilograms. The armament of this man consisted of an iron dagger.
The decoration of the woman's dress matches the man's caftan: thousands of golden panthers form different motifs, again, in particular, wings on the back. Around her chest, archaeologists found gold earrings and many small balls of gold, amber, garnet, malachite and other precious materials.
Near her foot were thousands of mini-beads made of gold, which should be fastened to leather boots, which were inlaid with gold ribbons and grains.
"It's hard to imagine that these small pieces were made by nomads living in tents. Photo: Vera Salnitskaya
Other burials that surrounded the prominent couple contained bronze knives, an ax of the type known as the Raven's beak, arrowheads, bronze mirrors, belts, and many pieces of jewelry - beads made of glass, stone, amber, and gold earrings. There were also fragments of fabric - felt, fur and fabric.
Bronze bridle sets, mane and tail ornaments carved from sheet gold were also found here.
DNA analysis of the group showed that the buried were from an Iranian ethno-linguistic group. According to the analysis of strontium isotopes in the bones, all the buried were local residents, except - "Queen", and this gives reason to think about dynastic marriages.
Weapons: An iron dagger and iron arrowheads with gold inlay. Photo: Vera Salnitskaya
The early Scythians were people who knew and appreciated works of art Photo: Vera Salnitskaya
The picture of the burial corresponds to the description of the burial rite among the Scythians, described by Herodotus.
Wooden bowl with golden handle. Photo: Vera Salnitskaya
As Parzinger said, "It's hard to imagine that these small pieces were made by nomads living in tents." Chugunov agrees: "In Arzhan 2, the gold jewelry was clearly not made by nomadic artists."
Some of the decorations are probably made in what is now China; others owe their origin to the masters of the Middle East. Some treasures came from a distance of 4000 to 5000 kilometers from this mound, but at that moment there was no contact between the Scythians and the ancient Greeks.
However, the treasures testify to the lost civilization of the Scythians. They were culturally more advanced than once thought. Experts suggest that there were also Scythian craftsmen who made the daggers and arrowheads found in the burial. The techniques used in embroidery and the making of the earrings are similar to those used close to the Aral Sea, about 3,600 km from the burial site. Remains of fruit and plant seeds found at Arzhan 2 also come from more distant regions.
What do anthropological studies say?
"Most of the studied groups of the Scythian time, when compared with the composite series representing Caucasoids and Mongoloids, correspond to the frequencies of ZI, ZSSh and IPNS inherent in Caucasoids (Fig. 1). Only a series from the so-called royal mound demonstrates a stable shift in the “east” direction At the same time, the average value of HO frequencies for combined series, except for those buried in Arzhan-2, Pazyryks and Tagars (Kuznetsk depression) exceeds this indicator for modern Mongoloids. HO are also characteristic of a number of populations of the Bronze Age from the territory of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Western and Southern Siberia [Gromov, Moiseev, 2004]. Considering this, as well as the absence of a noticeable “eastern” trend in other characteristics among the Pazyryks and Tagars of the Kuznetsk basin, I believe that it is premature to speak about the significant participation of Mongoloid groups in the genesis of these populations, but this feature can be considered as a consequence of the kinship of these groups with the Caucasoids of Southern Siberia of the Bronze Age. The assumption about the participation of Mongoloids in the formation of the group from Arzhan-2 has more grounds, since, as already noted, it demonstrates a stable “Eastern” trend in almost all features significant for the differentiation of modern Caucasoid and Mongoloid populations. It should, however, be borne in mind that the extreme values of the frequencies characterizing the series may be due to the small size of the group. It is also necessary to take into account possible family relations between individuals buried in this burial ground, which was a family burial vault for the top of the early Scythian society...
The beginning of a qualitative change in relations between the Central Asian groups and the Caucasoid population of the steppe zone of Siberia is evidenced by the pronounced “eastern” shift of the group from Arzhan-2. A similar shift for an earlier time was traced only in individual individuals, which means that the migration process was not yet massive at that time - we could talk about the infiltration of small Mongoloid groups, which were completely assimilated by Caucasoid populations. The uniqueness of the cranioscopic characteristics of the series from Arzhan-2 is an indication that a fundamental change in the dynamics of the interaction between ancient Caucasoid and Mongoloid populations did not occur in the Scythian period. The process of mass migration of Mongoloid groups of Central Asian origin occurred already in the subsequent, Hunnic, period.
In the forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia at that time, another direction of interpopulation relations predominated. Here there was assimilation by the numerically predominant Caucasoid populations of the local taiga population, in the cranioscopic characteristic of which there are similarities with modern Ugric and Samoyedic groups ."
