What kind of people lived in the Tuvan valley of the kings. Secrets of the ancient way. Along the mountain road

(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: Here 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. [

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.

Archaeological excavations are currently underway on the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and neighboring Tuva. 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, the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted archaeological research on the territory of Tuva and the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. At this time they discovered a large number of historical monuments.

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: ancient civilization originated right 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 is the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and in general central Asia- a unique region that was a real generator of peoples, - explains Nikolai Bokovenko, Associate Professor of 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 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 an amazing land 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 to mountain hiking 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

I won't hide it: we entered Tuva with some apprehension, just as we did in our time in Ingushetia and Chechnya. But both in the Caucasus and here, nothing marred our road trip. But still, reputation does not arise from scratch. An unfavorable background, or, as they would say now, the background is laid down historically.

Tuva, as you know, became part of the USSR in 1944. And not even as a republic, but as an autonomous region. In the glow of the Great Patriotic War, this was hardly the most noticeable event, but by this time the Tuvans had proved that they were the most faithful allies: they were the first to support the USSR from the first days of aggression, declaring war on Germany. Further - more: they transferred all their gold reserves to the Union, began to form volunteer units that fought on the Soviet fronts, and also sent almost all internal resources to help us. And it was worth it.

But there were other periods as well. Basically, when Russia showed its weakness. Anti-Russian sentiments fell on civil war, when Tuva was under the rule of Kolchak, as well as in the 90s (the period of the collapse of the USSR). Many Russian-speakers then left the republic, but there were those who remained. In particular, my classmate, who, after graduating from Irkutsk State University, received a distribution (there used to be such a concept) in Kyzyl and successfully adapted there.

Before going to Tuva, I called him. Alas, at that time he was on vacation in Krasnodar Territory but the advice was great.

First, he said that there is nothing to be afraid of if you behave adequately to the situation.

Secondly, do not pretend to be a maskvich: do not enter into any disassembly; do not show anyone fakes; do not promise anyone sexual adventures; and we do not teach anyone how to live ...

Thirdly, it is best to stay in the capital at a hotel opposite the local FSB department.

But before reaching the capital of Tuva, we traveled a bit around the territory of the republic. Until that moment, I was sure that there was nothing more beautiful than Buryatia in Siberia. Is not a fact!

The road was just wonderful, the views are amazing. Roadside trade also pleased. There were plenty of strawberries and inexpensive. This year seems to be especially ugly. But for my taste, Baikal, nevertheless, is tastier.

After the Krasnoyarsk Territory, it became clear that he had entered a territory where Tengri spirits are revered, where Buddhists and shamanists are in favor. But we are no strangers: they left on the passes where a coin, where a candy ...

Before reaching the capital, we turned onto a country road, indicating the way to the valley of the kings of Tuva. Of course, in those ancient times, neither the kings nor the present-day Tuva were here. But there was a valley, and a life that was not yet fully understood, but filled with events, took place in it. Here, as in Khakassia, the high culture, which is called Scythian, left behind hundreds of mounds, under which local rulers rested. And on some of them samples of incredible jewelry art have been preserved.

We ended up at the most famous of the opened mounds, which has preserved all its wealth to our times - this is Arzhan-2.

Here, in 2001, a Russian-German expedition discovered the undisturbed burial place of a local leader and his wife, whose remains were covered with a layer of gold. And not just anyhow, but amazing jewelry. We will see them a little later in a special depository of the museum, more like a safe or a crypt from which they were taken.

The Tuvan Valley of the Kings is known far beyond the borders of the republic. In essence, this is a huge accumulation of the most ancient barrows by origin. In other words, the ancient graves of the leaders of various tribes are concentrated in a hollow surrounded by a chain of mountains. These burials were attributed to the Uyuk cultural period. The valley is located about seventy kilometers northwest of the capital of the republic - Kyzyl and is divided into two zones, the territories of which are called "Arzhan No. 1" and "Arzhan No. 2".

Story

The famous Valley of the Kings, or, as it is also called the Royal Valley, is located in one of the most picturesque regions of the republic - Piy-Khemsky. It is surrounded by mountains and seems to be full of historical secrets and treasures. The names of the graves reflect the name of the nearby settlement - Arzhan. Mounds are considered the oldest and largest territory of all such zones of the Scythian period, and date back to 4-7 centuries BC. Based on this fact alone, one can imagine what archaeological value they have. And archaeologists do not miss the opportunity to carry out survey work on the territory of the mounds. Excavations are carried out almost all year round, with the possible exception of the winter season.

Peculiarities

The most explored of the two territories is Arzhan-1. Its in-depth study was carried out in the period from 2001-2003 with the help of the Russian-German society. It was then that it was precisely established that the burial places belonged only to the royal dynasties. Luck smiled at the archaeologists, and an undisturbed crypt was found in one of the underground rooms. As it turned out, at least seventeen people and one hundred and sixty horses were buried here, which were customary to bury with the owners. In the course of the study, it was also revealed that the Tuva burial mounds are older than the Black Sea mounds. This fact gave scientists reason to believe that it was the burials of the Valley of the Kings that were the original ones, and from them the famous Scythian era began, which spread to more distant regions. After the completion of the work, most of the items found during the excavations became the property of the National Republican Museum, which is still kept today.

The Valley of the Kings was and remains the largest burial in North Asia, and its study has made a huge contribution to history. After all, those unique things that have been found in the entire history of excavations allow us to judge a lot. Despite the fact that the mounds were partially plundered several hundred years ago, it is believed that many future museum exhibits still remain on their territory. Many archaeologists from Tuva and other Russian regions are searching for these artifacts.