AKYRTAS – MONUMENT OF THE TALAS VALLEY
АКЫРТАС – ПАМЯТНИК ТАЛАССКОЙ ДОЛИНЫ
Ualtayeva A.S. Baitanayev E.B. Apendiyev T.A.
2025Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, A.Kh. Khalikov Archaeology Institute
Arkheologiia Evraziiskikh Stepei
2025Issue 1163 - 172 pp.
Not far from the city of Taraz there is an unfinished rectangular structure made of red stone blocks, long ago called Akyrtas by the locals. For two centuries, this site has attracted the attention of specialists of various fields, such as historians, archaeologists, architects, local historians, journalists etc., who unanimously recognize its monumental nature and the lack of analogies in science. Despite a long and rich history of study, there is no consensus on the dating or purpose of the site. The fact that Akyrtas was not completed and never functioned complicates its dating, as there are almost no artifacts to provide an exact construction date. Researchers have offered various interpretations of this monument: as a Buddhist monastery, a caravanserai, a Christian Nestorian monastery, a palace-fortress of a feudal lord, a trading center and transit point, the residence of the Arab commander Qutayba ibn Muslim, or the residence of the Karluk Khagan. The dating also varies, ranging from the VIII to the XIV centuries. This article analyzes the studies of Akyrtas conducted by scientists at different times, considers the identification of Akyrtas with the city mentioned in Arab sources as Kasribas, and suggests its own hypothesis regarding the time of construction of this structure.
archaeology , architecture , caravanserai , city , farsakh , historiography , ibn Khordadbeh , localization , Qudāma ibn Jafar , Аkyrtas
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Institute of History and Ethnology named after Sh.Sh.Valikhanov, Shevchenko Str. 28, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi Avenue 71, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Institute of History and Ethnology named after Sh.Sh.Valikhanov, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Shevchenko Str. 28, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Institute of History and Ethnology named after Sh.Sh.Valikhanov
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Institute of History and Ethnology named after Sh.Sh.Valikhanov
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