Hakloot

Mongolia

On August 12-14 I stayed behind a few days in Mongolia
after a business trip to visit a few sites I had not seen before. The first stop was the monastery at Amarbayasgalant. Its situated in a
beautiful green valley which this particular week look like a huge camping site filled with gers and tents as people from all over Mongolia converge these days to the monastery for special prayers in support of business. I stayed overnight in a ger camp right next to the monastery. It’s one of the best preserved monasteries in Mongolia and counts
among the three most important ones along with Erdene Zuu Khiid in Harhorin and Gandan Khiid in Ulaan Baatar. It was built in the first half of the 18th century and dedicated to the great Mongolian
Buddhist Zanabazar.

After Amarbayasgalant I went to Hustai National Park in particular to look for the many monuments related to the Turkic civilization and some of which are dating back to the early Bronze and Iron age. Hustai is located about 100km wet of Ulaan Baatar. Hustai is a huge park where the Przewalki horses have been re-introduced. it has a very rich wildlife, beautiful nature and vistas together with the archeological remnants of the Turkic and pre-Turkic civilizations. The park is enormous at 50’600 hectare. No roads and no signage. So looking for ancient monuments can be a challenge. Thank God for the GPS and for a good driver.

While driving about in the park and following a well trodden track, I was lucky to observe from a distance the outcrop of a small standing stone. As this did not appear a natural phenomenon, I got out of the car and started walking towards. the stone. I then realized I had found myself in a large graveyard of square stone graves. The stone I had first noticed seemed like a headstone on the east side of the tomb. It is carved with parallel lines pointing down. What was striking with the location of the graveyard is that all bronze and iron age people seem to look for the proximity of water, a slightly inclined slop and a view of the hills or mountains when they searched for a site for a grave. Very similar to what I have seen in Kazakhstan.

The square stone graves I had stumbled upon were very similar to bronze age stone graves I have seen in Kazakhstan, except these in Hustai park where each several times bigger. Based on the information from the Hustai National Park website the east corner of each tomb is marked with a standing tall stone called a Serege. The Serege was used to tether a horse. Sofar about 160 of these graves have been recorded. The site I stumbled upon had at least about 30-40.

The valleys opening up to the open plain and the Tuul river are dotted with large stone covered burial mounds – kurgan as they are called in Kazakhstan. Some are lined of with an outer circle of stones, others are marked with an outer square of stones. These burial mounds date from the 2nd to the 1st century BC while the square tombs dated from the 3rd to the 2nd century BC. Apparently about 19 of these mounds have been recorded. I must have seen and stopped at about 5-6 of them.

One remarkable site is a burial mound high up in a valley which is marked by what is called a “dear stone”. It’s head stone with beautiful deer engravings with elaborate and beautiful circular antlers. Apparently only 1 such stone is discovered in the park while over 800 are spread over Mongolia. This stone is claimed to date to the 2nd century BC.

Another spectacular site is the assembly of Ongot stone monuments in the plain between the mountains and the river Tuul. Based on the information from the Hustai National Park website the Ongot stone monuments date back to the period when Mongolia was a part of the Turkic Empire (552-742 B.C). The Ongot is the biggest collection of stone monuments in Asia, with over 30 stones carved into man and animal figures. Ongot stones carved into lion and sheep figures have particular symbolic and cultural significance. For instance, the lion is the symbol of safety and peace while the sheep was one of main sacrificial offerings. About 600 man stones have so far been discovered in Mongolia. There are three varieties of man stones representing sitting, crouching or standing forms. Sitting man stones represent high ranking noblemen, while standing forms represent slaves and servant girls. Next to them, in the shape of an X, decorated, rectangular stone slabs are placed for use as an altar. It is thought that offerings of food and meat were originally placed on these.

There are 552 balbal standing stones in a line stretching from the Ongot to the south-east. Local elders repeat old legends, one of which claims that the stones represent the number of enemies killed or the number of battles won; in another version, the stones are said to point in the direction of heaven and to act as a guide for departing human souls.

About 50km south of Ulaanbaatar Manzushir Khiid overlooks a beautiful valley with plenty of different types of trees, birch, cedar, pine, littered with boulders. Sadly the entire site suffered at the hands of the Stalinist purge of 1937 with only a few walls of the over 20 temples left standing. A smaller temple next to where the main temple used to be has been rebuilt in wood. The pictures and models in it depicting the site before its destruction give an impression of how beautiful a complex it must have been. Climbing up behind the temple one can reach a few small prayer huts which offer great views over the alley as a reward for the arduous climb.

Last Updated: 28-08-2011



Copyright © 2012 Hans Dewaele – All rights reserved

Kaylak, in the footsteps of William of Rubrouck

On Sunday 31 July I decided to follow in the footsteps of William of Rubrouck on his way to Karakorum, the capital of Genghis Khan. William was of Flemish origin and he was a Franciscan friar ordered by King Louis IX to travel to the court of Möngke Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan who had passed away in 1227, with the objective to deliver a message of peace but really to discover his true intents with regards to Europe. Catholic Europe was divided and fighting crusaders wars and hence in no position to defend itself from an invasion by Genghis Khan’s army. Hence the “ambassadorship” of William.

On his long journey from Constantinople, present day Istanbul, which started on 7 May 1253 and was completed with his arrival at Tripoli, in present–day Lebanon, on 15 August 1255, William passed, amongst others, through present day Kazakhstan. He describes extensively two of his resting places. First, on 8 November 1253, he enters Kinchat which must be near present day Taldykorgan where he only stays the night and has the opportunity to try wine as there are vineyards there. On 9 November they depart and reach Kaylak on 18 November. So it took him about 10 days to cover 200km by foot and ox cart. Today Kaylak is known as Koylyk or Antonovka. He rested there for 12 days.

I first learned of Kaylak from an article in the Air Astana in-flight magazine Tengri (issue 2 of 2009). The article was a well written and documented write-up on archeological surveys and digs that took place. These were undertaken by the Institute of Archeology of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the leadership of Prof. Karl Baypakov, the head of the department and the author of the article. This triggered my curiosity and I set out to research where the exact location could be and I decide to read the journal William of Rubrouck kept of his voyage.

Today not much is visible from what used to be Kaylak. The archeological excavations are completed. The research is done. As a result to protect the site the digs have been refilled. Some only partially possibly indicating that archeologists may want to return for more research. On site which is only partially covered is the old mosque that was unearthed. One can still very clearly see the what must have been the base for the pillars supporting the roof. It is recognizable as it is featured as an aerial photograph in the Air Astana in-flight article. Other digs were not recognizable.

It was clear when walking around that in some instances not a big effort was made to cover the digs. As a result I got lucky and stumbled what appears to be a round millstone, very smooth with a perfect opening in the middle. It was half covered by vegetation. The archeologists probably left not more than 2 years ago and already the site is being overgrown again. Clearly it is no surprise that hundreds of years later after a site has been abandoned by its people it’s very difficult to find it back when you see how well nature covers it in dust and vegetation in a mere two years.

Last Updated: 06-08-2011



Copyright © 2012 Hans Dewaele – All rights reserved

Kuljabasy Valley 5

On Sunday 31 July I decided to return a little know site of petroglyphs in Kazakhstan, called Kuljabasy after the mountain range where they are located, past a small military town called Otar in the direction of Bishkek. The long stretched out low mountain range is intersected by several valleys. The petroglyphs are nested in these valleys where people have lived for thousands of years. I had been there last year at the end of May when I explored one valley. This time I explored a new valley rich in carvings covering several periods from the bronze age through the Turkic Middle Ages. When walking through these valleys it’s clear why people stayed there. They offered protection from the elements, particularly in winter. Most of all though they are abundant with green pastures for herds of animals to feed off with wells feeding small little streams of water. The rock facings are glistening black in southerly direction. A perfect canvas for petroglyph art.

At the mouth of the valley where it opens up to the plain the remnants of an ancient mausoleum next to the rock covered bronze age grave stand testimony to the long period of inhabitation of the area. As with other valleys explored in the past people who used to live inside the valleys would bury their death at the mouth of the valley, either looking on to a river or an open plain. Hence, if one sees burial places one can assume the the valley extending from it used to be inhabited.

On of the most originals and finely carved drawings is the one of two Saka warriors side by side. They have head coverings or hats, they have weapons. An axe in the hand and a sword on the side. The body features have been finely stylized, almost in an exaggerated manner to make them more pronounced and recognizable. They are estimated to be from around the 6th century BC, or about 2’700 years old!

Some of the larger rock faces are canvas for a multitude of scenes carved over hundreds if not thousands of years hence reflecting multiple periods. One such canvas has a lot of scenes of men with bow and arrow hunting next to pictures of camels, goats, horses, dogs, etc..

Valley 5 seems to have a lot of pictures of Bactrian camels in all sizes, some more stylized than others. Depending on the period they are from the size and style will differ quite a bit.

Sadly modern man’s only attempt to equal the artists of the past is to put their names on the rock face on top of the age old drawings. it’s just a sign that today people in Kazakhstan either don’t know of the richness of their history nor care. Mostly the Government doesn’t seem to care as very little effort goes to further discovery and even less to protection and development of what is already discovered. The advantage for the lone interested person as myself is that it gives you more satisfaction of looking like Indian Jones in search of lost treasures than a tourist paying for an organized tour in a museum

Last Updated: 01-08-2011



Copyright © 2012 Hans Dewaele – All rights reserved