Akyrtas
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
Interactive map of Akyrtas | |
| Location | Jambyl Region, Kazakhstan |
| Part of | Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor |
| Criteria | (ii), (iii), (v) |
| Inscription | 2014 (38th Session) |
| Area | 2.5 ha |
| Coordinates | 42°58′0″N 71°15′0″E / 42.96667°N 71.25000°E |
Akyrtas is the ruins of an 8th-century palace complex in the Jambyl Region of Kazakhstan, about 45 kilometres east of Taraz.[1] Built from large blocks of dark-red sandstone, the complex covers about 2.5 hectares and contains some 70 rooms.[2] It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014, as part of the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor.[3]
The complex has been called a Buddhist temple and a Nestorian monastery at various points.[4] In 2023 Northedge argued that it is an early Islamic palace built for a Karluk ruler between roughly 780 and 809, noting that the four-iwan plan closely resembles the Al-Ukhaidir Fortress in Iraq and has Umayyad and Abbasid parallels. If so, Akyrtas would be among the oldest archaeological traces of Islam in Kazakhstan.[4] A separate, older theory ties the palace to Qutayba ibn Muslim, the Umayyad general killed in 715, with construction supposedly halted after his death.[3]
Arabic geographical sources mention a settlement called Kasribas at or near the site.[2] Qiu Chuji, who passed through the area in 1222, left the earliest non-Arabic reference. Vasily Bartold and other Russian scholars surveyed the ruins in the late 19th century. Stone blocks were stripped from the site in 1938-1939 for railway construction, causing considerable damage.[1] The A. Kh. Margulan Institute of Archaeology began excavating in the mid-20th century, and a Kazakh-French team under K. M. Baipakov did further fieldwork in 1998.[5]
The main building measures about 142 by 169 metres, with walls 3.5 to 5 metres thick.[4][1] Individual sandstone blocks weigh around one tonne, some exceed ten. Excavations outside the palace have also turned up a caravanserai, stone quarries, and an underground water-supply system.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Akyrtas Archaeological Site". Welcome.kz. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- 1 2 "World Heritage Day: Kazakhstan's Top Five Historical Sites". The Astana Times. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- 1 2 "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
- 1 2 3 Northedge, Alastair (2023). "Akyrtash, Early Islamic Architecture in Central Asia, and Its Near Eastern Models". In Marchetti, Nicolò (ed.). Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. Vol. 2. Harrassowitz Verlag.
- ↑ "7 great archaeological discoveries of Kazakhstan". e-history.kz. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
|  | |