When I first entered the territory of one of the most mysterious places of the Zhambyl region - the Akyr tas settlement - I saw just a pile of red stones piled in the steppe
Then it was also August, the grass had already dried up and the thought immediately came: "Who could live in such a lifeless place where there is not even a river nearby?"
In general, the peculiarity of Akyr tas is that for a century and a half it has been raising a lot of questions, the answers to which have not been found to this day, and therefore the disputes, apparently, will not subside soon.
Until now, no one has been able to put an end to the debate on the translation of the name of the Akyr tas settlement. Some interpret it as "The Singing Stone", others - as "The Last Stone". Both versions have a right to exist.
Even forty years ago, stone blocks, hewn in the form of a shallow trough, were stacked on top of each other with pillars and were a reference point for the shepherds grazing flocks of sheep in the mountains. When the wind blew, the stone pillars made a sound - "sang."
The second version arose from the assumption that Akyr tas is the last palace built by Alexander the Great during his great campaign.
The next versions are even more mysterious. Local historians suggest that Akyr tas is nothing less than pyramids with a geographical connection with the Egyptian pyramids.
A friend of mine, keen on esotericism, once noted that, judging by the shape of the foundation, Akyr tas was built as a Buddhist monastery: small rooms around the perimeter, a courtyard inside, several gates, from which only one could pass a large cart.
This place has always attracted the attention of all kinds of people. Women came to Akyr tas to get rid of infertility. Tourists made fires outside the perimeter of the settlement, sang songs and waited for thrills and the solution of some secrets. People keen on esotericism were fueled by the special energy emanating from red stones.
To be honest, many of the townspeople regret that with the beginning of archaeological excavations they have lost the opportunity to visit Akyr tas. “The energy is not the same,” explained Lyubov Isatayeva, a history teacher at secondary school No. 42, a local historian.
In the last two years, the ancient settlement has become an object of commercial tourism and brings a certain income to the regional budget. Maybe it's for the best.
In August of this year, Akyr tas was included in the list of ancient monuments, where young people who were involved in the implementation of the republican action "Let's Preserve the Memory of Ancestors", announced by the People's Democratic Party "Nur Otan", worked, within which excursions to sacred places were held for a month. ancient monuments, subbotniks and competitions are organized.
Last year, members of the Zhasyl El labor detachments left for Akyr tas. No, they did not work there, but they listened to the most interesting story of the director of the regional historical museum "Monuments of ancient Taraz" Taken Moldakynov, who can talk for hours about this ancient structure.
Taken Moldakynovich became interested in Akyr tas many years ago. Even then, he collected various documents testifying to the unusualness of this ancient settlement. Last year, he showed me aerial photographs taken by Italian surveyors. The photographs clearly showed the outlines of the grandiose structure, which are simply impossible to see from the ground. Moreover, the structure has sixteen colonnade bases and underground rooms, the purpose of which is still unclear.
Today, excavations are underway at Akyr tas, which are carried out by employees of the A. Margulan Institute of Archeology. Gradually, thanks to archaeologists, it becomes clear that after all it was a palace. Imagination begins to see a blooming oasis. Moreover, there was once water here, and it came from the glaciers of the nearby mountains through a ceramic water supply. In general, it was heaven on earth - a luxurious palace, the purest mountain water, fragrant mountain air. A paradise created by people and destroyed by them. Or maybe it was not people who destroyed the building, they just left it, completing their mission? And all the rest was created by time, ruthless to the creations of human hands?
Just forty kilometers from Taraz today you can see the future, what awaits civilization in a certain time period. And who knows, maybe three hundred years from now, groups of tourists will wander around the ruins of our city, speculating about the pitiful remains of the Balasagun Palace of Culture?
However, this is also an assumption. In the meantime, groups of curious people are considering what archaeologists have already discovered to the world, touching the stones, as if they want to hear their voices.
Five years ago, when Akyr tas once again began to attract the attention of both local and foreign archaeologists, I spent several nights at the settlement and experienced an unusual feeling of the mystery of this place.
The head of our group, Grigory Liu, immediately explained that one should enter the territory of the settlement only after midnight. Moreover, it is advisable to come on an empty stomach, because some people feel bad.
On the very first night, I clearly heard the sound of bells. The next time, my friend and I lay on the warm ground inside the perimeter and watched the August starfall. Suddenly a translucent female figure passed by me. I brushed it off - it happens. A minute later, a friend asked me: "Have you seen the girl?" As they say in the immortal cartoon about Prostokvashino, "they go crazy one by one." But for the third time an inexplicable incident on Akyr tas happened to me when I was alone. After spending about an hour in the perimeter, I decided that I had received enough energy and decided to get off to the bus. The moon was shining brightly in the sky, the glow of a fire could be seen behind the stones and guitar chords were heard. A well-trodden path led to the main gate of the ruins. But suddenly I realized that I did not see a way out, and there were some hills around me and silence reigns. Honestly,I felt very uncomfortable, but still decided to find people. I went up the hill, looked around, saw no one. I went back down, too, no familiar landmarks, flowing more that I had been to Akyr tas more than once. Five minutes later, I again found myself standing on the path, right in front of the entrance to the perimeter. And it was at this moment that I clearly heard the clanging of swords and a horse's stomp.
When I told Taken Moldakynov about all my feelings, he replied that I was not the first to talk about such things. Some people saw unidentified flying objects over Akyr tas, some did not see them, but later found them in printed photographs.
In general, there are still many mysteries left. Who knows, maybe soon they will be unraveled and the answers will become generally known, or they will remain the property of a small group of scientists. After all, it is still unknown why French archaeologists came to Akyr tas, who carried out only pinpoint excavations, paying special attention to a huge white stone located in the courtyard of the building. Maybe it was there that the time capsule was buried, which local historians often talk about. By the way, this is the place that psychics have always chosen for their rituals. Now, they say, it no longer has the power for which people from all over the republic and even from abroad came to Akyr tas.
Today tourists also come here, but only to see with their own eyes the last stones of the palace, possibly built by the great Alexander the Great and destroyed by ordinary people who took it apart to build their huts …
08.20.08, Lyudmila Melnik, specially for Gazeta.kz