Big Salbyk Kurgan - the burial place of the Scythian nobility
The Salbyk Kurgan is a unique monument, a fragment of the Tagar culture, shrouded in various legends. The correspondent of "AiF-Krasnoyarsk" spoke with the caretaker of the ancient mound.
Menhirs from the "holy land"
Among the sacred places of Khakassia, the Bolshoi Salbyk Kurgan is the most famous. It is located in the Valley of the Dead Kings - the burial place of the Scythian nobility. It is now established that the mound was built in the 3rd century BC. Then the height of the earthen pyramid reached 25-30 meters. At the time of excavations carried out in 1954-1956. expedition led by archaeologist Sergei Kiselev, it was 11.5 meters. By that time, the grave had been robbed twice, so apart from the bones, scientists found nothing.
A bird's-eye view of the Salbyk mound. Photo: Government of the Republic of Khakassia
The mound itself was a complex structure of huge stones. The weight of vertically standing blocks reaches 60 tons. These megaliths were brought over a hundred kilometers from the banks of the Yenisei. How - it is still unclear. Scientists say that menhirs (as the Khakass call these plates) were placed on the border with the "Holy Land". Why is unknown. One and a half kilometers from this place, there is a zone marked by two slabs called the Salbyk Gate.
The open-air museum watchman Igor Galkin has been guarding the remains of the greatest burial mound in Southern Siberia for seven years.
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“Why am I working here? Fate has brought, - the superintendent laughs. - I only heard about the Salbyk mound, and when I saw it, as they say, I was imbued with my soul. There are some things that only a few people know. Only those who were engaged in excavations. Today, geomagnetic anomalies are constantly observed in this area."
We drink coffee at a table covered with a cozy tablecloth with sunflowers. It's actually cozy in the watchman's yurt. There is a large rug on the wall, a wolf's skin on the bed, a teapot and cups and spoons on the table. When I asked him how long it took him to get used to working on the mound, the caretaker threw up his hands: “I never got used to it - as if I had been here. My working day lasts from dawn to dusk."
"And then you close the gate and leave?" - "Why not! We spend the night here. The watch is small - three days. We live right here. We are a party of four".
Silence of millennia
The Kurgan is a grandiose burial structure of a person, who was not more powerful in this region 25 centuries ago. During the excavations, the remains of the ruler were discovered (he was buried in the center) and six skeletons of his close associates or relatives, called upon to accompany their master on his last journey.
It is believed that after the excavation of the Big Salbyk mound, the spirit of the leader did not go anywhere. Photo: AiF / Lika Krasko
The buried elder had injured legs and fractured ribs. According to scientists, he could be not only the leader of a tribe or tribal union, but also a powerful priest who had unlimited power. Local residents believe that after the excavation of the Big Salbyk mound, the spirit of the leader did not go anywhere.
Today only the foundation has survived from the majestic burial mound, the ancient stone fence is intact.
- The mood of the mound … Is it there, or does it depend only on the person who came here? I ask the caretaker.
“It's hard to explain … It depends on the people who visit the museum during the day,” he shakes his head.
- Do many people come?
- Lot. And the negative is carried here. They go as if to their home. Sometimes people ask me: "Are you the owner here?" I answer: "We are all guests here."
People who believe in the healing power of boulders come to this place. In some places the stones have been ground by hand. The Valley of the Kings is popular not only among tourists; shamans also come here.
Twenty-three stones are placed around the perimeter of a rectangle in the middle of the steppe, all of them are united by evenly laid crossbeams and are subject to a strict preset position. At the same time, they appear before the gaze as if by chance, striking the imagination not by their size, but by the state of freedom and tranquility that they contain.
“There is a certain border between our world and the afterlife. People cross this border without hesitation. This is how a person comes to visit and then lies on the bed, then climbs into the refrigerator. There are, of course, normal ones, but there are many obscurantists. It happens that people who have entered the territory of the mound make noise, laugh. But that's half the trouble,”the inspector waves his hand. - And sometimes, they try to kindle a fire … To communicate with the dead. They come at night and … I don't even want to talk. So we keep the lighting on duty. People just don't understand where they've ended up. We walked through the territory, and it is still unknown who got out of there …"
Shining soul
The working day of the museum caretaker begins at six in the morning.
The working day of the museum caretaker begins at six in the morning. Photo: AiF / Tatiana Rudenko
“You will walk through the territory of the mound, look, clean up the papers so that nothing is lying around,” says Igor Galkin.
"Do people also manage to litter here?" - I'm amazed.
"Sure. Who has that in their pockets … Up to condoms. And once the grandfather alone took pebbles - as a keepsake. Then he came again, carried in a handkerchief - to put it in place. "I took it - I got sick …" - groans. We always warn the kids not to put anything in their pockets. To drag home from the burial ground, well, why?"
Museum "Ancient burial mounds of the Salbyk steppe" is open all year round.
“In the summer I work from ten in the morning to six in the evening, in the winter - from eleven to four,” explains my interlocutor. “There are such sunsets here… After the incident with the red shining ball, I stopped walking on the mound at night. I was not afraid. For ethical reasons. Here people get bored during the day, and also disturb them at night …
It was already past midnight - in the silence, dogs suddenly began barking. They grinned at the doors of the yurt, from both sides. I feel that someone is standing behind the door, and I know that this is not a person. Dogs would have sensed a human being from afar, would have begun to grumble, and then suddenly jumped up and barked. At first I did not go out and open the door. Some time passed, went out, shone a flashlight towards the largest stone. And I saw a ball, shining, red, right on the stone. He was right in the place where a child was sacrificed thousands of years ago. I removed the flashlight, and then turned the light onto the stone again - the ball disappeared. I saw him for seconds! This, apparently, was the soul of the child."
