The necropolis of Beshatyr (five tents) is considered the spiritual Mecca of the ancient Sakas who lived in the 1st millennium BC. e. on the territory of present-day Kazakhstan.
These are the largest Saka burials dating back to the early Iron Age (7th-6th centuries BC) located on a rocky foothill plain between the Chulaktau mountains and the Kapchagai reservoir.
The burial ground consists of 31 mounds stretched 2 kilometers from north to south and 1 kilometer from west to east. Of these, 21 burial mounds with stone cover and 18 mounds of rubble and earth.
Mounds are divided into large, small and medium.
The diameter of the large mounds is from 45 to 105 meters, the height is from 6 to 17 meters, 9 are medium, respectively, from 25 to 38 meters and 5 - 6, and small from 6 to 18 meters, the height is from 0.8 to 2 meters.
Large mounds are the graves of tribal leaders - military leaders. The middle ones are the noble and famous warriors, and the small ones are the brave ordinary warriors.
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The most impressive group of burial mounds is located on a rocky foothill plain between the Chulaktau mountains and the Kapchagai reservoir. The largest of them reaches a height of 20 meters and a diameter of up to 90 meters. Because of their impressive size, the mounds are called "Tsarskoye". In such burials, during excavations, archaeologists find wonderful works of the Saka culture of the era of its heyday.
An enigmatic detail of the architecture of the royal tombs is the underground passages dug deep in the bedrock.
This detail brings the construction of the Saka tombs closer to the Egyptian pyramids.
Menhirs are located in regular circles around large mounds - structures of eight vertically placed oblong stone blocks. The weight of one stone can reach several tons. Many kurgans are also surrounded by peculiar structures that imitate defensive lines.
In the royal tombs, bones of separate male skeletons were found. In some, male and female skeletons together, as well as clay vessels of various shapes, bones of horses, sheep, goats, felts, reed mats, short iron daggers, akinaki, quivers with bronze arrowheads, ancient mine workings and rock paintings.
The peculiarity of the shatyr barrows is the underground catacombs with a labyrinth, one of the passages of which leads to the tomb, west of the royal tombs from north to south stretches a chain of 45 stone fences on which drawings of animals are carved.
The largest burial mound, called the "Semirechenskaya Pyramid", had a diameter of 105 meters and a height of 17 m. The wooden tombs of these mounds were built from Tien Shan spruce logs, perfectly preserved for more than 2 thousand years.
The Beshatyr burial ground is the burial vault of the kings of the Sakas - the hauda tiger.
Only five large mounds are visible from afar. The others seem to be hidden from view. Therefore, the necropolis is called "Besshatyr" - "five tents".