Disturbing the peace of the deceased is fraught with unpredictable consequences. As an example, they like to cite the curse of Tutankhamun - a series of deaths of members of the English archaeological expedition that followed the opening of the pharaoh's tomb. (With a more scrupulous study of the fate of the expedition participants, it becomes clear that most of them died a natural and even natural death - from old age or diseases that began before the excavation of the burial of Tutankhamun.)
Another vivid example is connected with the opening of the tomb of Emir Teymur (Tamerlane) in Samarkand by the group of Professor Mikhail Gerasimov. It took place a day before the start of the Great Patriotic War. Naturally, popular rumor immediately linked these two events together, although the war could not but begin, even if the peace of Tamerlane's ashes had not been disturbed.
Other personalities, whose graves were disturbed, and the troublemakers were severely punished, are not so famous, so they are somehow not cited as examples, although these examples are brighter and more instructive. One such example is the story of the deceased, whose remains are in the mountains of Central Tajikistan. This kind of burial - mazar - is surrounded by many secrets. All local residents claim that by breaking the peace of the deceased, you can incur all kinds of punishment.
Mazars (graves of saints) in Central Asia have been objects of worship since ancient times. Muslims make pilgrimages to them, hoping to be healed of diseases. Mazar Khoja Iskhak (having full - Khoja Iskhak Wali) is neither a tomb nor a grave in the strict sense of the word. It is a small cave (Makshevatskaya Cave), which contains unburied mummified remains. The saint, as it were, sits on an earthen hill, half buried in earthy deposits such as clay. Therefore, this mazar is also called the Sitting Skeleton Cave.
It is curious that it is impossible to find pictures of a skeletal mummy on the Internet, there is only a photo of the cave outside - no one has yet decided to photograph in this place, but there is a detailed description of the remains. The mummified remains of a person, revered as the body of Saint Khoja Iskhak Wali, are located at the very beginning of the cave, about five meters from the entrance, near the wall, somewhat away from the natural opening in the vault of the cave. In front of the mummy there is a small flat area, from which the descent begins on two sides - deep into the cave and towards the exit.
The remains of Khoja Iskhak Vali are located in the aeration zone. The stream of air once dried up the corpse, while other bodies in the depths of the cave decayed and crumbled. The seated body is surrounded by a semi-ring of stones. The right side and face of the mummy are facing the exit, they are badly damaged by time, the bones of the skull are visible.
On the back and nape of the mummy, skin is preserved and even short red hair is visible. The right arm is bent at the elbow and practically separated from the shoulder. The body is facing south, the head is turned west - southwest.
According to the stories of local residents, the mummy was discovered at the beginning of the 19th century. A resident of the village of Makshevat (the cave got its name from this village) named Mullo Kurbon hunted in the upper reaches of the gorge and wounded a goat, but he ran up the cliff and suddenly disappeared. Following him, the hunter made an amazing find.
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The road to the mazar is difficult, and in some places it is simply dangerous. First, the path follows a path that passes over the cliff, then ascends to the cave along a steep slope. Not every traveler will master such a road.
By the time of the Russian colonization of the region, which happened in the second half of the 19th century, the incorruptible body had managed to become overgrown with Muslim legends. There is currently no answer to the question of who was the one whose unburied remains can be seen in the cave. Moreover, it is not even clear in what historical era this person lived. But on this score, there are several versions, some of which are incredible.
According to one of them, the mysterious dead is none other than Spitamen, the legendary Sogdian leader of the uprising against Alexander the Great. There is a legend that a detachment of rebels was ambushed in the mountains by the Macedonian soldiers. The wounded Spitamen, fleeing the pursuit, rushed into a stormy river, and then ended up in a cave, where he died from blood loss.
According to another legend, Khoja Iskhak was sent by Allah in order to convert the local people to the true faith. However, the people here were all stubborn pagans as one. They killed the messenger of Allah. It is his imperishable relics that are in the cave.
At the end of the 19th century, the mazar was visited by a mining engineer and amateur archaeologist from Tashkent named Leopold (alas, history has not preserved his surname). Having learned about the mysterious cave, the archaeologist wanted to take a look at it personally. He made a difficult and long journey, and after examining the cave, he decided to excavate it. I hired three young people from the locals, they were residents of the Anzob village, located thirty kilometers from this place.
The excavation began by removing a layer of pigeon droppings. Then a layer of clay appeared and finally a layer of sand mixed with stones. It was difficult to dig.
It is not known for certain whether they found anything or not. But an amateur archaeologist, satisfying his scientific curiosity, paid generously to his assistants and went to his place in Tashkent. And the mountaineers hired by him hastened to return to their native village. However, on the way home, disaster almost happened to them. When they were descending from the mountain, one of the men named Alisher from the Anzob village stumbled and almost flew down - at the last moment he grabbed a bush growing on the slope.
The man, terrified to death, decided that it was not without the intervention of otherworldly forces, that this was a warning about a possible punishment for desecrating the mazar. Returning home, he could not find a place for himself for several days, all expecting reckoning. I decided: I need to go back to Khoja Iskhak and try to correct the mistake. I bought a sacrificial ram, prepared food and distributed it to the poor. Then he began to work in the cave, trying to bring it back to its original form. I worked for several days …
And here's what is curious: Alisher's decision to leave Anzob saved his life. On the way back from the mazar, he met armed horsemen who blocked his way. “You can't go there,” they told him. "There is disease, plague, black death."
When Alisher was finally able to get to Anzob, he saw a sad picture: not a single inhabitant was left alive. The Black Death did not spare anyone. Alisher's two friends, whom Leopold hired with him, also died.
Shocked by what had happened and grief-stricken, Alisher could no longer stay in his native village, he left, as they say, wherever his eyes were. I didn't stay anywhere for a long time. He preached, talked a lot about his decision and what preceded it. As a result, he joined the order of wandering dervish monks.
The people (including thanks to the stories of Alisher) have developed stable ideas about the power of the saint. It is believed that under its influence the water dripping in the cave turns into ice, which fossils during the year. This stone (sintered calcite bark), in crushed form, is used as a medicine for the treatment of various diseases. The best part is that it really helps! You just need to come to the cave with pure thoughts, pray, ask the saint for help and collect the "petrified ice".
They say that the power of the saint does not allow many people even to the chillahona (a special room where a person retires for forty days for fasting and prayer), located below, under the rock, not to mention the rock and the cave itself, so they put stones in heaps and sacrifice near the holy place, within its sight. (Stacking stones in piles like pyramids is a custom adopted among many Muslim peoples. The pyramid, according to scientists, personifies a candle lit for the Almighty - an analogue of Orthodox candles in temples serving the same purpose.)
If the power of the saint does not allow a particular person to enter the cave, under the manifestation of this power, he experiences extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, heart attacks, similar in symptoms to altitude sickness and occurring in pilgrims when going uphill.
Pilgrims, who nevertheless decided to climb into the cave, leave pebbles in the depressions, crevices and on the ledges of its walls, taken for the traces of the saint's hands and feet. These symbolic offerings are accompanied by prayers and requests for health, welfare, or well-being. (Stone offerings are accepted by many Muslim as well as Semitic peoples.)
Such worship of Khoja Ishak Vali continues in our time. And even well-educated people who do not believe in miracles testify that mysterious things are happening in the cave, that the saint actually helps with a sincere request, and during a visit for the sake of curiosity (if, nevertheless, such a person breaks the unknown power of the saint and comes to caves), curious subjects are severely punished - up to and including serious illness.
The journalists also go to the cave of the saint. Literally this year, the geologist Sobir Yusupov told Sergei Shchipanov from the magazine "All the riddles of the world" who decided to visit the Makshevatskaya cave.
Their geological survey team set up camp a few kilometers from the sacred mazar. One day Sobir passed the route near the cave. I decided to look in. He did not touch anything, he just carefully examined everything and photographed the main attraction - the skeleton.
Coming out of the cave, the geologist began to look for a convenient path for descent. I found a place where the river and the road running along it were clearly visible. I slowly began to descend. Why hurry? The road is just a stone's throw away.
But he miscalculated. Somehow, imperceptibly, twilight thickened, then darkness enveloped everything - it was not even visible where to put your foot. The descent became slow and dangerous. The geologist suffered a lot before he came to the water. Then I realized that his misadventures were not over. The road ran along the opposite bank, and at night there was nothing to think about crossing the stormy river.
It was necessary to go to a place to which at least two kilometers along a narrow path. On the one hand - a roaring stream, on the other - a steep steep slope. To top it all off, a barbed wire barred his way, behind it was once an ammonite warehouse. Even a shield with the inscription “Stop! Restricted area . In search of a passage, he felt it with his hands, scraping his palms.
Sobir was in the camp only at three o'clock in the morning. “The saint punished me for thrusting himself into the cave out of idle curiosity and without due reverence,” he immediately thought. Needless to say, the photo did not work, although it was a digital camera.
And the next morning a surprise awaited the geologists. The ram, who lived in the camp and was destined for slaughter, was devoured by a wolf: horns and legs were left from the barbecue. The gray robber left people only a head, a neck with a rope and a part of the front leg. The remains of entrails lay nearby.
Sobir disturbed the peace of the ancient saint, and therefore both he and his colleagues were deprived of fresh meat. Of course, skeptics will say there was a coincidence. But, as they say, nothing accidental happens in this world. Everything in this world is interconnected …
Based on materials from Sergei Shchipanov
O. BULANOVA