The great nomads, as the Xiongnu are called, were the first to inhabit the Mongolian steppes in the foothills of the Gobi, turning them into a stage of world history. At the turn of the old and new era, this area was one of the centers of world civilization. In a special way, they absorbed the culture of different peoples. And therefore, studying the history of the Xiongnu, one can learn the history of other peoples who inhabited the ancient ecumene.
But here's the paradox: historians to this day know practically nothing about where the Xiongnu came from, how they looked, what dialect they spoke. It is also unclear why their empire collapsed. More or less reliably, it is only known that the Xiongnu tribes united at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, and the history of their empire can be traced back somewhere until the end of the 1st century AD. About them was known mainly from the Chinese chronicles - the Xiongnu gave a lot of anxiety to their neighbors. But can you completely trust the written sources? Since there is simply no other evidence, archeology comes to the fore.
View of the Suzukte River Valley
In the southern spurs of the Khentei ridge, about a hundred kilometers north of Ulan Bator, in places as beautiful as they are severe, three forested depressions are lost. In them, at an altitude of about 1,500 meters, the mounds of the ancient Xiongnu civilization sleep. They were found by accident in 1912. One of the technicians of the Mongolor Russian-Mongolian gold-mining company was prospecting for gold in the Noin-Ula mountains, in the valleys of the Suzukte and Dzurumte rivers and came across a strange-looking stone embankment with deep craters in the center. He laid a pit, and at a depth he began to come across fragments of copper, iron, wood, clay. Then the explorer even stumbled upon a wooden flooring, which turned out to be the ceiling of some structure squeezed by the weight of an earthen embankment.
Panorama of the Suzukte Valley in the Noin-Ula Mountains / Photo: S. A. Kondratiev
During further excavations, earthen vessels, women's jewelry, and remnants of clothing were recovered from the ground. Only 11 years later, the first scientific expedition led by the famous explorer of Central Asia Pyotr Kozlov reached the mounds. A total of 212 large and small mounds were counted. Kozlov's expedition unearthed six of them, and the things found in them, delivered with the consent of the Mongolian authorities to Petrograd, made a real sensation. Among the treasures kept in the Hermitage today are a felt carpet with scenes of animal fighting (a dragon attacking a yak, a griffin attacking a deer), the Riders tapestry, silver plaques depicting yaks and a deer, lacquered wooden cups with inscriptions, thanks to which, in fact, it was possible to produce the exact date of burial - the first decade of our era. It was the heyday of the Xiongnu empire.
Fragment of a lacquer cup
80 years after the completion of Kozlov's expedition, the joint expedition of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia resumed large-scale archaeological excavations on the mounds in Noin-Ula, which lasted seven years. Their result exceeded all expectations: in the royal burials of the 1st century AD, several hundred objects of art and everyday life were found that belonged to the Xiongnu, a warlike people, whose name in ancient times was pronounced with horror and admiration.
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The Noin-Ula region surprised the whole world again. The excavated burial mounds are colossal - their depth reaches 18 meters. For comparison: the depth of the Moscow metro station "Leninsky Prospekt" is 16 meters. The structure of the mound is an inverted five-step pyramid. Does this mean that the authors of the building knew a lot about architecture of large forms? This is what the head of the expedition, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Natalya Polosmak thinks:
It is certainly a very clear and powerful architectural structure. To prevent the pit from sinking at such a depth, an accurate calculation was required. It was beyond the strength of nomads who did not deal with the land and never did such things. Their dwelling is a yurt. Most likely, these structures were created for the Xiongnu by Chinese prisoners or defectors, since the design is fully consistent with what can be seen in China of the same period. The Chinese neighbors made similar burial structures, only more perfect and more magnificent.
Ground structure of mound 22, Noin-Ula / Photo: Evgeny Bogdanov
The construction of the tomb could take up to six months. The pyramidal shape can be explained simply - it is more convenient to dig with ledges. About 10 meters down there are steps and another, about 8 meters, a long straight shaft leaves. At the bottom, a wooden floor was paved and a double crypt was erected again from wood, the floor of which was covered with carpets, and the walls were draped with fabrics. A sarcophagus with the body of the deceased was placed inside, and around was laid what constituted his wealth.
According to Chinese sources, already at the beginning of the Zhou era (1027 BC), there were rules according to which ordinary mortals were to be buried in plains, noble ones on hills, and emperors on mountain tops. If we follow this logic, which was in many ways a role model for the Xiongnu, their noble representatives were buried in Noin-Ula. Actually, Noin-Ula in the Mongolian language means the Prince's Mountains.
In the ancient world, great importance was attached to the choice of a place for a grave. This was believed to have a decisive impact on both the deceased's afterlife and the welfare of his living descendants. At the same time, the mounds were not supposed to stand out strongly in the relief. Initially, there was no characteristic high embankment above them; on top there was only a stone fence with an entrance. By Chinese standards, the Xiongnu mounds were not large. The size of the embankments was strictly normalized by the laws of the Han Empire in accordance with the degree of nobility of a person. Embankments more than four zhang (12.8 meters) in height could only be owned by members of the imperial family. People belonging to the rank of lehou (the highest nobility) counted on a mound up to 12.8 meters, and ordinary dignitaries - no more than 1.5 zhang (4.8 meters).
But the Xiongnu acted differently: they built mounds that went to colossal depths. In addition, if for the Chinese emperor the construction of a burial structure began soon after his accession to the throne, then for the noble Xiongnu, most likely, the grave began to be prepared only after death, and this took several months. It remains a mystery what happened to the remains of the deceased at that time. Probably, the human body was mummified or preserved in some other way, but where are these remains?
Amazingly, in none of the elite burial mounds excavated by archaeologists, in fact, no human remains have been found at all. Rare exceptions are a few scattered bones, teeth, but never a skull or a complete skeleton. And they also find braided braids. There is speculation that they could have been a substitute for human sacrifice at funerals. However, so far this assumption has not been confirmed by anything. As a rule, the sarcophagus is always smashed to smithereens, and the buried one was taken out from there. But everything around was preserved intact. Among those found at great depths, in a mess of light blue viscous clay, there are real treasures of the past: chariots, silver plaques depicting animals, samples of silk and woolen fabrics with embroidery and appliqués, items of horse harness, lacquerware, fragments of clothing.
A fragment of the embroidered woolen curtain from the 31st mound / Photo: Mikhail Vlasenko
According to archaeologists, the canvas was made either in Syria or in Palestine, embroidered in northwestern India, and as a result, it turned out in Mongolia. The canvas most likely depicts the plot of the Zoroastrian procession to the altar.
All found mounds have a huge crater in the center. As scientists found out, the burials were plundered in ancient times by the enemies of the Xiongnu. Diggers cut through a narrow passage to get directly to the sarcophagus. The goal was not so much to plunder the burial place, but to pull out the corpse and desecrate the grave of the sworn enemy. In the Chinese sources there is written evidence that in 78 BC representatives of the nomadic proto-Mongolian Ukhuan people came to these lands and plundered the graves of the Xiongnu rulers - the Shanyu, thus avenging them for the previously inflicted offenses. But the date indicated is more ancient than the one to which the investigated mounds near Ulan Bator belong. Probably, they were robbed even at a time when the Xiongnu were in full strength and power.
The Xiongnu stood on the border with China for two hundred and fifty years, and all this time they did not give peace to their neighbors. The Chinese did not spare rich gifts, only to live with the Xiongnu in relative peace. It was a deceptive calm, and the Chinese were not so simple, hoping that time would put everything in its place. A high-ranking Chinese official wrote about the Xiongnu to his emperor:
Let us attract, draw their ears to us, attract their eyes, attract their stomachs, and they will be attracted in four ways. We will also draw their hearts to us. So aren't we going to subdue the barbarians-hu, compel them to fall?
This tactic was called the five decoys policy. As the first bait, it was recommended to provide the Xiongnu clan leaders, along with other luxury items, with five silver-trimmed chariots. In one of the Noin-Ula burial mounds, archaeologists found a chariot, which was completely placed there, only the wheels were removed and laid flat. All the wooden parts of the chariot are lacquered, and the bronze parts are gilded. They even found an umbrella that was placed over the rider's head. It was decorated with scarlet silk ribbons tied to every sixth knitting needle. However, archaeologists believe that the chariots found in the Hunnic burials could have been not only a gift from far-sighted and calculating Chinese, but also war booty, the amount of which always far exceeded gifts and offerings.
Almost completely preserved chariot / Photo: Evgeny Bogdanov
Be that as it may, the presence of a chariot in the mound is evidence of the high status of the buried. If it was not the Shanyu himself who was buried here, then someone very close to him, perhaps his wife. For example, according to the analysis of the teeth found in one of the mounds, it was possible to conclude that they belonged to a young woman whose anthropological type is close to the modern population of Azerbaijan, Dagestan and Western India.
Reconstruction of the chariot. Artist V. V. Kovtorov / scfh.ru
Parts of a rich horse harness were also found in the mounds. On many silver plates, apparently made in China, there are embossed images of dragons and unicorns. The origins of the mythical image of the latter are probably common for all peoples, but the Chinese have their own life and legend, which is not similar to the European one.
Natalia Polosmak explained:
The Chinese unicorn is called qilin. Sometimes this name is interpreted as a combination of two words: "qi" - male, "lin" - female. The silver plates from the mounds depict an animal with a goat's head and a bull's tail. The unnaturally elongated necks of the animals and the horn located exactly in the center of the skull and looking like a strange hook bent back are striking. In Chinese mythology, the unicorn is the chief of all animals. Unlike the European one, it is an exceptionally peaceful, noble animal, its mild horn cannot do any harm. The horn symbolizes the unity of the state or the autocracy of the sovereign. Perhaps, like the phoenix, dragon and tiger, the unicorn was revered as a totem animal.
The Xiongnu probably put their own meaning into the Chinese images of unicorns. In pastoralist societies, horns were also endowed with various sacred properties, including the properties of a talisman.
Silver badge with a picture of a unicorn and its reverse side / scfh.ru
Exploring the royal burial mounds of the Xiongnu, archaeologists were faced with the fact that all the rich contents of the burials were borrowed from other peoples and cultures. The graves of the noble Xiongnu are filled with things made mainly in Han China, or coming along the Great Silk Road from Western countries - Parthia and Bactria. For example, one of the amazing finds in the Noin-Ula mounds were silver plaques with antique themes - real works of art with a high level of performance. The source of their origin is Ancient Rome. After the conquest and plundering of Greek cities, among the noble Romans, a universal passion arose for antique silver: it was collected and copied, it was treasured.
Silver plaques - horse harness decoration / scfh.ru
The reason for the appearance of such masterpieces in the grave of the Xiongnu can hardly be explained by trade and exchange. Scientists claim that there is written and archaeological evidence of the existence of direct contacts between the Xiongnu and the Romans. Roman legionaries fought on the Xiongnu side during the battle with the Chinese on the Talas River in 36 BC. This story is connected with the failed military campaign of the Roman consul Mark Licinius Crassus to Parthia, where the Romans suffered a crushing defeat from the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae. Crassus, according to one version, was brutally executed, and some of his legionnaires were captured. Their further fate was associated with the Central Asian region. Perhaps one of the silver plaques found in the mounds was the property of Crassus, famous for his wealth.
Jade items, a piece of chalcedony items and an agate pendant / scfh.ru
To this day, there are ideas about the Xiongnu as about rude barbarians. But finds from burial grounds demonstrate a high degree of their involvement in the achievements of world civilization. Of course, many elements of culture were borrowed from the most advanced civilizations of that time, but they not only adapted them, making them part of their ideology and everyday life, but also enriched them with a unique flavor. In addition, it was they who dragged their northern neighbors into the civilizational maelstrom - the population of Altai and Southern Siberia.
Ultimately, centuries later, this led to the so-called Great Migration of Nations, which reshaped the political and ethnic map of Europe. But this happened already without the Xiongnu. The fragments of the once mighty state, before which the Chinese emperors and the Roman Caesars were in awe, scattered by that time in different directions. Historians have a version that the Xiongnu were replaced by "the coming Huns, that a cloud hung over the world."
Gold jewelry for clothes / scfh.ru
Evgeny Kychanov, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, notes:
There are different versions as to which ethnic group the Xiongnu could initially belong to. Someone classifies them as Turks, someone as Mongols or Samoyedians. There is no clarity in this matter, just as there is no clarity in terms of whether the Xiongnu had their own state. For example, I believe that their empire possessed all the signs of a full-fledged state, although one of my colleagues will call them wild barbarians and rabid nomads. I am also sure that the famous Huns are the Huns, or, as they were also called, Huns. These are one and the same people, just their ancient Chinese name is interpreted differently.
Nikolai Kradin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that there are several hypotheses explaining the reasons for the death of the Xiongnu state. For example, the crisis was caused by the gradual isolation of two groups in the empire: nomads in the north and semi-nomads and settlers in marginal areas in the south. Over time, the interests of these groups diverged and the southerners concentrated in their hands the proceeds from the "gifts" of the Chinese government and trade.
Perhaps the division of the state was caused by the struggle between the "military" anti-Chinese and "court" pro-Chinese parties. The demographic reasons could have caused the decline of the Xiongnu: in particular, the intensification of conflicts over limited resources between representatives of the clans of the highly expanded nomadic aristocracy. Perhaps the general weakening of the Xiongnu is due to the deterioration of the ecological situation in the region. Perhaps these versions complement each other. It is also possible that there were other reasons - for example, the Shanyu lost his grace due to several droughts in a row.
Used materials from the article by Vasily Dyatlov