Madeni Mura

Silk Road-themed exhibitions are often interpreted through historical connection and cultural diplomacy. This paper examines how artworks become aesthetically readable within the visual culture of a host country. Taking Splendid Silk: International Touring Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Silk Art, held at the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan from 2 July to 20 September 2026, as a case study, it considers how 99 exhibits were selected and displayed to connect Chinese silk traditions with Kazakhstan's visual and material culture. The analysis draws on curatorial outlines, visual study of the objects, and comparison with Kazakh costumes, steppe animal imagery, and textile craftsmanship. The exhibition creates a condition of familiar difference. Motifs such as pearl roundels, paired animals, horses, camels, rhythmic symmetry, weaving, and embroidery provide recognizable points of access, while the meanings, techniques, and history of Chinese silk remain culturally unique. Fashion display and digital works present silk through movement, time and technology. The paper suggests that cross-cultural exhibitions should use carefully contextualized comparison, preserve semantic difference, and avoid presuming universal taste or a common origin for distinct traditions.

. The article examines, from an ethnographic perspective, the works of Abilkhan Kasteev, People’s Artist of Kazakhstan, created between 1927 and 1941 and depicting the everyday life and culture of the Kazakh people.

Works of fine art preserved in museum collections are important for the study of traditional culture and everyday life. Through artistic images, they convey the customs of a particular historical period, household objects, clothing traditions, and features of worldview. In this respect, paintings and graphic works may be considered not only as expressions of aesthetic value but also as important visual historical and ethnographic sources.

Introducing works of art into scholarly circulation as visual material defines the relevance of the study and helps broaden research on Kazakh ethnography. Although works of fine art have traditionally been examined in art history, cultural studies, philosophy, and other academic fields, their potential as ethnographic sources has not been fully explored. The article analyzes works from the collection of the Abylkhan Kasteev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The aim of the study is to consider the oeuvre of one of the founders of Kazakh national fine art as an ethnographic source for the study of Kazakh culture.

The article examines a forged metal chest dating from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, preserved in the collection of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The object is associated with the Kubrin family, a merchant dynasty of Akmolinsk, and Augusta Samoilovna Nickel (Perepletkina), who worked as a housekeeper in the household of S. A. Kubrin. The study is based on museum collection and registration records, documents of the former Akmolinsk Regional Museum of Local History, family photographs and biographical materials, and the chest itself as a material source. Comparative analysis of museum documentation from 1998 and 2014 made it possible to reconstruct the object’s pre-museum history. In 1998, the chest was mentioned among items presented to Augusta Nickel as wedding gifts, although it was absent from the accession records. It entered the National Museum collection in 2014. The scientific novelty lies in introducing unpublished archival materials into scholarly circulation. The analysis clarifies its use and connection with the Kubrin family and Augusta Nickel’s family collection. The chest is interpreted as an object of Akmolinsk’s urban material culture, reflecting everyday life and family memory.

The article presents a rare Late Bronze Age find – a socketed celt-shaped hammer discovered at the Atshubar settlement in Northern Kazakhstan. The site is part of the Kokshetau mining-metallurgical center and belongs to the group of production settlements of the Sargarinsko-Alekseevskaya culture within the community of cultures with roller-impressed ceramics. The aim of the study is to determine the typological affiliation of the artifact, identify its analogies, clarify its cultural-chronological position, and examine the origins of this category of specialized tools. The research is based on comparative-typological, morphological, and cartographic analyses of the find. In its structural features, the hammer is similar to specimens from Eastern Kazakhstan, Jetysu, Northern Kyrgyzstan, and Northwestern China, but it differs by having a larger socket and lacking decorative elements. It is concluded that the eastern group of celt-shaped hammers emerged within the metallurgical complex of the roller-ceramic cultural community under the influence of western metallurgical traditions adapted to the local production environment of the Sargarinsko-Alekseevskaya culture. Introducing the Atshubar specimen into scholarly circulation expands the source base on specialized tools of Late Bronze Age metalworking and helps refine our understanding of cultural-technological interactions between the western and eastern parts of steppe Eurasia.

Abstract. This article presents selected results of archaeological research conducted during the 2025 field season at the Zhukey burial ground, located near the village of Kyzyluyym in the Birzhansal District of Akmola Region. A total of 9 structures have been identified within the burial ground. Chronologically, they span two historical periods: the Bronze Age and the late Kazakh period. In 2025, excavations were carried out at 6 structures. Of these, two structures, designated No. 4 and No. 8, belong to the Bronze Age, while structures No. 1–3 and 9 date to the ethnographic period. The archaeological finds recovered during the research were analysed in domestic and foreign laboratories. Radiocarbon (Vilnius Radiocarbon, Vilnius, Lithuania), anthropological (National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan) and metallographic (Institute of Metallurgy and Ore Beneficiation, Almaty, Kazakhstan) methods were applied. The archaeological materials and laboratory results indicate that structure No. 4 was a ritual monument, whereas structure No. 9 was a funerary structure. The research has yielded new data on the layout of the Zhukey burial ground, the functional characteristics of its structures, and their chronological attribution. The results of the comprehensive study indicate that the burial ground dates to the Bronze Age. The materials obtained make it possible to refine our understanding of the historical and cultural development, as well as the funerary and ritual traditions, of the Burabay region in antiquity. The findings constitute an important source for the comprehensive study of the archaeological sites of Northern Kazakhstan.

The article discusses archaeological items and their ritual context, identified from the Egistik mausoleum in the Babish Mola archaeological complex in the lower reaches of the Syrdarya. In the course of the study, the structural and technological features of the products were identified, their cultural and historical connections and chronological place were clarified. As a result of the analysis, it was found that ceramic products, non-ferrous metal ornaments, beads made of various materials, as well as samples of textiles with a polychrome pattern indicate the high social status of buried individuals. Archaeological materials from the mausoleum prove that the monument had a pronounced ritual and symbolic content. In addition, through archeozoological analysis of osteological materials found in the mausoleum, skeletal remains of domestic and wild fauna associated with burial rites were identified. An analysis of a total of 126 bones on taxonomic composition, age characteristics and anatomical structure showed that the archaeozoological collection was selectively formed. The data obtained means that animals were used in ritual and funerary practices associated with sacrificial and memorial ceremonies.

Kazakh wintering is one of the topics insufficiently studied in Kazakh archeology. The article presents the results of archaeological excavations conducted in 2025 at the winter quarters of Zhienbai, located in the village of Taybai, Yerementau district, Akmola region. The study revealed the remains of 5 houses and adjacent sheds located on the estate, as well as a burial ground. Stratigraphic excavations were carried out at one of these sites, the remains of a two-room house and half of a barn were exposed, and many household items were found. Based on a comparative analysis, the historical attribution of the object was determined. Radiocarbon dating was carried out on the organic remains (cattle bones) found during the excavations, which clarified that the settlement existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During the research, information about the location and economic nature of the facility was obtained using written sources. After reading the carved inscription on the tombstone found in the necropolis near the winter quarters, the name of the person buried there was established, and it was also found out that the burial ground and the winter quarters belonged to a resident of Akmola county, Korzhinkol volost, Kinzhaly son Ibray Zharmukhammad. These data were compared and supplemented with materials from the Shcherbina expedition. The results of archaeological and interdisciplinary studies of Zhienbai wintering in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They provide detailed information about the historical and topographic structure, the nature of buildings and the layout of permanent housing of the Kazakhs of the Yerementau region, as well as their socio-economic structure. Thanks to these data, it was possible to determine the traditions of housing construction of the Kazakh people, the specifics of housing placement and use in an optimal ecosystem, taking into account the climatic conditions of the sharply continental zone.

This article examines the architectural features of burial structures of the Kimek Khaganate as an important source for understanding the historical and cultural processes of the Early Middle Ages across the Eurasian steppes. It analyses the principal types of above-ground funerary architecture, including square, rectangular, and oval stone fences, some forming elongated burial mounds, as well as rounded stone, stone-and-earth, and earthen mounds, stone and mud-brick grave constructions, and additional elements defining the sacred space of necropolises. Particular attention is given to structural features of fences, the techniques used in their construction, orientation, layout and use of various types of building stone. The study examines data from archaeological investigations of sites such as the Zevakinsky and Orlovsky, Jartas, Leontievsky, Kovalevka, Temir-Kanka II, Izmailovka, Belokamenka, Akchiy I–III, Karashat I–II, Sandykkala, Kogaly I, Ayan, Tuyetas, Kansar, and Menovnoye VI, XII. It is noted that the architectural features of the Kimek burial complexes reflect complex ethno-cultural interactions in the 9^th-11^th centuries and bear witness to the preservation and transformation of architectural and funerary traditions of the ancient Turkic population. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of Kimek funerary architecture, ritual practices, cultural continuity, regional diversity, and worldview.

This article presents a historiographical and archaeological synthesis of the cultic and memorial architecture of Saryarka during the Ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde) period. The study aims to evaluate the development of scholarly research from the eighteenth century to the present and to reassess the role of mausoleums in the Islamization of the Kazakh steppe and the formation of its sacred landscape. The research adopts an interdisciplinary approach combining historical sources, archival records, archaeological excavation data, architectural documentation, and published scholarship. Particular attention is devoted to recent investigations of the mausoleums at Bytygai, Bozok, Auliekol, Zhanibek-Shalkar, Kyzyl Oba, Uyaly, and Kon, which have significantly expanded the archaeological record of monumental funerary architecture in Central Kazakhstan dating to the thirteenth–fifteenth centuries. The results demonstrate that the memorial architecture of Saryarka reflects both the dissemination of Islamic funerary traditions across the steppe and their adaptation to local cultural and architectural practices, resulting in the emergence of a distinctive regional architectural tradition. The study contributes to current scholarship by integrating recent archaeological discoveries with historiographical evidence, introducing previously unpublished materials into academic discourse, and re-evaluating mausoleums as key indicators of cultural transformation, religious change, and sociopolitical processes in the Ulus of Jochi.

This article presents the results of a study on the chemical composition of glass artifacts from medieval settlements in the lower Syr Darya River. Among these settlements are Zhent, Kumkala, and Mortyk, which functioned from the early Middle Ages to the Golden Horde period as important trade and craft centers along the Great Silk Road. These cities facilitated the circulation of goods and cultural elements, including glass artifacts, throughout Central Asia.

Medieval Central Asian glass forms part of Islamic glassmaking but exhibits distinct chemical characteristics due to the local geochemistry of raw materials. These features allow researchers to identify technological traditions and assess the skills of artisans in each settlement. Studying the chemical composition of glass provides valuable information about trade networks, production methods, and regional interactions.

Chemical analyses also reveal production techniques and technological schools used in creating these artifacts. Central Asian glass shows unique traits compared to glass from regions such as Iran and Egypt, reflecting local geochemistry and raw materials. Therefore, investigating glass artifacts from the lower Syr Darya enhances understanding of medieval trade, craft traditions, and cultural exchange.

This paper presents the results of archaeological research conducted in 2025 at Sytkent, a medieval site frequently mentioned in Arabic and Persian sources but still poorly studied archaeologically. The study aimed to establish the stratigraphy and chronology of the shahristan and obtain new evidence on medieval urban culture. The methods included excavation, stratigraphic and radiocarbon analyses, and functional and typological classification of ceramics. Two construction horizons were identified. The well-preserved lower horizon contained a 4 m wide street with two residential buildings on either side. Structure No. 1 included an L-shaped sufa with a flue, while the three-room Structure No. 2 contained a sufa and a hearth. The ceramic assemblage of 851 ceramic fragments was classified and compared with materials from the Otrar Oasis, the middle Syr Darya, the Chu-Talas region, and Central Asia. The results indicate Sytkent’s participation in interregional cultural exchange and the continuity of local pottery traditions. Radiocarbon analysis dated the lowest layer of the test pit to the late ninth–late tenth centuries and the residential remains to the mid-eleventh–mid-twelfth centuries. The study provides new evidence on the architecture, material culture, and chronology of Sytkent.

The article is devoted to a paleoecological reconstruction of the natural environment and subsistence systems of the Late Bronze Age population of Northern Kazakhstan. The study focuses on comparing published archaeological, palynological, paleopedological, archaeozoological, and isotopic data with materials from the 2026 field season at the Sandyktau settlement in Northern Saryarka. The study aims to identify the relationship between natural and geographical conditions, settlement patterns, stationary architecture, pasture-based livestock husbandry, and production practices of the Late Bronze Age population. The research covers the 15^th to the 9^th/8^th centuries BCE and includes materials from Northern Saryarka, the Turgai Depression, the Kostanay Tobol region, the Pavlodar Irtysh region, and the Tobol-Ishim interfluve. As a result of the 2026 excavations at the Sandyktau settlement, remains of a dwelling structure, fragments of clay vessels, bone artefacts, abundant osteological material, and preliminarily identified millet-like plant remains were recorded. The materials from the Sandyktau settlement refine the characterization of Northern Saryarka as a region where the stationary occupation of river valleys was combined with livestock husbandry, the processing of animal raw materials, and a preliminarily identified plant component. The results demonstrate the uneven manifestation of Late Holocene aridization processes and the regional variability of subsistence systems.

Between the 18th and early 20th centuries, numerous works by Russian military, scientific, and government figures, as well as travelers, were published on the geographic and climatic conditions of the Kazakh lands, as well as their history and the traditions of the Kazakh people. Among this scholarly legacy, the works of G.E. Katanaev are particularly significant. His works primarily cover the history of Kazakhstan and Western Siberia. However, some of the information also pertains to the ethnography of the Kazakh people. The purpose of this article is to analyze information about the traditional culture of the Kazakhs contained in the materials and works of G.E. Katanaev. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: review the published works of G.E. Katanaev; analyze archival materials collected by G.E. Katanaev; and identify the features of the historiography of G.E. Katanaev's works. During the study, the authors concluded that the ethnographic data in G.E. Katanaev's materials and works can be divided into three groups. Specifically, these data relate to the ethnic composition of the Kazakh people; the characteristics of the Kazakh nomadic economy; and the mutual cultural influence of the Kazakhs and Cossack populations. The scientific legacy of G.E. Katanaev covers a wide range of aspects related to the traditional culture of the Kazakh people.

This article examines the memorial complex of the descendants of Konyr-Kulzha Tore located within the Akhmetaul necropolis in the Nura District of the Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan. The study addresses the preservation of historical memory and the reproduction of dynastic identity among the Kazakh sultanic elite through commemorative monuments and the spatial organization of the necropolis. Its primary objective is to reconstruct the historical genealogy of the necropolis and to assess its role as a locus of ancestral memory for representatives of the Tore lineage.

The research is based on materials obtained during fieldwork conducted in the Nura River valley. The methodological framework integrates archaeological field documentation, cartographic analysis, historical-genealogical reconstruction, comparative examination of memorial inscriptions and material culture, and theoretical approaches derived from memory studies.

The study identified and documented the burial sites of representatives of four successive generations of the sultanic lineage: Qudaimende, Konyr-Kulzha, Adil, and Akhmet Tore. The findings demonstrate that the Akhmetaul necropolis functioned as an integrated memorial landscape in which genealogical continuity, dynastic affiliation, and collective historical memory were maintained and transmitted through funerary monuments, commemorative inscriptions, and ongoing memorial practices.

. Based on materials from a comprehensive ethnographic expedition, this article examines the preservation of generational continuity through the systematic collection of the intangible cultural heritage of the Aktobe region Kazakhs.

The study aims to identify the contemporary significance and generational continuity of the intangible cultural heritage of the Kazakhs of the Aktobe region through its comprehensive inventory, scientific analysis, and systematization. It highlights the crucial role of individual bearers and local communities in preserving and transmitting this heritage, documents the experience of bearers, and introduces regional features into scientific circulation. During field research across settlements of the Aktobe region, samples of intangible cultural heritage were identified corresponding to 79 elements of the National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Kazakhstan and 14 elements of the UNESCO Representative List, with original materials documented at national and regional levels. The research employed methods of participant observation, interviewing, identification and recording of oral and material sources, and data processing.

A comprehensive regional register of intangible cultural heritage elements and their bearers was compiled for the first time, identifying several new elements recommended for inclusion in the National Register. Additionally, specific preparation techniques for region-specific traditional dishes were determined.

This research paper offers an ethnological examination of the historical evolution, functional dynamics, and ethnocultural intersections between the Kazakh zhyrau and Turkish aşık traditions. The primary objective is to delineate the shared genesis of both traditions rooted in the archaic ozan archetype, and to identify their distinct ethnocultural profiles through a comparative analysis of their socio-political status, institutional role, and societal functions. The methodology employs a synthesis of comparative-typological, historical-ethnological and textual analysis methods.

The findings demonstrate that while both zhyrau and aşık originate from a singular cultural root, divergent historical trajectories led to their institutional transformation within their respective social environments. The Kazakh zhyrau tradition operated primarily as a high-ranking political institution, characterized by statesmanship, diplomatic mediation between the Khan and the populace, strategic advisory role, and the preservation of epic memory. Conversely, the Turkish aşık figure is defined by musical performance accompanied by the saz, master-apprentice transmission, and strong convergence with Sufi mysticism. The paper highlights the institutionalization of the oral tradition, contrasting the political-ideological authority of zhyraus during the Kazakh Khanate with the performance-oriented, Sufi, and courtly contextualizations of aşıks in the Ottoman era. Ultimately, this study provides a comprehensive ethnological perspective on the ethnosocial characteristics, cultural transmission mechanisms, and evolutionary transformations of the shared Turkic spiritual heritage.

Abstract. This article examines traditional national games and toys played by Kazakh children. The purpose of the study is to comprehensively explore the historical use of games. During the research process, forgotten children’s games of the Kazakh people were revisited and analyzed. The article highlights the educational value of each game and toy and identifies their role in shaping a child’s personality, developing cognitive abilities, motor skills, and spiritual worldview.

The authors analyze the historical foundations of traditional Kazakh children’s games and their contemporary transformation. A comparative-historical approach was employed to examine the formation and evolution of these traditional games. Games occupied a special place in the culture and daily life of Kazakh society, contributing to children’s physical development, intellectual growth, and social interaction. Through traditional games, experience and values were transmitted across generations. The article analyzes the content and types of games, as well as their educational and cultural significance.

In the modern era, urbanization, technological development, and social changes have influenced the nature of traditional games. New types of games have emerged among children, while traditional ones have gradually begun to fade. Nevertheless, cultural initiatives and educational programs aimed at reviving national games help preserve their importance. The article also examines the application of traditional games in the contemporary education system and their role as a tool for children’s socialization in an inclusive environment.

As a result of the study, the authors seek to clarify the significance of games in shaping a child’s personality, broadening intellectual horizons, improving motor skills, and fostering spiritual development

This article examines the extent to which wedding-related traditions and customs have been preserved among Kazakhs in Iran living in a diaspora. The study aims to ethnographically analyse contemporary pre-wedding rituals among Kazakhs in Iran, their preservation, and transmission to future generations. The study examines the functions and cultural significance of traditional practices such as partner selection, betrothal, matchmaking, establishment of affinal ties, bridewealth, and the bride’s farewell ceremony. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis and a multimodal approach. Interviews were conducted as part of the fieldwork. The primary sources included video materials depicting the everyday life of Iranian Kazakhs, published ethnographic works, and comparative scholarly literature.

The findings show that pre-wedding rituals among Kazakhs in Iran remain important for maintaining ethnic identity. Despite greater freedom in partner choice, parental consent, matchmaking, and kinship ties remain significant in marriage. The findings also indicate that the principal social and symbolic functions of certain rituals have been preserved.

The study examines the pre-wedding rituals of Kazakhs in Iran as intangible cultural heritage and identifies features of their preservation and practice in a diasporic context. The findings contribute to understanding cultural continuity in the Kazakh diaspora and the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.

The article examines the historical and cultural heritage of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi as an object of comprehensive research. The aim is to identify, based on documentary sources, the location of relics once kept in the mausoleum and removed during different historical periods. Drawing on archival materials, periodicals, memoirs, and scholarly publications, the study presents evidence concerning objects that were lost, stolen, or removed from the mausoleum, a unique architectural monument inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List prior to its designation for state protection. The historical and cultural valuables are divided into three groups: preserved within the mausoleum, found outside the complex, and of unknown whereabouts. The study presents new data and scholarly analysis aimed at promoting a better understanding of little-known aspects of the mausoleum as an outstanding part of Kazakhstan’s cultural heritage and identifying valuables associated with the complex that are currently held in museums, archives, and libraries in Kazakhstan and abroad. The research employs source-critical analysis, comparison of factual evidence, and critical interpretation. The article also offers recommendations for identifying and acquiring copies and images of heritage objects, their detailed study, scholarly dissemination, thematic exhibitions, and expanding the source base for research on the history of the mausoleum.

The article examines Gabriel de Mussis’s account of the Golden Horde Khan Janibeg’s army throwing the bodies of people who had died from plague into Caffa during the siege of 1346. Historiography regards this episode as one of the earliest examples of biological warfare. However, this interpretation raises several source-critical questions. The aim is to provide an alternative interpretation of Janibeg’s army’s actions. The objectives are to compare de Mussis’s account with other historical sources; analyze Mongol actions during the epidemic in Rus’ in 1287–1288; and reconstruct Turkic-Mongol shamanistic beliefs concerning the nature of disease. The source base comprises de Mussis’s work, the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle, Jan Długosz’s chronicle, The Secret History of the Mongols, Rashid al-Din’s works, and Plano Carpini’s accounts. Comparative-historical and historical-anthropological methods were employed. Comparison with the sieges of Tournai-l’Évêque (1340) and Karlštejn (1422) shows that these episodes primarily involved attempts to “poison the air.” Events in Rus’ in 1287–1288 indicate the isolation of populations in cities affected by epidemics. Accounts of Tolui’s death and Mongol actions in Rus’ point to shamanistic conceptions of disease. From this perspective, throwing corpses into Caffa may be interpreted as a magical practice aimed at transferring the threat of epidemic death to another community.