Tamgaly, Kazakhstan Sep 2019

Today we head to Tamgaly gorge about 3 hours drive northwest of Almaty in Kazakhstan.  Tamgaly means “painted place” in Turkic language and is a petroglyph site dating back to 1500BC.  Most of the petroglyphs here are from the Bronze Age though there are also some from the Iron Age as well as later times.  The oldest carvings from the Bronze Age were made using a picketing technique with stone or metal tools.  “Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly” became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.  There are about 4,000 rock carvings on these black flint rocks that depict sun-headed gods, shamans in furs, ritual dancing, hunting scenes, etc.  Later additions depict Turkic warriors riding horses carrying banners and steering chariots.  This valley was a cult center for thousands of years because of the necropolis and settlements found in the area.  The carvings of the sun-headed beings were believed to be connected with a cult of Sun during the era of shamanism.  The site is huge and all visits here must be accompanied by the resident guide who knows the different petroglyphs like the back of his hand.  Unfortunately, he does not speak English.  You can imagine me standing there watching him go on and on explaining the petroglyphs and then turning to my guide when he is finished and only getting something like “this is a sun-headed anthropomorphic being”.  After a few times of this, I gave up pretending to listen to him and just wandered off a bit to take photos instead.  We were the only people visiting the site that day and I have a feeling very few tourists ever come here which is a shame.

DSCF0781Entrance to the Tamgaly site

DSCF0782Balbals are small totem-like stone figures used to mark graves and sometimes important places by the Turks

DSCF0155DSCF0156DSCF0788DSCF0157DSCF0789DSCF0158DSCF0790

DSCF0806The Tamgaly site resident guide charging ahead eager to show us all the petroglyphs

DSCF0791DSCF0792DSCF0159DSCF0160DSCF0161DSCF0162DSCF0793

DSCF0163Archaeologists speculate that the person standing behind the bull could be one of the sun-headed deities with curling arms that look like vines.

DSCF0165Here are two other anthropomorphic beings with their arms raised as if showing off their biceps

DSCF0794DSCF0795DSCF0797

DSCF0167A group of people dancing in ritual celebration

DSCF0170

DSCF0168Archaeologists think that this horse with a rider was carved over an older petroglyph depicting a bull with horns.

DSCF0169DSCF0799DSCF0800

DSCF0172Sun headed deity

DSCF0801DSCF0802

DSCF0803On the top left is a small figure above the bull that to me looks like a turtle.  However, archaeologists believe it is the depiction of a pregnant woman.

DSCF0804

DSCF0173People tending to their cattle

DSCF0175There is a smaller horse inside the larger one depicting a pregnant animal

DSCF0177Petroglyph of a camel

DSCF0180A person leading a camel

DSCF0181Newer Buddhist inscription

DSCF0183Sun-headed deity

DSCF0807Another sun-headed being on the right

DSCF0809DSCF0813DSCF0814

DSCF0189A clearer depiction of the following petroglyph with sun-headed deities.  Notice these anthropomorphic beings are male as depicted by their male protrusions.

DSCF0815This is one of the most famous petroglyphs here at Tamgaly showing people dancing underneath 6 sun-headed deities.

DSCF0816DSCF0818

DSCF0819Several tombs have been found on the site with many others left unexcavated

DSCF0820

This UNESCO Tamgaly site should not be confused with another site filled with Buddhist petroglyphs called Tamgaly Tas which I unfortunately did not have time to visit.  Tamgaly Tas means “stones with signs” and is located on the right bank of the Ili River.  These petroglyphs are all of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhist scriptures in Tibetan, Dzunghar, and Manchu.  It is speculated that these buddhist petroglyphs were made by Dzunghars who had converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the 18th century and that Tamgaly Tas was once a buddhist sanctuary used for prayer and meditation.  Similar rock carvings have been found in India, China, Tibet, and Kyrgyzstan.  It is also believed that Tamgaly Tas is an energy vortex point where ancient people came to “recharge” themselves.  The largest rock carving is of three buddhas sitting on lotus flowers.  Legend has it that in the 10th century, a Buddhist mission came to this area by the banks of the Ili River and there was a sudden earthquake causing a large rock to fall from the cliffs.  They took it as a sign for them to return to India and carved these three buddha images before they left.  A short boat ride across the river from Tamgaly Tas is Nomad’s Land which is an abandoned former movie set.  This small walled city was built as the set for the 2005 movie Nomad.  My guide said that people like to come here to pose next to the fake catapults and cardboard buildings, mainly for Instagram posts.

The following day, I flew from Almaty to Shymkent in Western Kazakhstan mainly to see the UNESCO Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!

Click the “Follow” button to signup for email subscription or keep checking back for more blog posts to come.

Alternatively, get connected through
my Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/beatricetravelsblog or follow me on Instagram @beatricetravels.

Cappadocia July 2013

Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia of Turkey.  Ancient volcanic eruptions covered this region with thick ash which solidified into a soft rock.

Read More »

Leave a Reply

© Copyright 2022 Beatrice Wong | All rights reserved. All photographs and text included herein are the property of Beatrice Wong

You cannot copy content of this page