Expedition begins first comprehensive study of the largest burial and memorial complex of the descendants of Genghis Khan
Students and staff of the Institute of International Relations, Institute of Physics, Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of Kazan Federal University are on an expedition to the territory of Kharabala district of Astrakhan region, in the vicinity of the village of Lapas.
The idea of holding an inter-institutional expedition to the Lapas settlement appeared during a meeting at Kazan University. The location of the expedition was not chosen by chance. According to the version and assumptions of archaeologists, there is a necropolis town, which was created in the first half of the 14th century, or more precisely – from 1320 to 1330.
“We call this archaeological monument The Valley of Kings because we assume that the heads and top officials of the Golden Horde state, which in ancient times had the self-name the White Horde, were buried here. Uzbek Khan planned this areas as a religious and political center, which included mainly the tombs of the Golden Horde khans of the XIII-XIV centuries and contributed to the political unification of the medieval state and strengthened its ideology. We are on the territory of the largest mausoleum of Lapas archeological monument and assume that one of the most significant leaders of the Golden Horde is buried here,” explains expedition leader, Vice-Rector for Security Rishat Guzeyrov.
According to him, the masters who created this ancient settlement lived and worked three kilometers away from the excavation site on the bank of the Akhtuba River. It is assumed that bricks and lime were delivered to the territory of the huge medieval necropolis in large quantities from different areas of the Golden Horde, using overland and river routes for delivery.
“This mausoleum is one of the largest in the entire territory of the Golden Horde. Having many years of archaeological experience, I can say that previously I have not come across a building material in the form of white bricks, similar in consistency to natural stone and resembling the technique of faience. To create exactly this kind of material requires very high technology to form a brick similar to the artificial stone that was used for the outer facing of the mausoleum,” the expert believes.
The mausoleum was more than 50 meters high and its walls were more than 2 meters thick. The dome was covered with a bright blue polyfoil. The façade was decorated with floral and vegetal ornaments.
“What draws attention is the level of work, the number of people that were involved. First there was the drawing of the mausoleum itself – the artists depicted it all in color – blue, cobalt, white, red, black, yellow, etc. After that, each piece of decoration in the form of a clay bar was imprinted and manually cut through the ornament, then fired in a pottery kiln, then the polyfoil was attached, and then re-injected into the kiln. Only then, after checking on the mold of the facade of the building and its final example, the product was considered ready to decorate the building. The mausoleum, which is now under study, is a major place of pilgrimage and veneration throughout the White Horde,” the Vice-Rector notes.
It should be noted that the topic of Rishat Guzeirov’s PhD thesis was devoted to the study of Astrakhan, namely the Golden Horde city of Khadzhi-Tarkhan and its district. The new material may be part of his DSc (second doctorate) thesis.
“Archaeologists rely in their work on the Federal Law on Preservation of Monuments of History and Culture of Peoples Populating the Territories of the Russian Federation, according to which it is necessary to obtain an open paper from the Ministry of Culture (document giving the right to conduct archaeological fieldwork of a certain type within the time limit – editor’s note). The paper was received by Ayrat Sitdikov, Dean of the Higher School of Historical Sciences and World Cultural Heritage,” adds the researcher.
During the excavation of the mausoleum complex, students discovered three burials, one of them the burial of a seven to eight-year-old boy. The child’s skull and skeleton were raised. KFU scientists assume that the other two graves contain the remains of people who belonged to the elite of the Golden Horde state. Fragments of wood in the ruins of the mausoleum have also been discovered, indicating their use in the construction of the mausoleum, as well as the creation of a heat exchange system to avoid the destruction of the building during sudden changes in temperature.
“The uniqueness of the burial lies in the fact that it was made during the creation of the mausoleum. No random people are buried here (besides the boy, there are burials of adults nearby). These could have been the offspring of the Genghis Khan line. The research will give us an opportunity to take a different look at the history of the Golden Horde, its culture and architecture,” emphasizes the Vice-Rector.
In the 1980s-1990s, archaeologist Vladimir Dvornichenko began to conduct the first field archaeological research on this territory. The locals call this place Davlet Khan’s mausoleum.
According to Rishat Guzeyrov, there are hundreds of mausoleums and crypts of different size in this territory. Scientists face the task of interdisciplinary study of the monument. By the way, bricks of the walls of the structure in the 17th century were used to build the Astrakhan Kremlin.
Bricks with blue polyfoil will be studied in Kazan. The bulk of finds are fragments of architectural decoration of the mausoleum, about 40 variants of various designs, including kashin technique and minai.
Vladimir Bezmenov, Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Space Geodesy at the Institute of Physics, notes the importance of geodetic work and topographic surveying, “We need to understand where the object is, what shape it has, what its area is. Based on topographic images, we can analyze the terrain relief, recreate three-dimensional relief model. Using computer models, we will get interesting results”.
Elena Pudovik, Chair of the Department of Geography and Cartography at the Institute of Management, Economics and Finance, stressed the importance of interdisciplinarity of the expedition, “Our methods are used in the work of archaeologists, geodesists, and they, in turn, enrich our knowledge of nature, mapping of territories, landscapes of the area”.
Sophia Sukhoguzova, a second-year student, is part of a group of geographers excavating pits, studying the soil and the landscape in terms of vegetation, local flora and fauna, “When we came here, we thought that the excavation site would be a transition zone between steppe and semi-desert. However, after excavating the pits, we confirmed other information, that this is a semi-desert zone, that there are brown soils and loam.”
Here each novice geographer keeps a field diary, which includes sketches of the terrain, descriptions during excavations of pits, and herbarium of local plants. Demonstrating her findings, Sophia listed the most common plants here: camel’s-thorn, field toadstool, and wormwood.
The work continues. Plans include clearing the northern corner of the mausoleum and fixing the floor of the interior.