2500 YEARS OF THE STATE OF QUEEN TOMIRIS
Author of the article: Alkazhan Edilhan, local historian
Yes, we are Scythians!
A. Blok
The Persians call all Scythians Saka.
Herodotus.
The Saka tribes of Kazakhstan were direct descendants of the Andronovo population – Aryans and Turs, Dahae, and Dahan of the Avesta.
Klyashtorny S.G., Tursunov T.I.
Scientists from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with colleagues from Germany, the USA, and France, conducted the largest genetic study of the carriers of Scythian culture from across Eurasia to understand the demographic foundations of the Scythian history. It turned out that Scythians from different ends of the Eurasian steppe are closer to each other than to other peoples, and their descendants belong to the speakers of Turkic languages.
Journal "Nature Communications". XII.2016.
2500 YEARS OF THE STATE OF QUEEN TOMIRIS
Author of the article: Alkazhan Edilhan, local historian
Painting "Tomiris", painter: Duzelkhanov Agimsaly Duzelkhanovich
The Scythian community historically implies territorial unity from the Dnieper to Lake Baikal, and this circumstance, in turn, ensures the ancient ethnographic unity of all the peoples currently living in this space, not only Turkic-speaking peoples, peoples of the Caucasus, but also Slavs. The leading minds of the Slavic peoples have always felt themselves to be Scythians, for example, the great Russian poet Alexander Blok. Today, some Russian geneticists have discovered Scythian genes in the Russian people. Thus, the history of the state of Queen Tomiris is the common heritage of the peoples of Kazakhstan. Dated by historians, the greatest event - the battle between the Scythian queen Tomiris and the Persian king Cyrus - took place 2490 years ago (533 BC). The state of the queen existed long before this battle and continued after. Therefore, the 2500th anniversary of the Scythian state formation is historically accurate.

It has been indisputably proven by historical science that the Mangystau үyіkter (kurgans, burial mounds) belong to the Scythians. Our region has these unique Scythian monuments in an abnormally large number, sharply differing from other similar objects. Out of more than fifty of these monuments, only four have been excavated, despite the incompleteness of archaeological work in them, outstanding results have already been obtained - two of them turned out to be "royal," i.e., high-ranking individuals were buried in them in golden garments (according to the found remnants of golden items).

Additionally, it is also established that the worldviews of those Scythians are very similar to the mentality of the present inhabitants of Mangystau. For example, overturned cauldrons are found in burial mounds (үйік), and today locals leave cauldrons overturned at the deceased's house. The entrance to a Scythian үйік is usually at the height of human growth. Today, in special cases, Mangystau residents carry the deceased not through the door but over the top of the yurt's frame. This implies that once the Scythians, ancestors of the Kazakhs, set up a yurt without doors for the deceased, meaning the deceased returned to their original womb - the cosmic egg (interpretation by Mangystau archaeologist Andrey Astafyev). As the Scythian society developed, the felt yurt was replaced by a stone burial mound.

In the region, names of places, linguistic expressions, folklore, customs, and art monuments have been preserved, indicating the region and its inhabitants' affiliation to the Scythian community. Because of this, there is an intellectual potential for in-depth study, for example, of the Scythian language, i.e., Old Persian (Indo-European), and Old Kazakh (Turkic) languages, as predecessors of the modern Kazakh language.

The region has opportunities for further improvement of the local Adai breed of Kazakh horses - direct descendants of Scythian - Aryans, Daes, and Huns horses.

In the region, in the recent past, builders of deep wells lived and created - objects that nomadic Scythians made a decisive contribution to in the spread and development of civilization.

The invention of the yurt is also one of the four contributions of nomads to human development (domestication of horses, invention of the wheel, wells, and yurts).

Throughout the region, there are unique monuments with paleographic drawings and runic tamgas.

The jewelry art of local craftsmen is a genetic continuation of the famous Scythian style.

Scientists, starting from the German ethnographer Richard Karrutz, believe that Kazakh national costumes have preserved the Scythian style in its pristine form. Samples of costumes from the Aktau studio of E. Sinitsyna and "Tärbiya" testify to the legitimacy of historians' claims.

Across the region, two major branches of the Scythian Road passed through ancient India and China. Later, these routes became the Silk Roads, the Nogai Road, Cotton Roads, and even Iron Roads. During the Golden Horde period, these roads were adorned with magnificent caravanserais, and the impressive ruins of these structures have survived to our days.

The scientific, educational, and research community of the region possesses intellectual potential, and with skillful coordination, they can make original scientific discoveries, prepare unique textbooks for secondary and higher schools, and create informative literature for tourists interested in the history of the Mangystau region during Scythian times.
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