Tamgaly tas petroglyphs – Ili river

Tamgaly Tas (44° 3’45.09″С 7б°59’47.51 “В) is situated near the Ili River, 30 kilometres from Kapchagai City. This historical site unveils the culture and traditions of antiquity to its visitors by demonstrating the rock paintings, which are named “Painted stones” or “Red rocks”. Nevertheless, the place has acquired another name from local people, which successively became prevalent and symbolic, – “Tamgaly Tas” (Kazakh – “Sacred Stone”).

Archeological investigation of the Tamgaly-Tas began in the late XIX century. In the year 1875 Chokan Ualihanov, famous Kazakh scholar, ethnographer and historian, was the first to sketch the “Painted stones”.

Petroglyphs of the Tamgaly-Tas were painted in different periods of human history. The oldest illustration dates back the first millennium B.C. The frequent characters of petroglyphs are diverse local animals – wild horses, foals, camels, goats, argalis, onagers and others. Egyptian and Kalmyk inscriptions are another remarkable Tamgaly-Tas specificity. Admittedly, the central place in the whole composition is devoted to religious illustrations of Buddha (II century B.C.), corresponding to those found in Northern India. Contemporary archaeologists suggest a variety of hypothesis associated with these unique pictures, but the final statement is still to be made. Yet, the images of the Buddha God are likely to represent peace-loving culture of inhabitants of Zhetysu region, who were in necessity of composure and tolerance in their attitude due to their occupations related to the trade on caravan routes of the Great Silk Way.

According to the famous ethnographer V. Proskurin, this place was enourmously honoured by local nomads, who recognized healing and rejuvenating properties of the Tamgaly-Tas.

Burnt-out by Sun, steep rocks are the favourite alpinist as well as Ili River rafting site.

Furthermore, the place was used as the filming site for the well-known film “Nomad”. For these purposes, the genuine medieval city was built on the left bank of Ili River. Having passed though the main gates, visitors enter the Middle Ages period with characteristic houses, religious buildings and narrow streets. After the filming termination, the decorations and props were preserved in their original state for tourist excursions and further usage. Subsequently, they were used in several more movies, such as “Day Watch”.