STELE FROM MING-URYUK: A TENGRIAN SANCTUARY IN MEDIEVAL TASHKENT?

Аннотация

A small stone slab with various signs, found near the settlement of Minguryuk in Tashkent, was published as a monument of nomadic culture of the first centuries A.D. The article offers a completely different interpretation, according to which the image on the Minguryuk stele represents a vertical section of the universe, where different categories of living beings are shown in their habitats on the sides of the central axis mundi. The latter grows out of the water, passes through the terrestrial world, reaches the celestial spheres and is crowned with images of the sun and stations of the moon. In a rectangular frame placed in the center of the composition there is a large anthropomorphic figure stylized as a tamga, sitting on a throne. Based on the stylistic features of the image, the stele can be dated to the era of the Mongol conquest and can be considered the only material evidence of the existence of the Tengrian cult in Central Asia.