Jeyrakh-Assin Reserve

Doshkhakle temple-sanctuary, located in the western part of the tower settlement "Doshkhakle".

The monument was discovered, introduced into scientific turnover and subjected to archaeological excavations by M.B. Muzhukhoev in 1979-1980 , dated XIV-XV centuries.

The sanctuary is a very original building with narrow entrances, it is attached to the rock, has three chambers. On the other side of the temple was a large annex with a separate entrance. To our days only the base of this annex has been preserved.

Inside the monument there are bones and horns of sacrificial and wild animals. The walls are wide, with small caches and niches. The object is half-destroyed, the roof is not preserved.

The last monitoring of the monument by the staff of the Jeirakh-Assy Museum-Reserve was conducted by the end of April this year, during which its unsatisfactory condition was also noted.

The employees of the museum-reserve monitored the cult monument “Sampai-Chug”, which is located 200 meters southwest of the Tsurovs combat tower of the Upper Jeyrakh tower complex.

The structure is rectangular (2.90 x 2.50 meters). The structure originally had a gable-stepped (slate) roof. In the center of its front northern wall there was a vaulted doorway. The sanctuary chamber had a false vaulted construction. Arches were absent at all. In walls of a chamber small rectangular niches were observed. The cult building is erected not very neatly, on a lime mortar. The masonry of the walls is polygonal, approaching to ordinal. Archaeological clearing of the temple-sanctuary was carried out by M.B.Muzhekhoev in 1981. As a result, numerous bones and horns of sacrificial animals, arrowheads were found here. The cult building was dedicated to the patron saint of the hearth (Chakhkiev D.Y. Antiquities of mountainous Ingushetia).

The employees of the museum-reserve measured the object and made photo-fixation.

Today the temple-sanctuary is in unsatisfactory condition. The roof is not preserved. The maximum height of the preserved walls is 1.20 meters. The area at the base is 7.25 square meters. The thickness of walls from 55 to 60 cm (field material).

The medieval Olgeti temple-sanctuary “Itaz-Yerda” today. View from inside and outside.

One of the largest temples-sanctuaries of mountainous Ingushetia, is located to the south of the village of Olgeti, on the right bank of the stream of the Olgeti gorge.

It is located within the boundaries of the territory of the Jeyrakhsko-Assinsky Museum-Reserve.

Another temple-sanctuary in Doshkhakle (Doshkhakle's 2nd temple-sanctuary).

It is located 300 meters from the combat tower on a low hill across the mountain stream.

The length of the temple - 7 meters, width - 3.9 meters, had a gable-stepped roof.

Inside the building was divided by a slightly projecting arch into 2 parts: east and west.

The structure was built on lime mortar. The masonry of the walls is polygonal.

The monument was first discovered by L. P. Semenov and I. P. Shcheblykin, and it was excavated by M. B. Muzhukhoev in 1974.

Now the object is half-destroyed. Part of the western wall and the roof are destroyed, other walls have cracks. The condition is unsatisfactory.

Temples and sanctuaries of mountainous Ingushetia are unique monuments of ancient Ingush architecture, representing monumental religious cult stone structures, located mainly in the Jeyrakhsky district.

A small late medieval sanctuary with a square base (2.50 x 2.60 m) stands on the crest of a mountain ridge near the village of Kerbite. Earlier the building had a flattened gable-stepped roof. In the center of the front southern wall there was a vaulted doorway. In height the sanctuary reached up to two meters. On the outer side of the western wall there was a rectangular niche. The false vaulted chamber of the construction (1,80m) was covered with massive stone slabs. Two small rectangular niches were observed in the eastern wall of the chamber.

The cult structure was erected carefully, on lime mortar. The masonry of the walls is polygonal, approaching to ordinal. Yellow-white plaster was visible on the outside and inside of the walls. This monument was first noted by L.P.Semenov and I.P.Shcheblykin. Its stationary research, which revealed only bones of sacrificial domestic animals inside the building, was carried out by M.B.Muzhekhoev in 1976 (Chakhkiev D.Yu. Antiquities of mountainous Ingushetia).

The building is one-storied. The width of the southern wall is 2.50 meters. The eastern and western walls are 2.60 meters long, and the northern side is attached to the mountain slope. The thickness of the walls is 55 cm. Today the technical condition of the monument is unsatisfactory, its preservation is 50%, the roof is missing (field material).

Employees of the Jeirakh-Assin Museum-Reserve and the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Monuments conducted a subbotnik on the adjacent territories of the architectural complex “Egikal”, temples “Tkhaba-Yerdy” and “Albi-Yerdy”.

The staff collected household garbage and took it to a specially designated place, also the territory of the complexes was cleaned of deadwood.

The staff of the Jeirakh-Assinsk Museum-Reserve took part in the republican conference “Ethnographic motifs in the works of artist and local historian Khadzhi-Bekir Bachievich Akhriev”, which was held in the mountain village of “Furtoug”.

The conference was organized by the Chakh Akhriyev Ingush Research Institute of Humanities. The event was also attended by the staff of the regional branch of the Association of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia, the Ingush State Museum of Local History named after T. Malsagov and M. Malsagov. T. Malsagov and the G. S. Akhriev Memorial House-Museum, as well as the staff of the regional branch of the Association of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia. G. S. Akhriyev, the Committee for State Protection of OKN RI, the E. I. Krupnov Archaeological Center, the Committee on Tourism of the Republic of Ingushetia, the Memorial Complex for Victims of Repressions, “Heritage” LLC, as well as historians, researchers, public figures and others.

During the event, 20 speakers took the podium. In addition, the audience discussed creative pages from the life of Khadzhi-Bekir Akhriyev and his works in the field of history, ethnography and Ingush culture.

Fariza Karieva, head of the department of scientific propaganda, advertising and publishing activities of the museum-reserve, made a report on the mountain village of Furtoug, which covered the history, the first settlers, the origin of the name, the famous natives, expeditions, the monuments of the complex and the work carried out by the institution to preserve them.

Based on the results of the plenary and breakout sessions, it is planned to prepare and publish a collection of materials on the multifaceted work of Kh.-B. Akhriev, reprint the handwritten album “GIalgIay gIarchosh. 1924” and develop an exhibition project of ornaments, digitize paintings and ethnographic sketches of Kh.-B. Akhriev for free access on the Internet.

In addition, the conference touched upon the possibility of appealing to the Government of RI regarding the inclusion of the monument to G.S. Akhriev in the unified state register of cultural heritage objects (historical and cultural monuments) of the peoples of the Russian Federation.

300 meters northwest of the tower complex “Gadaborsh” there is a medieval building - temple-sanctuary “Dzorakh-Dyala”.

The base is rectangular. Earlier the building had a gable-stepped roof, today it has not survived. There are two doorways in the southern part of the building. In the western wall there are two triangular window openings and another through hole located near the floor. The eastern wall has a window (narrow on the outside, gradually widening inwards) and two small niches. The thickness of the walls is 60 cm.

The monument is original, first of all, for its closed separate room, the purpose of which is unknown. The large room is divided into a vestibule, a temple and an altar.

This cult structure was discovered and described by L.P. Semyonov and I.P. Shcheblykin. Archaeological clearing of its inner area by M.B. Muzhukhoev in 1976 revealed bones of sacrificial animals, arrowheads and knives in the cultural layer.

M.B. Muzhukhoev dated this monument to the XIII century. Today the preservation of the temple-sanctuary is 40%.

Today the Jeyrakh-Assin Museum-Reserve celebrates its 37th anniversary!

The Jeyrakh-Assin State Historical, Architectural and Natural Museum-Reserve was established on June 2, 1988.

By the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Jeyrakh-Assin Museum-Reserve is included in the list of objects of historical and cultural heritage of federal significance.

The Jeyrakh-Assin Museum-Reserve is located in the Jeyrakh district of Ingushetia - the only mountainous region of the republic and is the largest open-air museum in Russia. On its territory there are over 4000 monuments of antiquity.

The main purpose of the museum-reserve is to protect, preserve and popularize historical and cultural monuments and architectural ensembles of the republic.

The nucleus-shaped mausoleum of “Tovhanti”, a tower estate of the same name, located opposite the “Melleri” complex, on the western slope of the mountain.

The manor consists of 1 two-storey residential tower “Zovr-g1ala”, on the eastern side of which a courtyard is attached and one core-shaped mausoleum, built in the late 18th century and located 15 meters south of the tower. In the southern part of the mausoleum, 20 cm from the ground is a window (45x55 cm).

The condition of the object is satisfactory, there is a partial destruction of the roof top, in the inner part there are traces of ceiling collapse. It has been preserved to its full height.

Mausoleum is a type of funerary structures, monumental memorial ground building.

Nowadays, a mausoleum is a monumental structure with a compartment for storing the remains of the deceased and one or more halls, often used as memorial.

Mausoleums were built not before, but after the death of a person and were erected, as a rule, in honor of major rulers, noble or outstanding, in any field, people.

Different professional level of skill of architects testifies to different periods of construction of mausoleums. It is important to note that, unlike other funerary structures in the North Caucasus, Ingush mausoleums and crypts were built without mortar, and gable and four-pitched roofs were constructed using the false vault technique.

Recently, inspectors of the Jeyrakh-Assinsk Museum-Reserve, accompanied by the head of the border post and three of its employees, made an inspection trip to the previously unrecorded tower complex “Byarch”, located 2 km southwest of the tower settlement “Nyak'ist”, in the closed border zone.

Purpose of the visit: registration, identification, measurement, photo and video recording of cultural heritage objects, as well as description and assessment of their technical condition.

Keli sanctuary is located to the north of Keli settlement and north-west of Kog village, on the southern slope of Tsei-Lam mountain. The building is one-storeyed, half destroyed, rectangular in plan, oriented on a line S-S and earlier had a gable-stepped roof. Thickness of walls 60 cm, masonry polygonal. The sanctuary was discovered and subjected to archaeological excavations by M.B.Muzhekhoev in 1980. Bones of sacrificial animals, arrowheads, earrings, beads and a bell were found inside the sanctuary.

The staff of the museum-reserve, within the framework of the plan of works on identification and registration of previously unrecorded architectural monuments, on the territory of the complex “Nyak'ist” discovered a previously unrecorded ancient monument with the signs of a cultural heritage object.

The revealed object is half-destroyed, located 200 meters south-west of the complex and, presumably, is a sanctuary. As it is known, a sanctuary is a building, premises, which our ancestors used for religious rituals.

The object is made of chiseled gray stone, the thickness of the walls is 50 cm. The preserved height of the walls is from 1.5 m (western wall) to 3 m (south-eastern wall), on the eastern wall there is a doorway - 0.6 m wide and 0.8 m high. The building is one-storeyed, no roof, foundations are present, the area at the base is about 9 square meters. The northern wall is semi-subterranean, the roof was stepped, the sanctuary is located in a dense thicket of woodland, perhaps that is why it has remained so far undiscovered.

Temples-sanctuaries, in distinction from crypt constructions, have doorways. The fact that the preserved building was a sanctuary, say and natives of this complex, who saw it intact in the 50-ies of the last century - after returning from deportation and noted that there were household items, as well as horns and bones of sacrificial animals.

The staff of the museum-reserve monitored two Targim sanctuary temples located 2 km north of Targim settlement, on the mountain slope of the right bank of the Assy River. The monuments are half-destroyed, the preservation is about 20-30%.

The first temple is a building of simple hall composition with one apse and a transverse arch, the pillars of which slightly protrude from the masonry walls. The figures of human silhouettes are preserved on the northern wall. Inside the room is covered with stones.

Near the temple there is a semi-subterranean tomb.

At the second temple only the central part (church) 75-80% is preserved. A distinctive feature of the temple is the presence of an underground crypt tomb, the access to which was built under the western wall of the temple.

The employees of the museum-reserve took measurements of the object and made photo-fixation. The condition of the cult monuments is assessed as extremely critical. Researchers date these monuments X-XI centuries.

A well has been discovered in the Eban tower complex in the mountains of Ingushetia, which has been hidden from human eyes for an unknown number of years or even centuries.

Eban is a tower complex with one combat tower and 12 dwelling towers. It was destroyed during the punitive expedition of tsarist troops into mountainous Ingushetia in 1830. The ruins of the complex can now be seen at the exit from the village of Jeyrakh, near the bridge over the Armkhi River.

On June 20, the first meeting on the preservation of the republic's cultural heritage was held in Magas, organized by a representative of the Renaissance Charitable Foundation.

The event was attended by: T.U. Kodzoev, head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects; A.A. Sampiev, acting director of the Jeyrakh-Assinsk Museum-Reserve; heads of contracting organizations; A.G. Mikhailov, general director of complex architectural and restoration projects of “ ACM GROUP” LLC; public figures and others.

The task of the meeting participants was to discuss the progress of works, exchange professional experience and pass on to each other the valuable knowledge and skills they have acquired in the process of work.

They also discussed the observance of deadlines, checking the compliance of works with the project, control over technology, bringing the territory of the complex into proper sanitary condition and its improvement.

The first meeting was an introductory one, during which the participants were able to get to know each other. They determined who would be involved in the project, in what format and where subsequent meetings would take place. These meetings are scheduled on a weekly basis. A plan of joint work was also developed, which we hope will benefit our republic.

A. Sampiev, acting director of the Jeirakh-Assinsk Museum-Reserve, made an inspection visit to the tower complex “Gvezi”, located in the eastern part of the Guloykhi gorge of the Jeirakh district, border zone, 400 meters southeast of “Kasheti”, on a steep mountain slope.

Only one residential tower of the complex has survived to the height of one floor, the rest of the buildings are in a ruined state. There are five underground collective crypt tombs and a necropolis of stone burials within the village. There are petroglyphs on the residential tower of the complex, on the arched stone of the entrance doorway, in the form of 3 handprints - two large and one small.

The complex is little known, rarely visited and difficult to access. Small medieval tower settlements “Agutyr”, ‘Kasheti’, “Oaseg” are located nearby.

Last summer a cemetery with 13 gravestones and 5 early Muslim graves was discovered between Gvezi and Agutyr settlements.

The staff of the Jeirakh-Assin Museum-Reserve monitored the medieval tower complex Kost.

Kost is a tower settlement on the spur of the Tsey-Loam mountain, south of Kart.

According to the orders of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Republic of Ingushetia, the complex includes 52 identified objects of cultural heritage, including: semi-combat tower - 3, dwelling tower - 13, above-ground crypt - 5, underground crypt - 16, semi-underground crypt - 4, ruins of stone buildings - 9, outbuildings - 2.

The semi-martial towers of the complex have preserved about 80% of the original volume, there are numerous cracks, the roofs have been lost, and the base has been weathered by heavy rains.

The dwelling towers have preserved from 40 to 90% of the construction volume, the roofs have been lost. The walls of some dwelling towers are destroyed to the foundation, others are half-collapsed, and some are preserved to their full height. The reason for the deformation is the destruction of the rocky base.

The crypts have preserved about 70-95% of the construction volume, although some of them are ruinized and in critical condition.

Based on the results of the field work, extensive photographic material of all cultural heritage objects was collected and technical condition reports were drawn up, which will be used in the future when carrying out works on their preservation.

The staff of the museum-reserve monitored the medieval tower complex “Metskhal”.

Metskhal is a large tower castle-type settlement on the spur of Mat-Lam Mountain, 0.7 km northeast of Falkhan. The settlement consisted of 2 separate, but closely interconnected, powerful tower castle complexes of the Tochievs and Kotievs.

At present, during the conducted monitoring on recording and fixation of cultural heritage objects, as well as assessment of their technical condition, the staff recorded 19 dwelling towers, 2 barrier walls, 1 mosque, 2 tomb structures, 2 defensive walls, 1 semi-battle tower, 3 springs, 6 crypts, 40 steles, 4 outbuildings and 7 ruins of stone buildings.

All the objects of the complex are in unsatisfactory condition and require urgent emergency and restoration works. In general, all the structures have deep through cracks, base washout and stone masonry collapse.

As a result of the field work, technical condition certificates were drawn up for all cultural heritage objects of the complex, which will be used in further work.