Jeyrakh-Assin Reserve

Employees of the Jeirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, during the monitoring of the Muhul tower complex, photographed petroglyphs located on the residential tower of the complex. Muhul is a tower complex northwest of Gwezi.

Petroglyphs on stones are found throughout mountain Ingushetia - these are one of the important religious components. In addition to single images of humans and animals, there are often fantastic and symbolic images, geometric and other abstract figures. Some of them resemble solar signs, while others are graphic signs resembling writing. Often you can see carved on stone slabs images of a human hand.

There are petroglyphs made in point technology. Among the plots of the petroglyphs of Ingushetia, genre ones are distinguished, depicting scenes of hunting, creation of the world, etc. The architectural structures on which they are depicted date back to the 14th and 18th centuries, but it is quite obvious that the stones with petroglyphs in the masonry of these towers are reused. This is evidenced by the location of stones with petroglyphs in the masonry, which differ from the color of the stones of the main masonry. The greatest number of petroglyphs is found on the facades of residential towers, less often on religious buildings and battle towers. Sometimes there are petroglyphs on the stelae.

Ingush poet A.T. Khashagulgov, who devoted many years to collecting ethnographic material, interviewed many old people, collecting outdated words and folklore motifs, in his poem notes that the meaning of the symbols on the stones is irretrievably lost:

Dysad Ma'an t'yapa deshash,

Kustash a kherash t'a deca

Hanz Ukhaz Yukhaza Dyhka,

Latt vai king hyarkas deshas

(Dzaurova T. A.-Kh. “Ingush National Ornament”)

Researcher A.S. Dozariev in his scientific publication “On some monuments of decorative and graphic art of the Ingush” writes:

As studies show, it is impossible to say with accuracy for what purpose these or other petroglyphs were applied, although the cult-magical context here seems to us certain. At the same time, it is safe to say that the decorative and graphic art of the Ingush has its roots in ancient times. Thus, in a detailed study of this cultural phenomenon, it is impossible not to notice, for example, the similarity of Ingush solar signs with images on objects of Koban culture of the Caucasus, found immediately in Ingushetia (Meadow burial ground, I thousand BC). Known parallels are also found in the culture of the ancient Sumerians, Iranians, Celts, etc.”

The material was prepared in order to protect, preserve and popularize objects of cultural heritage of the republic.

The core-shaped mausoleum of Tangi-Kash (Tangi Tomb), a pillar-shaped sanctuary and an elevated two-tiered crypt with a gable stepped roof earlier and in the present time.

They are located on the western outskirts of the village of Egikal, on a huge rock boulder.

The mausoleum of the 18th century, called Tangi-Kash, in honor of the local warrior-rider named Tangi, the ancestor of the Ingush family Tangiev, who heroically fell in battle. There were two such core-shaped mausoleums in Aegikal; the second was destroyed to the ground. A pillar-shaped sanctuary next to the mausoleum is also erected in his honor.

Employees of the Dzheyrah-Assinsky Museum-Reserve together with specialists of the project organization ASM GROUP made an inspection trip to the tower complex "Niykoate", where planned work is carried out to identify, fix and record all objects of cultural heritage.

The medieval tower settlement "Niykoate" is located in the Dzheyrakh district, east of "Niy" and north of "Tzizda", administratively included in the rural settlement "Guli". On the territory of the city-settlement there are many historical objects, these are residential towers, mausoleums, early Muslim cemetery, landscaped natural spring, ruins of stone buildings, etc., which, unfortunately, for objective reasons, not all are on the state record. And today, as we see, a lot of work is being done to fill them. The condition of all facilities is emergency.

As you know, the inventory of the OKN is one of the necessary components of a comprehensive study of monuments, it is carried out in order to preserve and popularize objects of cultural heritage, as well as to ensure their integrity. This year, similar work was carried out on 30 tower complexes of mountain Ingushetia.

.

Today, on October 22, 2024, in the Ingush Research Institute of Humanities named after C. E. Akhriev, a meeting of employees of the IngNII GBU with the director of the Dzheyrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve - Sampiyev Ahmedkhan Alikhanovich was held.

The meeting was attended by: Director of GBU "IngNII" - Ozdoev Dzhambulat Edalgireevich; Deputy Director for Research - Dzarakhova Zeynep Magomet-Tagirovna; Deputy Director for General Affairs - Dolakov Anzor Kureyshevich; Academic secretary - Agieva Lemka Tuganovna; editor - Khairova Khadijat Rezvanovna.

The meeting discussed the organization of exhibitions at the Interregional Scientific and Practical Conference “National-State Entities and Republics in Russia: From History to Modernity”, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Ingushetia.

It is planned to organize and hold an exhibition of the art gallery of the artist S. A. Gadaborshev, a photo exhibition of T. Agirov “Medievary architecture of mountain Ingushetia”, an exhibition of carpets “The felt chronicle of the Ingushes”, and a tour of mountain Ingushetia will be organized for the conference participants.

Anthropomorphic steles in mountain Ingushetia are located in the tower complexes "Barakh", "Keli", "Myashkhi". This is a very rare type of monuments for mountain Ingushetia, perhaps they had a religious, sacred meaning.

Employees of the museum-reserve made a tour of the tower complex "Ancoate".

Ancoate is a medieval tower settlement east of Niicoate. Today it is possible to observe two three-tiered residential towers with various structural details, in particular, in one of the towers at the level of the second floor, the remains of a stone fireplace have been preserved.

Not far from the village, in the Muslim cemetery is an interesting stele with petroglyphs.

It is located within the boundaries of the Jeirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve. Included in the list of identified objects of cultural heritage of the republic, subject to state protection.

Based on the results of the field work, acts of the technical condition of the complex will be drawn up and sent to higher organizations.

Acting Director of the Dzheyraskh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve Sampiev A.A., within the framework of the work plan, an inspection trip was made to the tower complexes Dujargisht and Hjarpe.

Dujargisht tower complex is located in the lower part of the Dzheyrakhov gorge on the southern slope of the Mat Loam mountain range.

In 2019, repair and restoration work was carried out at the complex.

Hjarpe is located half a kilometer east of Dujárgisht at the foot of Table Mountain, 5 OKNs have been restored in it.

In the Jeirakh district of Ingushetia, emergency work was carried out to save the crumbling crypt of Meller.

The unique tower-shaped crypt tomb with artifacts was on the verge of destruction and irretrievable loss.

The crypt is located in an inaccessible place - on the outskirts of the tower complex "Meller", a three-tiered crypt, its height is 9 meters, with a stepped-pyramidal roof, the construction of which in ancient times was considered the highest of construction art.

The rock base of the object was damaged and corners collapsed, jeopardizing its stability.

Scientific and design documentation was developed and approved, according to which restoration work was carried out.

The preservation of this crypt was a fundamental task for the authorities of the republic, since it was one of the largest preserved land burial grounds, which increased its historical significance.

The battle tower of the architectural complex "Niy" and the collective tomb of the tower settlement "Erzi" in the 80s and now.

In Nazran, on the territory of the G1oazot Kashamash Memorial Complex, a mourning event is held dedicated to the memory of the victims of the events of autumn 1992. Head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites Kodzoev Timerlan Umarovich and Acting Director of the Dzhirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve Akhmetkhan Sampiyev also take part in this event.

As you know, this place was chosen not by chance, some of the victims of the tragic events are buried here, on the territory of the complex.

This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the tragic events of the autumn of 1992, when tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their places of historical residence: many lost loved ones, property and home. Hundreds of residents of the Prigorodny district and Vladikavkaz of Ingush nationality were killed, including many children, women, and old people.

The fate of many of them is still unknown, a considerable number are considered missing.

This tragedy left a big mark on the memory of people, touched the whole people. The Ingush nation suffered irreparable damage. The problem of returning to the place of former permanent residence has not yet been solved.

Hundreds of people attended the rally, including representatives of state and municipal authorities, public organizations, deputies, heads of various institutions, religious figures and ordinary residents of the republic.

One of the most interesting objects of the tower settlement Goust is a core-shaped mausoleum, located on the south-western outskirts of the village and dating from the end of the XVII - the beginning of the XVIII centuries.

Among the old-timers of the Jeirakhov gorge, the object is called Salam-Kash (The Tomb of Salam), since, according to legend, it was erected over the grave of the heroically fallen leader of the military squad named Salam from the Akhilgovy family.

It is associated with some fragmentary and very interesting plots of Ingush heroic-historical songs "illi", as well as various legends. According to these sources, recorded by Dautova and Chakhkiev in different years, an idealized hero named Salam once lived in the tower village of Goust (no more than 250-300 years ago), who was a representative of the nascent feudalizing (primarily military) stratum of Ingush society of the late Middle Ages.

Salam is drawn in folklore sources by the leader of a small military squad, who became famous for his numerous military victories, personal courage, courage and nobility.

It is reported that usually he, capturing rich prey, allegedly shared it or sometimes gave everything to poor and large widows. He was tall, powerful, and possessed inhuman strength. But in the end, Salam heroically fell on the battlefield, not even having time to get a family.

“He was buried with great honors in a tomb specially built for him in his native village of Goust. Subsequently, in the mausoleum began to bury their dead representatives of two related surnames – Achilgov and Tsitskiev.

The monument was first described by D.Y. Chakhkiev in 1985. They note that the burial chamber of the mausoleum contained the remains of more than 50 deceased with abundant and diverse accompanying inventory. Separate burials were in wooden (sometimes richly ornamented) coffins.

On October 31, 2024, employees of the Chakh Akhriev Research Institute of Humanities and the Dzhirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, under the leadership of researcher Alikhan Akhriev, under a bilateral agreement on joint cooperation, made an expedition to the temple of Thaba-Yerda, with the aim of conducting research.

The subject of this research is the iconography and decoration of the temple and its interpretation.

“Any large project (which always includes the construction of a national facility) must have both an infrastructure and a theoretical basis. If, according to the first, everything is more or less clear (The Temple of Thab Yerda occupies an incredibly successful place - the choice of which is dictated not only by considerations of the beauty of the landscape, but also by strategic goals - the Great Silk Road, famous in ancient times, passed by it, it is located in the center of settlement of Ingush tribes and all roads lead to it), then there is no clarity with the theory. According to the theory of Ingush architecture, there is no work at all. Of course, written sources are of particular importance for understanding the theoretical foundations. In their absence (this is the case we have with Taba Erda and the tower architecture of the Ingush), iconography comes to the fore. The iconographic program of the studied Temple is very rich, but completely unexplored, notes researcher A. Akhriev.

The staff made photofixation, made a full inspection and analysis of the current state of the famous monument, made the necessary measurements.

The main purpose of the expedition, as noted earlier, was to study the decor of the Main Shrine of the Ingush people, with which it is "generously decorated ... in the form of cornices, curbs and other details made by a skilled master of soft limestone conglomerate."

“Not all of these decorations are wall cladding, which appeared after their construction (like the slabs of the ctiator composition on the western facade). Some of them are sculpted, carved, scratched on the protrusions of masonry stones, creating a constructive and architectural whole with a facade. Particular attention was drawn to the stone tiles depicting a person in the posture of addressing God (orant). Until recently, it has not been described in the literature, as well as the rest of the decor from the South Wall. For this reason, we confined ourselves to the decor from the southern facade of the Main Temple of the Ingush people.

On the southern facade of the Thaba Yerda Temple, more than a dozen elements deserve special attention. These elements, seemingly chaotic at first glance, are actually embedded in the masonry of the wall in a certain order, which suggests their relationship with each other and that reading each of these signs makes sense in a general context. The elements are horizontally arranged on two levels (belts I, II). At the bottom there are only three elements, the central of which is the entrance arch.

The upper belt of the iconographic program of the southern facade of the Temple of Taba Yerda is very informative. It includes three images on the same line, the farthest right of which - the orant is the most interesting. All three have in common the fact that they depict a person.

Here we see a schematic image, remotely resembling a rider (V.I. Markovin defined it as a petroglyph in the form of a rider). On the same line with him is a quite artistic image, quite accurately conveying the idea of the author. A successful attempt to interpret these images can give an answer to the question of whether these signs are separate images that have no connection with each other or are still signs of a single text that should have been read by an ancient pilgrim who came to bow to the Temple.

We hope that the joint search and survey activities at the site can clarify this issue and result in an original interpretation of all three images from the upper tier of the southern facade, in general, a very rich iconological program of the Thaba Erda Temple.

Neither rain, nor snow, nor wind, nor heat distract the staff of the Jeirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve from the intended goals. And the goal is as follows: by the end of the year to put on the state record all the cyclopean buildings of the Jeirakh district.

In connection with the planned goal, this weekend, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions, work was carried out on the Keli and Upper Keli complexes, where, according to preliminary data, at least 10 ancient buildings with barrier walls were noted.

Earlier, similar work on the accounting and fixation of cyclopean buildings was carried out in the tower settlement of Sredny Ozik, where 27 buildings and 3 barrier walls were taken into account.

As we have already noted, earlier on the state record, in the status of the identified objects of cultural heritage of the republic, there were only 14 cyclopean buildings of the architectural complex “Targim”, although, according to preliminary data, such buildings are noted in the tower complexes “Egikal”, “Khamkhi”, “Khart”, “Doshkhakle”, “Tori”, “Ozik”, “Keli”, “Kyazi” and others.

The next work is planned to be carried out at Upper Ozik and Doshkhakle.

Battle towers of the tower settlement of Khyamishki - before, after and during the restoration.

Khamishki is a medieval castle-type tower complex east of Lyazhga. Two battle towers of the complex were restored in 2012.

Employees of the Dzheyrah-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, within the framework of the work plan - supervision of restoration, conservation and emergency work on the preservation of historical and architectural objects on the territory of the museum-reserve, made an inspection trip to the tower settlement "Eban".

Eban is a village in the Jeirakh district of Ingushetia, as part of the rural settlement of Beini, located at the beginning of the Jeirakh gorge, on the steep right bank of the Armkhi River five kilometers from the Georgian Military Road. Nearby there is a turn to the center of a rural settlement - aul Beini.

The Eban tower complex was destroyed during a punitive expedition of the tsarist troops to mountain Ingushetia in 1830.

Once in this village towered military and residential towers.

Rehabilitation work is currently underway at the complex.

The working week in the Dzhirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve began with a meeting, under the leadership of acting director Sampiev A.A.

On the agenda were the issues of participation in the scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Ingush statehood, accounting of all cyclopean buildings of the Dzheyrakh district, accounting of cave-type rock objects located on Table Mountain and determining their locations.

Sampiyev A.A. stressed that a number of issues should be closed by the end of the year, given the seasonality of some of the work carried out, recalled the need for daily monitoring of tower complexes for detection of violations.

Concluding the working meeting with the employees, the head expressed hope that the employees will cope with the tasks set, and that joint participation in the conference will mark the beginning of mutually beneficial cooperation aimed at preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the region.

On November 12, 2024, the opening of the Interregional Scientific and Practical Conference “National and State Education in the Republic of Ingushetia” took place in the village of Armkha, Dzheyrakh district of the Republic of Ingushetia.

Russia: History and Modernity, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Ingushetia.

At the interregional scientific-practical conference "National-State Education in Russia: History and Modernity", dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Ingushetia, Akhmed-Khan Sampiyev made a scientific report on the activities, successes and problems of the Dzheyrah-Assin Museum-Reserve.

Among the guests of honor at the conference "National-State Entities in Russia: History and Modernity" were: Advisor to the Head of the Republic of Ingushetia Fursov Oleg Borisovich; Minister of Culture of the Republic of Ingushetia Zalina Israilovna Lyanova; Deputy of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Ingushetia Tsoev Ahmet Khadjibikarovich.