Jeyrakh-Assin Reserve

Trial diamond drilling of the rock foundation of the Vovnushki tower complex has begun.

This unique historical monument is in a state of disrepair. Work to reinforce the rocks will help preserve Vovnushki for future generations.

The Barkhane tower complex is located in the south of the Republic of Ingushetia, at the foot of Mount Tsey-Loam in the Dzhayrakh district, at an altitude of 1,400 meters above sea level, north of Egikala.

It consists of two late medieval castle complexes, each of which has a five-story battle tower with a flat roof. In addition, the first (northern) castle has a four-story semi-battle tower and six residential buildings. The second (southern) castle had eight residential towers. The design of both complexes was such that the battle towers could only be accessed from the residential buildings attached to them, and the entire castle was surrounded by a defensive wall. On the northwestern outskirts of the village stands a medium-sized sanctuary.

In the late Middle Ages, the local inhabitants of this settlement specialized in the construction of the most sophisticated and technically complex stone buildings.

It is part of the Jayrakh-Assin State Historical, Architectural, and Natural Museum-Reserve. It is a designated cultural heritage site and is protected by the state.

Lyalakh is a large castle-type tower settlement on a steep mountain slope, 0.3 km northeast of Khani. Today, you can see three damaged battle towers and semi-ruined residential buildings in the late medieval castle complexes.

The buildings are arranged in tiers on the slope. The battle towers, which were key support centers of separate but closely interconnected complex castles, are five stories high and reach a height of 26.00 m. Two of them, oriented with arched doorways to the east and south, respectively, are square in plan and have a pyramidal stepped roof (12 slate slabs topped with a large conical stone). The third battle tower has no roof.

According to local legends, this tower was never inhabited in the past: the architect repeatedly erected a pyramidal roof with the obligatory “blessed” stone at the top, but each time it collapsed. Even the abundant sacrifices brought to the sanctuary of the goddess of fertility, Tusholi, did not help. The priests explained this as a bad omen, and the owner was forced to abandon this battle tower. It remained unfinished, although its walls had already reached a height of 25 meters.

Monitoring of the “Kyazi” tower complex.

The “Kyazi” tower settlement is located on the crest of a mountain ridge at the beginning of the Salgin Gorge, northeast of the “Lyalakh” tower complex.

In terms of their technical condition, all the structures in the complex can be divided into the following groups:

- extremely ruined, with no possibility of restoring their original appearance;

- ruined structures with preserved foundations and the possibility of determining their dimensions and original volumes;

- destroyed and extremely dilapidated buildings, with the possibility of determining the original dimensions and volumes, but without the possibility of reconstructing details;

- partially destroyed buildings with the possibility of complete restoration or conservation.

These are identified cultural heritage sites of the Republic of Ingushetia. They are subject to state protection.

A previously unknown crypt tomb has been discovered on the territory of the Lyalakh complex.

During a routine inspection of the Lyalakh complex, a large castle-type tower complex, employees of the museum-reserve discovered a previously unknown above-ground crypt tomb in a ruined state.

The tomb is located on a mountainside, southwest of the towers, in a forest. As is well known, crypt tombs were built on the outskirts of settlements, on mountain slopes.

The crypt is completely destroyed, with only the southwestern and southeastern corners remaining at a height of 0.7 and 0.8 meters. The object is rectangular in plan, measuring 2.70 x 4.60 meters at the base, and is made of hewn white stone.

Further research is needed to determine the date of the structure, establish the presence or absence of bone material, and reconstruct the structural features of the building.

It should be noted that earlier, in November last year, underground collective tombs were also discovered on the territory of the complex.

Employees of the museum-reserve held a community work day on the territory of the ancient complex “Egikal” and along the bed of the river “Agi-hi.”

About twenty bags of trash were collected and removed.

The Magotinsky temple-sanctuary “Mago-Erdy” is located half a kilometer from the tower complex “Magote,” on the edge of a huge cliff, and is named after the legendary Ingush sage Mago, who, according to legend, built it. Nearby is the smaller and now semi-ruined sanctuary “Seska Sols-Erda.”

According to legend, Mago was from the Salgiev clan and had his own slaves. Mago also had a strong army. Leaving his tower, Mago would sit in his stone chair, which is still there today.

Mago had one son, who eventually had four sons: Zovra, Giy, Tsikkam, and Chinha.

The Dzaur family descended from Zovr, while the Tumgoev family descended from Giy. The Ozdoyev family traces its origins back to Tsikam. Chinkha fled to Chechnya out of fear of his brothers for some misdeed he had committed, and the Chinkhoev family descended from him.

Mago was known throughout the Caucasus as a scholar, saint, healer, and preacher.

His life and social activities have been little studied, except for the legends and traditions described in some publications. Oral traditions say that relics and an ancient book of secret knowledge were kept inside the temple, which, after the Ingush converted to Islam, were taken to neighboring provinces - Georgia, Armenia, and Ossetia.

The ancient sacred book was called “Mag1oy Zhey,” meaning the book of Mago. According to another version, the book was transferred to the Terek Museum, from where it disappeared during the Civil War.

The Mago-Erdy sanctuary is one of the largest religious monuments built in ancient times.

It is located within the boundaries of the Dzejrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, is included in the list of identified cultural heritage sites of the Republic of Ingushetia, and is subject to state protection.

On September 24, the head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, T. Kodzoev, together with representatives of the public council and acting director of the museum-reserve A. Sampiev, made an inspection trip to the Tkhaba-Yerdy temple and the Vovnushki tower complex, where reinforcement and preparatory work is underway before the start of restoration and repair work.

It should be noted that both historical monuments are in critical condition and require urgent emergency work to prevent their further destruction.

The inspection trip was carried out as part of a plan to supervise and control the restoration, conservation, and emergency repair work being done to preserve historical and architectural objects on the museum-reserve's territory. Its goal is to prevent possible violations and, if any are found, to inform higher authorities in a timely manner.

As part of a plan to identify and record previously unaccounted cultural heritage sites, employees of the museum-reserve found previously unaccounted foundations of five residential towers with preserved wall fragments and one underground burial ground with cyclopean masonry on the territory of the tower complex “Beini” tower complex, the foundations of five residential towers with preserved fragments of walls and one underground burial ground with cyclopean stone masonry, which have the characteristics of cultural heritage sites.

According to preliminary data, one of the identified residential towers is located between two others, forming a closed courtyard. The entrance to this courtyard is on one side, and the exit is on the other. In tower settlements, residential towers were often located in groups by family quarters, together with outbuildings and barrier walls.

The remaining four residential towers are distributed throughout the complex. Some of them have preserved arched stones and openings for beams, and one tower has preserved three entrance openings.

The underground burial ground is located in the center of the settlement. The entrance is open, through which bone remains can be seen. Directly behind this burial ground is a small room that resembles a memorial chamber in appearance. However, archaeological excavations are necessary to determine its exact purpose.

Field research at this site, including identification, description, measurement, and photography, has not yet been completed. Work will continue in the near future.

The Beini tower complex is located at the foot of Mount Ma'at-Loam. Linear petroglyphs and other images can be seen on the walls and doorways of the residential towers.

Employees of the museum-reserve monitored the vaulted structures of the Egikal tower complex, which have retained a significant part of their original volume. These structures are located in the western part of the complex, on the slope of the mountain.

On October 16, employees of the museum-reserve gathered at the Pyalin tower complex with the noble goal of cleaning up and tidying up the surrounding area.

The employees cleaned the complex of household waste, collected it in bags, and took it to a specially designated place. This allowed the territory to be brought to a proper sanitary condition.

On October 22, the Head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, Kodzoev Timerlan Umarovich, and the Acting Director of the Dzhayrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, Akhmetkhan Sampiev, took part in an expanded meeting on issues of state protection of cultural heritage sites.

The meeting was held in Derbent, Republic of Dagestan.

Participants in the first International Russian-Georgian Youth Forum, which is currently taking place in Ingushetia, visited the ancient temple of Thaba-Yarda, a unique architectural monument with a history dating back more than a thousand years. This temple is a symbol of the deep historical and spiritual ties between the peoples of the Caucasus.

The event was organized with the aim of strengthening humanitarian ties and youth cooperation, promoting cultural dialogue between Russia and Georgia, exchanging experiences, and strengthening friendly ties between the youth of the two countries. It was attended by leaders of relevant organizations, more than a hundred businesspeople, students, political scientists, and bloggers from Georgia, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Stavropol, Kabardino-Balkaria, Moscow, Volgograd and Rostov regions, and Krasnodar Territory.

A five-ruble banknote issued in 1909 was found in the masonry of one of the towers of the Lyalakh complex by contractor Nurdin Kodzoev. He reported this to Zyaudin Gurazhev, an employee of the museum-reserve, while the latter was conducting an inspection tour of the complex.

This find is very important for studying and recreating the historical appearance of this site and will soon be transferred to the T. Malsagov Ingush State Museum of Local History.

Early Muslim mosques in mountainous Ingushetia are of considerable importance for the history and culture of the region, therefore our institution is actively working on their accounting, inventory and inclusion in the register of identified objects of cultural heritage.

About how Islam penetrated into Ingushetia was mentioned for the first time in history in the eighties of the 16th century. The Georgian Tsarevich Vakhushti Bagrationi in his book "Geography of Georgia", written on the basis of data collected at the end of the seventeenth century, clearly refers the inhabitants of the village of Angusht to Muslims, and even to Sunnis.

In the seventies and nineties of the eighteenth century, male and female Muslim names prevailed in Ingushetia. There were even recorded facts that both individual inhabitants of Ingushetia and entire groups of Ingushetia accepted Islam.

Pyotr Pallas wrote about the fact that the ancestors of the Ingush preferred Islam even at the end of the eighteenth century. Archaeologist Chakhkiev presented data from which it follows that a number of burials dating back to the end of the eighteenth century were discovered on the territory of Ingushetia in its mountainous regions. These burials have all the signs of burials performed according to the rules of Muslim funeral rites, characteristic of Islam.

The process of Islamization of the people of Ingushetia took place in several stages and was complex, affecting all spheres of life, and ended only after such a person as teacher Kunta-Khadji Kishiev appeared on the political arena, who led active propaganda of Islam among the Ingush.

As it was said earlier, as a result of the field work carried out by the museum-reserve staff, early Muslim mosques were revealed on the territory of the tower complexes Egikal, Khamhi, Falkhan, Lyalakh, Verkhniy Pyaling, Nizhniy Kyahk, Tsori, Gershki, Garakh, Kerbi, etc. The locations of these objects were determined, measurements and photofixation were made. The technical condition of some of them is extremely ruined, there are ruined buildings with the preservation of the foundation, and also partially destroyed with the possibility of full restoration.

These ancient mosques were destroyed during the emigration of our people to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Until 1944 in them they performed namaz, markhi - 1id, g1urban - 1id and ruzba our fathers-mountaineers.

With joint efforts, it is important for us to preserve these Islamic shrines, because these are not only monuments of archeology and architecture, but also the history of our nation and our religion.

Inspection trip to the hard-to-reach, rarely visited medieval tower complex “ Tsoli,” located 1.4 km northwest of Gappi on a mountain slope.

A permit from the Border Guard Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Ingushetia is required to visit the complex, as it is located in a closed border zone.

The purpose of the visit to the complex is to visually inspect the technical condition of cultural heritage sites with photographic documentation, as well as to identify and record previously unrecorded architectural monuments.

Employees of the museum-reserve held a community work day on the territory of the Targim complex, on the banks of the Assa River.

The participants cleaned up the territory of the complex, collected trash, and took it to a specially designated place.

Acting Director of the institution Ahmedkhan Sampiev and Head of the Department for the Preservation of Monuments Zyaudin Gurazhev urge vacationers to treat the cultural and historical heritage with care and to maintain cleanliness and order in the reserve area.

Another unrecorded site near Verkhniy Puy, presumably a river mill, was recently discovered by employees of the museum-reserve.

Previously, river mills were discovered at the tower complexes of Tumga, Furtoug, Myashkhi, Naikiste, Sredny Ozdik, etc.

As a rule, they were located along the riverbeds, built using dry masonry, and are of great interest from the point of view of science, history, and culture of the region.

During an inspection trip to the Tsooli tower complex on November 10, employees of the museum-reserve discovered one previously unrecorded semi-military tower, three residential towers, one crypt burial ground, and several outbuildings.

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The Tsol tower complex is included in the register of identified cultural heritage sites of the republic. Previously, one semi-military and five residential towers, four crypts, and ruins had been identified there.

Currently, the complex has 2 semi-military and 8 residential towers, 5 crypt burial grounds, and farm buildings in various states of preservation.

Bone material has been preserved in the burial structures. Soviet and Russian historian and archaeologist D.Y. Chakhkiev dates them to the 16th-17th centuries, but, according to him, they have not been subjected to archaeological excavations.

In one of the residential towers of the complex, an interesting stone “bag” was found, which was intended for storing supplies or water.

“Tsooli” is a hard-to-reach, rarely visited complex located 1.4 km northwest of “G1appi” on a high mountain slope in a closed border zone, which requires a special permit to visit.

This trip is of particular historical significance for our institution, as it is the first visit to this complex in more than ten years.

Previously unaccounted objects that are not included in the register will be included in the list of identified cultural heritage sites of the Republic of Ingushetia.

During excavations at the Gerite tower complex, employees of the Heritage School of Bricklayers and Restorers found two ancient women's headdresses, known as kurkharss, in one of the above-ground sun graves.

A kurkhar (kurhas) is an original traditional Ingush women's headdress. It is known in the Caucasus only in Ingushetia. Kurkhar were an attribute of the formal, festive clothing of Ingush girls and were worn during holidays and when going out in public. This headdress was a very expensive element of the costume, costing between 5 and 15 cows. Kurkharss were made of red felt or thick cloth and were tall caps in the shape of a skate with a curved forward and forked end called a “crest.”

The burial inventory found is of great scientific interest and will be studied and described in detail in the future.