Republic of Ingushetia

Head of the Committee for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites Kodzoev T. U. and Acting Director of the Dzheyrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve Sampiev A. A. took part in the event on the occasion of the completion of restoration works of the Goust tower complex, during which the historical ensemble consisting of three towers was restored.

Thanks to timely work, the complex again pleases us with its grandeur and ancient architecture.

Heads of institutions also, within the framework of the work plan on supervision of restoration, conservation and emergency work aimed at preserving historical and architectural objects of mountain Ingushetia, visited the tower complex "Nizhny Puy", where restoration work by specialists of the restoration company "Nasledie" has begun and is actively underway.

The partner of the project is the charity fund of M. Gutseriev “Safmar”.

I am happy to inform you about the success of the project “Development of the Dzhirakh-Assin State Historical, Architectural and Natural Museum-Reserve” from the Republic of Ingushetia. He received more than 65 thousand votes and was recognized as the best in the field of tourism at the competition within the framework of the Days of Regional Development "Space of the Future" at the Exhibition "Russia".

This is not surprising, because the Dzhirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve occupies as much as 65 thousand hectares in the picturesque mountainous Dzhirakh district of our beautiful Ingushetia. There are about 500 complexes of stone architecture, including ancient temples, sanctuaries, funerary structures.

It is a real treasure that gives an idea of the history and culture of our ancestors: burial crypts, pagan, Christian sanctuaries, temples and tower complexes, some of which date back to the middle of the second millennium BC.

The most significant are the temples of Taba-Yerda and Albi-Yerda, the castle complex of Vovnushki, the tower complexes of Hamha, Targim, Egikal. Egikal is one of the largest medieval tower complexes in Ingushetia.

I congratulate the staff of the Natural Museum-Reserve and every resident of Ingushetia with this result!

Thank you to everyone who voted for our project, for your contribution to the preservation and popularization of the Ingush cultural heritage! - Head of the Republic of Ingushetia Mahmud-Ali Kalimatov.

As part of the work plan for the visual inspection of the technical condition of cultural heritage objects, the staff of the Dzhirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve together with representatives of the Teip Gapparhoevs made an inspection trip to the architectural complex "Gappi" and to the temple-sanctuary "Gurmte".

Gappi is a castle-type tower village at the top of a mountain range that rises above the Kyakhk-Khi River, in Muzhig Gorge, bordering the Tumgoi Gorge, a few kilometers from the border with Georgia. It consists of a five-storey battle tower, six dilapidated residential tower buildings, united by a long stone defensive wall into a single castle complex.

A kilometer and a half from Gappi on top of a wooded mountain is the Gappin temple-sanctuary of Gurmte, presumably dated XVI-XVII centuries. Until the beginning of the XX century, the inhabitants of the whole district made prayers and sacrifices here. Nowadays, the temple is very rarely visited and has good preservation. On the rock floor of the temple scattered skulls of animals and remains of utensils.

It was discovered by the researcher of Caucasian landscapes L.P. Semenov and surprised the scientific world with his find. Small, only twelve squares, the temple stood alone in a pine forest on one of the slopes of a mountainous ridge. From prying eyes he was sheltered by age-old evergreen trees that hid the sanctuary for several centuries.

You can enter the ancient Ingush temple from the western semicircular side. Inside the room is quite high - ceilings up to three meters, and light - under a gable roof several rectangular windows. The interior was well preserved, white plaster is still visible on the altar wall, and the stone-decorated depressions obviously served as storage shelves. On the floor, researchers found animal remains and utensils. From which it is concluded that the temple was intended for sacrifice.

Having studied Gappi closely, scientists managed to find out that the ancient Ingush village was famous for its craftsmen. Here was widely developed the art of painting on wood and the manufacture of various items from different types of local wood, were able to process the horns and bones of ungulates, turning them into items of utensils, national accessories and jewelry.

Archaeologist Umalat Gadiyev also notes the good preservation of the monument: The Gurmte Sanctuary is relatively well preserved. It can be said that the monument has not changed much in its basic forms over the past hundred years. The reason for this, in my opinion, is its remoteness and inaccessibility.” The only danger that threatens the preservation of the monument, according to the researcher, is the pine trees that grow near the monument. “By the way, the archaeologist L.P. Semenov wrote about the negative impact of pines on the Gurmta sanctuary on the materials of fieldwork in 1930.”

Here it is necessary to make a reservation that according to the member of the IGO “Dzurzuki” Yakub Gogiev, the tree still managed to harm the monument: The temple, although protected from man, but natural nature almost took its own - a huge dry tree tilted and seriously damaged the roof. Fortunately, the guys who are studying at the restoration school cut down this tree and cleaned the upper roof of the temple of branches.

We take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude to them for their work in preserving our history.

In turn, the staff of the museum-reserve made a thorough tour of the temple, recorded all visual changes, made measurements and photofixation. Based on these materials, acts of the technical condition of the object of cultural heritage will be drawn up and sent to higher organizations.

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Currently, active work is underway on the certification of cultural heritage sites in mountainous Ingushetia.

The SAFMAR Charitable Foundation signed a contract for 200 million rubles with a company from St. Petersburg, which will do this work.

Specialists will work on a detailed description of each architectural object in mountain Ingushetia. This will be not just a statistical record, but an accurate history of the origin of each family tower and settlement. Such large-scale work has never been carried out before and is of great importance for the history of the people.

Head of the Committee for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites Kodzoev T.U. and Acting Director of the Dzheyrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve Sampiev A.A. took part in the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Caucasus at the junction of Europe and Asia: problems of preserving historical and cultural heritage and restoring unique sites in the North Caucasus Federal District”, which takes place in Grozny, Chechen Republic on July 21-23, 2024.

At the conference, Timirlan Umarovich made a report “Historical and cultural heritage as the most important factor in the socio-economic development of the Republic of Ingushetia”, in which he outlined the preservation of historical and cultural heritage as a priority in the work of the authorities.

The head of the Committee in his speech spoke about the importance of historical and cultural heritage in the socio-economic development of the republic, its current state, as well as measures taken to preserve it.

One of the most important directions of development of the region, the leadership of the republic considers the development of the tourism industry, allowing to use and effectively use the recreational, production and socio-cultural potential of the republic, which also involves providing the population with new jobs and, accordingly, increasing tax revenues.

Large-scale work on the restoration of tower complexes, which take place in mountainous Ingushetia, was noted with the financial support of the SAFMAR charity fund of M. Gutseriev. The adopted program, designed for 10-15 years, involves, in addition to the restoration of cultural heritage sites and the renewal of engineering communications, the construction of hotels, campsites and other facilities related to the tourist business.

At the end of his speech, the head of the Committee showed slides dedicated to mountain Ingushetia.

The event was held in a friendly and positive atmosphere, where participants exchanged experiences and learned a lot of new and interesting things for further study and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the regions.

Employees of the museum-reserve, during a planned roundabout, 150 meters east of the tower complex "New Evli" found an underground crypt not taken into account in the list of identified objects of cultural heritage.

New Evloy is located 0.5 km southwest of Old Evloy. Today, there are badly damaged 1 combat and 5 residential tower structures, which are united by a stone wall into a single complex.

The object identified has an almost square base - 200x230 cm, from the inside it is made of uncooked stones, on lime. The entrance to the burial ground is half covered with a stone slab, contains bone remains, safety is satisfactory.

The crypt is an above-ground, semi-underground or underground room intended for the burial of the dead, was called to life in the highlands due to the acute lack of land. They were located mainly on the slopes of the mountains. The Ingushes called the crypts "milha kash" - solar graves.

Usually the crypts are located in a group on the outskirts of the village, forming a special city of the dead, but more often they are scattered near the village in several places. They are made of unhewn stones, on lime, have a yellow lining and in each tier of laze (with sides about 0.5 m), through which the dead were dragged. The laz is covered with a wooden board or stone slab. The crypts are oriented to the cardinal points by corners or walls. The height of the crypts ranges from 3-4 to 5-6 meters, at the base the length of the sides varies from 2 to 4 meters.

Depending on the number of tiers, the manholes are located on all sides of the crypt, serving as an entrance to each tier, also small through holes that provide ventilation are often found in the walls. A drilled stone slab is often reinforced on the side of the manhole or above it; sometimes it was replaced by two stones forming a gap between them.

According to some residents, a pole with a white flag was inserted into this hole in the old days, which remained on the crypt until it decayed. Quite often on the cladding of the crypts there are prints of the hands, as is reasonably assumed, the builder of the crypt.

For the identified object - an underground crypt, to ensure its integrity and safety, an application will be submitted to the Committee of State Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects on its inclusion in the list of identified objects of cultural heritage of the republic.

As part of the work plan for visual inspection of the technical condition of cultural heritage objects, an inspection trip to the Erzi architectural complex was made.

Erzi Tower Complex (Airzi) is one of the largest medieval castle-type tower settlements located at the tip of the mountain range, including fifty small residential towers, two semi-combat towers, 8 battle towers and a long stone defensive wall with wide gates of the late Middle Ages. The battle towers are 5 and 6-storey. Also on the territory of the complex are visible the remains of stone walls, once blocking the path of enemies. The floors of the towers start from four and end with six levels. Erzi translates from Ingush as “eagle”.

At the foot of the Erzi complex there is a domed mausoleum of Yand-Kash, that is, Yandov’s grave. Here is buried Yand tower builder - the famous stone architect of all times, who lived in the XVII century. The mausoleum contained a relic that gave this village such a name - the bronze Eagle of Suleiman. Or rather, for the Ingush it was simply the Eagle, and the name of the master Suleiman, as well as the date of manufacture, was already determined by Caucasian experts, who found that the bird was ringed with an inscription on an Arabic alphabet. Around the figure of the eagle began a discussion of scientists, arguing about the date of its manufacture, the date of its appearance in the mountains of Ingushetia, its purpose, etc. The eagle was made in 796, most likely in Basra, and is the oldest accurately dated piece of Islamic art in the Middle East. How he got here - no one now will say: maybe he was captured by the mountaineers in some caravan, or maybe was presented by the Persians as a sign of peace.

For Ingushetia, it became one of the national symbols. For many years this eagle was in the Hermitage, the Ingush long demanded to return the eagle home, where he was taken back in 1931. As a result, a copy was made in St. Petersburg, in 2013 it was placed in the local history museum named after T. Malsagov, in Nazran.

The Ayrzi complex is historically part of the Metskhal Society.

As part of the state contract for the restoration of monuments, for 2012-2017 restoration works were carried out at the complex, which allowed them to be preserved for posterity and adapted for museum display.

Acting Director of the Museum-Reserve Sampiev A.A., in the framework of supervision of restoration, conservation and emergency work aimed at preserving historical and architectural objects of mountain Ingushetia, made an inspection trip to the tower complexes "Morch" and "Khyamishki", where restoration work is carried out on the agreed projects of "ASM Group". Specialists who also carry out the author's control of the work carried out.

For example, during the last supervision, samples of solutions used by the contractor during restoration were selected and sent to the laboratory for examination.

Hamishki and Morch are complexes located in the Dzheyrakhov gorge with many historical objects of varying degrees of preservation.

Recall that in September last year, the first stage of restoration work at the Morch complex was completed, during which one combat, one semi-combat and one residential tower were restored.

Two restored battle towers can be seen in Hjamishka.

During the tour, employees of the Jeirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, 3-4 km north of the tower complex "Guli", on Mount Giyrakhye, discovered a previously unrecorded object - a unique architectural structure attached to the mountain range.

The object has two tiers, an arched doorway, a window opening and presumably served our ancestors as a sheepdog (jelly) for corralling cattle. The building is also equipped with one machicula-balcony.

The object is well preserved, perhaps due to the fact that it, like Dzaurkyongi-Jel - a more famous unique monument that has come down to us in its original form, and located in Upper Guli, is attached to the rock, which provides them with a protective function.

The monument after the relevant works will be included in the list of identified objects of cultural heritage of the republic.

Marzaganov Ruslan, founder of Albi Technoparks, member of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation in the field of construction, scientist and specialist in the field of scientific restoration, met with the head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of Ingushetia Kodzoev Timerlan Umarovich, as well as Acting Director of the Jeirakh-Assin Museum-Reserve Sampiev Akhmedkhan Alikhanovich and took the initiative to preserve the temple "Albi-Yerda" from destruction by tourists, local residents, livestock, etc.

The temple - the sanctuary of "Albi-Yerda", more than 1000 years old, is located on the left bank of the river "Assa", from which, according to historians, more than a quarter of the entire Ingush genus originated. After the approval of the project, a metal fence will be erected around the historical object, with a total length of about 200 meters. This measure, as well as the installation of a video recording system of violations, will prevent the destruction of the temple and will initiate restoration work.

These measures are taken to protect and preserve the object of cultural heritage of the Republic of Ingushetia.

On August 12, 2024, during the tour, employees of the Jeirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, 1200 meters south-east of the Lower Puy tower complex, discovered a previously unrecorded object – a pillar-shaped sanctuary – cIuv.

Pillar-shaped sanctuaries are one of the types of religious structures made of stone, which were erected, according to Ingush folklore, in the place where lightning killed a person.

Deputy Director of the company "Heritage" Y. Gogiev notes that this pillar-shaped sanctuary differs from a group of similar sanctuaries in its size - it is larger in size and lancet niche is quite deep and wide. In the past, this sanctuary was crowned by a gabled pyramidal-step roof of slate slabs. At the moment it is completely destroyed. In terms of the base of the sanctuary is rectangular.

The pillar-shaped sanctuaries are the most numerous group of religious monuments of mountain Ingushetia. In his work Medieval Cult Monuments of the Central Caucasus (Grozny, 1989, P. 89), B. Musukhoev writes that this group of monuments refers to the most recent time of construction of pre-Islamic religious monuments. He considers them family, explaining the reason why there are several pillar-shaped sanctuaries near some villages (two in Erzi, three in Egikale).

The monument, after carrying out the relevant works, to ensure its integrity and safety, will be included in the list of identified objects of cultural heritage of the republic.

In recent years, archaeologists have begun to find evidence of an ancient civilization that existed in Ingushetia long before written history. Cyclopic buildings are structures of huge uncooked stone blocks of solutionless masonry of a horizontal plan, ancient stone dwellings. Cyclopean structures are considered a masterpiece of ancient civilization – no one knows exactly who built them and why.

The beginning of the scientific study of megalithic monuments on the territory of mountain Ingushetia falls on 20-30 years. XX century. It was at this time that they were studied by such famous Russian Caucasian scientists as L.P. Semenov and E.I. Krupnov.

Currently, on the state record as the identified objects of cultural heritage consist in the architectural complex Targim in the amount of 14 buildings, although in the territory of mountain Ingushetia such buildings were previously found at the villages of Egikal, Hamkhi, Khart, Doshkhakle, Tori, Ozik, Keli, Kazi, etc. These days, the staff of the museum-reserve began a huge work to register all cyclopean buildings in mountain Ingushetia as objects of cultural heritage.

It should be noted that among scientists, the question of dating cyclopean structures for many years remains controversial. The problem of dating megalithic structures today, as before, is relevant.

L.P. Semyonov and E.I. Krupnov, after studying the remains of megalithic buildings in the Ingush villages of Hamkhi, Egikal, Doshkhakle, it was concluded that these cyclopean fortress houses belong to the era of the Scythians, i.e. VII-V centuries BC. "when there were strong patrimonial foundations and all buildings were erected by the efforts of numerous members of the clan." The idea of the antiquity of cyclopean monuments according to folklore information is also expressed by the Caucasian scientist B.K. Dalgat.

However, recently such scientists as: S. T. Umarov, V. B., Vinogradov, V. I., Markovin, who studied these megalithic structures in mountain Ingushetia, call another time of their origin XI-XIII centuries AD.

The most optimal and acceptable option is the dating put forward by the archaeologist M.B. Musukhoev. In the late 70s and early 80s, he excavated cyclopean buildings near the medieval tower settlements of Kart and Doshkhakle. Having made an analysis on the basis of the collected material, he gives his dating of II – I thousand BC. At the same time, the scientist also expresses an opinion about the diversity of cyclopean buildings. Archaeologist V.I. Kozenkova also considers it possible to attribute the type of stone dwellings in question to 1 thousand BC.

With the origin of these huge buildings associated with many legends and legends. It was believed that megaliths are the work of giants who, playfully, could throw stones from the palm of your hand to the palm of your hand. The ancient Greeks believed that these huge structures were built by one-eyed mythical giants – cyclops. Hence the name.

In the legends of the Ingush are also mentioned giants - wampalas, and among them there were one-eyed giants. However, legends or legends cannot give a general objective explanation of how and by whom, were built, and most importantly, to what period the construction of these buildings belongs. The lack of written evidence on this issue makes it difficult to study it.