Jeyrakh-Assin Reserve

The first working day at the Jayrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve in 2026 began with a visit from Russian hero Danilov A. A., who wished us fruitful work and the conquest of new worthy heights, as well as a new working year that would be much more interesting and successful than the old one!

The head of the State Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, T. Kodzoev, U. was awarded certificates of commendation from the Head of the Republic of Ingushetia for his many years of conscientious work and responsible approach to including cultural monuments in the restoration program. Employees of the Dzejrakh-Assinsky State Historical, Architectural, and Natural Museum-Reserve were also awarded certificates of commendation from the Head of the Republic of Ingushetia. , head of the department of restoration, museumification, and use of monuments, and Zalina Mukhazhirovna Tochieva , junior research fellow.

Timirlan Umarovich noted the importance and significance of the work done and also thanked the employees for their contribution to the preservation of historical and cultural monuments.

Today, January 20, the head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, T.U. Kodzoev, summed up the results of the past year and set goals for 2026 at a board meeting.

The event was also attended by D.E. Ozdoyev, Director of the Ch. Akhriyev Institute of Humanities, M.Kh. Malsagov, Head of the E.I. Krupnov Archaeological Center, A.A. Sampiev, Acting Director of the Dzhayrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, and employees of subordinate organizations.

Timirlan Umarovich identified the preservation and protection of the historical and cultural heritage of the Republic of Ingushetia as one of the most important areas of state policy.

The head of the Committee cited figures on the total number of cultural heritage sites identified in the republic, how many of them are included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Peoples of the Russian Federation, and how many of them are of federal, regional, and local (municipal) significance.

In 2025, work was carried out in the Jayrakhsky District to preserve cultural heritage sites (repair, restoration, conservation, emergency repair work), which began in 2023 thanks to an agreement between the Head of the Republic of Ingushetia, M. M. Kalimatov and the founder of the Safmar charitable foundation, renowned philanthropist M. S. Gutseriev.

During this period, work was carried out on 12 architectural complexes and individual monuments: “Vovnushki,” “Nizhny Puy,” “Keli,” “Lyalakh,” “Tumgi,” “Garak,” “Verkhniy Khayrakh,” “Eban,” “Furtoug,” Tsori, Tumgi, and Doshkakle. Work has begun on the comprehensive restoration of the Thaba-Erdy Temple, a federal heritage site. Work has been completed on strengthening the temple from the outside and inside to ensure safety during archaeological and restoration work. Restoration work has also begun on the Vovnushki architectural (castle) complex, with priority given to strengthening the rock foundation. Of the architectural complexes mentioned, restoration work has been fully completed on six complexes, which comprise 63 cultural heritage sites.

As part of the activities for state registration and protection of cultural heritage sites that have the characteristics of cultural heritage sites, the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Republic of Ingushetia has received more than 900 applications for the inclusion of various cultural heritage sites in the register, which are part of 36 architectural complexes.

On the origin of the name “Khamkhi.”

From the scientific publication by N. D. Kodzoev, “The Toponym ‘Khamkhi’ and the Sacred Tree.”

Legends about the founding of Khamkhi explain its name as the proper name of the founder of the settlement itself, but this is not true. According to Ingush traditions, when forming toponyms for settlements, a component indicating the type of settlement is added to the name, for example, it can be the words “pkhya” (Golashpkhye), ‘khala’ (Egi-Khala), “koa” (Zovra-Koa) or “yurt” (Toi-Yurt), etc. If such a component is not added to the name, i.e., the name of the settlement consists of one word (Targim, Khamkhi, Kart, etc.), then such a name does not come from a person's proper name. In this case, the name has a different meaning. Usually, stories about the founders of a particular settlement or community arise much later than its foundation in an attempt to explain its name.

V.B. Vinogradov and K.Z. Chokaev noted that “the term ‘Khamkhi’ cannot be clearly etymologized, especially in its first part. The second part of the word is more transparent in etymological terms—hi—‘water, river’.”

A.S. Suleimanov, a researcher of the toponymy of Chechnya and Ingushetia, cites the folk etymology of Khamkh: “to appreciate, to honor, to respect, etc.” This etymology is derived from the Ingush word “kham.” It is possible that the name of the settlement of Khamkhi is associated with the concept of a “sacred tree”: from the Ingush word “kham” — “valuable, revered, sacred” and ‘hi’ — “trunk, tree.” Indeed, the cult of the “sacred tree” has been present in the myths of most peoples of the world since ancient times.

The word “hi” (‘tree’) has a counterpart in the Georgian language - “he”. In his linguistic works, the scientist N.Ya. Marr, known for his research in linguistics, oriental studies, Caucasian studies, history, ethnography, and archaeology, hypothesized that the Georgian word “khati” and the Armenian “khach,” which have a common root, come from the Georgian names for trees ‘he’ and “dzel.” Furthermore, based on historical evidence of the ancient veneration of trees in ancient Georgia and ancient Armenia, Nikolai Yakovlevich puts forward the proposition that the terms “he” and “dzel”, as well as the corresponding Megrelian form of the name of the tree dja (za), originally meant a cult tree, specifically an oak or a linden tree.

The mountain Georgians called the tree of abundance “hemhvani,” which sounds similar to the Ingush word “khamkhi.” At the Thaba-Yarda temple, located near Khamkhi, there was a fragment of a baked clay slab depicting a tree with two chamois on either side. This fragment of a tile (a type of brick) was found in the Tkhaba-Erda temple in 1901. In the 1920s, this fragment was kept in the Ingush Regional Museum in Vladikavkaz. Its further fate is unknown.

The image of the “sacred tree” was also widespread in the ancient civilizations of the Near East and the Caucasus.

Ethnographer and Georgian scholar V.V. Bardavelidze reports on a Svan drawing depicting a pine tree, “to whose branches two goat figures standing on either side are reaching,” which, in her opinion, represents “very close parallels to the motif of the ‘world tree’ or ‘tree of life’ widely spread in ancient Eastern art.”

Images of goats on both sides of the “sacred tree” — the “tree of life and abundance” — have been known since the time of Sumer. A seal belonging to an official from the temple of Uruk (Sumer, 4th–3rd millennium BC) depicts a flowering bush symbolizing the “sacred tree” with the goddess Inanna and two goats on either side of the “tree.”

Thus, it is quite possible that the name of the tower settlement of Khamkhi refers to the cult of the “sacred tree.”

Khamkhi is one of the largest castle-type tower settlements in Mountainous Ingushetia, located in the center of the Targim Basin on the left bank of the Assa River. Currently, Khamkhi is administratively part of the Dzejrakhsky District of the Republic of Ingushetia.

On January 24, the premiere of Bashir Gatagazhev's historical documentary film “Twelve Degrees” took place at the Cultural Development Center in Magas.

This project is the result of many years of research by scientists in Ingushetia.

The event was attended by the Head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, T. U. Kodzoev, Acting Director of the Dzejrakh-Assin Museum-Reserve, Akhmetkhan Sampiev, as well as historians, public figures, researchers, university professors, cultural workers, and others.

The film “Twelve Degrees” is dedicated to the history of Ingushetia, the ancient Ingush temple “Thaba-Erdy” and the reconstructed historical objects – 12 thrones installed near the temple last summer. The film presents in detail the material collected over years of research, which reveals the peculiarities of the social structure and values passed down from generation to generation over the centuries.

As part of the work plan, museum-reserve employee M. Chakhkiev held an informative talk with students from the Gul village school about the republic's historical and cultural monuments and how to treat them with care.

The event took place in a friendly and warm atmosphere, during which the children learned about the significance of the towers for studying the history of the region and the importance of preserving them for future generations.

During these days, Magomed Akhilgov, an inspector at the museum-reserve, held a preventative discussion with students from the Dzheyrakh school, aimed at fostering a respectful attitude toward the region's historical and cultural monuments.

As a result of this event, the children learned more about the republic's cultural heritage and the importance of preserving it for future generations.

Monitoring the Doshkhakly Rock Temple.

Akhmedkhan Sampiev, acting director of the museum-reserve, recently conducted an inspection tour of the Doshkhakly temple-sanctuary, located in the western part of the Doshkhaklye tower settlement.

The site was discovered, introduced into scientific circulation, and subjected to archaeological excavations by M.B. Muzhukhoev in 1979-1980 . It dates back to the 14th-15th centuries.

The sanctuary is a highly original structure with narrow entrances; it is built into the cliff face and has three chambers. The temple once had a large annex with a separate entrance. Only the foundation of this annex remains today.

Yakub Gogiyev, executive director of the Dzurdzuki Historical and Cultural Center, rightly notes the similarity of the building to the rock formations of Table Mountain.

The bones and horns of sacrificial and wild animals are found inside the monument. The walls are wide, with small hiding places and niches.

The structure is dilapidated; the roof is missing.

Monitoring the medieval religious monument, the Dyalite temple-sanctuary.

0.2 km north of the village of Kart, on the crest of a high hill, stands the heavily damaged, large Dyalite temple-sanctuary, dating from the late Middle Ages.

The sanctuary is rectangular in base, with a gabled, stepped roof. In the past, the temple-sanctuary was highly revered by the Ingush, who even gathered there in the late 19th century to resolve common issues.

On April 11, 2026, employees of the Dzheyrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve and the State Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Republic of Ingushetia held a joint cleanup day in the adjacent office areas of Magas.

Employees cleaned the lawns behind the building and cleared the streets adjacent to the office building of debris and last year's leaves.

As a result of these activities, the office building on Borova Street was cleared of household waste, dead trees, and last year's leaves, which were collected and removed to a designated area.

A.A. Sampiev, Director of the Museum-Reserve, thanked all participants and added that more cleanup days will be held throughout the month, including in mountainous areas.

On April 21, 2026, a ceremony was held at the Tugan Malsagov Ingush State Museum of Local History to honor the handover by representatives of the Institute of Caucasus Archaeology of the fourth part of the artifacts discovered in 2018 during the reconstruction of the Kavkaz federal highway in the Gamurzievsky Administrative Okrug.

The archaeological excavations were stored at the Institute of Caucasus Archaeology for nearly six years, during which time a tremendous amount of work was carried out on their study, description, and cartography.

The event was attended by Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Ingushetia V.V. Slastenin, People's Assembly Deputy A.Kh. Tsoroev, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic Z.I. Lyanova, representatives of the Institute of Caucasus Archaeology, and the heads of the Committee for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites T.U. Kodzoev. and the Dzheyrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, A.A. Sampiev; Associate Professor of the History Department at Ingush State University, Professor E.D. Muzhekhoeva; Director of the Franco-Ingush Research Center in Paris, Professor Isa Bokov at Sorbonne University; researcher, archaeologist, and Deputy Director of the E. Krupnov Archaeological Center, Umalat Gadiev; researchers of Ingushetia's material culture, ethnographers, public figures from the Dzurdzuki Ingush Cultural Heritage Site, university professors, artists, local historians, students, and others interested in the history of the Ingush people.

In 2018, the "Kavkaz" federal highway was being widened in the Gamurzievo area. Soon, routine construction work led to a full-scale archaeological expedition. During this time, entire cities (or rather, what remains of them – fortified settlements) have been discovered underground, along with Scythian burial mounds containing ancient artifacts: clay vessels, bronze and gold jewelry, and even the mysterious remains of people with deformed skulls.

The Gamurzievskoye settlement is a historical settlement in the Nazran District of Ingushetia. The ruins of the ancient settlement occupy a vast area – approximately 10,000 square meters.

In total, over 4,000 ancient artifacts were discovered during the excavations, dating, according to experts, to the Koban culture and the Alanian era.

All speakers agreed that the discovered artifacts are of great scientific interest to the history and culture of the republic and that their study allows for a new understanding of the trade and cultural ties of the ancient tribes that inhabited the territory of Ingushetia, as well as a clarification of the timeframe of their existence.

Biyaslan Atabiev, Director of the Caucasus Archaeology Institute, notes that the significance of these finds extends far beyond the Caucasus: "The ceramic vessels and jewelry pieces among the transferred artifacts provide insight into trade routes, trade and economic ties, and the level of socioeconomic development of society..."

Yesterday, staff from the Caucasus Archaeology Institute delivered a collection of ornamented gold, silver, and bronze jewelry, which will be stored in a special bank vault under temperature control.

The transfer of the artifacts to the Ingush people was made possible thanks to the joint efforts of T. U. Kodzoev, Head of the Committee for the State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites; A. A. Sampiyev, Head of the Dzheyrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve; and M. Z. Sagov, Head of the Local History Museum. and the director of the Institute of Caucasus Archaeology, Biyaslan Atabiyev, who, back in late 2023, reached a mutual agreement to return the finds to their historical homeland.