Jeyrakh-Assin Reserve
Jeyrakh-Assin Reserve

The Jeyrakh-Assin historical, architectural and natural museum-reserve is located within the boundaries of the Jeyrakh district of the Republic of Ingushetia on the northern slopes of the foothills of the Central part of the Greater Caucasus Range. The reserve was established on June 2, 1988. The area of the reserve is slightly more than 627 square kilometers. The activity of the reserve is aimed at ensuring the preservation, restoration and study of territorial complexes of cultural and natural heritage, material and spiritual values in their traditional historical (cultural and natural) environment. On the territory of the museum-reserve there are 122 ancient architectural complexes, including more than 2,670 objects of cultural significance, including defensive and residential towers, burial crypts, Christian and pagan sanctuaries and temples. The oldest buildings of the megalithic type belong to the middle of the second millennium BC. Every year, significant scientific discoveries are made on the territory of the reserve, new objects are identified, archaeological expeditions are constantly working, scientists from all over the world come. Since 1996, the reserve has been a candidate for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Significant value in the reserve is given to work on creating conditions for the development of organized tourism, its educational and service component.

Recently, an employee of the Jeirakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, during a planned bypass of the Erzi tower complex, in the masonry of an above-ground dilapidated crypt with an open memorial chamber located next to the core mausoleum of Yand-Kash, discovered a rectangular stone on which horizontal notches are carved in two rows, parallel to each other.

Many forms of use of cult stones existed in Ingush society. For example, often in the masonry of residential and battle towers you can see stones with holes or small cup-shaped depressions, symbolizing grace.

Researcher Tanzila Dzaurova, in his work “Ingush National Ornament” calls such a stone “calendar” and notes that they are found mainly in the crypt with a memorial chamber – “Kash-kov”. “And some of them are embedded in the masonry of a residential tower, which makes it difficult to determine their dating, because they are reused. This is evidenced by the location of stones with petroglyphs in the masonry, which, as a rule, differ from the color of the stones of the main masonry, as well as the methods of its processing.”

A number of Caucasian scientists and researchers V.N. Basilov, V.P. Kobychev, M.R. Uzhakhov, B.A. Khairov, Dzaurova T.A-Kh. and others agree that these stones served as a calendar in the past. The principle of action of these calendar stones, presumably, was based on the movement of the sun.

Similar crypts with a memorial chamber are also located on the territory of the tower complexes "Niy", "Ozdice", "Targim", "Khamhi", "Egikal", "Erzi".

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