Museum of Archaeology «Gylym Ordasy», Almaty

The Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan is an Agency which performs functions of the implementation of state policies in the field of science within the competence of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and controls functions in the fields referred to its competence.

The Museum of Archeology was opened in 1973 at the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR on the initiative of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan D.A. Kunaev as an object of storage and constant scientific study of archaeological materials of the republic. Since June 2010, the Museum of Archeology has been a part of the Republican State Enterprise "Gylym Ordasy".

Музей археологии был открыт в 1973 году при Институте археологии Академии наук Казахской ССР по инициативе Первого секретаря ЦК Компартии Казахстана Д.А.Кунаева как объект хранения и постоянного научного изучения археологических материалов республики. С июня 2010 года Музей археологии входит в состав Республиканского государственного предприятия «Ғылым ордасы».

The Archaeology Museum at the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of science of the Kazakh SSR was opened to visitors in 1973. From June 2010 the museum has become part of the State Science Museum and the Republic State Enterprise, Gylym Ordasy. The museum is a warehouse of priceless treasures of material and spiritual cultures of the people who occupied the ancient territory of Kazakhstan. There are many unique exhibits from excavations of burial grounds, settlements, and ancient cities of Kazakhstan in the collections of the museum.

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The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of many implements and weapons. In the Bronze Age, the territory of present-day Kazakhstan was inhabited by tribes of the Andron and Begazy-Dandybayev cultures. They engaged in farming and cattle-rearing and they were proud warriors. The burial mounds of warriors of the period, scattered across the Kazakh steppes, are characterized by their large size. The Andron culture occupied central Kazakhstan from the middle of the second millennium B.C. to the 11th millennium BC and the Begazy-Dandybayev were the dominant culture of southern Kazakhstan from the 10th century BC to the 8th century BC. The museum collection contains artefacts from both cultures.

The Early Iron Age (from the 8th century BC to the 9th century AD).

From the 6th to the 2nd centuries BC, the Saks gradually took over as the dominant culture across Kazakhstan. They were nomads, semi-nomads and farmers and Saks craftsmen were very skillful at producing artefacts made of silver, bronze and gold.

Numerous Saks burial mounds were found in Semirechye, Central, Southern and Eastern Kazakhstan. The museum collection holds artefacts of this period such as water vessels, silver and ceramic bowls and artistic bronze sculptures. The museum also houses a life-size replica of the world famous ‘Golden Man’ (4th century BC). Discovered in a kurgan, or burial mound, near Issyk, the Golden Man is a figure of a distinguished Saks warrior dressed in funeral clothes of gold that was reconstructed from fragments found during the excavation of the site. It is made of over 4,000 gold pieces, many finely decorated with animal motifs.

The layout of the Besshatyr burial mound site is on display in the museum. It consists of 31 kurgans of different sizes.

In 1998, archaeologist Zainolla Samashev excavated kurgans near the village of Berel in the Altai region. Some very illuminating discoveries came from these burial mounds. From the quality and workmanship of the artefacts and the number of sacrifi ced horses, archaeologists have concluded that these were the burials of the society’s elite in the late fourth and early third centuries BC. The exhibition features a reproduction of a horse found in one of the Berel kurgans, complete with saddle and harness.

The second hall contains an archaeological map of Kazakhstan and the layouts of the mausoleum of Khoja Akhmed Yassawi, the burial site of Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan Sulu, and Aisha Bibi mausoleum.

The third hall features artefacts from the Middle Ages found at the sites of ancient cities and burial mounds. In this part of the museum you can see photographs, artefacts and other materials from the excavation of Otrar, one of the largest medieval cities in the Southern Kazakhstan.

During the Early Middle Ages, a number of independent states flourished in Kazakhstan, the best known being the Kangar union, the Oghuz Yabgu State, and the Kara-Khanid Kaganate. In the south of Kazakhstan, in the valleys of the Syr Darya, Talas, and Chu Rivers, new cities developed, replacing the agricultural and farming settlements. The oasis of Otrar is situated in the Kusulkum region and is not one single site, but rather it was a series of towns and cities in the vicinity of a large oasis. Excavations of Otrar show that it was an advanced settlement with large and complex buildings. It was densely populated: the houses stood close to each other and formed quarters or blocks. The museum houses several artefacts from the Otrar oasis.

The Archaeology Museum houses many valuable and unique historical and scientific materials from excavations of burial grounds, settlements and ancient cities. The museum is a centre for the propagation of archaeological knowledge and the achievements of Kazakh science. The rich collection of unique exhibits in the museum regularly attracts the attention of major exhibition venues around the world and over the years exhibits from the museum collection have been shown in more than 20 countries.