State Historical-Cultural Reserve-Museum «Issyk»

The State historical-cultural reserve-museum «Issyk» is created by the Order of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan № 43 of January 30th 2010 within the framework of the Strategic national project «Cultural Heritage», which was initiated by the Head of the country N.A. Nazarbaev, on the territory of the Issyk necropolis, in one of the burial mounds of which in 1970 the famous burial of the Saki Prince was found. In this foothill zone of Trans-Ili Alatau two thousand year ago there lived tribes, whom the Persians called «Saki», and the Greeks «Scythians».

The burial of the Saki prince, which astonishes with its richness and content, is unique due to the fact that it is the only unrubbed burial in Central Asia that came to us intact. The complex of its findings gives invaluable information about the culture of ancient nomads of Kazakhstan. The artifacts of the monument and the plots, which decorate the ceremonial clothing of the «Golden Man», tell the sacred meaning of the mythology of the ancient tribes, and were depicted in the state attributes of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Saki culture and the «Golden Man» are the main themes of the presentation and scientific research of the reserve-museum «Issyk».

On August 9th 2013 by the Decision of the Almaty Regional Maslikhat №21-33 the territory of the security zone of the State historical-cultural reserve-museum «Issyk» was approved – 422 .7 hectares, where 80 burial mounds of the Issyk burial ground and the ancient Saki settlements of Rakhat and Orikty were included. On June 26th 2018 by the Order №06-330 of the Talgar area Almaty region Akimat the reserve-museum «Issyk» was appointed to manage a medieval settlement of Talgar, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the composition of the serial cross-border nomination «the Silk Road: net of routes of the Tien-Shan corridor». According to the Acts of land use the territory of the monument is 20.8 hectares.

Located on the way of the Great Silk Road the reserve-museum «Issyk» is one of the strategically important objects of the development of cultural tourism in the Republic. Main activity directions of the reserve-museum – organization of the scientific-research, cultural-educational and tourist activities in the sphere of security and use of historical-cultural heritage, and propaganda and popularization of monuments of history and culture.

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The permanent exposition of the State historical-cultural reserve-museum «Issyk» is presented in four rooms: «History and culture of the Saks», «The history of the opening and research of the Golden Man», «Archeology of Kazakhstan» and The Memorial office of Bekmukhanbet Nurmukhanbetov – an archeologist and one of the pioneers who found the «Golden Man». Besides that, there functions a room of temporary exhibitions with regularly refreshed expositions.