The

Mausolea A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of ...

of the

Begazy–Dandybai culture Begazy-Dandybai culture (c. 1500-1100 BCE), is a late Bronze Age culture of mixed economy in the territory of ancient central Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, centered at Saryarka region. The Begazy Dandybai Mausolea dates from –1150 ...

are located in mountain valleys of Central

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Site description

The collection of 18 mausolea, dating from the 12th to 8th centuries BC, incorporates unique architectural and constructive style. The commonality between all examples is a central room surrounded by two or three perimeter walls made of stacked stone or large vertical stone slabs. The central rooms house sarcophagi and altars, which contrast the nearby burials outside the mausolea in the open. This fact hints at an embedded social stratification and hierarchy within Begazy–Dandybai society, and signifies those buried in the mausolea as royalty, noblemen, or priests. The Mausolea usually occur within close range to ancient settlements of up to 10 hectares in area, which hints at a once flourishing economy based on agriculture, irrigation, domestication of animals, and use of precious metals found in nearby mines.

World Heritage status

This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Tentative List on September 24, 1998, in the Cultural category.(see

List of World Heritage Sites in Kazakhstan The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage Sites of outstanding universal value to cultural or natural heritage which have been nominated by countries which are signatories to the UN ...

)

Notes

{{coord, display=title Culture of Kazakhstan Mausoleums in Kazakhstan World Heritage Tentative List