WELCOME TO KAZAKHSTAN

A small silver bowl bears only a few dozen symbols, the meaning of which scholars have yet to definitively determine. The three books, printed in Kazan in 1907, contain reflections on knowledge, justice, the history of the steppe, and the human condition. They are separated by more than two thousand years, different eras, different materials, and completely different ways of communicating with the future.Now the Issyk inscription and the collection of Mashkhur-Zhusup Kopeyev's first printed publications have been brought together in a single space—the Asia-Pacific Regional Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program. For Kazakhstan, these are the first objects inscribed on this regional list.At first glance, they have little in common. The Issyk inscription is one of the most enigmatic archaeological finds in Central Asia. Mashkhur-Zhusup's books appeared in the era of printing presses, newspapers, and a nascent public intellectual culture. But it is precisely this distance that allows us to see how the very means of preserving thought have changed: from short marks inscribed on metal with a sharp instrument to printed texts intended for distribution to many readers.The Memory of the World program works with precisely this kind of heritage. Unlike the UNESCO World Heritage List, which includes architectural monuments and natural areas, the focus here is on the document—a manuscript, archive, book, audiovisual recording, or other information carrier. It's not just the age of the object that matters, but also what it reveals about the development of language, knowledge, society, and human memory.The Issyk inscription occupies a special place in this regard. The silver bowl was discovered during an exploration of the famous Issyk burial mound, along with a complex of finds associated with the "Golden Man." Two lines of symbols are inscribed on its surface. UNESCO identifies 26-27 symbols and considers the find important evidence of the early written culture of Central Asia.The main intrigue remains: the inscription has no universally accepted interpretation. Over the decades, researchers have proposed various interpretations, compared the signs with various writing systems, and advanced hypotheses regarding the text's language. None of these has yet achieved a definitive scientific consensus.This is why the cup's value lies not in its spectacular, ready-made decipherment, but perhaps in the opposite—in the questions it continues to pose to researchers.We know that a person deliberately engraved a sequence of signs on silver over two thousand years ago. We don't know for sure what they intended to convey. This narrow gap between knowledge and uncertainty makes the Issyk inscription a rare document that simultaneously belongs to archaeology, the history of writing, and the history of language.The books of Mashkhur-Zhusup Kopeyev represent a completely different type of memory.In 1907, three of his works were published in Kazan and are now included in the UNESCO nomination: "Saryarqanyq kimdikі ekendigi," dedicated to the history of the steppe and historical memory; The poetry collection "Tirlіkte köp zhasaғandyқtan körgen bïr tamashamyz" and the work "Khal-akhual" were printed in Old Kazakh script based on Arabic script.While the Issyk inscription represents a world from which only a few dozen undeciphered signs have survived, Mashkhur-Zhusup's books allow us to hear the author's voice almost directly. He reflects on education, morality, justice, social responsibility, historical memory, and the need for spiritual renewal in society.UNESCO also notes another characteristic of these publications: they appeared during the transition from manuscript culture to mass printed word. Before the spread of printing, a text could exist for decades in manuscripts and be transmitted to a relatively limited circle of people. The printed book changed the scale of its audience. An idea could travel to another city, fall into the hands of an unknown reader, and continue to live independently of its author.Therefore, the three 1907 editions are interesting not only for their content. They document a change in the very cultural environment of the Kazakh steppe—a moment when intellectual thought began to actively explore new modes of dissemination.In this sense, the two Kazakhstani nominations unexpectedly complement each other. The Issyk Bowl represents one of the earliest attempts to record information in the region. The books of Mashkhur-Zhusup date back to an era when the written word was already becoming a social instrument. A vast historical gap separates them, yet the goal remains remarkably similar—to leave thought beyond human memory, to capture it on a tangible medium.The composition of the new regional registry is also revealing. Along with Kazakhstani objects, it includes ancient written monuments, archives, literary collections, film footage, and historical documents from various countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The list includes texts on stone and paper, early writing systems, and 20th-century documents. UNESCO thus views documentary memory not as a sequence of great books, but as a vast mosaic of the ways societies have preserved information about themselves. For Kazakhstan, the inclusion of two nominations is also important because it offers international readers two distinct entry points into the country's history. One begins with a question that remains unanswered: what do the symbols on the small silver bowl mean? The other begins with texts that can still be read today. And between these two points lies the history of several millennia of human need to leave a legacy.