Tanbaly. The mystery of the painted rocks

The word "tanbali" means "covered with tamgas" (signs). To this day, every Kazakh considers it his duty to know his family, his battle cry and coat of arms. Many carefully preserve the family trees of shezhire. "Tanba" is the family coat of arms. The ancient sacred seal of the origin of the Kazakh clans.

The gorge with mysterious petroglyphs was discovered by an archaeological expedition led by Anna Maximova in 1957.

Later, her colleagues joined the research of this valuable historical landscape monument. The world-famous archaeological complex has become a national symbol of Kazakhstan. It is unique in its composition and has no analogues in the world.

The State Historical, Cultural and Natural Museum-Reserve "Tanbaly" has been established here, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

There are several thousand rock paintings in the Tanbaly Museum, grouped into seven groups. Here you can see running bulls, argali and deer, many warriors and hunters with weapons in their hands, shamans, scenes of rituals and sacrifices. The central petroglyph is an image of the so-called "Sun-headed Deity".

The museum includes not only many spectacular rock carvings carved on rocks covered with black patina, but also burial grounds, altars, and quarries dating back 3,000 to 4,000 years.

The Tanbaly State Historical, Cultural and Natural Museum-Reserve is located 170 km northwest of Almaty in the Anrakai Mountains along the A-2 highway.

Almaty region, Zhambyl district, Matibulak rural district, Karabastau village

Phone: +7 (72770) 2 78 65

E-mail: tamgaly@mail.ru

Website https://tanbaly.kz/