About tattoos and jewelry of the Altai princess. Princess Ukok
The legendary mummy was discovered almost 30 years ago on the Ukok high plateau on the border with Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan. There is a version that the woman buried with special honors was a shaman who sacrificed herself to save the world from dark forces.
The place where the burial of Princess Ukok was discovered is called the Valley of Death. According to legend, old people, when they felt the approach of death, went there to die. According to one of the expedition members, in 1993, when they began to open the mound with the mummy, thunder broke out and an earthquake began. Scientists were seriously frightened, some even wanted to retreat, but they were not allowed. The indigenous people believe that at that moment the spirit of the progenitor of the Altai people, Ak Kadyn or the White Lady, awakened. And indeed, soon after the opening of the mound, disasters hit Altai, which had never happened before - earthquakes, floods, hail the size of a chicken egg. A wave of suicides swept across the republic, local residents, and this was associated with the revenge of the awakened princess.
The mysterious story of the excavations was told by the Altai writer, researcher of shamanic culture Andrey Korobeyshchikov. According to him, when the sarcophagus was opened and the mummy was being prepared for transportation, the Gazik broke down. Another was called, but he also could not take the princess away from her grave due to a breakdown. It was possible to pick up the princess from the Ukok plateau on the third attempt by helicopter, but one engine failed during the flight. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing. Only miraculously no one was hurt. This story was confirmed by one of the pilots.
When the mummy was taken to Novosibirsk for research, the Altai shamans warned that the Ak-Kadyn (White Lady) punishment would overtake everyone who was related to the excavations of the burial ground. After that, some died for unexplained reasons, others were childless, and others were overtaken by illness.
KP managed to find a woman who participated in the excavations with her husband, and a few years later he died. Alexander Erokhin spent only one day at the mound, but then he could not remember how he got to the high mountain plateau and what he did there.
death valley
On that day, the UAZ, on which Erokhin and his wife climbed the plateau, as if something was not letting them go. The car got up twice due to a breakdown. Both of her bridges were out of order. Then the group even had to ask for help from the border guards.
We were not going to participate in this expedition. We had our own program, according to which we had to move deep into the mountains, where there were other burial mounds and petroglyphs, - said Nadezhda Erokhina. - When we stopped at the plateau, it was so dark! The sky seemed to touch the earth. It was raining, it was very cold.
The Erokhins spent only one day at the excavations. Alexander made sketches of discovered artifacts. His wife Nadezhda worked in the field kitchen.
All archaeologists knew each other, we made a stop on the Ukok plateau. The guys had already dug out the mound with the princess and were heating the cauldrons to melt the ice. In fact, we accidentally witnessed the excavation of the famous Ukok princess. Sasha wanted to help, his task was to sketch the found artifacts, - recalls Nadezhda Erokhina.
Alexander spent the whole evening at the mound, but strangely, the eventful day seemed to be erased from his memory.
He could never remember, even looking at his own notes, how we arrived at the mound, and what he did during the excavations. The memory was as if blocked, - Nadezhda recalls.
After this expedition, Alexander began to get sick often. The family even turned to a healer who claimed that the cause of the disease was retribution for the disturbed peace of the dead. Four years later, Alexander Erokhin, who did not even have bad habits, went to bed as usual and ... did not wake up. Doctors could not really explain the cause of death.
Shortly before the death of Alexander, old friends came to the Erokhins, who traveled with them more than once in Altai, were together on the Ukok plateau during excavations, but did not approach the mound with the princess.
I woke up at night from someone's gaze. She raised her head and was stunned with horror - in the corner of the room near the sofa, where Sasha Erokhin often slept, a huge bird-woman was sitting. She seemed to be about to take off, but then disappeared. No doubt it was a sign. Soon we learned that Sasha had died, - said Albina Grigorievna, a family friend.
Revenge of the dead
The well-known Russian archaeologist Vladimir K. (family friends asked not to name the scientist - author's note), who worked with Erokhin at the burial, a few years after the expedition, doctors discovered a tumor.
After the excavation, a bump appeared on his head, he never paid attention to it. But then, years later, this bump turned out to be a malignant tumor - it was impossible to operate. The archaeologist died in 2011, - said Nadezhda Erokhina.
According to his acquaintances, the famous Siberian archaeologist has repeatedly said that he regrets his participation in the excavations. He also advocated returning the princess to the Altai, as demanded by the locals, who believed that the misfortunes that befell their land were connected with the disturbed peace of the mummy.
He said that scientists already have all the necessary information to study, so there are no reasons that would prevent them from returning the lady to their homeland, - said the historian and chairman of the organizing committee for the burial of the mummy Akai Kine.
At present, part of the expedition is alive, but as the acquaintances of archaeologists assure, for many in life after those excavations, everything went awry. True, archaeologists themselves do not believe in the revenge of the mummy.
Punishment of spirits may be reflected later, up to the seventh generation. This can be expressed in failures, illnesses and childlessness. As far as I know, some of the participants in the excavations remained childless, - says the shaman Akai Kine.
seven sisters
In Altai, they believe that the world of people was guarded by seven sisters who voluntarily sacrificed themselves. As the researcher of shamanic culture and writer Andrey Korobeyshchikov said, there was a whole caste of "border guards" who protected the world from hostile spirits.
According to the writer, the evil forces have their adherents on earth who are trying to destroy the protective network. And archaeologists, perhaps without knowing it, are tools in the hands of evil. By the way, after the scandal with the princess, excavations were forbidden on the Ukok plateau, but now scientists are close to starting their research again.
Who knows how the excavations will end if scientists find the rest of the guardians of this world buried on the Ukok plateau. According to one version, if this happens, the gates to the underworld will be opened. According to mystics, this can lead to unprecedented cataclysms and new wars on a global scale.
By the way
Princess Prophecy
As the Altai shamans assure, the discovery of the mummy and the cataclysms that followed it were predicted long before the excavations. According to them, the prophecy was made by a girl from a village near the Ukok plateau. The girl said that scientists would disturb the rest of the progenitor of the Altai people. For this, she will curse the whole Altai land.
KP hint
Who is the Princess of Ukok?
This is a mummy that archaeologists found in a mound on the Ukok plateau under a thick layer of ice. According to researchers, the remains belonged to a woman who was about 25 years old. She died about 2.5 thousand years ago from breast cancer.
According to scientists, the woman was a shaman. Four tattoos were made on the mummy's arm, including one in the form of a deer with a griffin's beak and ibex's horns. The deer-capricorn among the ancient Indo-Europeans symbolized the guide of the dead to the "other" world.
The mummy was dressed in a silk shirt, a woolen skirt, felt stockings, boots and a fur coat. A horsehair wig about 90 cm high was put on her head. Under the burial of the princess was a wooden sarcophagus, the remains of six horses and household utensils.
The Altaians called the found mummy the Princess of Ukok and the "White Lady".
Where can you see her
Now Princess Ukok is in Gorno-Altaisk at the National Museum named after A. V. Anokhin. A special hall was built for the mummy, where the burial was reconstructed. The princess herself is in a sarcophagus similar to the one in which she was found - according to shamans, this was demanded by the princess herself, who appeared in a dream to the inhabitants and cried that people were looking at her naked body. After that, the body of the princess was no longer shown in the museum. But then it was decided to open the mummy several times a month.
The Ukok Plateau is considered the most beautiful and mysterious place in the Altai Mountains. It has long attracted the attention of archaeologists - Scythian sites, burials and amazing stone altars of an ancient nomadic civilization were found there. And then one day, employees of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences began excavations of an unremarkable mound in the Ak-Alakha river basin.
unexpected find
When the top layer of soil was removed from the permafrost, archaeologists discovered an ancient predatory hole, which led to the burial of a wealthy Scythian. He was accompanied by "essential items": three horses, iron knives, earthenware utensils. The researchers began to carefully lift up what the robbers had not touched, and then suddenly a second one was opened under the first burial: the remains of six horses in the richest harness and a sarcophagus with a mummy of a woman of European appearance.
Open burials date back to approximately the 4th-3rd centuries BC. e. At the same time, the upper one saved the lower one, which was strikingly different in structure, from being plundered. It was a larch log house with an area of 3.6 x 2.3 and a height of 1.1 m, imitating a dwelling and completely filled with ice. Inside there was a deck-sarcophagus in the form of a boat 2.7 m long and 0.68 m high from a single larch trunk. The sarcophagus was covered with a double-pitched lid made of the same wood, decorated with leather appliqués depicting deer. In two places, the lid was nailed to the deck with copper nails, very similar to modern ones, although they were almost two and a half thousand years old.
I was struck by the amount of work that was done by the ancient builders. Somehow, they were able to deliver huge logs to the Ukok plateau, hewn them, and dug a huge hole in the frozen ground. Moreover, they made an unusual crypt, while noble Scythians in those days were buried on a huge wooden bed, such as was found in the upper burial. Even today, doing all this is not easy!
Description of the mummy
In the deck on the right side - head to the east, face to the north - a young woman lay on a bed of dark felt, she was covered by a fur blanket with sewn gold foil decorations. Her head rested on a felt pillow.
Mummy in the laboratory
The woman wore a knee-length silk shirt of a brownish-yellow color, woven from the threads of a wild silkworm. All its seams, the neck and the edges of the sleeves are sheathed with red woolen cords. But at that time, even noble Scythian warriors were not put on shirts during burial at Ukok: just a fur coat over a naked body. In addition to the shirt, the mummy wore a long woolen skirt, sewn from three horizontally arranged panels - two red and one white - and a belt, which was woven from a red woolen cord. Bronze pendants are sewn on the skirt. On the mummy's legs are long, above the knees, stockings made of white felt, decorated with red felt appliqué. Perhaps the red color in the decoration and details of clothing served as a talisman.
The neck of the woman was decorated with a wooden hryvnia with wooden pendants in the form of leopards attached to it, which were covered with gold foil, in her ears - gold hoop earrings, on her little fingers - colored woolen threads.
In a nearby felt bag, they found a bronze mirror in a wooden frame with a deer carved on it, a horsehair brush, glass beads of various colors, a human molar tooth and scattered blue powder - vivianite, a mineral dye that has been used since ancient times (in Europe it However, it became known only in the 19th century).
Most of all, scientists were struck by the excellent preservation of the embalmed body. The brain, internal organs, ribs and sternum were removed from the mummy. The skull and abdominal cavity were filled with some substance like peat, sheep's wool, horse hair, some kind of roots, sand and clay. On the body, covered with oils and resins with the addition of mercury, a surprisingly beautiful blue tattoo was clearly visible. She completely covered the woman's hands. A fantastic animal flaunted on the left shoulder: it looked like a deer, but with the horns of both a deer and an ibex, the muzzle of the beast was completed by the beak of a griffin - a winged creature, half a lion, half an eagle. The same stylized head of a griffin ended each process of the horns. In addition, there were images of a ram, a snow leopard, and some kind of predator with a tiger's tail and terrible clawed paws.
In the burial chamber next to the deck, two low wooden tables-dishes with legs, vessels made of wood and horns, two ceramic vessels with leather appliqués of a rooster, a leopard and a griffin were found. On a wooden table were provisions for a long journey from the best pieces of meat: the fat-tailed part of a ram and the rump of a foal, into which a large iron knife was stuck.
The unique mummy was delivered to the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and later it was restored at the Research Center for Biological Structures (Institute of the Mausoleum) in Moscow.
Who was she?
Mummy of Princess Ukok
In appearance, the mysterious woman differed sharply from the Scythians - tall, delicate European features. Who could she be in life? Where is her home? How did you end up in Altai? Indeed, judging by the wealth of the funeral "dowry", the deceased should have occupied a high position in the social hierarchy. And among the Scythians, women never enjoyed influence, not to mention power. The Scythians would never voluntarily submit to people from other tribes. And here is clearly both honor and influence.
At first, the researcher decided that these were the remains of a very noble woman. With the light hand of journalists, they began to call her Princess Ukok, Altai Princess or Altai Princess. However, over time, the deceased was "demoted." Deputy Academician Vyacheslav Molodin, director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stated that, judging by the objects found in the burial, as well as by the burial rite, the ancient woman was most likely a priestess.
However, whoever she was, the local population throughout all these years demanded that the mummy be returned to its final resting place. The fact is that in Altai there is a cult of ancestors and it is forbidden to touch their ashes - otherwise you can anger the spirits. Princess Ukok, according to many, is the progenitor of the peoples now living in Altai, the legendary princess Kadyn.
Moreover, the Altaians, who consider the Earth to be a living organism, believe that Princess Ukok is the guardian of the planet, and if she is not returned to her native places, a real catastrophe can break out. Some people even claim that they heard the voice of the Princess, who asked to return her to her homeland.
Curse of the Altai Princess
The deck in which the Altai princess was buried.
Meanwhile, in Novosibirsk, they continued to study the mummy. For a long time there were no troubles. Mystical events began to occur exactly 10 years after the ancient grave was disturbed. 2003, September - Altai was shaken by a terrible earthquake, the epicenter of which coincided with the very place where the mysterious ashes once rested. The earthquake was so strong that the nearby village of Beltir was completely destroyed.
After that, new troubles swept over the republic: there were many floods, the number of suicides increased sharply. The inhabitants of the Altai Mountains believed that earthquakes, fires and other disasters hit Altai only because the ancient tomb was disturbed. The shamans did not stand aside either. They assured that all these misfortunes would stop only after the mummy of the shaman returned to her homeland. After that, the government banned any archaeological work in the south of the Altai Mountains.
And in 2012, the people in charge, as they are called there, climbed the Ukok plateau and performed a special ceremony there. The fact is that in the end they decided to return the mummy to Gorno-Altaisk and the ceremony was carried out so that the spirits of the ancestors asked the Princess not to be angry with those who again dared to “wake her up”, and nothing overshadowed her return. Indeed, 19 years ago, the helicopter, on which the mummy was transported to Novosibirsk, almost crashed and made an emergency landing.
Perhaps it was thanks to the rite, in which shamans from Tuva and Khakassia also took part, that the transportation went smoothly. The mummy was transported by Mi-8 helicopter in a specially equipped sarcophagus. Now Princess Ukok will be stored in the reconstructed A.V. Anokhin Republican Museum of Local Lore in Gorno-Altaisk. Especially for the ancient guest, a building in the form of a burial mound was erected near the museum building, in which a sarcophagus with a mummy was placed. According to the latest technology, all conditions for their long-term storage are created. After all, no one wants to know what will happen if the princess curses again...
It is quite difficult to get to the Ukok plateau, it lies at an altitude of 3 thousand km and is considered a sacred territory by the Altaians, because according to their beliefs, it is here, at the foot of the Tavyn-Bogdo-Ola mountains, that the entrance to the mountain world is located. Over the millennia, many peoples have managed to visit here, as evidenced by the numerous archaeological sites of Ukok: the Stone Age, the era of the Scythians, Huns and Sarmatians.
In 1993, at the height of an archaeological expedition, scientists from Novosibirsk stumbled upon a unique female burial in one of the burial mounds. Archaeologists dated their find to the middle of the 1st millennium BC. - the heyday of the Pazyryk culture in the Altai. For centuries, in the ice lens of the permafrost of the mound of the Ak-Alakha-3 monument, the mummy of a representative of the Pazyryk nobility was kept in rich decoration and accompanied by six horses.
Despite the fact that DNA analyzes of the find indicate its Caucasoid roots (the Pazyryk culture, originating from the Selkups, belongs to the cultures of Western Asia), the Altaians announced that archaeologists had found the legendary “Princess Kadyn”, considered the progenitor of the entire Altai people. It is on the basis of this that the Altaians demand the return of the remains of the “princess” to their homeland (the find is stored in the Novosibirsk Museum of Archeology and Ethnography).
The Ak-Alakha-3 monument, which includes 2 barrows (Pazyryk and Turkic), is located next to another Ak-Alakha-1 barrow complex, consisting of five barrows of the Scythian time. When archaeologists arrived at the excavation site, both mounds were damaged by local residents who were pulling stones for their own needs, as well as by bulldozers leveling the ground here.
The barrow, in which the mummy of the Altai princess was buried, had an inlet burial of a noble Kara-Koban, which was opened and robbed many centuries ago. It was this second grave, built a little later than the female grave located below, that preserved the burial of the princess intact and intact.
The burial of the princess was a 3.6 x 2.3 x 1.1 m log cabin filled with ice, inside of which there was a long (2.7 m) crypt deck, also made of larch. It was decorated with appliqués depicting deer, which carried a mystical meaning (probably, deer were supposed to accompany a person on the way to the “other” world). The frame itself was made without a single nail, and the deck lid was nailed to the base with four copper nails.
The fact that not an ordinary person was buried in the barrow is indicated by a leafy deck - as a rule, only members of royal families, shamans and children were kept in them, and its shape, reminiscent of the shamanic boat "rotyk", was intended to carry the soul of the princess to her ancestors.
A young woman (about 25 years old) was lying on a felt mat on her right side, with her head to the east and her face to the north. From above she was covered with a fur coverlet with sewn gold foil decorations, and her head rested on a felt pillow. She was dressed in rich attire: a long silk shirt with long sleeves and a long woolen skirt with bronze pendants sewn on, to which was attached a belt of red woven woolen cord, and on her legs were appliquéd white felt bows with red felt soles. Next to the body lay a felt bag containing a bronze mirror in a carved wooden frame, a horsehair brush, a scattering of Indian glass beads, a molar tooth, and blue vivianite powder used as a dye. On the princess's neck hung a wooden hryvnia with leopard-shaped pendants covered with gold foil, gold rings were in her ears, and little fingers were tied with woolen thread.
At the head of the mummy lay a small dish, on which a handful of coriander was thrown - it was considered a medicinal plant and was a great rarity, perhaps fumigating the body with coriander was supposed to help the soul be reborn.
Almost a third of the deck was occupied by the woman's headdress and wig. It was these decorations that could tell the most about their owner in ancient times, from her marital status to her place in the tribe. The shaved head of the Pazyryk mummy was covered with a felt wig covered with plastic black material. It was decorated with wooden braid decorations wrapped in gold foil. The hair was collected at the crown in a bun, on which a “cone” of red woolen threads was put on, and it was crowned with a figure of a wooden deer standing on a ball wrapped in gold foil. On the wig in front of the "cone" lay another deer - its body was forked, and its horns were decorated with a goat. This is one of the ancient images personifying the Upper World and the Sun among the peoples of Central Asia. It is not surprising that a tattoo with this image was later found on the woman's body. Behind the cone, a high felt column was attached to the wig, symbolizing the "tree of life" - its crown was decorated with wooden birds wrapped in gold foil, and at the foot were the same deer. So that, if necessary, such a complex dress could be sheltered from the weather, a pointed cap with wide brim was placed in the grave. Since this headdress has a counterpart found far from Ukok, in the second Pazyryk mound, scientists believe that all women wore such headdresses, although the possibility that only shamans wore them is not excluded.
Both arms of the woman are covered with a skillful tattoo - her left shoulder is decorated with a design of a deer with antlers of a deer and a goat, the muzzle of which is decorated with a griffin's beak. According to the beliefs of the Indo-European peoples, the deer-capricorn was supposed to accompany the souls of the dead to the "other" world.
The Pazyryks embalmed absolutely all of their dead, and they did this twice a year - in late spring and autumn. Judging by the filling of the stomachs of the horses buried in the mound with the princess, her funeral took place in mid-June.
So that in the next life (or “other” world) the princess would be well, her personal belongings, as well as food and drink, were put in the grave with her. In the burial chamber, in addition to two ceramic vessels decorated with leather applications, there were also vessels made of wood and horn (its walls are made of yak horns, and the bottom is the horn of a wild goat). Meat lay on wooden tables.
Together with the woman, six horses of a red color were lowered into the grave pit, bits, cheek-pieces, hanging plaques and saddle decorations of which were perfectly preserved in permafrost conditions.
Despite the fact that according to a number of signs this burial belongs to the category of ordinary ones, such things as six horses, a larch deck and a huge crypt, an expensive silk shirt and coriander seeds indicate that these are the remains of a woman from a noble family or in a special position. at the tribe. The fact that she could be a shaman is also indicated by the fact that she was buried alone, and the Pazyryks usually buried the dead in family burial mounds, unlike shamans who took a vow of celibacy and had no family.
After the mummy was transported to Novosibirsk, the Altaians began to demand that their "progenitor" be returned back. Especially their demands intensified after the 2003 earthquake, the epicenter of which was in the Chui valley, in close proximity to the plateau. Despite this, an exhibition dedicated to the mysteries of Princess Ukok can still be seen in the Novosibirsk Museum, and having visited the Ukok plateau, one can feel the grandeur of these places.
This question has been haunting the locals for a long time. And it has become especially aggravated this year after a severe flood and unprecedented hail. The public saw a mystical background in the cataclysms and demanded ... to bury the mummy found in the Altai mountains 21 years ago.
Curse of Ukok
Excavations on the Ukok plateau (a plateau on the border with China and Mongolia) began in 1993 by Natalya Polosmak, an employee of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Her attention was then attracted by a dilapidated mound, and the archaeologist's intuition did not let her down. A wooden burial chamber filled with ice was discovered in the barrow. It was opened for several days, melted with hot water from mugs. And when they opened it, they gasped (see infographic). Judging by the surroundings of the burial, the deceased during her lifetime was a noble person, most likely a priestess. She was dressed in a headdress with gold details, held a larch wand in her hands, and her hands were decorated with a tattoo depicting an Altai griffin. Undoubtedly, it was a sensation. Thanks to the ice, the mummy was perfectly preserved. Further research showed that the woman lived over 2,500 years ago and died at the age of 25.
But then scientists had a different concern: how to avoid conflicts with the local population? It stood like a cordon to prevent excavations. “Through one little girl who lived in the village, there was a prediction: scientists will dig up a noble priestess who will bring misfortune to our land,” says Akai Kine, philologist, zaisan (head) of the Altai family of teles. - The authorities then gave the go-ahead for excavations, but people were against it. They wrote letters, blocked the road. As a result, scientists dug in another place, but the prediction, as you can see, came true.”
The Altaians are sure that the woman found by archaeologists is none other than the White Lady, “the guardian of peace Ak-Kadyn”. According to legends, she stands guard over the gates of the underworld and prevents spirits and other evil spirits from breaking into our world, which cannot be called happy anyway. Shamans consider her the progenitor of Altai and the people living there today. And therefore, it is impossible to disturb her ashes. Numerous troubles that have befallen the region since then are the revenge of the White Lady, they are sure.
To begin with, when the "Altai princess" (she is also the "princess of Ukok", as
dubbed it by journalists) dug out, the earth trembled, although scientists refute this. The helicopter carrying the mummy then made an emergency landing. Well, then a series of cataclysms followed - forest fires and hurricanes, earthquakes and floods ... For example, the Chui earthquake of 2003. Even the increased suicide rate (and a whole epidemic of suicides swept through Altai) is associated by local residents with the wrath of the "princess".
When the “Altai princess” (she is also the “princess of Ukok”, as the journalists dubbed her) were dug up, the earth trembled. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Kryazhev
The time has not come
And here is the catastrophic flood of 2014. Dams and bridges were destroyed, settlements were flooded, thousands of people were left without a roof over their heads. Several people died. The public, associated with traditional pagan beliefs, again started talking about the "princess of Ukok." Recall some of the "prophecies". So, in 2012, during a religious ritual, one believer had a revelation: the “princess” was going to rest for a couple of years, but in the third year she would remind herself of herself. Through another, she “declared” that if she was not finally buried, then she herself would return to her house, and she would sail there by boat! There were rumors that the water had already flooded the National Museum in Gorno-Altaisk, where the mummy is kept, and reached its main exhibit.
A sculptural portrait created from the skull of a woman who died 2.5 thousand years ago, whose remains were found during excavations on the Ukok mountain plateau in Altai. Photo: RIA Novosti / Yuri Zaritovsky
“The last straw was hail, it was the size of a chicken egg and hit a lot of houses and cars,” Akai Kine sighs. - Then we began to collect signatures for the burial of "Princess Ukok." Now there are 20 thousand of them, which is 10% of the population of the republic! We do not call for burying it for good. The main thing is to return the mummy to the Ukok plateau, to the burial place. There you can equip a capsule for it, create the necessary conditions for storage, and provide scientists with access to it. We are even ready to raise funds for this!”
Scientists, of course, perceive the initiative with skepticism. They call it superstition and prejudice. The construction of the museum, where the sarcophagus with the "princess" is stored, took 765 million rubles. - a considerable amount. And what, now to go on about the obscurantists, they ask, and lose the unique scientific material? Opponents answer: “Are we obscurantists? And this is only because we ask you not to disturb the ashes of our ancestors? Why don't you dig up your great-grandmother's remains? Is it immoral for you? But it is also immoral for us when our ancestor is taken out of the earth!”
The situation is extremely curious: the scientific approach to reality came into conflict with the worldview of an entire nation. Where it leads? By the way, the interpreters of the Altai epic pay attention to the fact that the “zone of influence” of the White Lady extends far beyond their region. The prophecies, albeit in figurative form, they say, describe the events in Ukraine. And even more global cataclysms, up to the world war. And in the mummy's tattoos, shamans believe, important information for humanity is hidden. It's just that the time has not yet come to decipher it.
The most famous mummies in the world
"Princess Ukok"
Where is: National Museum. Anokhin (Gorno-Altaisk, Russia).
History: Found during excavations in 1993. The burial was made in the 5th-3rd centuries. BC e. In the grave, in addition to the mummy, there were the remains of horses with saddles and harness, which spoke of the high status of the woman. But later, academician V. Molodin refuted the opinion that this is a “princess”: “The mummy belongs to a representative of the middle social stratum.” To public demands to bury the mummy, scientists respond that it is the property of the Ministry of Culture and the decision should be made at the federal level.
"Princess Ukok" was found during excavations in 1993. The burial was made in the 5th-3rd centuries. BC e. Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Kryazhev
Where is: Valley of the Kings (Luxor, Egypt).
History: This pharaoh ruled Egypt from 1332-1323. BC e. and nothing really stood out. He is famous for the fact that his tomb, opened in 1923, turned out to be almost untouched by robbers and has survived to this day. Many objects and works of art of that era were found in it.
The legend of the "curse of the pharaohs" is associated with the name of Tutankhamun. Following the opening of the sarcophagus, a series of accidents followed, leading to the death of 22 people, one way or another involved in the research.
Tutankhamun. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Where is: Ivolginsky datsan (Buryatia, Russia).
History: On June 15, 1927, the former head of the Buddhists of Eastern Siberia plunged into a state of deep meditation, ordering his students to "visit him after 30 years." The body was placed in a cedar box and buried. It was removed in 2002 and no post-mortem changes or signs of decomposition were found. Scientists have not found an explanation for the phenomenon. Now Itigelov's body is kept in a monastery near Ulan-Ude and serves as an object of worship for thousands of pilgrims. Buddhists believe that he is still alive. With his "return" is associated with raising the level and quality of life in Buryatia.
Khambo Lama Itigelov. Photo: Frame youtube.com
Ötzi (Tyrolean ice man)
Where is: Archaeological Museum of South Tyrol (Bolzano, Italy).
History: Discovered in 1991 by two German hikers in the Alps. The oldest human mummy found in Europe, her age is 5300 years. Some scientists believe that during his lifetime, Ötzi was a sorcerer: an amulet was found with him. The death of 7 people is associated with the mummy.
Ötzi. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
Lenin
Where is: Lenin Mausoleum (Moscow, Russia).
History: The founder of the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet state died in 1924. It was decided to preserve his body by embalming. Historians believe that the idea belonged to Stalin who wanted to create a new religion for the proletariat. But there is an opinion that in those years, many believed: soon scientists will learn how to resurrect the dead and Lenin will be revived. Now the mummy is regularly processed. Experts believe that with proper care, it can last indefinitely. There are many mummies embalmed in a similar way: this is a doctor N. Pirogov, politicians Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and etc.
Reproduction of the painting "V.I. Lenin in the Mausoleum". People's Artist of the RSFSR Evgeny Aleksandrovich Katsman. Central Museum of V.I. Lenin in Moscow. Photo: RIA Novosti / S. Kogan
Reconstruction of the face of a woman (known as the Altai princess) from the Ak-Alakha burial ground on the Ukok plateau, made by T. S. Baluyeva. In fact, this woman with obvious Caucasian features was not a princess, but came from the middle stratum of the nobility or the shamanic class. Image from tatforum.infoPrincess Ukok- given by journalists and residents of the Altai Republic, the name of the mummy of a woman discovered in 1993 by an archaeological team led by Natalia Polosmak in the Ak-Alakha-3 barrow on the Ukok plateau (Republic of Altai). This is one of the most significant discoveries of Russian archeology at the end of the 20th century. The mound was a dilapidated monument, which in ancient times they tried to rob. In our time, the monument was destroyed in connection with the construction of border communications. During excavations, archaeologists discovered that the deck in which the body of the buried was placed was filled with ice. That is why the woman's mummy is well preserved.
Studies have shown that the burial belongs to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai, made in the 5th-3rd centuries BC. Researchers believe that the genetically inhabited people at that time are close to the modern Selkups and Uighurs. She died at a young age (about 25 years old) and belonged to the middle strata of Pazyryk society. Well-preserved tattoos were found on the woman's body. Things, household utensils, etc. were also found in the mound. Some residents of Gorny Altai, after the discovery of the mummy, began to demand a ban on excavations in Altai and the reburial of the mummy. They stated that the Altaians always knew the burial place of this woman, allegedly “Princess Kadyn”, and worshiped her as the progenitor of the Altai people. However, all these facts were not confirmed during the verification.
Analysis of the DNA and skeleton of the princess showed her Indo-European origin, therefore she cannot be the progenitor of the Mongoloid Altaians. Signs on the body, details of the burial indicate belonging to the high-level priestly layers of the Scythians who inhabited Central Asia at that time.
Let's find out more about this story!
In 1993, an archaeological expedition of Novosibirsk scientists led by Natalya Polosmak, Candidate of Historical Sciences, who worked on the Ukok mountain plateau near the Chinese border, unearthed three ancient burials. In two of them, the bodies of the buried were remarkably well preserved, given that several millennia have passed since their death.
In one was the mummified body of a young man, in the other - the mummy of the "princess". According to the director of the Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography Anatoly Derevyanko, this happened due to a combination of meteorological circumstances that were favorable for scientists. The graves fell into the conditions of the so-called artificial permafrost. The very first snow that fell on them turned into ice the next summer, but did not completely melt either then or later.
It melted away only in 1993, when archaeologists and border guards from a neighboring outpost, who out of curiosity helped scientists in their free time, helped to scatter heavy stones and open the funerary log cabins.
Judging by these graves, the Altaians of that time (the so-called Pazyryk culture) dug a rather large pit for their dead. From the inside, they reinforced the walls with logs, the floor was lined with black felt, on which they laid ritual objects and the deceased himself in a coffin hollowed out of a thick tree trunk. In professional slang, archaeologists call this coffin a “deck”, and the grave a “log”. In fact, this was an underground log cabin, the last dwelling of the deceased.
Plateau Ukok
The Ukok Plateau is one of the most inaccessible natural objects in the south of the Altai Republic. Mongolian uheg - literally elongated cabinet, drawer; massive mountain or large hill with a flat top. According to the oral testimony of S. Umurzakov, ukok in Kyrgyz is used for flat-topped mountains, that is, that is, plateaus. V. Sapozhnikov describes the Altai Ukek as follows: “The snow ridge of Ukek from the eastern end begins with a flat, horizontally truncated top, like a table; to the west of it stretches a series of sharp peaks, also completely white; between them one can see large snowfields and several glaciers at the sources of Allah.
The borders of the plateau are the state borders of Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The plateau is located at an altitude of 2,200-2,500 m above sea level, above it, on average, mountain ranges rise by 500-600 meters. The maximum absolute mark of the mountain frame of the plateau is the mountain node Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola (Five sacred peaks), the highest mountain of which - Nayramdal - reaches 4,374 m above sea level. This mountain is the second highest peak in Siberia after Belukha. In Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola, the borders of three states converge - Russia, China and Mongolia. The plateau is known largely due to the discovery of the Novosibirsk archaeologist Natalia Polosmak, who in 1993 discovered a well-preserved mummy in the Ak-Alakha-3 mound, which was called the "Princess of Ukok". Recently, the plateau has also been of interest as a site for the proposed construction of the Altai export gas pipeline from Western Siberia to China.
middle class mummy
Now it is impossible to establish who was the first to call the ancient Altai woman dug out in 1993 a princess. Academician Anatoly Derevyanko told the RIA Novosti columnist that he himself was surprised when he first heard about Princess Ukok. In his opinion, this middle-aged woman was of a very average income, and she was not drawn to the "blue blood" of the then Altai nobility. “She belonged to the middle class at best,” the academician said for clarity.
Male and female mummies recovered to Novosibirsk, where scientists led by Natalia Polosmak took care of them.
In 1997, Natalya Polosmak defended her doctoral dissertation "Pazyryk culture: Reconstruction of the worldview and mythological representations", where she consistently described male and female Pazyryk costumes, felt, tattoos, embalming features, funeral dishes and the role of women in Pazyryk society.
Only knowing this, one can fully appreciate the diplomatic abilities of Polosmak's husband, Academician Vyacheslav Molodin. we transfer both part of the collection and the mummy to the Altai Republic. But after studying it!” the academician stressed at a press conference in Novosibirsk this week.
The woman was buried in a larch vault at the bottom of the pit. Outside, her funerary deck was decorated with leather appliqués depicting deer. The lid of the deck was hammered with copper nails with round heads. At the bottom of the crypt, over specially laid out large pebbles and stones, a black felt canopy was laid, sewn from several pieces. The woman lay on a felt mat, with a pillow under her head, on her side in a sleeping position and was covered with a fur blanket with gold foil applications in the form of a floral ornament. In the ears of the "Altai princess" were gold hoop earrings, the entire hand of the deceased was covered with pearls. There are places on Earth shrouded in mystery. Myths and legends are composed about them, ufologists talk about anomalous zones, and the people convey strange and creepy stories. In the heart of the Altai Mountains, behind high passes and rivers, on the edge of the inhabited world, lies the Lost Land. The locals call it "Ukok", which sounds like the "Word of Heaven", and believe that the gates to the higher spiritual world open here. The plateau gained world fame after the body of a buried Scythian girl was discovered, preserved in an ice lens.
A place with rich pastures, but a very harsh climate (there is snow in the month of July) has long been considered sacred. Stones with images of revered animals and spirits, petroglyphs, deer stones - idols left by nomadic tribes, the Scythians who lived here for 5 centuries BC, numerous barrows, with burials of noble warriors, this is not a complete list of numerous traces of the mighty energy of this land. Recent studies of aerial photography have led to a new discovery of gigantic drawings - geoglyphs, distinguishable from a great height. Whether the message of unknown priests or signs for aliens, no one can say, the earth continues to keep its secrets. After all, it is here, according to legend, that the eastern gates to the mythical Shambhala, the country of gods and heroes, the country where a beautiful girl went many centuries ago, in search of love, are located. Under the shadow of the sacred mountain Ukok Plateau is located in the very south of Altai, under the sacred five-domed mountain Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola, standing at the junction of four borders, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan and Russia. The plateau is fenced on all sides by mountain ranges, with two passes of the same name Ukok leading to Kazakhstan and Teply Klyuch to Russia. The Ak-Allakha and Kalguta rivers originate on the plateau, giving rise to the Siberian Ob and Irtysh.
The dirt road running from the Warm Key to the Ukok pass and crossing the plateau from east to west is controlled by two border outposts - on the Argamdzhi River and on the Ak-Alakha River "Chelyabinsk Cossack". Not far from which, the "Scythian princess" was found. In the past two decades, the Ukok Plateau has come under intense media scrutiny. It all started in the 90s, when archaeologists in one of the mounds in an ice lens found a well-preserved mummy of a young girl, in rich clothes and with a tattoo - the image of griffins - on her shoulder. Versions about who the young maiden was during her lifetime, who immediately received the “title” of the Princess of Ukok, were put forward by the most unexpected and incredible: from the priestess of the Scythians to the messenger of heaven. That, however, does not at all prevent the Altai people from considering her their ancestor named Kydym and having their own plans for her further stay on Earth. At the first opportunity, they would drip it back in order to calm the spirit seeking refuge and in this way stop the cataclysms that have recently become more frequent in the Altai land - from earthquakes to monetization.
Scientists from the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok did a great job of researching the found ancient culture. The discovered facts are simply stunning - the burials found belong to the Scythians, this is what scientists are talking about. All the details of the discovery - and the reconstruction of the appearance of people from the skull, and genetic analyzes, and features of the burial, characteristic only for the Scythians, and traditional Scythian jewelry, household items - all these little things fit into a single picture and confirm the assumption that on the territory of Altai Since ancient times, at least 4 thousand years BC, peoples of European appearance lived, that is, the Scythians, the progenitors of the Russians. In the special archaeological literature, the inhabitants of Ukok are sometimes called "Pazyryks". This name comes from the name of the tract Pazyryk, where back in 1929 material evidence of the existence of the ancient Scythian civilization, the same people who lived in the Black Sea region, was first found.
The finds on Ukok belong to the same material culture, therefore the people who lived on Pazyryk and Ukok are collectively called "Pazyryks". But it is important for us that they were more like Russians than Altaians. We will not now dwell in detail on the reasons for the intensified imposition on society of the point of view to the contrary. Most likely, the fact is that now the "history" of Altai is "written" by publicists, local historians and politicians. Representatives of national science do not participate in this "process", but no one listens to their voice. It is unlikely that the burial of a mummy is able to protect Altai from the echoes of earthquakes that occur on the other side of the globe. After the discovery of the princess, the State Assembly of the Altai Republic adopted a resolution banning archaeological research in the Altai Mountains, and the Ukok Plateau was declared a “quiet zone”.
Along the Leninist path
Scientists have put forward a good reason not to give the mummy. According to Molodin, the safety of the mummy in Novosibirsk was ensured by specialists from the Research Center for Biomedical Technologies of the All-Russian Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (VILAR) of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
These specialists came under the wing of agricultural science in 1992 after the collapse of the Laboratory at the Lenin Mausoleum and had invaluable experience in handling the main mummy of the country. Once every two years, according to Molodin, they came to Novosibirsk and treated the “princess” with drugs known to them alone, from which she felt great. In the Republic of Altai, such conditions for this object of scientific research could not be created at that time, the academician says.
Nevertheless, the Gorno-Altai authorities demanded her return.
Mummy bonuses
In 2004, Academician Vyacheslav Molodin and Doctor of Historical Sciences Natalya Polosmak were awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation for “Discovery and study of unique complexes of the Pazyr culture of the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. on the territory of Gorny Altai.
“The state award in a new format,” Vyacheslav Molodin emphasized in passing at the current press conference in Novosibirsk, without specifying this format. And the format, meanwhile, was wonderful.
Previously, State Prizes in the amount of 300 thousand rubles were awarded in dozens of nominations and, as a rule, not to scientists personally, but to groups of authors. As a result, everyone actually got only the laureate's badge and the amount, which was only enough to properly wash this badge.
In 2004, for the first time, only three State Prizes in the field of science and technology were awarded for 5 million rubles (about $ 180 thousand at the exchange rate) each, which was already comparable to the money of a Nobel laureate.
This is how the “princess of Ukok” thanked her researchers in a peculiar way. What could not be said about the head of the RA Committee on Culture Vladimir Konchev.
Judging by his official biography on the website of the Republican Ministry of Culture, in 1999 he ended up as the artistic director of the Altai Boys Studio of the children's music school No. 1 in Gorno-Altaisk.
The results of the research make us take a fresh look at things related to the history of Eurasia. In fact, we are talking about the discovery of a highly cultured Eurasian civilization, which significantly expands our understanding of the ancient world in general,” said the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who announced the names of the State Prize winners at a ceremony in the Kremlin on Monday. Vyacheslav Molodin and Natalya Polosmak discovered and explored unique complexes of the Pazyryk culture of the 6th-3rd centuries BC in the Altai Mountains. On account of archaeologists - the discovery of Scythian mummies, in particular, the mummy of the "Princess Ukok".
By the way, the scientists themselves do not really like this name. Vyacheslav Molodin even once said in an interview with our newspaper that this is not a princess at all, an ordinary woman, but the myth about the princess was blown up by journalists. The discovery is interesting because it made it possible to learn a lot about the ancestors of Asian and American peoples. In 1998, UNESCO decided to add the Ukok Plateau to the list of World Heritage Sites. Recall that one of the most striking archaeological discoveries of the last century occurred in 1990, when burial mounds with “frozen” graves of ancient people were discovered on the Ukok plateau. Numerous items were found in the burials: larch logs and beds, wooden pillows, decorations carved from cedar, horse ammunition, parts of weapons, clothing, felt carpets, dishes, dyes, remains of plants and seeds, and much more. Well-preserved human mummies, women and men, were also found, with magnificent tattoos on their shoulders and arms. Frozen in the ice, they lay in full attire: in fur coats, felt hats, wigs, woolen pants and skirts, felt stockings, wooden and gold jewelry. Mummies are still considered the most valuable finds of Siberian scientists.
Personnel policy of the princess
In the same 2004, the fame of the mummy from the Ukok plateau reached its maximum. In September of the previous 2003 Gorny Altai was shaken by powerful tremors. About the first of them, seismographs on the only one in the republic went off scale for 8 points on the Richter scale and broke down. As it turned out later, the magnitude of the earthquake was 7.3, which roughly corresponds to 10 points on the 12-point Richter scale.
The shock was felt 1000 km from the epicenter, in the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, where scientists were shaken with a force of up to 4 points. Fortunately, there were no victims even in the epicenter, in the Koch-Agach region of the Republic of Armenia.
However, aftershocks, aftershocks after the main one, lasted unusually long. Over the next six months in the Koch-Agach region there were more than three hundred shocks with a force of over 3 points and about a thousand weaker ones. It became clear to every resident of the region, even far from esotericism, that the wrath of the ancestors could not have happened here. Someone remembered the princess disturbed by scientists from the Ukok plateau, which was only 150 km from the epicenter of the earthquake.
In the spring of 2004, first in the region, and then in the republic, rallies began demanding the return of her body to her native mountains. It is highly likely that it was at this time that she received the title of "princess". It's one thing when the spirit of a princess gets angry, it's quite another when a representative of the middle class quarrels.
In April 2004, the head of the Koch-Agachka administration, Auelkhan Dzhatkambaev, collected the signatures of his fellow countrymen under the demand to return the "princess" to her homeland and sent it to the presidential envoy in the Siberian District, Leonid Drachevsky.
Plenipotentiary Drachevsky considered the situation requiring his personal intervention. Arriving in the republic, he promised to return the "princess of Ukok" to his homeland by the 250th anniversary of the voluntary entry of Gorny Altai into Russia, which was to be celebrated in 2006. By this time, in the capital of the republic, conditions for a mummy should have been created no worse than Lenin's in Moscow, not to mention Novosibirsk.
This promise, as well as assistance to victims of the earthquake from the federal budget at the rate of 431,000 rubles per family, brought down the intensity of passions.
Less than six months later, Vladimir Putin dismissed Leonid Drachevsky from the post of plenipotentiary. For four years he was deputy chairman of RAO "UES of Russia" and finally dropped out of big Russian politics. Today, his position is called Executive Director of the A.M. Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Support Fund.
No one built a shelter for Princess Ukok in Gorny Altai in the year promised in 2006. But this year, Vladimir Konchev returned to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic, and already in the rank of minister, and things got off the ground.
Mausoleum of Gazprom
“We reconstructed our national museum, expanded it. They demolished a residential building next to it, resettling its residents. The room for the mummy is designed like a mausoleum. The mummy itself will lie in the niche of the room, and there will be a separate model of her, reproducing the picture of her burial, - says Minister Konchev.
The construction budget, according to him, amounted to approximately 750 million rubles, of which more than 700 million were provided by Gazprom. Now everything is ready to receive the "princess".
“The log house and the deck have already been transported from Novosibirsk, the mummy itself is planned to be delivered by helicopter at the end of August, and the opening of the museum is scheduled “tentatively on September 15,” the minister said.
In the Novosibirsk Academgorodok they say that they “do not feel sorry” for parting as a princess. But the tone clearly shows irritation. “For some reason, they didn’t even remember about the second mummy, the male one, which they found along with the “princess”. Although it is much better preserved. A young man with a red pigtail, covered in tattoos, like some kind of hipster,” they said in Akademgorodok.
Well-preserved "hipster Ukok"
The scientists are wrong. Minister of Culture of the Republic of Altai Vladimir Konchev remembers the "hipster Ukok", and other mummies found in the republic in the thirties and fifties during excavations of the Pazyryk barrows, which are stored in the Hermitage, and many other things that are stored there.
He stated that he would raise the issue of returning the unique treasures of the Gorno-Altai culture to their homeland. At the opening of the exposition "Princess of Ukok" in the National Museum named after A.V. Anokhin, according to the minister, invited Valentina Matviyenko with a commission of the Federation Council and director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky.
“We are going to agree with the Hermitage on the arrival of an exposition with our unique exhibits, which are stored in the Hermitage.”
When asked whether Gorny Altai would seek the return of mummies and other archaeological finds in Gorny Altai from St. Petersburg to their homeland, the minister said: “First, we will agree on the arrival of the exposition, and then we will see. There are some unique things there."
Georgy Vilinbakhov, deputy director of the Hermitage, commented on the prospect of returning some of the exhibits to the Altai Mountains.
“I am against the word “return”. It is wrong in this case. Sometimes we are asked to “transfer” certain exhibits of the Hermitage,” says Georgy Vilinbakhov.
“People do not understand the consequences of such broadcasts. In the Hermitage one can see the proportionality of this or that exhibit to ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and other examples of world culture. And if these exhibits end up where they are asked to be transferred, then they will become shtetl, - says Georgy Vilinbakhov.
“Are these people ready for the fact that we will give the ancient Egyptian mummies to Egypt, the paintings of the Dutch painters of Holland, France - the Impressionists, and so on, and the Hermitage will turn into a Russian Museum or the Tretyakov Gallery, and Russia will lose the treasury of world culture?” - the deputy director of the Hermitage asks a rhetorical question and answers it himself: "This is not even discussed."
Princess' Last Warning
The “princess of Ukok” also expressed her opinion about what was happening. She gave an unequivocal sign when Minister Konchev was going to a press conference in Novosibirsk this Tuesday.
“Just left the house at four o’clock, immediately began to shake. 5.6 points! The epicenter in Aktash is approximately the region where we had an earthquake in 2003.”
The Minister did not heed the warning. “A paradoxical thing: literally on the border of the Novosibirsk region, it turned out that we were “butted” by a car. I had to call the traffic police,” he admitted.
At the same time, the Gorno-Altai minister did not yet know everything. At the National Research Center for Biomedical Technologies VILAR, the preservation of the mummy of the “Princess Ukok” was supervised by two specialists. Now one is in the hospital, the second quit, the institute said.
Return of the Princess:
In 2012, the “Princess of Uuok” was waited at the airfield of the city of Gorno-Altaisk longer than expected, since the helicopter that delivered it from Novosibirsk was delayed for several hours due to bad weather. And finally, the helicopter landed in the airport of the city of Gorno-Altaisk. The helicopter was met by representatives of the authorities headed by and. O. Yury Antaradonov, Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Altai, and museum staff.
Then the mummy was transported in a medical service car to the Anokhin National Museum, which was recently rebuilt. “Princess Ukrka” was placed in a special sarcophagus, which was made for this purpose. The mummy will be stored in special conditions, which will be created by special equipment made in Germany to maintain and control a special temperature and humidity regime.
sources
http://ria.ru/analytics/20120803/715845723.html
http://zvercorner.com/?p=9077
http://alacatiantkemlak.com/eb3697c5a68defcc18e2b5cea3a87956 And I will remind you more interesting and sometimes mysterious places in Russia, for example: or here The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -
