Slab with knockouts from the rubble of the Baylama rampart
(Western Kazakhstan)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52967/akz2023.2.20.131.147Keywords:
archaeology, Mangystau, Baylama, Karakabak, Sasanians, tamga-like sign, monogram, knockout, farnah, "farrekh-afzun"Abstract
The article is devoted to a unique find discovered during the archaeological excavations of one of the sites of the Baylama rampart. This is a fortification (wall-ditch-rampart) that protected pasture lands and the settlement of Karakabak (Mangyshlak peninsula). On the limestone slab, which was part of the wall in ancient times, there were printed tamga-like signs and an image of a horseman was stamped out. According to formal signs, all signs are conditionally divided into five groups: "cross-shaped sign"; "circle-shaped signs with appendages (moustaches)"; "farrekh-afzun type signs""; "alkhan sign""; "printed "signs-letters". The analysis of the material based on the corpus of data on the neighboring territories allowed us to assume that the main part of tamga is connected not with the Sarmatian world, but with the Iranian population of the Sasanian era. Thus, an ideograph in the form of a circle with appendages (moustaches) can be interpreted as a sign of the insignia of power ("crown-ring" with two ribbons). The proof is provided by multiple images on Sasanian investiture bas-reliefs on seals and gems. Signs in the form of a "trident" or "candlestick" also find numerous parallels in Sasanian materials. This universal and understandable sign for the Iranian–speaking population - the symbol of khwarna (farnah) first appeared in glyptics, on gems and seals. Over time, it was modified, and its variations were used as tamgas in everyday life by wide layers of the nomadic population. Taking into account the peculiarities of the outline of most of the Baylama signs and their connection with Sasanian symbols, the article suggests that the figurative knocking out of a man on a horse is in the same semantic field with tamgas. The "signs" of Ahura-Mazda and "farrekh-afzun" as symbols of farnah, coupled with the rider, could well represent a simplified version of the epic story.
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