Akyrtas

Akyrtas is a palace complex located in the Turar Ryskulov district of Zhambyl region. It was built in the 8th–9th centuries. Akyrtas has been studied for the last 130 years. It is situated 40 km east of the city of Taraz, 6 km south of the Aksholak railway station. Currently archaeological work is being carried out there.

The building materials are stone and, because its shape resembles a trough for feeding grass to livestock, it was called Akyrtas. It was built on the mountain top with a rectangular plan so that it would be visible from a distance. Currently the preserved heights of its walls are about 160, 146 and 140 m. The thickness of the walls is 40 × 70 × 70 (80) cm. They are made of large stone blocks. The fortress has 4 gates, one in the north and three in the south. The residential houses are grouped around the inner courtyard and consist of service and household rooms needed for the estate. At the far end of the courtyard (near the south gate) the owner’s sleeping quarters and guest house are located. The houses near the north gate are for the serving people and guards, and one part is a horse stable. There is a central courtyard with a water reservoir, a soldiers’ field of the fortress, a special place where decrees were announced or religious ceremonies were performed. P. I. Lerk said that Akyrtas is an unfinished Buddhist temple, while academician V. V. Bartold suggested it is a Nestorian temple. According to the writing of archaeologist T. K. Basenov, Akyrtas is the remains of a large unfinished palace. During the 1996 research, Kazakh and French scientists concluded that Akyrtas could be the site of the Caravan Palace dating to the 8th–11th centuries. This is because the construction plan resembles medieval structures in Iraq and Syria. Akyrtas may have begun to be built in the second half of the 8th century, i.e., in 751 AD, when the Karluks and Arab armies clashed with Chinese forces near Atlah and peaceful relations were established between the two states. However, construction stopped for unknown reasons. The Kasr‑ibās on the Great Silk Road mentioned in Arab sources (Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn Qudamah) could be this Akyrtas.