Imanqara

Imankara cave – a historical and architectural monument located in the Atyrau region, Zhylyoi district, 34.4 km north-northeast of the village of Akkiztogai. Time – early Iron Age. Its name comes from the name of the Imankara mountain on which it is situated.

Description

The mountain where the cave is located is 2 kilometres long, 300 m wide, 200 m high. On the upper flat plateau 18 fortifications are located. Their height is 0.5–1 m, and their diameter ranges between 3–15 m.

The Imankara complex is among the ancient settlements and habitations that prove a distinct civilization existed within the territory of Kazakhstan and allow hypotheses about important stages in the historical development of humanity.

The cave is 2 m high, 2.5 metres wide. Its depth is 25 metres. It is rectangular in shape. It consists of 3 passages and auxiliary chambers. The auxiliary passages are made, and traces of picks and axes are seen on their walls. The cave walls and ceiling are blackened by fire. The rock removed from inside is collapsing at a distance of 10 metres.

History

From the Stone Age, early Iron and Bronze Age periods, artifacts such as daggers, bronze arrows, bronze mirrors, glass beads, clay vessels, etc. have been found.

Worship of the sacredness of Imankara mountain originates from ancient times. From the early Iron Age, the cave, which became a holy place worshiped by people, has kept its mystery to this day. On the flat plateau atop the mountain, Sarmatian stone tombs buried there speak of the 5th century BC.

The Imankara cave has its own legend from each century. The cavity that first appeared as a natural cave was inhabited and developed by the first people in the Neolithic era. The tombs and fortifications near the cave, and the results of archaeological expeditions carried out on them, can serve as evidence.

There is also a legend-story among the people that in 1944 German sabotage groups hid in this cave. It is widely described in S. Shakibayev's work "The Collapse of Great Turkestan."

Imankara cave may have originally been a natural cave, later expanded due to the softness of the mountain rocks and altered to its current design. Later the cave was probably used as an underground place of worship.

There seem to be two ways artificial caves were created. The first: mines and ore pits dug in search of mineral resources. The second: caves dug by fire worshippers (zoroastrians), Buddhists as underground temples, such occurrences are known from history. In this regard, dozens of underground caves and sanctuaries in the Mangystau region were "holy places" before the arrival of Islam and later became mosques. For example, we know that Shakpak Ata (9‑10th centuries), Shopan Ata (10‑13th centuries), Beket Ata (1750‑1813), and Sopybay saint (18th century) dug caves and built underground mosques.