Interaction and mutual enrichment of cultures

Already in the early Middle Ages in Asia was spread the concept of the four kingdoms of the world, symbolizing the vast regions and countries. Each of these "kingdoms of the world» in the eyes of his contemporaries possessed unique to his advantage. Countries such as China, united under the Sui Dynasty ( 589-618 ), followed by the Tang (618-907) , the Indian rulers of the kingdom , the union of Turks from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea , Persia and the Byzantine Empire , formed the basis of the idea of ​​the world's four monarchies , located at the four corners of the world: the empire of King of elephants in the south ( India) , the king of jewelry in the west (Iran and Byzantium) , the king of the horses in the north ( These states ) , the king of the people in the East (China). The same idea was carried over to the Muslim reviewers.

The expression of this concept are the murals in the Kushania village near Samarkand that covered the walls of the building , where a Chinese emperors were depicted on the other - Turkish khans and Indian Brahmins , the third - the Persian kings and Roman emperors .

Contemporaries of those distant events not only wrote about the success of their states, but also about the development of the values ​​of foreign cultures, and this was the main content of one of the real forms of world culture.

Along with the distribution of the goods, cultural models and standards in the applied arts , architecture, wall paintings of the countries of the East and the West spread the art of music and dance , spectacular views.

Foreign bands were part of the court staff. It is known that the royal music fan Zun Xuan contained 30 thousand musicians. Preserved describe the reception after the Turkic Kagan at a rate close to Suyab. «Kagan - wrote an eyewitness ceremony Buddhist pilgrim Xuan Jian - ordered to put the wine and start the music ... All the while, foreign music was heard, followed by a metallic ringing. And although it was the music of the barbarians, she even petted hearing, rejoiced the heart and mind. «It is known that the most popular in the Tang China was the music of East Turkestan and Central Asia. Heaps of musical traditions, Kashgar, Bukhara and Samarkand, India under the official patronage of music merged with the Chinese tradition.

Iranian, Sogdian and Turkish actors have made a lot of choreography and culture of China. For example in Constantinople artists from the East was often «on tour». So at a dinner given by a noble Byzantine empress after the Russian Princess Olga present tightrope walkers and clowns entertained, and at festivals arranged by Manuel I in honor of the Seljuk Sultan Arsla on - II, performed risky acrobatic flips Turk. Let us also represent in masks.

These traditions were preserved and more recently in the Muslim world. It is known that during the celebration of  Nowruz in Baghdad gave performances in masks before the Caliph.

In different places during excavation sites on the Silk Road found numerous tangible confirmation of development and enrichment of culture : a collection of terracotta Tang time , depicting dancers , actors wearing masks , musical ensembles, fit on a camel humps . The faces of many of these artists belong to the representatives of the peoples of Central Asia. Steppe paintings preserved in the staterooms Pendjikent , Varakhsha , Toprak -Kala and in the cities of East Turkestan , depicts musicians and actors . A lovely wooden sculpture of a dancer is found in Panjakent . A clay mask of artist X - IX - during the excavation of the Syr Darya cording.

Ways religions. Spread along the Silk Road and religious ideas, and missionaries carried the faith in overseas countries. Of India through Central Asia and East Turkestan in China Buddhism came from Syria, Iran and Arabia - Christianity and then Islam.

According to researchers, the penetration of Buddhism from India to China was going through Central Asia and Kazakhstan. This process started in the middle of I . BC. e . In the spread of Buddhism in East Turkestan and China, an important role was played by the Central Asian theologians and missionaries, especially the Sogdians , Parthians, kangyuytsam . The spread of Buddhism, particularly active in the II-III centuries was apparently due to the political objectives of the Kushan state in the East.

In the early Middle Ages, the role of the main Buddhist missionaries took the Sogdians. They have played an important role in the spread of Buddhism in Central Asia. The analyses of the terms of the Turkic Buddhist texts of East Turkestan indicate that they were borrowed under the mediation of the Sogdians. Buddhist relics found in a number of cities along the Great Silk Road.

The Turks from VI had the strong influence of Buddhism. Xuan Jiang writes about the benevolent attitude towards Buddhism Hagan Western Turks. According to the researchers, in the first half  VII. Some rulers of Western Turks became Buddhists or patronized Buddhism. This was due to their transition to a settled way of life and city life.

In the south of Kazakhstan, and in the Seven Rivers Buddhism was widely spread. This is indicated in the first discoveries of Buddhist structures. Buddhist monuments are open to the sites of the Chui valley Ak- Beshim, Red River, Novopokrovskiy, Novopavlovskaya: temples, monasteries, chapels, as well as statuettes and steles with Buddhist characters and scenes.

Widely among random findings presented Indian import: bronze and silver inlaid with gold and precious stones statues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas , bronze plaques and plates , stone reliefs in the form of small craft and steles with scenes of Buddhist iconography , once made ​​up the iconostasis and reliquaries of Buddhist temples and monasteries .

Among the recent discoveries of archaeologists is underground monastery, discovered near the ruins of the famous medieval city Isfidzhab ( Sairam ) .

Along with Buddhism on the Silk Road, following from the West to the East, Christianity spread. In the first half of V in the Eastern Roman Empire arose «heretical»  sect of followers of the priest Nestorius . Last taught that the Virgin Mary gave birth to is not a god, but a man , and that Christ was only " the abode of gods " , the bearer of the Holy Spirit . According to Nestorius, the Virgin Mary should not be called the Mother of God, and «hristoroditsey». It is this innovation has produced confusion among the masses. This contradicts the Council of Nicea in 325, the symbol of faith, according to which Christ was considered the owner of the inseparable fusion incarnation - the human and the divine, and the denial of his consubstantial with the god - father of the Orthodox Church recognized as the greatest heresy. Nestorian doctrine was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and launched a brutal persecution of the Nestorians. As a result of the persecution they were forced to flee to Iran. Supporters of Nestorian organized in Persia, in Nisibin School, which has brought together political opposition to Byzantium.

Rich Syrian merchants and craftsmen, having lost the market in Constantinople, moved to the East. Their colonies and trading posts stretched from the shores of the Mediterranean to the «Celestial Empire. » Throughout this way consistently found evidence of Syrian writing, Syrian Christianity, the spread of which began in the earliest period of its history. The centuries-old economic ties Syrians led to their cultural influence on the Arabian peninsula and India , and in the regions of Central Asia, where the Iranian and Turkic dialects were to a certain extent under the influence of the Syriac language .

In the VII-VIII centuries Nestorianism was widely distributed in the cities of southern Kazakhstan and Seven Rivers. In many cities, there were Christian churches. When the patriarch Timothy (780-819), Christianity was adopted king Turks apparently Karluk dzhagbu . At the turn of the IX-X centuries has formed a special Karluk archdiocese, Taraz and Merck acted in Christian churches and Christians lived in the cities of the Syr Darya.

About Christians Ili Valley, who had his own church in Kajalyk and their village, said William Rubruck. It is known that on the shore of Issyk -Kul in the XIV century was a Christian monastery, which housed the relics of St. Matthew.

During the excavation of cemeteries and towns Dzhamukata Nevaketa Christian burial were found with the silver and bronze crosses. Known and the accidental discovery of the cross on the site of the Jade Red River . The Museum of Shymkent stone mortar stores, found on the site Tortkoltobe . It shows symbols of Christianity - the cross and dove. During the excavation of Taraz in layer VI-VIII century’s ceramic mug was found with the Syrian inscription «Peter and Gabriel. »

Among the outstanding works of religious art and religious symbolism Central christen, Turks by nationality, between the emergences of Christianity in this region until the end of the XIV century. Include Kairak - Nestorian tombstones with inscriptions and symbols.

The existence of Christian communities in the Seven Rivers evidenced not only by the Syrian gravestones inscriptions, but Sogdian inscriptions on pottery, on corolla big hums for wine. Naodnom of them was written: «This hum (intended) for teachers Yaaruk - Tegina . Master Pastun . Let him be ( HUM ) filled , amen , amen . "The word "teacher" in this line is similar to the terms tyuro - Sogdian epitaphs - "a teacher mentor." The final "Amen" leaves no doubt that Yaaruk - Tegin was the leader of the Christian community.

Thus, the archaeological and epigraphic finds, coupled with the data of medieval sources indicate the spread of Christianity.

Silk Road spread Manichaeism, which arose in the III. in Iran and has quickly gained a large number of devotees from Italy to China. She represented the overall synthesis of Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Of Christianity, Manichaeism borrowed the idea of messianism, and of Zoroastrianism - the idea of ​​the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness. Leading role in the spread of Manichaeism also played Sughdians. In early VIII the supreme head of the Manichaean had residence in Samarkand. Manichaeism coexisted with Buddhism in Central Asia for a long time, and Buddhism has had a severe impact on the pantheon, terminology and even the concept of Manichaeism.

His followers had Manichaeism in the Seven Rivers in the south of Kazakhstan, in the first place among the settled population. As found in the Turfan oasis drevneuygurskoy manuscript Manichaean writings , " The Sacred Book of the two principles" refers to the fact that this book was written in " The argument Talas Altyn The argument Ulushe Talas , Talas Ulushe ", " to awaken ( faith ) in the country ten arrows . " We are talking about the famous city of Taraz. It is also known that Manichaean abode were still Semirechensk in other cities , including Balasagun Chigilbalyk .

Apparently, among the relics should be attributed Manichean found at the site of Taraz bronze medallion with a female image of the moon (crescent), which is a symbol of the Manichean astral deities .

Among the inhabitants of medieval towns were the representatives of Kazakhstan and Zoroastrianism that emerged in the VII-VI centuries BC in ancient Iran. For the ritual practice of its characteristic reverence for the four elements of the universe - water, fire, earth and air. Monuments of Zoroastrianism can be traced to Central Asia, in Sughd, in Syrdarya cities and Seven Rivers. This is the remains of the tower-like structures that can be associated with the towers of fire. They are preserved in the topography of ancient settlements Kostobe and the Red River . However, in Central Asia and Kazakhstan has been extended a special version of Zoroastrianism different from the canonical one. He was closely intertwined with the local pagan cult: the cult of fire, sort of ancestral animals - sheep , horses, camels . Findings related to this religion, are burials in ossuaries - clay boxes of bones in ground crypts - on - mustache graves piles of bones. Many people associated with the Zoroastrian cult continued to prevail in the cities of Kazakhstan and after the advent of Islam.

So, homes in Otyrar XII. Archaeologists have found pockets of altars standing on the floor. Richly carved, they were used for kindling the fire. It was the glow of the great lights Mazdaism that kept warm in the homes of citizens, even those in which Islam is established and adopted the Arabic script.

However, Islam has spread in Kazakhstan gradually supplanted Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and local cults. The new religion has established itself in many cities on the Silk Road.

Sources tell of the events of the end of the VIII-IX centuries. , Testify to the Islamization of the population of southern Kazakhstan. In 840, Nuh ibn Asad subdued Isfidzhab. In 859 his brother Ahmed ion -Assad made ​​a trip to Shavgar . Karluk , was seized with 766 political dominance in the Seven Rivers , and in the south of Kazakhstan , were most affected by the Muslim culture . It is believed that they have converted to Islam under the Caliph Mahdi (775-785). But it seems that it applied only to some of them, as in 893 Ismail ibn Ahmad took Taraz and " paid home church of this city to the mosque . "

In the beginning of X centures Islam adopted the founder of the dynasty Karakhanids Satuq , and his son Bogra Haroon Khan b . Musa in 960 declared Islam

The state religion. Gradually the new religion spread in the environment and nomads. The same Ibn Haukal reports otyurkah - Muslims who roamed between Farabi Kendzhidoy Ishasha. There is information about the spread of Islam in the XI-XII centuries among the Kipchak .

Archaeological excavations began IX- XIII centuries indicated the formation of the urban Islamic culture in the area. In Taraz and Mirka Christian churches were converted into mosques. With the growth of the population professes Islam, cities are built grand mosques.

For buildings that appear in the cities of Central Asia and Kazakhstan during the spread of Islam, are the public baths.

In the second half of the IX-X centuries funeral ceremony was changed. Appear in the burial ground pits, mud-brick tombs, buried focused on the north- west, facing south. Inventory in the graves was absent. The earliest Muslim necropolis discovered in Otrarsky oasis and date back to the IX-X centuries. Go to the X century the necropolis of the settlement relates Burana .

In the XI-XII centuries on cemeteries appeared monumental memorial buildings - the mausoleums (for example, Aisha Bibi , near the city of Zhambyl ) .

Pottery found with the use of decorative possibilities Arabic script. Part of the inscriptions is purely decorative, but some of them contain various kinds of good wishes, edification. In the products of the metal to fashion spreads, are also decorated with inscriptions and inscriptions benevolent religious content.

On the Silk Road in the cities of Kazakhstan, where East meets West, Europe and Asia, provides a fertile ground for mutual interpenetration and diverse cultures.