«Altyn Adam» (Saka warrior – «The Golden Man»)

In 2015, a resident of Uzbekistan, Menlikulov Sharapat Ryskulbekovich, donated to the Center a copy of the Saka warrior’s sculpture «Altyn Adam» (The Golden Man), made of plaster, 1600 mm high, weighing 30 kg. «Altyn Adam» is a symbol of freedom of Kazakhstan, the statue is installed on the main square of Almaty, and the image of winged horses has become a part of the coat of arms of Kazakhstan.

In 1969-1970, archaeologist K.A. Akishev found burials of Saka tribes on the Issyk mounds near Almaty. The grave of the Saka tribe, preserved from the Iron Age, was made of spruce logs, measuring 3.3 x 1.9 m, 1.5 m high, and the head of the Saka warrior was directed in a western direction.

The corpse of a 17-18-year-old Saka warrior (Altyn Adam), dressed in gold clothes, was found in the burial. Metal, ceramic, wooden vessels and decorations were placed on the southern and western edges of the grave. The grave was covered with a wooden lid fastened with iron hoops, the floor was covered with boards, and the place where the person was laid was covered with a mat decorated with gold inserts.

The clothes of the golden man are decorated with about 4 thousand gold ornaments. They depict leopards, moose, deer, arcars, horses, birds. A gold earring decorated with jade stones was found on the left side of the skull. The headdress is similar to later models of Kazakh clothing, high, with a pointed top, about 70 cm long. A gold necklace in the form of a round ring on the neck, clothing on the chest, sleeves decorated with gold buckles, two gold rings on the fingers, the camisole is tied with a heavy belt. The belt is decorated with animal images with 16 inserts, there is a long sword in a red scabbard on the right side, an iron dagger in a scabbard with gold plates on the left side, the legs are also decorated with gold buckles.

The style of clothing and the burial ceremony indicate that «Altyn Adam» is the son of a prominent Saka figure or a young leader, a military leader of the Saka tribe that inhabited the Zhetysu region, also contain a lot of information about deposits, ancient material culture, art, mythology and proves that in At that time, a state civilization was being formed among the Sakas.