David Bridges
Essential points
- Location: Lake Issyk-Kul is the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan and the second-largest high mountain lake globally.
- Discovery: Researchers found a medieval graveyard and remnants of a city along the historic Silk Road.
- Event: A catastrophic earthquake in the 15th century submerged the city under the lake.
- Religious Influence: The region saw a transition to Islam in the 13th century, following various religious practices.
Lake Issyk-Kul sits in the northeast of the Kyrgyz Republic, also known as Kyrgyzstan. It’s the country’s biggest lake and the second-largest high mountain lake in the world, and beneath its surface hides a centuries-old watery grave.
Researchers recently conducted an underwater archaeological expedition in Issyk-Kul’s northwest to investigate the remains of a city that used to sit along the iconic Silk Road. The team found the remains of a medieval graveyard, ceramics, and various buildings, confirming the presence of the ancient settlement.
A Pompeii-like tragedy
The site was “a city or a large commercial agglomeration on one of the important sections of the Silk Road,” Valery Kolchenko, a researcher at the Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic who took part in the investigation, said in a statement by the Russian Geographical Society, which also contributed researchers to the project. “At the beginning of the 15th century, as a result of a terrible earthquake, the city went under the waters of the lake.”
Kolchenko compared the event to Pompeii, even though the settlement had already been abandoned by the time the earthquake struck. Still, the region’s population changed dramatically after the event, with nomads replacing the rich medieval site, according to the researcher.
The archaeologists investigated four different areas of the lake. In the first spot, they discovered the brick buildings with a millstone, one of a pair that together would have ground grain into flour or grits. They also found evidence of a decorated social building, possibly a mosque, bathhouse, or madrasa (a Muslim educational institution). In a second area, Kolchenko and colleagues identified a 13th- to 14th-century Muslim necropolis, or burial ground. The documented skeletons faced north in the direction of Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, now in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
The spread of Islam
“In the 10th century, the Kara-Khanid State was formed on this land,” explained Maksim Menshikov, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences who also participated in the discoveries. They ruled the Issyk-Kul Lake area of the Silk Road.
“It was a Turkic dynasty. People here practiced various religions: pagan Tengrianism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity. The ruling elite often turned to Islam throughout their rule, but this religion became widespread in Central Asia only in the 13th century,” Menshikov added. “Prior to that, Islam was primarily the religion of the nobility and the population involved in active economic activity.” The recently discovered Muslim necropolis is likely associated with this period. Since the region is mentioned in medieval Chinese sources, the researchers hope to connect their findings with historical materials.
At a third location, the team identified three other likely earlier burials, medieval ceramics, and a large vessel. Because the vessel is buried deep under the lakebed, the team wasn’t able to retrieve it and plans to try again next archaeological season. In the last site, the researchers investigated the remains of more structures and carried out underwater drilling to retrieve samples that will hopefully reveal the various phases of the settlement’s transformation.
Kolchenko compares the site to Pompeii, but I think Central Asia has its very own Atlantis.
Daniel Mercer
