Necropolises of Mangistau.

«And performing dhikr, I became a holy fool,
I did not say a word except the name of Allah.
And in my apprenticeship I was like a butterfly flying to a fire.
And now I fly like a burning coal"

Khikmets of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi.

Tours to ancient necropolises of Mangyshlak Peninsula.

Karaman ata necropolis is located at an altitude of 220 meters above sea level, in central part of  Mangyshlak Peninsula, in Kandybas valley, 7.5 kilometers northeast of Ybykty - Kabyrga valley, 35 kilometers southwest of Shetpe village, 38.5 kilometers northwest of Zhetebay village, 63.5 kilometers northeast of city of Aktau, monument occupies gentle slopes of a low hill in Mangistau district of region of same name.
The necropolis contains about 1000 burials. Ancient monuments date back to the 12th century. The monuments are represented by the beltas-pyramid type, primitive stone fences, mausoleums, saganatam, sandyktasy, ushtasy, composite koytasy with kulpytasy. In the western part of the necropolis there is an underground mosque Karaman Ata, Turkmen steles - kulpytases and a half-ruined hexagonal mausoleum.
The north-eastern and central parts of the necropolis are occupied by numerous domed and domeless mausoleums, steles built by the Adaevites in the second half of the XIXth - early XXth centuries. Among them, the large domed mausoleum of Shoynbai stands out, erected in 1914 by the artel of Umir Karin.
When approaching the necropolis, a new mausoleum, located in the north-eastern part of the Kazakh half of the necropolis, attracts attention. It was erected in 1970, as the inscription indicates, "by the young talented master Tolegen Kaunaruly over the grave of Seisen Kenebaev."
The cuboid volume, placed on a high base and crowned with a helmet-shaped dome on a slender cylindrical drum, gives the monument a solemn appearance, which to some extent justifies the author's self-praise. At present, the main part of the Karaman Ata necropolis is enclosed by a metal fence.
The total area of ​​the necropolis is 4 hectares. In the southwestern part, behind the fences of the necropolis, there are tombstones dating back to the VIIIth - IXth centuries, in the amount of 40 pieces, which are also an integral part of the monument.
The total area of ​​the protected zone of the monument is 7.2 hectares. The monument belongs to the category of cult and memorial architecture.
Geographical coordinates of Karaman Ata necropolis: N43°54'00 E51°52'31

Authority:
"Monuments of Central Asia". Author M. Khashimov. Saga Publishing House, 2001.

Photographs by:
Alexander Petrov.