Jeep tours across Kyzylorda region.

“Oh my Kipchaks!
The steppe did not like high mountains,
Flat stepp
She didn't like sticking out trees.
I'm ten centuries ahead
I reproach you
Oh my Kazakhs, young and ancient"

Olzhas Suleimenov.

Architectural and archaeological heritage of Kyzylorda region.

Tower Begim ana (kaz. Begim ana munarasy) is one of the earliest examples of tower mausoleums in Kazakhstan, an architectural monument of the XIth century, located 28.6 kilometers southeast of the village of Karateren, Aral district, Kyzylorda region.
The author of the structure is unknown. The inner plan is a circle, the walls are covered with adobe plaster. The doorway is oriented to the north-east. The top of the dome is destroyed. Begim ana was built of adobe bricks and faced with square burnt bricks measuring 23 x 23 x 5 cm.
The tower was built as a monument, but possibly also as a watchtower. The building is an octahedral tower with two tiers. The first tier is a dull raw monolith. The second tier can be accessed through a lancet-shaped opening.
The inner plan is a circle, the walls are covered with adobe plaster. The doorway is oriented to the north-east. The top of the dome was destroyed. Due to the intense narrowing towards the top, the mausoleum is perceived as high, stable and majestic.
According to Malgabar Mendikulov, "the high height of the structure and the presence of a special platform under the dome definitely indicate its watchdog purpose, but apparently it is not true that its transformation into a mausoleum took place much later."
Such towers are rare on the territory of Kazakhstan, but they are absent in Middle Asia. But such monuments, known as the "tower mausoleum" (XIII - XIV centuries), are widespread in Iran and Turkey. In addition to the Begim ana tower, at the mouth of the Syrdarya there are only two similar towers - Uzun tam and Saraman-Kosa.
The total height of the building is 10 meters, the diameter at the base is 16 meters. The Begim-Ana tower in 1982 was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of republican significance and taken under state protection.
Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR of January 26, 1982 N 38 "On the monuments of history and culture of the Kazakh SSR of Republican significance."
Geographic coordinates of Begim ana tower: N45 ° 45'32.73 "E61 ° 13'46.36"

Authority:
Brief Encyclopedia of the Kazakh SSR, volume 4, Culture, Alma-Ata, 1990. B. Sarybaev.

Photo from the web site:
https://3d-maps.kz/en_place_412-bashnya-begim-ana