Temples, Rituals, and Holidays of Southern Kazakhstan Semirechye (1st-12th Centuries)

This monograph addresses one of the most complex and understudied issues-the religious worldview of the population of Southern Kazakhstan and Semirechye (Zhetysu) in the 1st-12th centuries. For many centuries, this region served as a crossroads where the paths and historical destinies of many tribes intersected. Since ancient times, these lands have existed at the junction of the great steppes and Central Asian urban civilization. Based on archaeological evidence, the book examines the cultural characteristics, temples, rituals, and festivals of the inhabitants of Kazakhstan. Among the ancient and medieval populations, one can trace elements of shamanism, animism, totemism, the cult of the stars, ancestor worship, Vedic beliefs, manifestations of the Avesta religion, and the cult of the god Dionysus. The book is intended for archaeologists, historians, ethnographers, religious scholars, art historians, educators, university students, and a wide range of readers.