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‎The Issyk inscription: we do not even need this

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[[File:A kurgan at Issyk.JPG|thumb|One of the kurgans at Issyk]]
The '''Issyk [[kurgan]]''', in south-eastern [[Kazakhstan]], less than 20 km east from the [[Talgar alluvial fan]], near [[Esik|Issyk]], is a burial mound discovered in 1969. It has a height of six meters and a circumference of sixty meters. It is dated to the 4th or 3rd century BC (Hall 1997). A notable item is a silver cup bearing an inscription. The finds are on display in [[Astana]].

== "Golden man" ==
Situated in eastern [[Scythia]] just north of [[Sogdiana]], the kurgan contained a skeleton, warrior's equipment, and assorted funerary goods, including 4,000 gold ornaments. Although the sex of the skeleton is uncertain, it may have been an 18-year-old [[Saka]] ([[Scythian]]) prince or princess.

The richness of the burial items led the skeleton to be dubbed the "golden man" or "golden princess", with the "golden man" subsequently being adopted as one of the symbols of modern [[Kazakhstan]]. A likeness crowns the Independence Monument on the central square of [[Almaty]]. Its depiction may also be found on the [[Presidential Standard of Kazakhstan|Presidential Standard]] of [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]].

==The Issyk inscription==
{{main|Issyk inscription}}
A text was found on a silver bowl in Issyk kurgan, dated approximately VI BC. The context of the burial gifts indicates that it may belong to [[Saka]] tribes.

The Issyk inscription is not yet certainly deciphered, and is probably in a Scythian dialect, constituting one of very few [[autochthonous language|autochthonous]] epigraphic traces of that language. Harmatta (1999), using the [[Kharoṣṭhī]] script, identifies the language as [[Khotanese Saka]] dialect spoken by the [[Kushans]].<ref name="Kanlidere">Ahmet Kanlidere, in: M. Ocak, H. C. Güzel, C. Oğuz, O. Karatay: ''The Turks: Early ages''. Yeni Türkiye 2002, p.417.</ref>

==Golden treasures in the kurgan==
<gallery>
File:Sun emperor.JPG|Sun emperor
File:20. Elk. Burial mound Issyk (V.-IV. B.C.) Kazakhstan.JPG|Elk. Burial mound Issyk (5th–4th centuries BC)
File:19. Horse. Burial mound Issyk (V.-IV. B.C.) Kazakhstan.JPG|Horse. Burial mound Issyk (5th–4th centuries BC)
File:14. Head of tiger, burial mound Issyk (v.-IV. B.C.) Kazakstan.JPG|Head of tiger, burial mound Issyk (5th–4th centuries BC)
File:18. Flying elk with griffin burial mound Issyk (V.-IV. B.C.) Kazakhstan.JPG|Flying elk with griffin burial mound Issyk (5th–4th centuries BC)
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Hall, Mark E. Towards an absolute chronology for the Iron Age of Inner Asia. Antiquity 71 (1997): 863-874.
*Harmatta, Janos. History of Civilization of Central Asia. Volume 2, Motilal Banarsidass (1999), ISBN 81-208-1408-8, p. 421 [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN8120814088&id=DguGWP0vGY8C&dq=issik+inscription][https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN8120814088&id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA420&lpg=PA420&ots=y_41j-abm0&dq=issik+inscription&sig=LwuIEyVirfpvAwWWSNb0qzqQgYQ#PPA421,M1]

==External links==
*[http://www.archaeology.org/9709/abstracts/gold.html Archaeology magazine - Chieftain or Warrior Priestess?]

{{coord missing|Kazakhstan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Issyk Kurgan}}
[[Category:Scythia]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Kurgans]]

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