You won’t believe what archaeologists have found beneath this lake in Kyrgyzstan

lake Issyk-Kul is located in the northeast of the Kyrgyz Republic, also known as Kyrgyzstan. It is the largest lake in the country and the second largest high mountain lake in the world. Beneath its surface lies a centuries-old watery grave.

Researchers recently conducted an underwater archaeological expedition in northwest Issyk-Kul to examine the remains of a city that once lay on the famous Silk Road. The team found the remains of a medieval cemetery, ceramics and various buildings, confirming the existence of the ancient settlement.

A tragedy like in Pompeii

The site was “a city or a large commercial agglomeration on one of the important stretches 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 was involved in the research, said in a opinion from the Russian Geographical Society, which also involved researchers in the project. “At the beginning of the 15th century, the city sank into the lake as a result of a terrible earthquake.”

Kolchenko compared the event to Pompeii, even though the settlement was already deserted at the time of the earthquake. Still, the region’s population changed dramatically after the event, with nomads replacing the rich medieval site, the researcher said.

The archaeologists examined four different areas of the lake. In the first spot, they discovered the brick buildings with a millstone, one of two millstones that would have worked together to grind grain into flour or grains. They also found evidence of a decorated social building, possibly a mosque, a bathhouse, etc Madrasa (a Muslim educational institution). In a second area, Kolchenko and colleagues identified a Muslim necropolis or burial site from the 13th to 14th centuries. The documented skeletons pointed north toward Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, now in modern-day Saudi Arabia.

The spread of Islam

“In the 10th century, the Kara-Khanid state was founded on this land,” said Maksim Menshikov, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences who also participated in the discoveries. They ruled the area of ​​Lake Issyk-Kul on the Silk Road.

“It was a Turkish dynasty. The people here practiced various religions: pagan Tengrianism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity. The ruling elite often turned to Islam during their rule, but this religion spread in Central Asia only in the 13th century,” Menshikov added. “Before that, Islam was primarily the religion of the nobility and the economically active population.” The recently discovered Muslim necropolis is probably 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 site, the team identified three more likely earlier burials, medieval pottery and a large vessel. Because the ship is buried deep beneath the lakebed, the team was unable to recover it and plans to try again next archaeological season. At the final site, researchers examined the remains of other structures and conducted underwater drilling to collect samples that will hopefully shed light on the various phases of the settlement’s transformation.

Kolchenko compares the place to Pompeii, but I think Central Asia has its own Atlantis.