The history of the discovery and study of the first Manichaean temple in Siberia. Part 2

Abstract

This article is a continuation of the first part published in the previous issue of the journal. Field experience gained during excavations of religious buildings on the Ak-Beshim settlement in Kyrgyzstan in 1953–1954 was transferred by L. Kyzlasov to Southern Siberia and successfully applied in 1971–1981. The first Manichaean church in the Sorgá (Khakassia) basin was discovered and studied, and then a whole series of similar sacred buildings in the lower reaches of the river Uybat, too, which since 1974 has been dug up during eight field seasons. Large-scale, long-term excavation work in the second discovered temple and monastery center, the processing of their results and a constant comparative and generalizing analysis of all materials obtained by field studies over the years led to an accurate religious definition of all 12 churches and sanctuaries studied. The views coming from antiquity, manifested in temple architecture, turned out to be decisive – the veneration of 7 celestial luminaries led to the development and canonization of the architectural and planigraphic symbolism of cult structures, which differed in shape for each of these celestial bodies and sacrally significant cosmic phenomena. The list of geometric diversity of the layouts of Manichaean temples, contained in the essay of al-Masudi (10^th century), was confirmed and supplemented with the testimonies of al-Shakhristani (12^th century) and ad-Dimeshki (14^th century). These data allowed L. Kyzlasov to understand in all the basic details the previously unprecedented variety of the structure of temple buildings and sanctuaries of both religious centers of Khakassia encountered during excavations. Then and to this day, Manichaean temples were and remain unknown to archaeologists – the science of antiquities has revealed a completely new page not only in Siberian studies, but also in turkological oriental studies as a whole.