The gold man

In 1970 at a distance of 50 kilometers from Almaty a sensational discovery was made during an archaeological excavation. Scientists found the remains of a saks warrior in gold clothes. There were more than four thousand pieces of ornaments made of gold near him. Some gold rings, figures, bronze and gold weapon, and various jugs were found nearby. It is supposed that it is a descendant of an outstanding saks leader or a member of a king's family. The find is dated back to the 600-500s В. C.

The find testifies that the tribes settled in the territory of modern Kazakhstan already had a high level of culture and social relations during that period. Different things made from bronze and iron were actively used in everyday life. The saks tribe aristocracy tried to emphasize their authority by constructing enormous mounds over their tombs. It was done for the purpose of immortalizing the memory of themselves and their wealth. The Saks dressed their dead rulers in rich clothes and set the bodies in the chambers over which a large mound was spread.

The fact of discovering a silver bowl with an inscription in the Issyksky Mound testifies a high level of saks' development. These strange letters and signs have not been interpreted yet.

The treasures from this mound have provoked great interest and have gotten wide popularity. Just after the find "the Gold man" on winged snow leopard has become one of the national symbols of Kazakhstan. The figures of this knight have been put up in many cities of the country. One of them crowns the Monument of Independence in the main square of Almaty. A young warrior on the back of a winged snow leopard is also represented in the Kazakhstan President's Standard.

DOMBRA

The dombra is a long-necked two-stringed instrument possessing a wooden resonating chamber and is especially popular in the Central Asian nations. The dombra is the most widespread Kazakh national musical instrument. One of the founders of Kazakh dombra music is Kurmangazy, whose musical composition "Adai" is still popular in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.

The history of this instrument started centuries ago. There are many legends about the origin of the dombra. One of them says that in old times there lived two brothers - giants in the Altai Mountains. The younger brother had a dombra. He liked to play it very much. While playing he forgot about everything. The elder brother was very ambitious and vain. Once he wanted to become famous and for this purpose decided to build a bridge over the stormy and cold river. So he began to gather stones and build the bridge. But the younger brother was playing all the time. One day passed another one and still another. The younger brother did not hasten to his elder brother's help. He did nothing but only played his favorite instrument.

Becoming angry the elder brother snatched the dombra out of his younger one's hands and struck it against the rock. The magnificent instrument was broken, the melody died, but there was a print left on the stone. Many years passed. People found this print and began to make new instruments according to this example. After a long silence music was played again in the settlements.

A dombra can be seen in every yurt. It is considered as the most necessary and obligatory thing in the life of the Kazakhs. There are two types of dombra -western and eastern.

The manner of playing, the size of the instruments and the shape of their bodies influence the volume of sound.