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Kazakhstan|science|October 1, 2016 / 02:28 PM
Evidence of ancient Christianity reportedly discovered in Kazakhstan

AKIPRESS.COM - aina.stone The ancient city of Ilyn Balik in Kazakhstan is well known from pilgrims’ travels. Recent excavations in Usharal village have uncovered an ancient city and cemetery with eight Nestorian gravestones and the markers prove Christianity was present in Kazakhstan long before Western imperialism, according to The Astana Times.

Information about Ilyn Balik, situated 60 kilometers from the Chinese border, can be found in early texts. Historians of Christianity along the Silk Road were aware of travelers’ accounts of Christian communities in the city and region.

The discovery is the first archaeological evidence of a Christian community in Kazakhstan, says Tom Davis, Archaeology Department Chairman at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. It supports the understanding of ancient Kazakhstan as a multi-cultural center between East and West. The findings show the country was home for Muslims, Buddhists and Christians who lived among the local herdsmen and nomadic tribes.

Two years ago, an Usharal resident reported the discovery of an inscribed stone marked with a cross. The stone was recovered, but its original location is not known. The team has subsequently found seven inscribed gravestones on the surface outside the main area of the settlement. The suspected grave markers have Nestorian-style inscribed crosses and two have fragmentary inscriptions.

The investigations provided more information about the previously-discovered stone and show the possibly of an associated Christian community in the state. One of the inscriptions, in Old Syriac, has been partially deciphered by Tandy Institute epigrapher Ryan Stokes, associate professor of Old Testament at the seminary. It marks the date of the grave as 1162 A.D.

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