Issyk Golden Man (Saka burial)
Hombre de Oro de Issyk (tumba escita-saka)
- Date
- century V-IV a.C. · confidence medium
- Place
- Issyk kurgan, Almaty, Kazakhstan
- Credited to
- Saka of Zhetysu (excavation by Kemal Akishev, 1969)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
The tomb of a young warrior covered with about 4,000 gold pieces, with a plated suit and conical headdress, found in 1969. It is the best evidence of the goldwork and dress of the Saka nomads of Central Asia.
The date (5th-4th century BC) comes from the finds; the inscription on the silver cup (about 26 signs) has conflicting readings and is not accepted as confirmed Saka writing.
What it led to
- a reference for steppe animal-style art and Saka hierarchy
- a national emblem of Kazakhstan since independence
- debate over a possible inscription on a silver cup, still undeciphered