Find of ceramic vessel with painting on the Kastek-1 city-site in 2019

Abstract

The article presents a ceramic vessel with painting of the 9th — 10th centuries for the first time, which was found during archaeological work on the medieval Kastek-1 city-site in Semirechye (Zhetysu). At one time, the monument was located on the Great Silk Road. There is an asymmetric vessel with a handle attached to the spout. Ceramic potteries with a similar form, called as "ducks" or "aquarius-murghobi", appeared on the Zhetysu territory in the 8th — 9th centuries and are found among finds until the 12th century. They were decorated with carved, stucco patterns and paintings. The aim of the work was to determine the functions of the vessel and the ornaments' semantics. There are three cross-shaped figures among the ornamental motifs. Images are associated with the Christians' representations. It is interesting to use the symbolic reproduction of a snake in the decor, the cult of which was popular among the Kastek-1 residents, according to the finds. The discovery of an object with Christian symbolism is one of the rare archaeological evidence confirming information from written sources about being Christian faith representatives in the medieval cities of Southern Kazakhstan and Zhetysu.