Situated in Zhambyl Province in the Merken region on the western outskirts of the village of Merke, the ancient settlement of Mirki is one of the few in Zhetysu to have kept its medieval name. Mirki was renowned from the beginning of the 8^th century. From the 9^th to 10^th centuries it is mentioned in the travel journals of Kudamy and ibn Khordadbek, who termed it a large settlement. The Arab geographer al-Makdisi noted in more detail that ‘Mirki is a town of medium size, fortified, with a citadel.’

The ruins of Mirki are rectangular in form, set on raised ground. The remains of the citadel can be found in the south-west part of the settlement. What was once the wall dividing the shakhristan from the citadel is now a sunken earth embankment. Remains of the towers can be found in the corners of the settlement and at the entrance to the citadel. The citadel is a rectangular area with remains of buildings, now represented by mounds of different shapes and sizes. The shakhristan takes the shape of an irregular four-cornered embankment 3m tall, surrounded by a sunken wall. At the north and east sides of the shakhristan are remains of a 15m-wide moat.

Archaeological excavations of the settlement have allowed experts to distinguish three cultural layers: 7^th-8^th centuries, 9^th-10^th centuries and 11^th-12^th centuries. A large quantity of ceramics was found on the site. The settlement of Mirki was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13^th century and in the 14^th century it was restored by the Kokand people as a border point. Today there is a regional centre situated on the territory of the ancient settlement.

The settlement Tumescent is located on the southeastern outskirts of the village Toymaker, on the right Bank of the river Talas, Baizak district.

In 1894 the settlement was inspected by V. V. Barthold, in 1936-38 it was surveyed by the Semirechensk archaeological expedition under the leadership of A. N. Bernshtam. In 1986, a detachment of the archaeological expedition of the Arch of historical and cultural monuments under the leadership Of K. M. Baypakov worked at the settlement. During the archaeological work, the plan was removed, lifting material was collected, traces of destruction associated with the road through the territory of the settlement were noted. Suffered the South-Western part of the settlement, collapsed in the floodplain.

In 2000, the settlement was surveyed by an expedition led By K. M. Baypakov.
The settlement is rectangular in plan (250 x 310 m), oriented to the cardinal points, surrounded on all sides by a high rampart with towers at the corners and perimeter.

There were 7 towers on each side. The height of the shaft is 4-6 m, the towers are 4.5-7 m. Nhe entrance to the territory of the settlement was located in the North-Western and South-Western walls.

The entrance to the territory of the settlement was located in the North-Western and South-Western walls. Almost in the center of the settlement is an oval high hillock-the remains of the citadel. To the hillock on the South side adjoins the yard with a side of 40 m, surrounded by a swollen shaft. North of the citadel is a group of flat hills.

A sweep of the breach of the South-Eastern wall showed that it was constructed of mud brick and layers of pakhsa. The width of the wall is 7-8 m, the preserved height is 3 m. Glazed and stucco ceramics collected on the surface of the settlement belong to the period of VI-XII centuries.

The Tanirkazgan site is located 13.4 km southeast of the village of Kyzylaut, in the tract Tanirkazgan in the Talas district. Paleolithic stone products discovered by archaeologist H.A. Alpysbaev in 1968 on a flat hill composed of sandstone. In 2000, re-examined by the South Kazakhstan Integrated Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archeology named after OH. Margulan of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the leadership of K.M. Baipakov.

The parking area is not more than 1 square km. The pits were laid. A large number of artifacts were detected in a thin upper layer of gray loam. As in Borikazgan, the inhabitants of the Tanirkazgan site used black and dark gray flints as raw material.

Tanirkazgan stone products are divided into groups: 1) bilaterally processed rough chopping tools; 2) discoid forms; 3) tools such as manual chopped; 4) uniforms; 5) products from flakes; 6) nuclei; flakes without traces of secondary processing.

Typologically, stone products have analogies among the most ancient monuments of Eurasia and Africa, among the tools of the Olduvai culture. The collection is stored in the Museum of Archeology of the Institute of Archeology. A.Kh. Margulana, the city of Almaty.

Remains of the oldest part of the ancient settlement of Taraz were discovered buried under the site of modern-day Taraz’s central market. Firstly, the citadel, where those of high and influential rank resided: the rulers and spiritual leaders. Attached to the citadel was a walled part of the city known as the shakhristan, where noblemen, wealthy merchants and craftsmen resided and the eastern market and mosques were situated. The trade and craft outskirts of the city, the rabads, were linked to the shakhristan walls on all sides. Craftsmen’s workshops, some craftsmen’s homes and poor citizens’ living quarters were all located here.

Archaeological excavations carried out on the territory of the city have shown that the city had a water supply system made up of clay pipes, public baths, a mint, paved streets and other constructions. The walls surrounding the city reached a thickness of 1.25m and a height of 9-10m. At present only a small part of the eastern wall of the shakhristan has been preserved (on Mirozoian Street).

In the middle of the 10^th century, on territory including Taraz, the large state union of the western Kara-khanid Empire took shape. It existed until the end of the 12^th century. This period coincided with an age of prosperity in Taraz. It was facilitated by the development of not only religious but also civil architecture. Two eastern baths testify to the high level of culture of that period; they were discovered on the territory of Taraz’s modern-day central market and date from the 10^th-12^th centuries. One of the bath houses was excavated by A.N. Bernshtam as early as 1938. The surviving remains of its foundation, as well as sections of wall paintings, have allowed experts to ascertain its layout and decorative elements: a domed building with two sections, one for men and the other for women. The bath house’s decor represented the earliest encounter of wall paintings in the history of Kazakhstan’s architecture. The entrances and domed buildings were decorated with patterns of yellow six- and eight-pointed stars, laid out in a chequered formation on a brownish-red wall painting, and a pattern of stems and arched leaves.

During the building of the city’s covered market in the late 1960s, another bath house was found, similar to the one described above. The bath house comprised four rooms. A clay seat, remains of troughs and baths were preserved. Unfortunately, both bath houses are now merely archaeological monuments. They are protected by the state, and it may therefore become possible in the future to study and restore them.

Academics also ascribe the construction of a stone bridge on the River Talas to this period. It was a bridge crossed by caravans travelling along the Silk Road: traders, travellers and indeed residents of Taraz. Today only a few remnants of stone tiles can be found, and stone blocks are visible in places. The bridge was first described by Arab traveller al-Makdisi in the 10^th century and then in the 13^th century by Laotian monk Chan-Chun.

Religious buildings represent possibly the most remarkable architectural monuments in Kazakhstan. Among the buildings which have been preserved to this day, the mausoleums pose particular interest. It is in these examples of monumental religious architecture that the spread of Islam among early urban populations is reflected.

About the creation of the museum

«Ancient Taraz» and Archaeological park

In the central part of the modern city, the ruins of the ancient city of Taraz have been preserved. The first archaeological researches took place in the 30s of the twentieth century. and even then, scientists considered the creation of an archaeological park. But these plans were realized only after 70 years, in 2011 full-scale archaeological work began on the territory of the shahristan of the Taraz settlement to create a historical and cultural complex: the archaeological park and the Museum of Ancient Taraz. The grand opening of the historical and cultural center «Ancient Taraz» took place in 2015 on the eve of the celebration of the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate with the participation of the head of state N. A. Nazarbayev.

The territory of the Taraz settlement, with a total area (10 ha), includes a designated area for the creation of an archaeological park, where systematic archaeological and restoration-conservation work is being carried out. Today, the town-planning structure of the central part of medieval Taraz of the Karakhanid period of the X-XII centuries, including the main thoroughfare and dense public and residential urban development: a hamam bath, two caravanserais, residential and commercial buildings, a water supply system, has been opened system, etc. Above the archaeological site of 2011-2016. suspended structures were built that protect the archaeological site from the devastating effects of precipitation.

Excursion pedestrian bridges are located on the territory of the archaeological park, which are located above medieval archaeological structures. Thus, research, restoration and conservation work is underway to create an open-air museum in the central part of the Taraz settlement.

The observation tower, the “House of Friendship”, the stella “Melodies of Taraz”, the square “Mynbulak”, and the building of the museum “Kone Taraz” were located on the territory of the park. The building of the House of Friendship houses regional ethnocenters of the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan, where the main cultural events of the city and region are held.

Archaeological material obtained as a result of excavations of the ancient settlement of Taraz constitutes the exposition of the Museum of Ancient Taraz. This archaeological collection consists of unique archaeological finds dating from the X-XII centuries, the heyday of ancient Taraz on the Great Silk Road. Archaeological finds show that artisans lived in Taraz, making magnificent products from ceramics, metal, glass, bone; merchants traded in strange goods from different countries. The mint minted coins on behalf of the Taraz rulers, traveled by scientists and craftsmen, enriching the culture of the region. Each archaeological object was created in ancient times by masters who worked in line with folk traditions, due to which these things possessed a special “language” that was well understood by their fellow tribesmen. And today, archaeological finds reveal the secrets of the bygone past, show the level of development of the culture, science and crafts of ancient Taraz.

The settlement Okhum  is located in Bayzak district, 300 m to the West from highway Sambek-Bostandyk. The settlement was first surveyed in 1894 by V. V. Barthold, in 1936-38 it was surveyed by the Semirechensk archaeological expedition under the leadership of A. N. Bernshtam. In 1983 it was surveyed by the archaeological detachment of KazGU under the leadership of M. E. Eleuov, a schematic plan was removed, sections of shafts were made, lifting ceramic material was collected.  In 1986 and 2000, a detachment of the archaeological expedition of K. M. Baypakov worked at the settlement.

Visual examination with the study of aerial photographs revealed the following characteristics of the monument. Complex topographically structure, surrounded by two rows of walls. The fortification has the form of a quadrangular platform oriented to the cardinal points, surrounded by a swollen shaft. The towers are located at the corners and along the perimeter of the walls, 18 swollen mounds have been preserved. The gates were located in the middle of the Western and Eastern walls. They have a complex system of additional fortifications. The surface inside the settlement is characterized by the presence of hills, which give an idea of the dense building, divided by the main street connecting the Eastern and Western gates and the streets departing from it.

As shown by the study of aerial photographs of the settlement to the shaft, adjacent areas of the walled agricultural district. These are different-sized rectangular plots, divided from the inside into smaller ones, each of which, together with a residential building on it, represented, apparently, an individual land ownership.

Traced the remains of an ancient irrigation near Ahjumma using water from the river Karabakh – the left tributary of the Talas river. From it the main channels up to 2,5 – 6 km long are carried out. The sources of one of the channels were protected by the castle. Now it is a hillock with a diameter of 20 m and a height of 6 m. Ceramics collected on the surface of the settlement, taluses of the walls, in the edges of the channels, dates back to the VI-XII centuries.