Ancient city Kostobe is located to the northeast of Sarykemer village, Baizaksky district, on the right bank of the Talas River, 15 km from Taraz.

The city dates back to the VI–XII centuries and it is a monument of archaeology. It has been included in the list of world cultural heritage of UNESCO since 2014. Moreover, it was also included in the list of sacral monuments of Kazakhstan regional significance in the framework of “the Sacred geography of Kazakhstan” project in 2017.

Kostobe is identified with the town of Jamukat (Hamukat), one of the largest urban centers of its time.

In written sources, the mention of Jamukat is found in the works of the historian of the tenth century. Nershahi wrote that the city was founded in the VI century by the Bukhara Sogdians settled in Turkestan and the settlement was named after their leader Zhamukh. In his writings, Al-Maqdisi describes the city in the following words: “Zhamukat is a big city, which has a mosque with walls in the neighbourhood, and bazaars in the rabad”. Orientalist V.V. Barthold proved that the ancient settlement of Zhamukat is located in the Talas Valley, while other researchers believed that it was located on the Syr Darya. However, the problem of identifying a city with some specific monument still remains relevant.

Its topography is close to the topography of the sites of the Shuisk valley of Ak-Beshim and the Red River, identified with the remains of Suyab and Navaket cities. The city is surrounded by long fortress walls, has a rabad, shahristan, the central part, the temple of fire, there are burials nearby. The ruins of Kostobe settlement are a sub-rectangular elevated section (420 × 450 m), surrounded by walls with towers, a moat between them and a moat behind the outer wall. The city has four exit gates.

Since 1938, archaeologists have been conducting research projects to study the struc ture of the city. During the archa e ological excavations of the inner fortress, construction sites of the VІ–ХІІІ centuries were discovered. The lower layer of the city belongs to the VI-VIII centuries. The palace con sisted of residential and busi ness units, with a bypass corridor. Ornamentation of the inner palace shows the high develop ment of architec ture and construction. The predo mi nance of plant and geometric patterns indicates a powerful influence of Islam. You can see the best architecture examples, made in the Central Asian style. This proves that there was a high development of town planning art in the Talas valley. Coins and pottery found in the upper cultural layer prove that the city existed until the beginning of the 13th century. During the excavations, there were often remains of wood and reeds in the form of ash layers, probably the city fell from a large fire or because of war.

Kostobe – a city on the great silk road, it had cultural and trade relations with the cities of Central Asia, the Middle east and the Far east. It was one of the major political and economic centers in this region. The proximity to Taraz testifies to its indisputable prosperity. After the Mongol invasion, the life of the city gradually began to stop.