Winged Snow Leopards are Cool in DC too

A Kaz statue was just unveiled in Washington D.C. by visiting Kazakhstani President Nazaybaev (attended, you'll note, by the US Secretary of Energy). This is a copy of a statue in Almaty, which we saw only from a cab. It is "Golden Man" of the Issyk Burial Mound standing on a winged snow leopard. [Need to get my own photo: Meg?!]

Lots of places have gold, even Saddam Hussein and Geraldo Rivera can own gold, but how many places have winged snow leopards? That is just cool. But I don't see how the Golden Man stays aboard, the physics look all wrong.

A more educated person would tell you the symbolism of said statue. We tried to become educated. We even went to the Museum of Archaeology in Almaty to learn about the ancient history of Kazakhstan.



Print this picture out for the address, 44 Dostyk, if you would like to try this yourself some time. As usual, it did not go quite like we expected.












We had an easy time finding the street location, and clued in with a nice statue of a musician out front. Again, a more educated person would know who said person is and why his statue is there. Can't learn everything at once or your brain will explode, and besides, then you won't have anything left to do. I suppose.






This was once a gem of a place, a nice statue and beautiful running water (we're from New Mexico) and a graceful pond.

Hey, no lines! Um. Is it open?
We're still not sure, to tell the truth. The lights were off but the door was unlocked so we went in. [If they wanted us to stay out they would have locked it, is my thinking. I have learned much from my mother. She is bolder than I am, but sometimes I channel her when I want something.]

A small man came out of a watchroom, where he had been on a sofa watching tv. His English and our Russian were not communicating anything. I figured if he didn't make motions sweeping us
toward the door, we could stay. It's an archaeology museum, for crying out loud, and we only have this one day to try to see it! Let us staaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!

The lights weren't on but he seemed to think we were harmless and didn't shoo us out. We glowed.





He did explain that the lights would come on tomorrow. We know the word "zoftra"- "tomorrow" from Vladimir the driver in Karaganda. His Russian tutoring paid off!
At least, we think he was talking about the lights. He pointed to the unilluminated fixtures and said tomorrow. Didn't matter to me as long as he wasn't herding us toward the exit.


A lot of guidebooks (so-called) say there is little history to Kaz, etc. I saw this map and salivated. The information it contained was so dense and well presented and organized and rich. It shows sites and types and names, all good clues to new threads of investigation and hunting. Ohhhh. I want all this information for myself. Ohhh I must have a photo. I turned to the docent/guard/tv viewer there on a Sunday afternoon: can I take photos?



I showed my camera and Mitch and I actively worked at looking and sounding encouraging and harmless. Without any common spoken language. In a flash of time-honored nonverbal entrepreneurial clarity, two satisfied parties parted ways: I was free to photograph whatever I wanted and whoever that man was had 200 tenge more than he had before.

We ewwed and ahhed as if we were watching fireworks. We saw actual artifacts and we saw models of what once was.















And there, not missable, was the "Golden Man". We aren't sure much at all about
him except that this suit is like one (or is the one, or is copied from pictures of one, or...) found
at a burial mound near Almaty.



OK OK I did some research (sat on my tail and Googled)

Now we know what The School of Russian and Asian Studies says about "The Golden Man":The Golden Man has become Kazakhstan’s symbol of strength and independence. This suit of more 4000 intricately decorated and fitted gold pieces was found near Esik, about 70 km outside of Almaty. Its origins are debated. Officially, it is said to be from the 12th century AD but the latest research places it in 5th century BC. The artwork, depicting animals both real and mythological strongly resembles Scythian carvings. There are several replicas of the suit on display in Almaty, including a stone version atop the Monument to Independence in Republic Square, but the original has been deemed too fragile to display and lies in the vaults of The National Bank of Kazakhstan.




Click here to see him on top of a monument in Almaty. (picture is copyrighted and I'm cheap)

Click here for beautiful detail of top with statue.

The name seems to be "Monument to Independence in Republic Square" so far. describes the square and the monument, the square being the site of the December independence riots of 1986, and the monument's architect being Shota Valikhanov.

There is another "Monument to Independence" in Almaty that is a postmodern porcpiney thing and has no winged snow leopards at all.











For bonus points, someone can translate this into English for us. We think it is about The Golden Man. It might not be. But it looked like Information so I had to capture it for myself. Preciousssssssss.

Considering we didn't think we were going to be in Almaty and hadn't done any research except read the Air Astana In-Flight magazine that mentioned the museum, we did pretty well at visiting this museum. You may choose to use better information like Museum of Archeology: 44 Dostyk at Zhambyl. Tel.: 918585, 918632. Open Mon-Sat 10:00-18:00. This museum contains a collection of shards and ceramic artifacts from the 3rd century AD, as well as a life-size replica of the Golden Man, a 5th century BC Sacae warrior found in tombs near Almaty. Ticket prices: 50 tenge (adults), 25 tenge (kids). Call in advance to order an excursion (100 tenge; bring your translator).

Hmm. Says nothing about Sundays now does it.

Ah, yes, so much for the story of Golden Man on the new D.C. statue.

Now, to go find out where one gets a winged snow leopard...