outrage after kyrgyzstan reburies its only ancient mummy
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

on the eve of a presidential election

Outrage after Kyrgyzstan reburies its only ancient mummy

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleOutrage after Kyrgyzstan reburies its only ancient mummy

Outgoing Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev
Washington - Muslimchronicle

 

Scientists have called for Kyrgyzstan's only mummy to be immediately dug back up after the 1,500-year-old relic was taken from a museum and hastily reburied on the eve of a presidential election in a decision celebrated by self-professed psychics.

The female mummy was put back in the ground in mid-October in the same dusty corner of southern Kyrgyzstan where it was discovered in 1956 after a sudden ruling by a state commission.

The decision was made despite strong opposition from the only archaeologist on the commission and culture minister Tugelbai Kazakov, who played the decisive role in the call, resigned on Saturday.

Kazakov said the mummy had been largely neglected by scientists and the country lacked the finances to keep it in good condition.

But some have said the timing of the reburial—on the eve of a bitterly fought presidential election—indicates the influence of superstitions that have gripped the Central Asian country's turbulent politics in the past.

The reburial decision was celebrated by self-styled psychics in the Muslim-majority state, who had warned that disaster loomed if the mummy remained vacuum-packed in a state museum.

Self-described medium Zamira Muratbekova claimed she received a message from the spiritual world commanding authorities to rebury the mummy.

"She never died," Muratbekova told AFP.

"When they first found her she was still alive. She was like a sleeping girl."

"By reburying her we saved ourselves from bloodletting at the election," she said, adding that heeding scientists' calls to re-exhume the body would be a grave mistake.

"Before, the spirits spoke to us in terms of suggestions, but now they are giving us orders."

Members of a local election committee empty a ballot box. Some have said the timing of the reburial—on the eve of an October 15 presidential election—indicates the influence of superstitions that have gripped the country's politics in the past

'Is she Kyrgyz?'

Kadycha Tashbayeva, the country's head archaeologist who sat on the commission, indicated the decision may have been influenced by the advice of psychics.

"You would think these people are just cultists and marginals. But they talk, and then the state echoes their position," Tashbayeva said.

While Islam is the main religion in Kyrgyzstan, shamanic practices and cultural superstition also have deep roots in the former Soviet country of six million people.

In 2011, lawmakers ritually slaughtered seven sheep in parliament to exorcise "evil spirits".

Outgoing President Almazbek Atambayev has condemned the mummy's reburial, blaming "pseudo-Muslims" who "believe every clairvoyant".

But a lawmaker in Atambayev's dominant Social Democratic Party, who is part of a parliamentary commission that has been formed to determine the mummy's fate following the burial, is against digging the body back up.

"Is she Kyrgyz? Is she Muslim? We don't know anything of this mummy!" said lawmaker Ryskeldi Mombekov of the relic, whose death almost certainly predates the birth of Islam.

"Re-excavating her again would amount to vandalism," he said during a tense session of the legislature earlier this month.

'Exhume the mummy immediately'

Archaeologists from Kyrgyzstan and around the world condemned the reburial as a backwards step for science.

A journalist looks at a baby mummy which was unearthed at an ancient tomb in Chinese city of Qarqan. The Kyrgyzstan mummy "has tremendous value in filling in the gap" as a case study between Xinjiang's Tarim Basin and Western Eurasia, experts say

"Exhume the mummy and put it back in a sealed chamber in the museum immediately," Victor Mair, a professor in the Chinese language and literature department at the University of Pennsylvania, told AFP.

Mair is among a small group of foreign academics that have studied the so-called Tarim mummies, hundreds of which were discovered in the autonomous Xinjiang region of China that borders Kyrgyzstan.

Archaeologists believe these mummies, which are preserved due to harsh climatic conditions rather than the mummification customs associated with ancient Egypt, are key to understanding historical migration patterns in the region.

Mair said the Kyrgyzstan mummy "has tremendous value in filling in the gap" as a case study between Xinjiang's Tarim Basin and Western Eurasia.

One of the official justifications for the reburial provided by former culture minister Kazakov was that the mummy was "just an ordinary woman", unlike Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, who he said was a "chieftain" worthy of preservation.

Archaeologist Tashbayeva rejected both these arguments and said important facts about the mummy are already known.

"Her gender is known, we know she was quite young—probably less than 30—when she died," she said.

"We can see that her skull has undergone artificial deformation, which was a popular custom among nomads of our region and era.

"We could learn even more with DNA testing but we lack specialists," she added.

Tashbayeva and her colleagues have refused to share a stage with self-professed psychics as local television shows have jumped on the topic.

She accused the mediums of filling the debate with "nonsense".

"I am worried we are destined for a dark age," she said.

source: AFP

 

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

outrage after kyrgyzstan reburies its only ancient mummy outrage after kyrgyzstan reburies its only ancient mummy

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 09:23 2017 Wednesday ,19 April

1105 food baskets distributed in Yemen

GMT 09:35 2018 Monday ,08 January

Trump marijuana policy reversal stokes fears

GMT 11:09 2017 Saturday ,16 December

Russia poses risk to undersea cables: UK defense chief

GMT 09:56 2017 Thursday ,02 November

Digital subscriber gains rev up NY Times profit

GMT 01:38 2016 Thursday ,29 December

Iraqi President meets Kuwaiti Foreign Minister

GMT 17:37 2017 Tuesday ,21 February

Le Pen refuses to wear veil, fails to meet with Mufti

GMT 01:48 2016 Monday ,13 June

Pioneering solar pilots 'make sci-fi a reality'

GMT 18:45 2016 Wednesday ,21 December

Several Qaeda militants killed in drone strike

GMT 07:28 2018 Thursday ,11 January

As US freezes aid, Pakistan dismisses economic fears

GMT 11:14 2017 Sunday ,12 March

My video is flagrant but smashed the charts

GMT 09:21 2018 Wednesday ,10 January

unveils London boutique and appoints MG Empower

GMT 07:48 2018 Thursday ,04 January

L’Oréal Professionnel unveils Alexa

GMT 07:41 2017 Saturday ,19 August

Brief tourism impact from Spain attacks

GMT 00:02 2017 Friday ,22 December

UK-Iranian prisoner could be released

GMT 21:53 2016 Tuesday ,14 June

Israeli tech second only to Silicon Valley

GMT 00:25 2017 Friday ,27 October

Ex-HSBC executive can face US extradition: UK court

GMT 07:44 2017 Wednesday ,20 September

Iran asks award-winning film-maker to report to prosecutor

GMT 10:34 2017 Saturday ,11 November

Politics free? Even country music awards poke Trump

GMT 07:59 2017 Sunday ,17 December

Embassy in London marks Accession, National Days
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle