Күн мен жылқы бейнелерінің символизмі: көне Тамғалы петроглифтерден қазіргі ұлттық дискурсқа дейін

Abstract

This article examines the Bronze Age context of the Tamgaly Valley petroglpyphs and the modern context of sun and horse imagery. In my article, I try to answer the question what the sun and horse imagery symbolized in the context of the Bronze Age — early Iron Age period, and what it symbolizes today in the national political imagery of Kazakhstan. The research uses the concepts of agency and doxa, as well as contextual and symbolic approaches, as theoretical frameworks. The methodology is the visual analysis of scanned images taken from Rozwadowski (2001), Hermann (2011), UNESCO photographs and Tanbaly Museum photographs. The article suggests that the sun and horse imagery at Tamgaly Valley portrayed the ancient spiritual symbolism, in which horned horses and ‘so-lar-headed’ figures had sacred meanings. Furthermore, I add the ritualistic perspective to the horse domestication debate — perhaps, the shamans who held specific knowledge and experience also knew how to tame and control the horse, and used their knowledge and status for ritual purposes.