{"id":1209,"date":"2024-07-02T09:57:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T08:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orchontal.de\/wordpress\/?page_id=746"},"modified":"2025-04-10T14:24:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T12:24:30","slug":"manichean-temple","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/monuments\/karabalgasun\/manichean-temple\/","title":{"rendered":"The Manichean Sacral Complex"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \"View\n <\/div>\n
The Manichaean sacral complex south of the temple and palace city of Karabalgasun \u00a9 H. Rohland \/ DAI<\/span><\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n

Maenichean Sacral Complex<\/h1>\n

South of the temple and palace city of Karabalgasun is another striking structure, which was protected by a double wall with sides measuring 270 x 230 meters. Several building remains have been preserved within this enclosure wall, the best preserved of which is a central mound.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Central Building<\/h2>\n
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To the east of this hill is a large courtyard, in the centre of which the remains of the famous trilingual inscription of Karabalgasun were discovered. Archaeological research by the Mongolian-German Orkhon Expedition showed that the trilingual inscription originally stood in a building complex that included smaller buildings as well as a large central structure. On a 2.40 meter high platform, which was accessible via a ramp and stairs, some remains of the wall have been preserved. However, a complete reconstruction of the complex is no longer possible.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\n \"View\n <\/div>\n
View over the excavation at the podium <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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Herringbone pattern blind wall <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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Ramp recognisable in profile on the main podium <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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Enclosing wall of the podium <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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Vessel fragment in excavation section <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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Preserved wooden post <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
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Outbuilding under Investigation<\/h2>\n
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An outbuilding was also investigated. Two rooms with a hard clay screed floor and plastered interior walls were partially uncovered. Fragments of typical Uyghur pottery show that the building was part of the original city complex. A burial was also found in the north-western corner of the building, which could be clearly dated to the Mongol period based on the grave goods. The ruins of Karabalgasun were clearly still being used as a burial site centuries after the expulsion of the Uyghurs.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\n \"Image\n <\/div>\n
Screed in the outbuilding area <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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\n \"Image\n <\/div>\n
Wall remains in the area of the outbuilding <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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Mongolian burial in the north-west corner of the outbuilding <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
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Function of the Double Wall System<\/h2>\n
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Based on the arrangement of the inscription, the double gate and the central platform within the double rampart, we assume that this complex was a Manichean sanctuary. However, it is generally difficult to prove that buildings were used for the practice of the Manichaean faith. Their architecture is often not very clear.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n

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\n \"Image\n <\/div>\n
Detail of the laser scan plan <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n
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Reconstruction of the main podium <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1149,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1209","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1209"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1884,"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1209\/revisions\/1884"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orchontal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}