The ancient settlement of Aktobe-Laeti is located within walking distance – on the outskirts of Atyrau, two hundred meters from residential buildings. When archaeologists came here, they saw that they were very lucky. In one of the city’s quarters, they discovered many blast furnaces where they worked with metal and made dishes.
“The history of the city of Aktobe-Laeti dates back to the Middle Ages, to the times of the Golden Horde. It was a fairly large settlement, like the city of Saraishyk in the Makhambet district of the region. The distance between these two cities was forty kilometers. And it was one of the cities on the Great Silk Road, where large caravans passed through the territory of our region, and trade was conducted.
Mapped by Italian travelers in the 14th century, the city disappeared in the 16th century. There are two versions. According to one of them, the city was attacked by the troops of Timur, the ruler of Samarkand. According to the second version, it was flooded by the waters of the Caspian Sea.
In the popular environment, it is better known as Tendyk, and in the scientific community – the Golden Horde settlement of Aktobe. Based on the Institute of History and Ethnology, we are implementing a research project to study this monument, and have held several scientifically important consultations with local historians. The study of Aktobe-Laeti was started by scientist Vyacheslav AFANASYEV, he, in fact, was its first curator. The settlement itself remained under water for a long time. This kind of preserved the material culture of that period, which gives us the opportunity to look into the past, reconstructing the daily life of our distant ancestors.
