CHRISTIANITY IN CENTRAL ASIA: ADOPTION OF EAST SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

Abstract

In 2016 archeologists discovered the medieval city of Ilibalyk in modern day Kazakhstan. This new and exciting archeological excavation of the medieval archeological site Ilibalyk reveals the presence of the Church of the East or the East Syriac Church in the region for the first time. The excavations during 2016 and 2017 at Ilibalyk revealed East Syriac Christian gravestones and a graveyard of the late 13th - early 14th century CE, revealing the presence of a Christian population in the late medieval city and in Central Asia in general. Based on analysis of the range of gravestones recovered during excavations at Ilibalyk, this thesis questions the extent to which the Christian communities were integrated into the multireligious society of Central Asia. The thesis examines this question through stylistic analysis of the medieval Christian gravestones and of the crosses engraved on them. This analysis provides us with an insight into how East Syriac Christians were integrated in the multireligious society of Ilibalyk, which was located in the Chagatai ulus. From this research of the uncovered archeological data, we can say that the Ilibalyk Christians, who developed their religious identity in a non-Christian environment, may have been not only well integrated in the socioreligious life of the Ilibalyk community, but also occupied a place in a wider Christian network in this region....