An ancient mosque found in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists have found a mosque of XIII-XIV centuries in Kazakhstan, Interfax reports. The ruins of the building were discovered during excavations 10 kilometers from Uralsk, the administrative center of the West Kazakhstan region. The mosque was a place of pilgrimage for the Nogai tribes, whose descendants still live in Western Kazakhstan, said Murat Sdykov, director of the West Kazakhstan Center for Archeology and History. According to him, this place was the center of the city with a developed network of communications. Islam in Western Kazakhstan spread precisely from the XIII-XIV centuries. Sdykav said that in terms of the location of the premises and their architectural character, the building resembles a modern mosque. "The mosque was destroyed. Nevertheless, the foundation and fragments of the walls of the building were perfectly preserved thanks to the good firing of bricks. The brick is twice as large and of higher quality than the modern one," the scientist said. Last year, two kilometers from the discovered mosque, archaeologists found a medieval brick kiln. "Perhaps it was founded specifically for the construction of the mosque," Sadykov suggested.