IRCICA has the pleasure to present its joint publication with the Akimate (Governorate) of Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan, and R.B. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies, Almaty, Kazakhstan, containing an important scholarly study on the Abat-Baytaq Necropolis in Aktobe. The research and field studies regarding the gravestone inscriptions in the necropolis were conducted and their outcomes authored during 2019-2023 by Professor Ashirbek Muminov (IRCICA) and Dr. Baghdat Dyussenov (R.B. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies) with Dr. Allen J. Frank paticipating as editor for the English part of the book. The latter has a Foreword by Ms. Bulbul Eleusinova, Deputy Governor of Aktobe Region, and the Preface by Prof. Mahmud Erol Kılıç, Director General of IRCICA. IRCICA’s engagement in this joint project came under its research interest in Islamic historical and cultural heritage and the archival and archeological assets of the OIC member countries. The historical complex that comprises the Abat-Baytaq Necropolis and the Abat Mausoleum is an invaluable heritage site and a repository of historical and cultural information. The necropolis came into being during the late 18th – early 20th centuries. The hundreds of gravestones it contains have a high reference value due to the information embodied in their inscriptions, alongside their artisanal characteristics. The majority bear inscriptions in Kazakh language written in Arabic script. They also have high ethnographic significance as records of the personalities and families that lived in the region. This has been the very first study conducted on the Abat-Baytaq Necropolis. The authors identified and examined 243 gravestone inscriptions, transcribed them, translated them into Russian and English, and presented them together with their photographs taken from different angles. A scholarly Introduction and indices complete the book. The book will be of interest for historians, researchers in religion studies and regional cultures, as well as the general reader interested in the history and culture of the region. .
