Hunters in the sky

In the vast grasslands of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, nomadic huntsmen (“burkutchi”) still follow their passion for hunting with golden eagles. For many centuries, these huge birds of prey have been trained to protect sheep from wolves and foxes. The skins of the dead animals then used for furs. It is said that a trained eagle is worth twelve horses.

The fifty pure-bred eagles which remain in Kazakhstan have been trained to hunt by the skilled “burkutchi”. Female eagles are both larger and stronger than the male and can have a wingspan of up to two meters. A young female is taken from the nest just after it has learnt to fly. The bird is hooded to keep it calm and is kept on a lead which is gradually lengthened. It is taught to feed from the huntsman’s gloved hand. The eagle must be taught to hunt only the prey which has been identified by its master and to return to his cry “Kel! Kel! Kel!”. For this it is rewarded with all kinds of delicacies and special grooming for its feathers. Hunting is done from horseback with the hooded eagle riding on the burkutchi’s right forearm. When the burkutchi sights the prey, for instance a fox, the bird is unhooded and immediately takes off in pursuit. The fox is grabbed by the bird’s claws and held until the burkutchi catches up, leaps off his horse and kills the prey. A good hunting -eagle can catch up to fifty foxes in one season. A twelve-year-old bird is believed to have captured fourteen wolves in a single day many years ago.

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Kazakh culture events

The Kazakh people have a long tradition of peace, tolerance and co-existence. Children learn hospitality and respect from a very young age, and this is reflected in the wonderful hospitality offered to all guests and travelers. If you visit a Kazakh household - whether or not you are expected - those present will stand up in greeting as you enter the door. You will be seated on the tor - the special guest seat and offered a cup of either kumiss or tea. It is considered extremely poor manners to disturb the weary or hungry guest, so the host often remains silent until you are refreshed!

The first day of spring begins the Muslim New Year. In Kazakhstan, this holiday is known as Nauryz, and it is said that the more you celebrate at this time, the greater will be your success throughout the year. In fact, the celebration goes on for nearly a month! It’s a time to visit and congratulate friends and neighbors, and also a time to forgive each other. Guests are met in beautifully decorated yurts where they enjoy a traditional dish of Nauryzkoshe, which is made with seven different grains, representing the seven days of the week.

Many Kazakh national games feature horse racing or other games that are played on horseback. One endurance race features as many as two hundred participants, with riders going around a mile-long track for about thirty laps. Other games include Kokpar - a type of polo, Kumis Alu, where riders attempt to pick a handkerchief off the ground while galloping at full speed, or KuuzKuu – “catch the girl”, where the boys try to best the girls in a race.

Just as other aspects of Kazakh culture reflect its nomadic past, its cuisine retains many of these traditions. Of prime importance is hospitality to the guests, who receive a special welcome and are offered a place of honor. After the guest has enjoyed kumiss or another fermented milk drink like kefir, the meal is served.

Also of historical importance are the main ingredients of the meal. Traditionally, Kazakh cuisine was based mostly on meat (including horse meat) and milk products. The dastarkhan - feast table, is always laden with good things to eat.

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The nature of the family varies widely from culture to culture. In some societies, family members tend to stay in close proximity to their kin, never moving more than a few miles away from the ancestral home. In other places, while the members of one generation may all live near one another, their descendants in the next generation scatter widely. In such a case, it’s difficult to maintain the same family cohesion enjoyed by those who live close together. Sometimes marriage can govern family structure; for example, there may be strict traditions requiring a new bride to leave her paternal home and siblings to move in with her new husband’s family. Such traditions are followed, even by young couples who don’t like them, because going against them is likely to result in the loss of inheritance. Whatever one’s own sentiments about family structure, it is important to recognize that one culture’s family system is as legitimate as another’s.

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The first celebration of the year of course Nauryz. This holiday of spring and the renewed life of the Earth is celebrated for over five thousand years by many cultures of the Middle and Central Asia. This holiday is celebrated on the 22nd of March. There are a lot of holiday activities around the city, most of which represent Kazakh national traditions. Asians really enjoy this day, while for others it may be no more than an official holiday. Walk around downtown to listen to akyns (national poets/singers), see national contests, folk games, dancing, etc. Kazakh national food is everywhere, but cooking Nauryz kozhe is a must. Nauryz kozhe (a special holiday dish) consists of seven components wheat, oats, rice, barley, raisins, wild apricots, and millet. It symbolizes the hope for well-being in the coming year.

2. Together with these official holidays, religious holidays are widely observed: Kurban Ait among Muslims. Kurban Ait is a holy Muslim holiday. If translate from Arabic language, it is holiday of sacrifice something. Muslim people make ceremony, named kurban - shaly. During it they sacrifice one of the animals: sheep, caw, ram or camel. It is considered that if a man did all the ceremony right, he would bring prosperity to his family for all the year, until next Kurban Ait holiday. Kurban Ait is the most important Muslim holiday, which is celebrated on 70-th day of moon calendar, after Oraza ended. Each year this date changes, with the small difference in 10 days. The most important day of the Kurban Ait holiday is the very first day. In this day all believers invite each others to have a meal together, in all mosques mullahs offer up a holly prayer ait namaz.

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Text 1

The art of architecture

Architecture is the art and the technique of building, employed to fulfil the practical and expressive requirements of civilized people. Almost every settled society that possesses the techniques for building produces architecture. It is necessary in all but the simplest cultures; without it, man is confined to a primitive struggle with the elements; with it, he has not only a defence against the natural environment but also the benefits of a human environment, a prerequisite for and a symbol of the development of civilized institutions.

The characteristics that distinguish a work of architecture from other man-made structures are (1) the suitability of the work to use by human beings in general and the adaptability of it to particular human activities; (2) the stability and permanence of the work's construction; and (3) the communication of experience and ideas through its form.

All these conditions must be met in architecture. The second is a constant, while the first and the third vary in relative importance according to the social function of buildings. If the function is chiefly utilitarian, as in a factory, communication is of less importance. If the function is chiefly expressive, as in a monumental tomb, utility is a minor concern. In some buildings such as churches and city halls, utility and communication may be of equal importance.

Orders of architecture. The first step in architecture was simply the replacement of wooden pillars with stone ones, and the translation of the carpentry and brick structural forms into stone equivalents. This provided an opportunity for the expression of proportion and pattern. This expression eventually took the form of the invention or evolution of the stone "orders" of architecture. . These orders, or arrangements of specific types of columns supporting an upper section called an entablature, defined the pattern of the columnar facades and upperworks that formed the basic decorative shell of buildings. The Greeks invented the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. The Romans added the Tuscan and the Composite. The oldest order, the Doric, is subdivided into Greek Doric and Roman 1 Doric. The first is the simplest and has baseless columns as those of the 1 Parthenon. Roman Doric had a base and was less massive. The parts of Greek Doric — the simple, baseless columns, the spreading 1 capitals, and triglyph-metope {alternating vertically ridged and plain blocks) frieze above the columns — constitute an aesthetic development in stone incorporating variants on themes used functionally in earlier wood and brick construction. Doric long remained the favourite order of the Greek mainland and western colonies, and it changed little throughout its history. The Ionic order evolved later, in eastern Greece, About 600 ВС, in Asia Minor, the first intimation of the style appeared in stone columns with capitals elaborately carved in floral hoops — an Orientalizing pattern familiar mainly on smaller objects and furniture and enlarged for architecture. It developed throughout so called Aeolic capital with vertically springing volutes or spiral ornaments to the familiar Ionic capital, the volutes of which spread horizontally from the centre and curl downward. The order was always fussier and more ornate, less stereotyped than the Doric. The Ionic temples of the 6^th century exceed in size and decoration even the most ambitious of their Classical successors. Such were the temples of Artemis at Ephesus in Asia Minor and the successive temples of Hera on the island of Samos. The Corinthian order originated in the 5^th century ВС in Athens. It had an Ionic capital elaborated with acanthus leaves. In its general proportions it is very like the Ionic. For the first time the Corinthian order was used for temple exteriors. Because of its advantage of facing equally in four directions it was more adaptable than the Ionic for corners. There are not many Greek examples of the Corinthian order. The Romans widely used it for its showiness. The earliest known instance of the Corinthian order used on the exterior is the choragic monument of Lysicrates in Athens, 335/334 ВС. A simplified version of Roman Doric is the Tuscan order. It has a less decorated frieze and no mutules in the cornice. The Composite order is also a late Roman invention. It combines the elements from all the Greek orders.

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