In addition to their immediate purpose, weapons in traditional culture were considered divine, of celestial origin, or a sign and symbol of power. A special cultural status was given to bow, saber, dagger, knife, spear, kamcha and others. The researcher of traditional Kazakh weapons K. Akhmetzhanov [16] notes that in Kazakh folklore there are conspiracies with weapons. Weapons conspiracies usually mentioned the names of sacred patron saints who, according to Kazakhs, were in possession of any batyr weapon [16, p. 188]. The weapons were also part of the Kazakh bride.
The semantics of the bow and arrow reflect the formula of power relations: the bow expresses power, and the arrows represent submission. The gift of the bow with arrows by the elders was the culmination of the initiation rite of the young warrior (Kazakh epic Er Torgyn). Among Turkic peoples, the miniature model of the bow served as a talisman for children, attached to the cradle – the besik: The bow will give the newborn boy strength and courage in the future. The treatment of the bow as an animated object is found in the epic of Kobylandy Batyr, where the character asks his bow not to break and not to abandon him in a decisive battle.
The sable (kylysh) is a status weapon that marks the owner and his position in society. The sable was used in the enthronement ceremony of Kazakh khans: After the newly appointed khan ascended the koshma, they surrounded him – a sign of the khan’s status.
Since the Saka period, the dagger has been a famous warrior and participant in various rituals, including funerals. The decoration of some archeological samples of Kazakh daggers from the Saka period with images of a bird of prey or an eagle’s griffin “duplicated its characteristics, its purpose” [17, p. 106].
The use of the spear as an “analogue” of the deceased clarifies the rite of “naisa syndyru” (“breaking of the funeral spear”). A year after the funeral ceremony, the spear broke. Until the XIX century. Kazakhs used to bury personal weapons together with the deceased, and this tradition has been firmly established since the time of the Sakas and was always practised by Huns and Turks as well. Kamcha also had a certain status in Kazakh culture, serving as protection against evil spirits. The mood of any negotiation in traditional society was determined by the position of the kamcha in the hands: If you whistle, the guest clearly came with bad intentions, and if it is folded – then with the world. Kamcha was also used in birth rituals and baksy practise.
