Mary Region

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Badkhyz Reserve Margush / Margiana Mary Museum Merv Serags Tagtabazaar - Ekedeshik Cave Town

Badkhyz Reserve

The Badkhyz nature reserve , and the Badkhyz region proper, include ecosystems of hilly plateaus at the piedmont of the Paropamiz, the northernmost range of the Hindukush. The territory of the nature reserve supports 40 species of mammals, 250 species of birds, 34 species of reptiles. Among them are the Central Asian gazelle, Turkmen mountain sheep, onager, striped hyena, caracal, leopard, short-toed eagle, golden eagle, and others. The vegetation in Badkhyz includes 1,050 varieties of vascular plants (442 genera and 76 families) of which more than 75 species and subspecies are endemic. The nature reserve incorporates 3 protected areas (all established in 1956): Chemenibit (floodplain-river, the summer drinking place for onagers); Kyzyldjar (piedmont, the drinking place for mammals and birds); Pulikhatum (piedmont, the drinking place for mammals and birds). Created in 1935 the reserve is situated in Mary region on the southernmost border of the former USSR near Kushka (Serkhetabat). Its territory runs over for 150 sqkm. The name of the reserve means "the place where wind begins". And this geographical name reflects the real climate conditions of the spot. It has two year periods: one of drought and rain. In summer time the heat is closely combined with drought. This period is a quite timefor most of flora and fauna. One can be pleasantly surprised of the great variety of the animals here because fauna here is presented tribes of hoofed, birds and reptile. The most populated animals are "Kulans" a kind of wild horses. The reserve is also famous for its pistachio-trees that reap in May-June. Pistachio Gorge occupies the biggest territory between the rest two parts of the reserve. The trees growing far away from each other look like lonely warriors that protect the reserve. Rare and beautiful animals make the reserve one of the most attractive and outstand ing spots of Turkmenistan. It is the best pace where one can watch animals, their life and spread over the grass under the shady and odorous trees at the same time. It is like a comfortable and pleasant to look theatre. That one feels happy who gets an opportunity to see all the beauty, feel the wild world of the animals and cruelty of the climate in the reserve.

Margush / Margiana

Gonur Depe The smooth, mirror - like surfaces of split takyrs (clay soil empty of plants) with light sand waves drifting from the great northern desert of Karakum, stretch to the horizon. It seems that lifeless silence has always reigned here. But this is only an illusion. Driving off-road for what seems several hours and leaving clouds of dust behind, your car climbs a hill from where you can see excavations into the ancient country Margush. In the shimmering heat of the desert you see many sand Hills, the remains of ancient settlements. The first agricultural settlements appeared in the delta of Murgab river as back as 7 millennium BC. Fertile silt coming from mountains, abundance of water and moderate climate had created favourable conditions for good crops and the progress of the ancient economy was continuing for several centuries. The name of that state in the Murgab river area we've never known and the culture of that state did not know the written language. However, several centuries later the state was mentioned in the oldProf Sarianidi on find of the biggest mosaics Iranian texts under the name of Margush. In the ancient epoch, the Greek authors had transformed the ex name into Margiana. Archaeological discoveries of the second half of XX c. in the north Afghanistan and Southern Turkmenistan gave exact proof for close relations between Margiana and Baktria.The Margiana country occupied an area of more than 3000 sq. Km and consisted of 78 oasis and more than 150 compact settlements.The American newspaper "Bosto n Glob" wrote that before we knew the four oldest centers of the world's civilization: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China, and now due to the fantastic results of the Margiana expedition its quite possible to think that there was another, the fifth center. Among the sands of the eastern Kara-kum the archeologists found and excavated the monumental castles and temples, in size competing with the buildings of Assiria and Babilon. For the first time in the world's archeology here were found the remnants of poppy and hemp. In the past,people inhabited this area used to prepare a ritual drink "Khaorna", mentioned in the Avesta and worshipped Zoroastrism. V. Sirianidi /Soviet Shliman/ thinks this religion, the essence of which is an opposition of two bases - good and evil, could appear in this area. Gonur-depe was the capital of Margiana. It was a rectangular fortress with powerful defensive walls, semicircular bastions, adobe constructions and cult buildings for Zoroastrian ceremonies. From 1992 the joint Ligabue Research and Study Centre and Turkmenistan Ministry of Culture archaeological mission pinpointed and began excavation work on the Gonur necropolis as part of the research programme in the fossil delta of the River Murghab. The tombs brought to light contained various spectacular grave goods: mirrors, large pins, cosmetics bottles, bronze armillas, silver ornamental objects, and alabaster and ceramic vases. Many of these objects demonstrate how widely these ancient people (3rd millennium BC) traded with other Central Asiatic regions. The discovery of such a large Bronze-Age cemetery opens an important new chapter of knowledge about proto-historic Turkmenistan cultures. Moreover, the unique nature of the find means considerable light will be cast on related regions such as Northern Afghanistan, Southern Tadzhikistan and Central and Eastern Iran. Such an important archaeological and historical discovery has not been made in the Middle East for at least twenty years. The last significant excavations were those of the large Iranian necropolises of Shahdad and Shaahr-i Sokhta. The Gonur necropolis is destined to fill many lacunas - caused by systematic unauthorized digs - in our knowledge about the ancient history of the Middle East and Central Asia. The ancient country of ancient Margush or Margiana and medieval Merv are essentially one and the same country through different chronological eras. Scientists assume that the first worldwide religion Zoroastrianism is connected with the country of Margush. Archeologist discovered four monumental fire temples there. Perhaps suffering indignity as the prophet of a new religion, Zoroaster strolled along the dusty roads of Margush. Perhaps there he began his religious mission, and there the ideas included in the holy Avesta were bom and first became well known. In the Avesta, seven regions are named where the Zoroaster's followers lived, including Mouru. The golden age of Margush lasted from the sixteenth to the thirteenth centuries BC. The advanced city of Gonur was the capital of this great agricultural civilization. It's ancient citizens built it on a great natural elevation. In the center of the city a fortified palace enclosed by a great wall was built. The unique architecture of this construction has no corollary and represents a singular phenomenon in the history of ancient Oriental architecture. Not far from this palace a fortified temple was located, and its walls and floors were coated with white gypsum. There were several special rooms in the temple where great jars, more than one meter in height, called khums, stood lengthwise along the walls on an elevated platform. The special cult beverage khoma - saoma was kept in these. This beverage was prepared either from poppy seeds or mandrake roots. Cult beverages were widely used in Zoroastrianism. A recipe for such a drink is even given in the Avesta. Up until now, nearly 300 large and small settlements, and 30 temples have been found in the legendary country of Margush. The most astonishing part of our travels was viewing the silent witnesses to the glory and collapse of a great culture, and literally touch these antiquities, without fear of being caught by a custodian and his shout of "hands off, without fear of facing the warning of "All rights reserved". You can breathe ancient dust, which has not changed for three millenniums, and still draws intricate patterns on halls, behind which appear fantastical mirages linking the past and the present like dappled shadows.

Mary Museum

There are two major public museums in Turkmenistan, namely in Ashgabat and Mary. The Mary museum was initially opened in 1984 in a large brick building constructed in 1908 and said originally to belong to a Russian brick factory owner. The upper floor boasts an extensive permanent display of Turkmen ethnography with additional sections on the Baluch and early Russian involvement in this region. Future galleries will focus on flora and fauna, and the impact of wars on local history. In 1998 the museum opened a new permanent exhibition of archaeological material displayed in Turkish cases paid through a grant from the United Nations. Most of the displays derived either from Victor Sarianidi's excavations at the Bronze Age sites of Gonur-depe and Togolok 21, in the northern part of the Merv oasis, or various Sasanian-Islamic discoveries at Merv. Many of these objects are unpublished. The Bronze Age displays include several small imported south-east Iranian carved softstone bowls and bottles (Gonur, Togolok 21), a curious metre-long softstone sceptre with a hollow bronze head (Gonur), a square bronze stamp seal and several clay figurines showing two-humped camels, local ceramic copies of Iranian sheet-metal spouted jars (Gonur), a lapis bead necklace found around the neck of an eighteen-year-old girl (Togolok 21) and an Indus etched carnelian bead (Altyn-depe). Later Sasanian objects from Merv include a spherical etched carnelian bead and an unpublished decorated silver two-pronged fork fragment of a type hitherto only known from Iran (Qasr-i Abu Nasr) and Mesopotamia (Nineveh). Mary museum is generally open seven days a week, 9.00-18.00, with an admission charge currently set at US$1 per foreigner. The museum is located in the city centre at 1 Komsomoloskaya str., 745400 Mary.

Merv

Due to its size and historical value, the Ancient Merv is the one of the most important sites. It is situated in the lower reaches of the Murgab river. The historians of the past rewarded the Ancient Merv with magnificent epithets like "The Stronghold of the World", "The Dome of Islam", "The Spirits of Kings". Its upsurge took place in XI-XII centuries, at the time of the Great Seldjuks. The Seldjuk's Empire stretched from the Lower Amu-Darya to the Mediterranean sea. Under Seldjuks Merv occupied 640 hectares and was one of the most developed cities of its time. It attracted scientists and merchants from the Moslem world. In 1221 all settlements of Middle Asia were devastated by Mongolian hordes, and Merv was not an exception. Ancient Mary is a series of towns that succeeded one another throughout the course of history: Erk Kala fortress citadel, Gyaur Kala, Sultan Kala, Abdullakhan Kala and Bayramalykhan Kala. The oldest levels of civilization in Merv belong to Erk Kala fortress 6th c. BC, the time when this oasis was included into the Persian Akhamenid state. The town occupied an area of about 20 square hectares and it was surrounded by strong walls made of brick. The height of the fortress was 25 m. In the fourth century BC Merv was conquered by Alexander the Great. At the end of the 4th c.BC Merv was included into the kingdom of Selevkids and the city of Antiochia was founded. The remains of Antiochia's walls were discovered about 30 km to the north of Ancient Merv. It also known under the name of Gyaur Kala. The fortress has a regular plan and perfectly aligned walls. Between the end of the IV and the beginning of the V c.c. the so-called "oval house" was erected in the north- eastern corner of Gyaur -Kala. It was a cloister of the local Christian community. In the second half of the 3d c. at the vast portion of the south - eastern corner of Gyaur Kala appeared a Buddhist worship complex, with a stupa (reliquary). After multiple reconstruction's the stupa had almost square platform (13X13X3), upon which the cylindrical stupa's body lowered with a large clay statue of Buddha standing before it. The mosque of Yusuf Khamadani /16 c./ is situated near Sultan Kala. Sheikh Abu Yakup Usuf lbn Hamadan i lived in Merv (1048-1140) He belonged to a very popular Nakshbendi's school of suphism. Large and Small Kiz-Kala (VI-VIIc.c. AD) is located to the west from Gaur-Kala. Large Kiz-Kala presents 42X37,2 m rectangular in plan. In the basis of architectural plan composition of this keshk there is a square inner yard (or possibly hall) surrounded by rooms situated in two levels. All its facades are shaped with semi-circle tower gofferings. This style was widely spread in architecture of Pre-Arabian times. That is the way of forming facades of near by Small Kiz-Kala. There is the same central (may be domed) room and the same rectan-gular but more regular rooms around it. Abdullah-khan Kala: The walls of post-medieval Merv, known today as Abdullah-Khan Kala. Abdullah-Khan Kala is the smallest of the three cities, occupying only some 44 hectares. It was founded in 1409 by the Timurid rules Shakhruh and is located 3 km to the south of Sultan Kala. Like all the cities it was founded on a virgin site. The walls are rectangular in shape with large circular towers and some 44 additional towers. There was a large mosque and madrasa in the north part of the city. Like most of the cities of Merv and elsewhere, Abdullah Khan Kala had a citadel. The ruler's palace was sited in the citadel, together with a caravanserai and storerooms. The Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar: a magnificent architectural structure about which contemporaries wrote that its blue domecould be seen "a day ride away", was built in the middle of 12 century. It is an enormous 27X27 m cube which is crowned by a dome of 17,28 m in diameter.

Serags

Serahs oasis, situated between Nishapur and Merv was one of the important points on the way of the Great Silk Route. The significance of Serahs increased after the Arabs' invasion. It was in those days that the direction of one of the main routes of the Great Silk Road has been changed; now it led from the central areas of Iran to Nishapur and from there, across Serahs, to Merv and further to the east. The 11th century is marked by the formation of a strong Turkmen state with the dynasty of Great Seidjuks at the head, who left a brilliant mark in the history of Middle and Near East people.Creation of two and even three - layered dome constructions became a remarkable achievement of the architectural style of the Seraks architecture. The Seraks fortress became an important town, surrounded with clay (paksha) walls with towers and moats.In 11-12 c.c. the town presented a citadel. Abul Fazil mausoleum (its folk name is Sarakhs Baba). It is one of the most perfect pieces of the South Turkmenistan architecture (1024) which in spite of its small dimensions (15,4X 15,4 m in plan) looks monumental enough. It has a double sphere conic dome. Not far from Abul -Fazil tomb ther ked out in three layers: deep vaulted bays on axes are underneath, an arcature is above them and three bladed pendentives are beyond in the subdome system. The dome is double-shelled.

Tagtabazaar - Ekedeshik Cave Town

Yekedeshik - is a State historical and architectural reserve, located 225 kilometers from Bairam-Ali in the district of Tagta-Bazar. Tahta-Bazar -is a district where once passed great caravan routes from Iran, Khorasan. Yekedeshik -is a unique and spectacular cave that doesn't have any analogues anywhere else. The word "Yekedeshik"-from Turkmen language means "One orifice" because of it's only one entrance. In the spring period one can see here open land covered with lots of tulips and field mushrooms. The emergence of this cave is a mystery and there are many versions of how it appeared. According to one of them cave was dug by the legions of A. Macedonian army. As a consequence people used the cave as a dwelling. Inside the cave there are blocs of rooms similar to modern ones where one can see bedrooms, kitchens and others. The cave consists of two floors. On the lower floor people collected water for their needs. There are 44 rooms and the cave is still under archeological excavations to nowadays. The cave has been carved by of axe-like tools in the rock of sandstone. A straight, 37 meters long corridor comes up against niche which resembles an altar. On the right and the left there are rectangular rooms and one of them, almost quadrate in plan (3,2X3,3 m) has a spherical ceiling, divided into four segments relief ribs and a dome, the narrow drum of which is decorated with the ornament in the shape of an arcade, and in the keystone there is a cylindrical "skylight" with inserted a stylized rose-window. The idea that Ekedeshik was a monastery, has been suggested by S. Khmelnitsky. He reminds that more or less organized complexes of artificial caves serve in Central Asia as monasteries - usually of Buddhists, sometimes of Christians. There are more reasons to regard the cave erections of Tagtabazar as a Buddhist complex, a great number of which remained in the neighboring Afganistan

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