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[German version] The largest tell (50 ha) in the foothills of the mountains of southern Turkmenia, to the southeast of Ašḫābād. Excavations since 1949. Basis for the structure of southern Turkmenian Chalcolithic and Bronze Age cultures (NMG strata I-V: 5th-2nd millennia BC) and the early Iron Age (NMG stratum VI: 1st millennium BC). The excavations so far encompass only part of the site, and the interpretations are somewhat disputed. Abandoned since the Achaemenid period. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography P.L. Kohl, Central Asia. Palaeolithic Beginnings to the Iro…

[German version] (Σάκαι/ Sákai, Σάκκαι/ Sákkai: different variants of the name, e.g., in Aristoph. Av. 31; Xen. Cyr. 8,3,25-32; 8,3,35-50; Hdt. 7,64; Sacae: Plin. HN 6,50, among others). Derived from the Persian name for the nomads of central Asia, possibly called after the tribal group's name for itself. For Str. 11,8,2, “most of the Scythians” east of the Caspian Sea are S. According to the ancient Persian inscriptions, there were several leagues, the Sakā haumavargā (= Σκύθαι Ἀμύργιοι/ Skýthai Amýrgioi, approximately ‘haoma-drinking S.’) and the Sakā tigraḫaudā (Σκύθαι Ὀρθοκορ…

[German version] Legendary term for the border fortification from the coast of the Caspian Sea 200 km inland to the mountains of Pishkamar. Probably Parthian and Sassanid in origin. Today still 175 km long, 2.5 m high, and 10 m wide; ditches 3 m deep and 30 m wide, various auxiliary walls. Forty forts continue at distances of 0.4-6 km south of the wall. Excavated forts: Qaleh Kafar, Qaravol Tappeh. Provided protection for c. 500 villages and cities. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography M. Y. Kani, Parthian Sites in Hyrcania, in: A M I, Suppl. vol. 9, 1982.

[German version] or Amu Darya treasure; hoard taken from the area of this river (Araxes [2]) to India, and since 1897 exhibited in London. It comprises some 1,500 coins, worked gold and silver, a number of roll seals and gems. Coins: Achaemenid period  Greek imports and recoinings, and about 100 tetradrachmai and 100 drachmai of  Alexander III, Seleucus I, Antiochius I and II and Diodotus I. The gold works form several groups: statuettes, sumptuous bracelets in various styles, brooches, pot handles in the shape of a Bezoar ibex, a model quadriga, fragments of the sheath of an akinákēs (Pers…

[German version] (also Alexandria [5], later Antioch [7]), principal town of Margiana; an oasis at the delta of the Murgab (or Margus); 30 km east of modern Mary in southern Turkmenistan. Inhabited since the Neolithic. First blossom in the 2nd millenium. The citadel of Erk-/Ark-Kala was built in the Achaemenid period; in Hellenistic times a town with rectangular grid pattern was attached to it. M. belonged to the Parthian and later to the Sassanid kingdom. It was conquered by the Arabs in 651 AD. Excavations have uncovered both Parthian and medieval remains. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bi…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with (Καπίσα; Kapiša-kaniš, Behistun inscription [1. D]), now Bagrām. City in the Ghorband Valley, 45 km north of Kabul, known since 1833. Capital city of Indo-Grecian kings (2nd-1st cents. BC), summer residence of the  Kushanians). Two rooms in the ‘palace’ contained inlaid works of art: Chinese lacquer work, Indian ivory and Hellenistic work. Plaster moulds for pouring metal reliefs are regarded as Alexandrian imports but prove the production of Hellenistic art works in Bactria. Brentjes, Burchard (Berl…

[German version] Area in south-eastern Iran and south-western Pakistan, roughly equivalent to modern Baluchistan. Now a largely arid mountainous area with deep valleys, known from Arrian's account of the difficulties encountered by Alexander's army on its return march. The coast is described in detail in the Voyage of Nearchus (Arr. Anab. 6,22-26; Str. 15,723). Bearers of various cultures since the 8th millennium, they were possibly the ancestors of the Brahui, who are linguistically close to the …

[German version] (ancient name and date of foundation unknown). Sogdian city of Pantcakat on the Serafsan, northern Tadjikistan; trading and artisan centre with gold extraction. A citadel, the inner city with two temples, suburbs and a necropolis are preserved. Wall paintings with local, Indian and Graeco-Roman motifs were found in temples and private houses, e.g. the fable by Aesop of the goose that laid the golden eggs. In addition, bracteates with the Roman she-wolf based on Byzantine coins wer…

[German version] Iranian tribe, mentioned in Diod. Sic.  17,67, Curt. 5,3,1-15, Arr. Anab. 3,17, Str. 16,1,16-18 and Plin. HN  6,133. It is mentioned among the inhabitants of Ḫuzestān (in Iran) in accounts of Alexander the Great's campaign. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography H. Treidler, s. v. U., RE 9 A, 1313-1319.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids ‘The fair (city) of Shapur’, rectangular seat of residence of Shapur I (241-272,  Sapor), in south-west Iran. Constructed by Roman prisoners of war after Shapur's victories over Gordianus, Philippus Arabs and Valerians, consequently using Roman stonemasonry techniques (clamping hewn stones with iron ‘swallowtails’). I.a., a temple of  Anahita has been excavated, a square hall with an outer corridor on each side. The central, domed hall (22 × 22 m, c. 25 m high) of the quarry-stone palace was extended …

[German version] (Σῖνα; Sîna). C. comprises within its modern borders several ancient cultural zones, with various traditions and ties looking to the west and the south. The steppe zone in the north was in continuous contact with western Siberia and eastern Europe from at least the 2nd millennium BC, always under the influence of the central Chinese cultures of the Yellow River region and the coastal zone. Southern China was orientated towards the south and south-east. Traffic along the ‘silk roads…

[German version] [1] Coastal area of Indo-China A coastal area of Indo-China mentioned by Ptol. 7,2,6. Excavations in Arikamedu indicate that this region enjoyed trade with Rome during the 1st cent. AD. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) [German version] [2] City of southern China City of southern China recorded only by Ptol. 7,3,5, possibly associated with the πόλις Ἀσπίθρα ( pólis Aspíthra) and the Psitharas river mentioned by Plin. HN 6,35. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] From Âpaçaka = ‘Water Sacae’ (?), in Str. 11,6-7,513 and Pol. 10,48. Possibly in the Šany-darja delta, their residence  Cirik-Rabat-Kala (?). Babiš-Mulla 1 is a fortified palace, the funeral monuments Babiš-Mulla 2 and Balandy 2 are domed buildings and represent a preliminary stage of the development of Islamic mausoleums. The region was abandoned in 150 BC. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] (Πράσον ἀκροτήριον/ Práson akrotḗrion). Southernmost cape on the African coast reached by the Greeks. It was considered to be the northwestern border of the legendary 'land of the south' (Ptol. 7,2,1) - the counterpart to Cattigara as the corner of Asia. According to the longitudinal data of several seafarers, it lay south of the equator, see Ptol. 1,8. It could have been Cape Ras Kansi near Dār as-Salām. P. was reached by the owners of trading vessels who were either driven south w…

[German version] Collective term for the caravan routes from China to western Asia. Used for general trade and interchange, the Silk Road acquired particular significance by bringing silk fabrics into the Mediterranean, where it was highly prized, particularly in Rome (silk had been known there since the 1st cent. BC; for evidence see Seres). It is not known when the use of these trade routes began - it presumably goes back to the 4th millennium BC; it is documented until the 16th cent. AD. Today'…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Graeco-Bactria | Graeco-Bactria (τὰ Ναύτακα; tà Naútaka). According to Arr. Anab. 3,28,9; 4,18,1; Curt. 8,2,1 ( Nauta), a settlement or region in Sogdiana. Possibly a venue for chariot-racing. Not located. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography J. Sturm, s.v. N., RE 16, 2033  R. Hauschild, Tirade der Wagenrennfahrt des Königs Haosravah und Junkers Neresmanah, in: MIO 7,1, 1959, 1-78.

[German version] (= Eivan). Hall open at the front with a barrel vault, mostly accessible from an internal courtyard. Characteristic building form of the Parthian and Sassanid period (2nd cent. BC-7th cent. AD; Ḥatra [1], Parthian Palace in Assur [1], Ctesiphon [2], Sarwistān, Qaṣr-e Šīrīn) which later became a defining element of Islamic mosque and palace architecture and spread in this way to Morocco and India. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography O. Grabar, s.v. Īwān, EI 4, 287-389.

[German version] (Χορασμίη; Chorasmíē, Arabic Ḫwārizm). River-valley oasis on the lower Āmū-daryā. Settled by farmers since the 5th-4th millennia BC. In the Avesta ( Avesta script) as xwarizm; mentioned in the  Bisutun inscription. The Chorezmians together with the Aryans formed a satrapy (Hdt. III,93,173 Hecat. fr.). Abū Raiḥān al-Bı̄rūnī gives the year 980 before the era of Alexander (1292 BC) as the beginning of the Chorezmian era. When in 329/328 Alexander wintered in  Maracanda he was visited by  Pharasmanes, king o…

[German version] Graeco-Bactrian settlement on the north bank of the Amu-darja river. Remains include a Buddhist temple decorated with reliefs in the north Bactrian style of Gandhara art. Also found were the remains of two stupas and a Greek inscription of several lines from the time of Huvishka. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography B. Staviski, Mittelasien. Kunst der Kuschan, 1979, 134-138.

[German version] Village in Iraqi Kurdistan with an expanse of ruins around a stepped altar in the form of a tower (now also in ruins). Stone blocks with Parthian and Middle Persian inscriptions and busts with the representation of the Sassanid Šahānšāh Narseh (293-302; Narses [1]) are preserved. The remains were interpreted by E. Herzfeld as a victory monument to Narseh. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography E. Herzfeld, P. Monument and Inscription of the Early History of the Sasanian Empire, vol. 1, 1924.