Russian scientists discovered the ancient kingdom of Margush

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The sensation of the century can be called the discovery made by Russian scientists in Turkmenistan. A unique culture that disappeared four millennia ago can change our understanding of the history of the Ancient World.

If you are asked to name the most ancient civilizations, you will probably remember Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China. It is already more difficult to answer the question of where and when the first world religion in history originated. However, even with the "simple" task, everything is not so simple. The legend of Russian archeology, Professor Viktor Ivanovich Sarianidi, is sure: in the sands of Turkmenistan he discovered another ancient civilization, and at the same time the place where cults existed, which, centuries later, formed the basis of the first world religion - Zoroastrianism.

To understand these issues, I had to go to the capital of the ancient kingdom of Margush, where I was invited by Professor Sarianidi. The path is not short, even by today's standards. It was necessary to get by plane to Ashgabat, transfer to an internal flight to the city of Mary and there to look for transport to the archaeological expedition. Mary is the most ancient city of Turkmenistan, a distant descendant of that very country of Margush.

Radiocarbon dating of artifacts found in the sands of Turkmenistan showed a record age of an unknown civilization - 2300 BC.

- Where to go, brother? - taxi drivers on used Japanese cars are keenly interested.

- Do you know Gonur-Depe? This is where it should be, - I answer.

“Gonur know how to go - no,” the cabbies shook their heads and dissolved in the sultry air. The hope for a speedy continuation of the trip was also melting before our eyes. “I know the way, I'll take it for 100 manats,” the driver caught up with me in an old battered UAZ car. I paid half as much for a plane ticket from Ashgabat, but I had to agree to the terms of my "caravan", because there was nothing to choose from. Three hours through the villages, off-road and dunes of one of the greatest deserts in the world - and the roofs of the tents of the archaeological expedition appeared in sight. In these scorching sands, I will spend a week looking for an answer to the question: what is the mysterious country of Margush?

Schliemann, Carter, Sarianidi. Victor Sarianidi, the head of the expedition and its permanent leader for nearly forty years, is one of the most successful archaeologists in the world. On his account there are two discoveries of world significance, comparable in level with the discovery of Troy by Schliemann and the tomb of Tutankhamun by Carter. Back in 1978, taking part in the Soviet-Afghan expedition, Sarianidi found the richest unlooted burial ground, which the world knows as the "gold of Bactria". The finds were turned over to the Afghan government and hidden in one of the banks. Now the collection travels the world, collecting sold out at exhibitions in many countries. The name of Sarianidi is only mentioned, but there is not a word about the success of Soviet-Afghan archeology either in brochures or in catalogs of exhibitions.

The second time Viktor Ivanovich was lucky in the sands of the Karakum Desert. No one imagined that it was there that a great secret would be revealed, which, perhaps, would force to rewrite the history of the Ancient World.

Margush, or in Greek Margiana, is a semi-mythical country, which first became known from a couple of lines carved on the famous Behistun rock by order of the Persian king Darius I: they say, the country of Margush was restless, and I pacified it. Another mention of Margush is found in the sacred book of Zoroastrianism - the Avesta: it says that Zoroastrianism is practiced in the country of Mouru. But sometimes two lines are enough to start your research.

According to Professor Sarianidi, he found Gonur by accident. Starting from the word "Margush", orientalist academician Vasily Struve in 1946 outlined the location of the mysterious country. The name of the Murghab river also suggested to the scientist that Margush was nearby. On his recommendation, the South Turkmenistan Archaeological Complex Expedition under the leadership of Professor Mikhail Masson began excavations here, not far from the river, far south of Gonur, although the old shepherds said that ceramics came across in the north.

"Why, then, are we not going north?" - the student Sarianidi pestered his professor during his practice in the Karakum Desert. “What are you, there are only sands. What kind of civilization if there is no water ?! " Was the answer.

“And this was the case until the 1950s, when the first settlements were found in the ancient delta of the Murghab River: Takhirbai and Togolok. In 1972, we were finishing work on Takhirbay and on the occasion of the end of the archaeological season we drank hard. Well, in the morning, with a big hangover, I suggested to our anthropologist to drive ten kilometers north into the desert and came across a hill strewn with broken ceramics. This was Gonur,”- as an anecdote Sarianidi tells about his discovery.

Radiocarbon dating of the artifacts showed a record age of an unknown civilization - 2300 years BC. A developed culture that existed in parallel with Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro civilizations, a culture that possessed all the signs of a unique civilization was found in the sands of Turkmenistan!

So far, however, the main component of any civilization, which makes it unique, has not been found - its own writing. But what has already been discovered in Gonur is impressive: clay and ceramic vessels, gold and silver jewelry, as well as a unique mosaic with elements of painting, which has not yet been found anywhere except in Gonur.

Some earthenware vessels contain symbols, the purpose and meaning of which are not clear. Professor Sarianidi does not give up the idea that the Margush alphabet will also be discovered.

Cylindrical seals from Mesopotamia and a square seal from Harappa were found. This testifies to the ties of Margush with influential neighbors, as well as the fact that these states recognized him. I must say that Margush was conveniently located at the intersection of trade routes from Mesopotamia and Harappa, and since the Silk Road did not yet exist, it was through the Margush territories that the most valuable lapis lazuli, tin and bronze were delivered from neighboring countries.

Palace-temple. The next morning I leave for the excavation site. This is Gonur, the spiritual center of the ancient state of Margush. A few hours after sunrise, the sun is mercilessly beating down in the desert and a scorching wind is blowing: it is very difficult to believe that once there was the capital of a prosperous state. Now only birds, snakes, phalanxes, scarabs and round-headed lizards live here, but more than four thousand years ago, a completely different life was in full swing here.

The remains of adobe brick structures, rising a maximum of a meter from the ground, say little to an unprepared person. Without the help of a specialist, it is difficult to determine the boundaries of buildings and their purpose.

The central place in the city is occupied by the royal palace, which also served as a sanctuary. It is interesting that very little space was allocated to the living quarters of the palace; only the king and his family were housed in them - not a single aristocrat was allowed to live in the palace.

The main territory of the palace is occupied by a ritual complex with countless sanctuaries. Already found sanctuaries of water and, of course, fire, which, judging by all the signs, was the basis of the rituals of the inhabitants of Margush.

There are large and small ritual two-chamber ovens not only in the palace, but also in every building in the city, including the watchtowers of the fortress. An analysis of the findings shows that these are not decorative elements of the interior: a fire was made in one chamber, and sacrificial meat was prepared in the other, separated from the flame by a low partition (yes, the familiar word oven is associated with the word “spirit”). The blood from the sacrificial meat was not supposed to touch the sacred fire - among the Zoroastrians, such desecration of the flame was punishable by death.

Several hundred such furnaces have been discovered in the city, and even after more than four thousand years, such an impressive number causes mystical awe. What are so many ovens for? What is their purpose? And where did they get the fuel to maintain the sacred flame in the Temple of Fire? A fairly strong fire was constantly burning in four open hearths.

This is evidenced by the analysis of clay from the walls of the hearths. Why did this eternal flame burn? There are many more questions than answers.

Heart of Margush.“This is the main place of Gonur - the throne room, which we have tried to partially restore. We believe that important meetings and secular rituals took place here,”says Nadezhda Dubova, deputy professor of Sarianidi, who has been working on these excavations for ten years. “But, unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to preserve everything that we have dug up, and the priceless monument is gradually being destroyed.”

The main enemies of ancient clay cities are rain and wind: water washes the soil out of the foundation, and the wind compares bricks to the ground. Of course, if the builders used fired bricks, then the buildings would have survived to this day in the best condition, but the time for the production of such building material would have taken incomparably more than for the production of adobe bricks. They only need clay and straw - as they say, just add water and leave to dry in the sun. But for the construction of the fortress and palace in Gonur, it was required to make several million bricks! And the ancient Gonur people would rather have used the fuel to maintain the sacred fire in the furnaces than to fine-tune the bricks.

Is it possible to restore the way of life of the mysterious Margush? This is what scientists are doing now. It is already known that the inhabitants of the ancient settlement were farmers and cattle breeders, they grew grapes, plums, apples, melons, wheat, barley, millet … But Gonur - and this is proved by excavations - was primarily the religious center of the state and its necropolis.

As any Hindu wants to die in Varanasi, so the inhabitant of ancient Margush, apparently, wanted to be buried in Gonur. Now more than four thousand burials have been discovered, but not all have survived: many were destroyed when the local canal was laid.

Cemetery city. What else do we know about the mysterious ancient country? Scientists assure that the climate four thousand years ago was about the same, but at some point, what allowed the city to exist for more than a thousand years, the river, disappeared. Gonur was located in the delta of the Murghab River, which was divided into many branches. Gradually, the river left, and people were forced to follow it - the old channel and the city were empty. A new city, Togolok, was built 20 kilometers from Gonur. In our time, excavations have been carried out there and dwelling houses and a fortress, household utensils and decorations have been found.

And out of more than four thousand burials open at the moment in the old heart of Margush, about a quarter refers to the time when people left this city. Apparently, Gonur remained for a long time the center of religious pilgrimage and funeral rituals. Of all the graves examined in Gonur-Depe, about 5 percent belonged to the upper nobility, 10 percent to the poor, and 85 percent to the middle class, which reflects the very high standard of living in the state.

I wander through the labyrinth of a huge burial complex and cannot find a way out, nor can I answer the question: what happened here more than four thousand years ago? What rites did the priests perform?

Here they dug small depressions into which they piled the bones of whole young lambs, white-burned somewhere nearby (perhaps in two-chamber hearths?). There, they performed some rituals related to water. There are rooms where there are many wide and shallow clay vessels sculpted right on the ground, but there are no traces of water. Here it was apparently replaced by ash. In addition to "ordinary" two-chambered foci, there are huge, pear-shaped - skulls, shoulder blades, limb bones of camels and cows were found there. There are hearths consisting of three or even four chambers. What were they for? Unfortunately, even venerable experts admit that not all the secrets of ancient Margush have been revealed.

Upside down world. Burial rites in Gonur-Depe are no less mysterious. In addition to the royal burials and the burials of ordinary townspeople, very strange burials were discovered in the necropolis of the city.

Like many other ancient peoples, the inhabitants of Margush supplied their dead with everything necessary for a comfortable existence in the other world: dishes, clothes, food, livestock, jewelry; together with the master, the servants, as you know, went to the kingdom of the dead; carts were found in some of the graves.

It is noteworthy that most of the objects were deliberately spoiled: the carts were thrown into the burial pit so that they broke, the dishes were beaten, and the knives were bent. Apparently, the ancient people believed that in an upside down world, death is life, and a broken thing is new. Often, the poor put the necessary household items in the graves of relatives, believing that they were more needed in the next world - for example, household ceramics, which they themselves used.

But the most unusual were the graves where dogs, donkeys and rams were buried. The animals were buried with great honors, according to the rite, which was usually honored by noble persons. How these animals deserve such an honor is a mystery.

Along with ceramics, so-called stone columns and staves were found in the graves. One of the versions of using stone columns is ritual libations: liquid was poured onto the upper surface, which flowed along the side grooves. This hypothesis is confirmed, in particular, by drawings from the palace of Mari in Syria, where the priests pour something on something that resembles a column.

However, the interpretation of this ritual, like many others, is still limited to versions.

Gonur attracts people and literally bewitches. In order to feel for myself what the inhabitants of ancient Margush felt during one of the most widespread rituals, I light a fire in a dilapidated furnace.

Dry branches of tumbleweed and saxaul are quickly engaged, and after a few seconds a flame is blazing in the hearth.

Either I have a developed imagination, or the design of a stove with a secret, but I feel that the fire is alive. And only the absence of the intoxicating drink homa-saoma at hand stops me from worshiping fire.

Private expedition. In the sacred book of Zoroastrianism Avesta, the country of Mouru is mentioned - the etymology of the word allows us to assert that this is the ancient Margush. And the finds at the excavations of Gonur-Depe only confirm the bold assumption.

The inhabitants of Gonur were adherents of an unknown cult similar to Zoroastrianism. Professor Sarianidi believes that this is protozorastrianism, a kind of belief, on the basis of which the cult of fire worshipers was formed. Zoroastrianism, in his opinion, as a system did not originate in Margush, but somewhere else, from where it later spread throughout the Ancient World, including in Margiana. Perhaps this hypothesis can be proved by the participants of the next expeditions.

It is true, sadly enough, for the last twenty years the expedition has hardly been financed. Sarianidi does not lose hope of finding answers to all of Margush's questions and invests all his income: pension, salary and grants into excavations. He even sold his apartment in the center of Moscow to pay for the labor of workers and specialists.

For his services in the discovery of the ancient kingdom of Margush, Victor Sarianidi was awarded the orders of Greece and Turkmenistan, he is an honorary citizen of these countries. But the professor's merits to Russia and Russian science have not yet been fully appreciated - until now, Professor Sarianidi has not even received the title of academician.

But what is "goodbye" in terms of history? If it were not for King Darius, then we would hardly have known that there was such a country - Margush. If not for our compatriot Professor Viktor Ivanovich Sarianidi, we would never have known that Darius's words were true.