Dev-Kesken

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Dev-Kesken (also Devkesken, Devkesken Qala) is an archaeological site in northern Turkmenistan .

location

Dev-Kesken is located in the Daşoguz province in the north of the country. The region is characterized by the hostile Karakum desert and the foothills of the Ustyurt plateau . Dev-Kesken is located in the extreme south-west of the Ustyurt plateau. The next larger city is Köneürgenç on the edge of the Karakum desert and thus 60 kilometers east of the discovery sites in Dev-Kesken.

building

The fortress Dev-Kesken is the oldest building on the archaeological site and dates back in part to the 4th century BC. Dev-Kesken was a fortress that may also have served as a palace. Dev-Kesken is made of adobe bricks and decorated with ornate pilasters in the upper part . Due to its long-term role in the otherwise changeable history of the place, the name of the fortress is sometimes used as a name for the place.

history

The settlement of the place goes back to the 3rd or 4th century BC. The city was protected by walls made of clay and an irrigation system made it possible to use the surrounding soil. The city began to decline in the 4th century AD, when the weather was very arid and there was not enough water in the region, so that the residents left the city. In the 6th century the place was repopulated as the climate had become more humid again and the Amurdarya was diverted by a dam in the direction of Dev-Kesken. The site around the Dev-Kesken Citadel became one of the centers of the Khorezm Shah's empire and was quickly rebuilt after it was destroyed by Mongolian troops during the Mongol invasion . The city was considered to be one of the centers of the Islamic world until the city was conquered and cruelly plundered by the troops of Timur in the 14th century , and the dam on the Amurdarya was also destroyed. At the beginning of the 15th century the city belonged to the Uzbek Khanate , but after its disintegration it became part of the Golden Horde . In 1464 the city of Vazir was officially founded near Dev-Kesken. In the 15th or 16th century, two mausoleums and a mosque were built on the site, which can still be seen today. In 1511, Ilbars Khan established a dynasty that would rule over the Khorezmia area from now on; one of the centers of the empire was Vazir. In the 1570s, the Amudarya changed its course, so that the region around Dev-Kesken became the desert landscape that still exists today. Therefore the place was quickly abandoned by the inhabitants.

Excavations

In September 1946 the area was first archaeologically examined by Sergey Tolstov, who traveled to Central Asia on an expedition in the footsteps of Khorezmia . Tolstov identified the ruins as part of the former city of Vazir. In 1963 and 1964 the archaeologist Bizhanov undertook more detailed investigations of the ruins and the surrounding traces of settlement, which were continued in the 1980s by archaeologists from the Academy of Sciences in Nukus .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ustyurt Plateau Travel Guide. Retrieved November 11, 2018 .
  2. ^ Forgotten realms of the Oxus region. In: GreenAsh. October 11, 2014, accessed November 11, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Boris V. Adrianov, Simone Mantellini: Ancient Irrigation Systems of the Aral Sea Area . S. 205 ff .
  4. ↑ Choresm Arms. Retrieved November 11, 2018 .
  5. ^ Paul Brummell: Turkmenistan . In: The Bradt Travel Guide . 1st edition. S. 180 .
  6. ↑ electricpulp.com: ILBĀRS KHAN - Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved November 11, 2018 .
  7. ↑ STANTOURS - Turkmenistan - Dashogus - Devkisken. Retrieved November 11, 2018 .

Coordinates: 42 ° 17 ′ 0 ″  N , 58 ° 23 ′ 0 ″  E