Toprak-kala
Coordinates: 41 ° 55 ′ 38.1 ″ N , 60 ° 49 ′ 22.5 ″ E
Toprak-kala (also Topraq Qalʼa ) is the modern name of an ancient Khorezmian city in present-day Uzbekistan . Toprak-kala is located about 30 kilometers northeast of Biruniy in Karakalpakistan .
The city covered a rectangle about 500 × 350 meters, which was surrounded by a 10 to 15 meter high wall of air-dried bricks, which in turn had towers. The residential buildings were in the southern part of the city, while the northern part was undeveloped and perhaps served as a marketplace. A large palace complex consisting of three parts was excavated in the north-west corner. It is known as the three-tower castle . To the north of the city was another palace district. It is believed that this was the permanent residence of the Khorezmian kings. The latter complex was approximately 350 x 400 meters and covered 14 hectares. The building was partially decorated with reliefs and paintings, but it is poorly preserved.
The three-tower castle stood on a 14-meter-high platform and was originally around 80 × 80 meters in size. Later three blocks of around 40 × 40 meters were added. This building once had more than 150 rooms, many of which had vaulted ceilings, while large rooms arguably had wooden roofs with wooden pillars to support them. The particularly richly furnished rooms were in the central building. A 280 m² hall had 10 columns and a niche on one wall. The walls were brightly painted and decorated with flat reliefs. Clay sculptures of choresm rulers were also found here. You once stood on a bench that ran along the walls of the hall. It is believed that the hall served the ruler's cult. Another room had reliefs of dancing couples. Another hall was decorated with reliefs that showed fallow deer in almost natural size. Many rooms in the complex were decorated with paintings. The complex is dated to the second to fourth centuries AD. It is believed that the three-towered castle was a cultic complex.
Excavations took place from 1945 to 1950 under the direction of Sergei Pavlovich Tolstov . Juri A. Rapoport carried out further excavations in the 1970s .
Toprak Kale in Uzbekistan
Toprak Kale in Uzbekistan
Toprak Kale in Uzbekistan
Toprak Kale in Uzbekistan
literature
- Boris J. Stawiskij: The peoples of Central Asia in the light of their art monuments , Bonn 1982, pp. 128–36 ISBN 3921591236
Web links
- Description of Toprak Kala ( Memento from January 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Toprak Kala on heritageinstitute.com (Eng.)