Сулейманов, Р.Х. Древний
Нахшаб. Проблемы Цивилизации Узбекистана VII в. до н.э. – VII в. н.э.
Самарканд-Ташкент: Изд-во "Фан" Академии Наук Республики Узбекистан,
2000, 342с.

Suleimanov, R. Kh. Drevnii
Nakhshab: Problemy Tsivilizatsii Uzbekistana VII v. do n.e.-VII v.n.e.
Samarkand-Tashkent: Izd-vo Fan Akademii Nauk Respubliki Uzbekskistan, 2000,
342pp.

ABSTRACT

Ancient Nakhshab: An Inquiry into the Development
of Uzbekistan’s Civilisation from the Seventh Century BC to the Seventh Century
AD

Древний Нахшаб. Проблемы Цивилизации Узбекистана VII в.
до н.э. – VII в. н.э.

This
book looks at cultural issues in ancient Sogdiana. It considers materials
acquired by the author across his many years of research into the ancient
Karshina oasis (referred to in source material as Nakhshab), in addition to
findings from the excavation of Yerkurgan, the first capital in the region. On
the basis of a variety of methodological approaches, the course of urbanised development
in the Karshina oasis is traced, and questions concerning
the social structure and topology of settlements within the area are
investigated. In his work Professor Suleimanov uses a number of written
sources, including texts from the Avesta, the ancient sacred book of Iranians.

Suleimanov
advances the opinion that, along with Afrasiab, the founding of Yerkurgan, and
a number of other settlements in the region, began in the seventh century BC.

The
author provides an analysis of Yerkurgan’s monuments and residential
architecture, and of the features of its stratigraphy and periodisation. The
many ceramics and ceroplastics from ancient Nakhshab are also studied. On the
basis of the rich archaeological material acquired through the excavation of
religious structures, including a temple and memorial sites, the details of the
pantheon and religious practices of ancient Nakhshab’s Sogdites are also
revealed.

This
work is rich in illustrative material and comprehensively fills existing gaps
in the study of ancient Karshina. It is the most complex piece of research on
the region available to date.

More
broadly, Professor Suleimanov’s work constitutes a significant contribution to
scholarship on the ancient history of Central Asia. It will be of use to historians,
archaeologists, artists, and university teachers and students alike, and will
also be of interest to a wider readership.

Mirzokhid
Rakhimov

Translated
by Morgan Stark