17/03/2024
Khorezm, historical region and ancient state in Central Asia, in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya.
The first mentions of Khorezm (which in translation means “Land of the Sun”) are found in the Behistun inscription of Darius I and the holy book of Zoroastrianism - “Avesta”. In the middle of the 6th century. BC e., Khorezm became part of the Persian Achaemenid state. By the time of Alexander the Great, Khorezm was an independent state. In the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. Khorezm was experiencing an economic and cultural boom: irrigation systems were being improved, cities were being built, crafts and art were developing. The dominant form of religion was Zoroastrianism. The territory of ancient Khorezm is often called “Central Asian Egypt”. And, I must say, this is a very appropriate comparison. There are not many places in the world where such a number of ancient architectural monuments would be concentrated in a relatively small area. There are more than a dozen fortresses here alone. And just like the Egyptian pyramids, they stun a person who finds himself in close proximity to them for the first time.
An outside observer or traveler immediately has many questions: how could the ancient builders, in the absence of any construction equipment, build all these grandiose structures? Thanks to what, many buildings have survived to this day? But most of them are two thousand years old. Some ancient fortresses look as if they were abandoned by their inhabitants quite recently. And what is surprising is that, despite their majesty and good preservation, the very existence of these fortresses today is known only to a narrow circle of specialists. Perhaps this is also why they are so well preserved because they are located off the beaten path and it is very, very difficult to get to them without the help of local historians. The choice of location for the construction of fortresses remains one of the historical and geographical mysteries of ancient Central Asia to this day. What theories have been put forward on this matter! It is generally accepted that people have always sought to live closer to water. But in those places where the fortresses are located, water was difficult to access. At the same time, there is not a single large defensive structure near the Amu Darya. Perhaps this is explained by the fact that the ancient inhabitants of Khorezm sought to build fortresses on natural hills, and they are almost never found along the banks of the Amu Darya.
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