Awards

• Winner of Academy of Athens Prize 2007 (Greece)

Overview

In the depths of the Kara Kum desert in Turkmenistan, one of the largest deserts in the world, Victor Sarianidi has excavated the early unknown country of Margush (Margiana). Its capital was the city of Gonur, which consisted of a unique ensemble of temples and palaces dating from the end of the third-beginning of the second millennium BC. In addition to the capital city, he excavated the Gonur necropolis, with almost 3000 tombs. This is the largest necropolis of the period to have been excavated in the entire Near East. The funeral gifts and personal adornments from the Gonur tombs have an amazing, unique beauty and are worthy of comparison with the finest examples of ancient oriental art from Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and the Aegean world. Research in this area has made it possible to conclude that the first monotheistic religion in the world, Zoroastrianism, originated in Margiana. This statement is supported by the finds that related to the funeral rituals and procedures observed in the Gonur necropolis. The Margiana culture proved to be so highly advanced that scholars increasingly hold the view that Bronze Age Central Asia was one of the main civilizations of ancient times, alongside Mesoptamia, Egypt, India and China. This book contains the results of the excavations, anthropological observations based on the skeletons found, and a large number and wide variety of finds. 385 colour illustrations.

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9789607037855

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VICTOR SARIANIDI is an archaeologist and Honorary Member of the Russian Scientific Academy. Born in Uzbekistan, he has spent over 50 years excavating in Turkmenistan where for the last 35 years he has concentrated on the excavation of the ancient country of Margiana, or Margush.

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