Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
About 188-550 B.C. new city civilizations were established and Sa-
markand became a central Sogdian and Kengeres (Turkic) city (Esin,
1978). Bukhara, also, had a similar development. In the 1950s and 1960s,
archeologists like Obelchenko, Gulyamov, Zhukov, and Shishkin made
several excavations in the sites such as Kuyu-Mezar, Liyavandak, Makhan
-Darya, Zaman-Baba, Bash-Tepe, Ayak-Tepe ve Varakhsha. In these exca-
vations, various pottery, jewelry, glass beads, and small golden sculpture
were found (Frumkin, 1970). Some of the diggings were 20 meters deep
and the findings were dated as 500 B.C. (Mukhamedjanov, 1997). The
discovery of the city walls by Shishkin showed that as early as 500 B.C.,
Bukhara could be considered as a fortified city, which was a center of
handcrafts and trade (Frumkin, 1970).
The oldest historic building in Bukhara, dating back to 500 B.C., is
the
Buharhudatov Fortress
(Fig. 10). It is also called the
Ark
. The name
“ark” was usually given to the fortresses, which encompassed the palace
of the khans in Central Asia (Esin, 1997). In fact, if we redepict Bukhara
as a young maiden, this fortress is a golden necklace with a turquoise stone
hanging round her beautiful neck. This necklace has a vital importance for
Princess Bukhara.
FIGURE 10
Buharhudatov Fortress (500 B.C.) (www.bura.org.tr).
Bukhara was a beauty who was desired by many tyrants from the very
first day it was founded. Much blood was shed in several sieges in history.
Finally, in the seventh century, the wise men of the city offered a charm
to protect Bukhara forever. They suggested building large city walls with
seven gates and towers (Fig. 11). In Turkish cosmology, Tengri is believed
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