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Mizdarkhan
Mizdarkhan, also spelled Mizdakhan, is a necropolis and archeological site in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan. Founded in the 4th century BC, it was inhabited for approximately 1,700 years, after which it was used as a sacred burial site. History Founded in the 4th century BC, Mizdarkhan was once the second-largest city in Khorezm after Konye Urgench. A local legend says it is the burial site of Adam, which may account for its sacred status in ancient times. Mizdarkhan was built close to an older city of fire-worshippers, and Zoroastrianism was practiced here, too. In the medieval period, Zoroastrian and Islamic traditions entwined, as is evidenced by burial sites which have been excavated. Mizdarkhan thrived until the 14th century when Timur led three campaigns against Khorezm. He attacked Mizdarkhan and reduced it to rubble, and after this the city was depopulated and used solely as a burial place. Most of the mausoleums and the small mosque which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xojeli
Xojeli, also Khodzheyli (, ; ), is a city and seat of Xojeli District in Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan. It lies 15 km southwest of Nukus, and 25 km northeast of Konye-Urgench (Turkmenistan). Its population is 67,800 (2016). Xojeli has a railway station on the line from Atyrau (western Kazakhstan) to Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I .... There is an ancient city and archaeological complex called Mizdarkhan, located northeast of Xojeli, which consists of several medieval and ancient archaeological sites as: underground Mausoleum of Nazlymkhan Sulu, Mausoleum of Shamun Naby (a Sufi scholar), Medrese of Erezhep Halifa and Hill of Zhomart Kassap (ancient Zoroastrian dakhma). Nowadays, Mizdakhan functions also as a graveyard and people in Karakalpakstan v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karakalpakstan
Karakalpakstan, officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, is an autonomous republic and part of Uzbekistan. It spans the northwestern portion of Uzbekistan. Its capital is Nukus (' / ). Karakalpakstan has an area of , and has a population of about 2 million people. Its territory covers the classical land of Khwarazm, which in classical Persian literature was known as (). The name ''Karakalpakstan'' means "land of the Karakalpaks". Although most Karakalpaks reside in Uzbekistan, Karakalpak culture and language are closer to those of the Kazakhs and Nogais. History From about 500 BC to 500 AD, the region of what is now Karakalpakstan was a thriving agricultural area supported by extensive irrigation. It was strategically important territory and fiercely contested, as is seen by the more than 50 Desert castles of ancient Khorezm, Khorezm fortresses which were constructed here. The Karakalpaks, Karakalpak people, who used to be nomadic herders and fishers, were first recorded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uzbekistan
, image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republic of Uzbekistan" , image_map = File:Uzbekistan (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Uzbekistan (green) , capital = Tashkent , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = Uzbek language, Uzbek , languages_type = Writing system, Official script , languages = Latin Script, Latin , recognized_languages = Karakalpak language, Karakalpak , ethnic_groups = , ethnic_groups_ref = , ethnic_groups_year = 2021 , religion_ref = , religion_year = 2020 , religion = , demonym = Uzbeks, Uzbek • Demographics of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistani , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khwarazm
Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by the Karakum Desert, and on the west by the Ustyurt Plateau. It was the center of the Iranian peoples, Iranian Khwarezmian language, Khwarezmian civilization, and a series of kingdoms such as the Afrighid dynasty and the Anushtegin dynasty, whose capitals were (among others) Kath (city), Kath, Gurganj (now Konye-Urgench) andfrom the 16th century onKhiva. Today Khwarazm belongs partly to Uzbekistan and partly to Turkmenistan. Names and etymology Names Khwarazm has been known also as ''Chorasmia'', ''Khaurism'', ''Khwarezm'', ''Khwarezmia'', ''Khwarizm'', ''Khwarazm'', ''Khorezm'', ''Khoresm'', ''Khorasam'', ''Kharazm'', ''Harezm'', ''Horezm'', and ''Chorezm''. In Avestan the name is '; in Old Persian 𐎢𐎺𐎠𐎼𐏀𐎷𐎡𐏁 or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konye-Urgench
Konye-Urgench (, ; , ), also known as Old Urgench or Urganj, was a city in north Turkmenistan, just south from its border with Uzbekistan. It is the site of the ancient town of Gurgānj, which contains the ruins of the capital of Khwarazm. Its inhabitants deserted the town in the early eighteenth century in order to develop a new settlement, and Konye-Urgench has remained undisturbed ever since. In 2005, the ruins of Old Urgench were inscribed on the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites. Overview Located on the south side of the Amu Darya River, Old Ürgenç was situated on one of the most important medieval paths: the Silk Road, the crossroad of western and eastern civilisations. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Turkmenistan, lying within a vast zone of protected landscape and containing a large number of well-preserved monuments, dating from the 11th to the 16th centuries. They comprise mosques, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a min ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This action introduced death and sin into the world. This sinful nature infected all his descendants, and led humanity to be expelled from the Garden. Only through the crucifixion of Jesus, humanity can be redeemed. In Islam, Adam is considered '' Khalifa'' (خليفة) (successor) on earth. This is understood to mean either that he is God's deputy, the initiation of a new cycle of sentient life on earth, or both. Similar to the Biblical account, the Quran has Adam placed in a garden where he sins by taking from the Tree of Immortality, so loses his abode in the garden. When Adam repents from his sin, he is forgiven by God. This is seen as a guidan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the world's oldest organized faiths, its adherents exalt an Creator deity, uncreated, Omnibenevolence, benevolent, and List of knowledge deities#Persian mythology, all-wise deity known as Ahura Mazda (), who is hailed as the supreme being of the universe. Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Ahriman, Angra Mainyu (), who is personified as a List of death deities#Persian-Zoroastrian, destructive spirit and the adversary of all things that are good. As such, the Zoroastrian religion combines a Dualism in cosmology, dualistic cosmology of good and evil with an eschatological outlook predicting the Frashokereti, ultimate triumph of Ahura Mazda over evil. Opinions vary among scholars as to whether Zoroastrianism is monotheistic, polyth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timur
Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeated commander, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders and tacticians in history, as well as one of the most brutal and deadly. Timur is also considered a great patron of art and architecture, for he interacted with intellectuals such as Ibn Khaldun, Hafez, and Hafiz-i Abru and his reign introduced the Timurid Renaissance. Born into the Turkicized Mongol confederation of the Barlas in Transoxiana (in modern-day Uzbekistan) in the 1320s, Timur gained control of the western Chagatai Khanate by 1370. From that base he led military campaigns across Western, South, and Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Southern Russia, defeating in the process the Khans of the Golden Horde, the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, the emerg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire Temple
A fire temple (; ) is a place of worship for Zoroastrians. In Zoroastrian doctrine, ''atar'' and '' aban'' (fire and water) are agents of ritual purity. Clean, white "ash for the purification ceremonies sregarded as the basis of ritual life", which "are essentially the rites proper to the tending of a domestic fire, for the temple ireis that of the hearth fire raised to a new solemnity". For, one "who sacrifices unto fire with fuel in his hand ..., is given happiness". , there were 167 fire temples in the world, of which 45 were in Mumbai, 105 in the rest of India, and 17 in other countries. Of these, only nine (one in Iran and eight in India) are the main temples known as Atash Behrams; the remainder are the smaller temples known as agiaries. History and development Concept First evident in the 9th century BCE, the rituals of fire are contemporary with that of Zoroastrianism itself. It appears at approximately the same time as the shrine cult and is roughly contempor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower Of Silence
A ''dakhma'' (), also known as a Tower of Silence (), is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation (that is, the exposure of human corpses to the elements for decomposition), in order to avoid contamination of the soil and other natural elements by the dead bodies. Carrion birds, usually vultures, and other scavengers, consume the flesh. Skeletal remains are gathered into a central pit where further weathering and continued breakdown occurs. Ritual exposure by Iranian peoples Zoroastrian ritual exposure of the dead is first attested in the mid-5th century BCE ''Histories'' of Herodotus, an Ancient Greek historian who observed the custom amongst Iranian expatriates in Asia Minor; however, the use of towers is first documented in the early 9th century CE. In Herodotus' account (in ''Histories'' i.140), the Zoroastrian funerary rites are said to have been "secret"; however they were first performed after the body had been dragged around by a bird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ossuary
An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary ("os" is "bone" in Latin). The greatly reduced space taken up by an ossuary means that it is possible to store the remains of many more people in a single tomb than possible in coffins. The practice is sometimes known as grave recycling. Persian ossuaries In Persia, the Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrians used a deep well for this function from the earliest times (c. 3,000 years ago) and called it ''Tower of Silence, astudan'' (literally, "the place for the bones"). There are many rituals and regulations in the Zoroastrian faith concerning the ''astudans''. Jewish ossuaries During the Second Temple period, Jewish burial customs were varied, differing based on class and belief. For the wea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
