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Gunar Tepe
Gonur Depe () is an archaeological site, dated from 2400 to 1600 BCE,Frenez, Dennys, (2018)"Manufacturing and trade of Asian elephant ivory in Bronze Age Middle Asia: Evidence from Gonur Depe (Margiana, Turkmenistan)"in Archaeological Research in Asia 15, p. 15. and located about 60 km north of Mary, Turkmenistan, Mary (ancient Merv), Turkmenistan consisting of a large early Bronze Age settlement. It is the "capital" or major settlement of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). Archaeology The site was discovered by Greek-Russian archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi. There he took first pottery shards from surface in 1972, and excavated the site since 1974 to 2013. Sarianidi uncovered a palace, a fortified mud-brick enclosure, and temples with Fire temple, fire altars which he associated with the Zoroastrian religion. Gonur Depe has a total area of about 55 hectares, and is divided by archaeologists in three main sectors: Gonur North, the Large Necropolis, and Gonu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of the three-age system, following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age. Conceived as a global era, the Bronze Age follows the Neolithic, with a transition period between the two known as the Chalcolithic. The final decades of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean basin are often characterised as a period of widespread societal collapse known as the Late Bronze Age collapse (), although its severity and scope are debated among scholars. An ancient civilisation is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age if it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from producing areas elsewhere. Bronze Age cultures were the first to History of writing, develop writin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murghab River
The Marghab River (Dari/Pashto: مرغاب, ''Murghāb'', Balochi: مرگاپ), anciently the Margiana (Ancient Greek: Μαργιανή, ''Margianḗ''), is an long river in Central Asia. It rises in the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh'') in Ghor Province, flows through the Marghab District in central Afghanistan, then runs northwest towards the Bala Murghab. Reaching the oasis of Mary in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan, the Marghab debouches into the Karakum Canal, a diversion of water from the Amu Darya. The catchment area of the Marghab is estimated at . Geography The Marghab River originates in the Ghor Province of central Afghanistan, on a plateau among the chain of mountains of Paropamisus, Gharjistan and Band-i Turkestan. In its higher course, the river runs from east to west, towards Mukhamedkhan, for about in a narrow, steep valley measuring less than one kilometer in width, with narrow gorges in some places. Between Darband-i Kilrekht ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulug Tepe
Ulug Depe is an ancient Bronze Age site in the foothills of the Kopet Dag Mountains in the Karakum Desert of Kaka District (Kaahka) in the Ahal Province of south-eastern Turkmenistan. It covers around 13 hectares and lies on a mound at a height of about 30 meters, displaying the longest stratigraphic sequence of Central Asia, from the Late Neolithic, represented by Jeitun culture, until the pre-Achaemenid period. Discoveries Excavations in the Late Bronze layers also found a "pressure set" for making soma drink. This set, similar to those found in Gonur Depe, : "... consisted of a huge stone mortar and a pestle, a pressing stone with a half-spheric projection in its centre, and next to it a similar one with a half-spheric deepening." See also *Yaz culture *Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) is the modern archaeological designation for a particular Middle Bronze Age civilisation of southern Central Asia, also kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botanical Identity Of Soma–haoma
There has been much speculation as to the botanical identity of ''soma'' or ''haoma''. ''Soma (drink), Soma'' is a plant described in Hindu sacred texts including the ''Rigveda'', while ''haoma'' is a plant described in the Avesta, a collection of Zoroastrian writings. Both names are derived from the Proto-Indo-Iranian ''*Sauma''. Proposed candidates include various species of plants and or fungi. Traditional etymology of Indian Soma is ''Somalata'' (''Cynanchum acidum''; 'moon plant') used traditionally by the Srauta Brahmins called Somayajis whereas the Avestan Haoma is an Ephedra (''Ephedra distachya''), which are totally unconnected species sourced from different areas. European researchers suggest other plants, such as the perennial ''Peganum harmala'', ''Nelumbo nucifera'' (also known as the "sacred lotus"), ''Cannabis sativa'', and the sugarcane species ''Tripidium bengalense'' (synonym ''Saccharum sara''); while fungal candidates include the fly-agaric mushroom ''Amanita mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephedra (plant)
''Ephedra'' is a genus of gymnosperm shrubs. there were 77 recognized species. The various species of ''Ephedra'' are widespread in many arid regions of the world, ranging across southwestern North America, southern Europe, northern Africa, southwest and central Asia, northern China, and western South America. It is the only extant genus in its family, Ephedraceae, and order, Ephedrales, and one of the three living members of the division Gnetophyta alongside ''Gnetum'' and ''Welwitschia.'' In temperate climates, most ''Ephedra'' species grow on shores or in sandy soils with direct sun exposure. Common names in English include joint-pine, jointfir, Mormon-tea, or Brigham tea. The Chinese name for ''Ephedra'' species is ''mahuang'' (). ''Ephedra'' is the origin of the name of the stimulant ephedrine, which the plants contain in significant concentration. Description The family Ephedraceae, of which ''Ephedra'' is the only extant genus, are gymnosperms, and generally shrubs, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has been used as a drug for both recreational and Entheogenic use of cannabis, entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis can be used Cannabis smoking, by smoking, Vaporizer (inhalation device), vaporizing, Cannabis edible, within food, or Tincture of cannabis, as an extract. Cannabis has effects of cannabis, various mental and physical effects, which include euphoria, altered states of mind and Cannabis and time perception, sense of time, difficulty concentrating, Cannabis and memory, impaired short-term memo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haoma
(; Avestan: ) is a divine plant in Zoroastrianism and in later Persian culture and Persian mythology, mythology. has its origins in Indo-Iranian religion and is the cognate of Vedas, Vedic . Etymology Both Avestan and Sanskrit derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian language, proto-Indo-Iranian *. The root of the word , , and of , , suggests 'press' or 'pound'. In Old Persian cuneiform it was known as , as in the DNa inscription (c. 490 BC) which makes reference to "''haoma''-drinking Scythians" (). The Middle Persian form of the name is , which continues to be the name in Modern Persian language, Persian and other living Iranian languages (). As a plant In the Avesta The physical attributes, as described in the texts of the Avesta, include: * the plant has stems, roots and branches ( 10.5). * it has a plant ( 9.16). The term is only used in conjunction with a description of , and does not have an established translation. It refers to 'twigs' according to Dieter Taillieu, 'stalk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avesta
The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Modern Edition (book), editions of the Avesta are based on the various manuscript traditions that have survived in Zoroastrianism in India, India and Zoroastrianism in Iran, Iran. The individual texts of the Avesta were originally Oral tradition, oral compositions. They were composed over a long period of several centuries during the Avestan period, Old Iranian period (possibly ranging from 15th century BCE – 4th century BCE). The written transmission began during the Sassanian empire, Sassanian period, with the creation of the Avestan alphabet. The resulting texts were then compiled into a comprehensive edition of the Sasanian Avesta, Avesta in 21 volumes. This edition was lost sometime after the 10th century CE and only a small part survi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Shakala Shakha, Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum. The ''Rigveda'' is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text. Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. Most scholars believe that the sounds and texts of the ''Rigveda'' have been orally transmitted with precision since the 2nd millennium BCE, through Indian mathematics#Styles of memorisation, methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, though the dates are not confirmed and remain contentious till concrete evidence surfaces. Philolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soma (drink)
In the Vedic tradition, ''soma'' () is a ritual drink of importance among the early Vedic Indo-Aryans. The Rigveda mentions it, particularly in the Soma Mandala. Gita mentions the drink in chapter 9. It is equivalent to the Iranian haoma. The texts describe the preparation of soma by means of extracting the juice from a plant, the identity of which is now unknown and debated among scholars. Both in the ancient religions of Historical Vedic religion and Zoroastrianism, the name of the drink and the plant are not exactly the same.Victor Sarianidi, Viktor Sarianidi in The PBS Documentary The Story of India There has been much speculation about the most likely identity of the original plant. Traditional Indian accounts, such as those from practitioners of Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, and Somayajna called Somayajis, identify the plant as "Somalata" ('' Cynanchum acidum''). Non-Indian researchers have proposed candidates including ''Amanita muscaria'', ''Psilocybin'' mushroo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indus Valley Civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilisations of the Near East and South Asia, and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area including much of Pakistan, Northwest India, northwestern India and northeast Afghanistan. The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River, which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers that once coursed in the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra River, Ghaggar-Hakra, a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The term ''Harappan'' is sometimes applied to the Indus Civilisation after its type site Harappa, the first to be exc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
