GONUR TEPE

Now more than four millennia, the city-fortress- Gonur - Tepe  and rare housed an advanced civilization that was in the center of a prosperous regions. The fortress lay buried under Kara Kum desert sands in western Turkmenistan.

Gonur-Tepe was discovered by Soviet archaeologists in the last century, and now this mysterious city that once housed thousands of people gradually begin to reveal secrets, archaeologists discovered more artifacts at each excavation.

Huge size of the complex that spans 30 hectares can not be properly appreciated only from the air, where the former buildings of the city seem like a maze in a desert surrounded by large walls.

Located just 50 kilometers from the ancient city of Merv, who worked on the World Heritage List by UNESCO, ruins Gonur-Tepe provides a valuable clue about Archaeological riches of Turkmenistan, one of the most isolated countries in the world.

Around 2000 BC, Gonur-Tepe was the main settlement in the region Margush or Margiana, where there was one of the most sophisticated civilizations of the Bronze Age, but is also very little known.

The archaeological site was covered with sand until the last century when it was discovered by the famous archeologist Viktor Sarianidi. The researcher now has 85 years, but this will not stop the study site in summer.

"I clearly remember the joy I had when I discovered this archaeological treasure. A feeling right under my feet, "he told AFP Russian archaeologist.

Every summer season are performed at Gonur-Tepe excavations, archaeologists make new discoveries confirming the quality and craftsmanship of Bronze Age artisans living in this city which include thousands of people.

City could shape metal craft, knew how to make gold and silver could create objects for religious purposes and could also be carved bone and stone.

"It is amazing to see how advanced these people were techniques. Artisans learned to change the natural shape of the rock at high temperatures and then polished to maintain the new shape, "said archaeologist Nadezhda Dubova.

"This year, Gonur gave us a new surprise, a fantastic mosaic," the expert explained, noting that this object predates the Romans and Greeks period realized mosaics.

Ruins of Gonur-Tepe is the focus of a network of cities and settlements in river delta region in Turkmenistan Morghab flowing from its source in Afghanistan.

Gonur-Tepe is three hours drive from Mary, the most important city of the province, two hours are spent on a bad road which runs along many collective farms abandoned and another hour in a desert land.

Mary, located 380 kilometers from the capital Ashgabat is a typical provincial town, home to 200,000 people and was built mostly in the Soviet style.

30 kilometers of Mary is another glory of the region - the ruins of the great city of Merv, whose importance dates from the Persian Achaemenids era and reached its peak of glory in the twelfth century.

Merv went into terminal decline after being sacked by the Mongols in 1221 after a brutal conquest, led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Its ruins are just as abandoned as in Gonur-Tepe.

Most Sultan Sanjar mausoleum treasure is that Merv was led by a city of 200,000 people, and for some time, one of the most populated human settlements in the world.

The mausoleum is covered with a dome with a diameter less than 17 meters. Ruslan Muradov, an architectural historian, says that the mausoleum was revolutionary design.

"Dome design anticipates 300 years Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi great ideas" that project the cathedral dome in Florence, says Muradov.

Unlike the ruins of Gonur-Tepe, Merv was excavated ever since the country where today's Turkmenistan was part of the Russian Empire. Merv included on UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

Archaeologists are just beginning to discover the riches of the region Marv, says Viktor Turik, a historian at the Museum of History Marv.

"In the region there are 354 archaeological monuments, and 95% of them have never been studied by experts" said historian.

Turkmenistan remains one of the most isolated countries in the world, but each year the state continues to be visited by few tourists, mostly within specialized tours.

In Marv are only three hotels, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov although recently ordered the construction of a new hotel with 350 beds to encourage tourism.

Authorities have not determined what fate will have extraordinary gold and silver jewelry that archaeologists discovered in this region, but in need of restoration and conservation efforts.
An employee of the authority which manages the national heritage Turkmen say that at one point there were discussions with the Department of Antiquities of the Louvre Museum in Paris, but negotiations failed.

"Many unique discoveries that do not resemble anything ever found in the world, awaiting the moment of glory in museums Turkmen deposits," concluded the employee.

foto credit: google.com

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