The Akchakhan-kala Wall Paintings: New Perspectives on Kingship and Religion in Ancient Chorasmia

Betts, Alison; Yagodin, Vadim N.; Grenet, Frantz; Kidd, Fiona; Minardi, Michele; Bonnat, Mélodie; Khashimov, Stanislav

doi:10.1484/j.jiaaa.4.2017007

Cited by 20 publications

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“…One of the earliest and most vivid examples of this imagery in Central Asia was recovered in 2014 by the Karakalpak-Australian Expedition in the form of a wall paintings in the royal contexts of Akchakhan-kala, depicting a characteristic motif of two opposing human-headed roosters in the middle of performing a Zoroastrian ritual ( rst century BC -rst century AD 38 ). The image is the earliest representation of gures from the Avestan pantheon, and has led some scholars to suggest stronger Central Asian roots in the origins of the rooster-worshiping cult 4,38 . The hybrid bird-priest motif represents an assistant of Sraosha and is said to be a rooster that can predict the coming of dawn, waking up the religious practitioners to ful l their duties (Vendīdād XVIII, 14-15 and 22-23 6 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Did the Chicken Cross the Road: Archaeological and molecular evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia

Spengler

Peters

Richter

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The origins and dispersal of the chicken across the ancient world remains one of the most enigmatic questions regarding Eurasian domesticated animals1,2. The lack of agreement regarding the timing and center of origin is due, in large part, to issues with morphological identifications, a lack of direct dating, and poor preservation of thin bird bones. Historical sources attest to the prominence of chickens in southern Europe and southwest Asia by the last centuries BC3. Likewise, art historical depictions of chickens and anthropomorphic rooster-human chimeras are reoccurring motifs in Central Asian prehistoric and historic traditions4-6. However, when this ritually and economically significant bird spread along the trans-Eurasian exchange routes has remained a mystery. Here we show that chickens were widely raised by people at villages across southern Central Asia from the third century BC through medieval periods for their eggs and likely also meat. In this study, we present archaeological and molecular evidence for the cultivation of chickens for egg production from 12 different Central Asian archaeological sites spanning a millennium and a half. These eggshells were recovered in high abundance at all of these sites, suggesting that chickens were widely raised by people at villages across southern Central Asia from the third century BC through medieval periods and that they were an important part of the overall diet. Contrary to views that ancient peoples of Central Asia were primarily herding sheep, goat, and cattle, these data show that chicken was also important in the subsistence economy and that it was widely spread along the ancient Silk Road.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Did the Chicken Cross the Road: Archaeological and molecular evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia

Spengler

Peters

Richter

et al. 2022

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“…This scenario indeed aligns nicely with Miller and colleagues’ points (citing Esther Boserup, 2016: 6–7) about how agricultural technologies may be known to people long before they are adopted across a society (see also Boivin et al, 2012: 455–456; Van der Veen, 2010). It also provides a clearer antecedent to the later bifurcation of elite and rural agropastoral lifeways that have been observed in this and other Central Asian desert oases in the first millennium BC and first millennium AD (Markofsky et al, 2016: 17; Rouse and Cerasetti, 2016: 11–12), and helps to explain how a class of nomadic elites could have evolved from an oasis context like Khorezm (Betts et al, in press; Kidd et al, 2012; Lamberg-Karlovsky, 1994). Starting from a diverse production base, Khorezmian statecraft would have evolved as emerging elites gained prestige in organizing their communities to respond to environmental change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The Antique Khorezmian qalas , the fortified mudbrick enclosures that represented elite power, were not built for year round, permanent use (Honeychurch and Amartuvshin, 2007; Khozhaniyazov, 2006; Negus Cleary, 2008, 2013; Rogers et al, 2005). Monumental visual art within these structures shows that those who declared themselves ‘kings’ proclaimed a syncretic view of rulership, which drew its legitimacy in part from the steppe nomadic world (Betts et al, in press; Kidd, 2011, 2012; Kidd and Betts, 2010; Kidd and Brite, 2015; Kidd et al, 2008, 2012; Yagodin et al, 2010). The small scale of storage, found only in domestic contexts inside the qalas , suggests there were no large storage facilities on par with other agricultural states (Manzanilla and Rothman, 2016; Paulette, 2016) and that Khorezmian elites did not derive their wealth and status from surplus accumulation (for examples of Khorezmian storage, see Kolyakov, 1991: 110–123; Mambetullaev, 1978: 83–87).…”

Section: The Khorezm Oasismentioning

confidence: 99%

Millet cultivation in Central Asia: A response to Miller et al.

et al. 2017

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In a recent special issue of The Holocene, Miller et al. review the evidence for the spread of millet ( Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica) across Eurasia. Among their arguments, they contend that millet cultivation came to Eurasian regions with hot, dry summers when irrigation was introduced, as part of a region-wide shift toward agricultural intensification in the first millennium BC. This hypothesis seems to align with the pattern of agricultural change observed in the Khorezm oasis, a Central Asian polity of the first millennium BC and first millennium AD. While we wholeheartedly accept this hypothesis for its explanatory value regarding trends across Eurasia, in this paper we nevertheless suggest that the introduction of millet to Central Asia needs further explication. Specifically, we seek to address the underlying assumption that this introduction was predicated upon centrally organized, state-level land development, increased sedentism, and the rise of Mesopotamian-style social complexity. We describe how millet cultivation in Khorezm was preceded by multi-resource strategies that included the cultivation of summer crops, and emphasize that this earlier history mattered significantly to the evolution of Khorezmian society and agriculture in the first millennium BC. In contrast to the imperial systems of West Asia, in Khorezm the introduction of complex irrigation works supported the expansion and greater stratification of pre-existing agropastoral lifeways, and helped to buttress the rise of nomadic elites within an agrarian zone. We believe the example of Khorezm is important because it helps to explain the emergence of integrated mobile-sedentist societies in the first millennium AD in Central Asia as a result of agricultural change. It also provides cultural and historical context to the spread of millet cultivation in the first millennium BC, suggesting that this phenomenon had significantly different implications for societies across Eurasia.

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“…88-Minardi 2015, 127; on the archaeology of the site, see Betts et al 2012, 125-126 with further references. 89-On the paintings see Kidd et al 2004;Betts et al 2012. 90-Grenet 2018.…”

Section: The Wall Paintings Of Akchakhan-kalamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hellenism and Persianism in Iran: Culture and Empire after Alexander the Great

Strootman¹

2020

DBR

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2020, No. 7the Sasanian concept of Ērānšahr-a geopolitical and cultural idea that geographically coincided largely with the concept of the Upper Satrapies used by the Seleucids. 4 Under the Seleucids a fundamental change in Iranian kingship occurred, when a blend of Iranian and Greek practices came into being, which persisted after the collapse of the Seleucid Empire in the second half of the second century. 5 But what is "Greek"? Hellenistic, Hellenic, Hellenization, HelleniskThe subject of Hellenism in Iran compels us to defĳine four interrelated, problematic terms: Hellenistic, Hellenic, Hellenization, and Hellenism. These terms not only refer to historical culture but are also connected to modern ideas about culture and history.Defĳining Hellenistic causes perhaps least problems, for the word is now most often used as a culturally neutral adjective to designate a period-roughly the last four or three centuries BCE-or to things from that period. Characteristic of the period is a signifĳicant increase in connectivity, migration and economic exchange in central and western Afro-Eurasia caused by Macedonian imperialism. Empires tend to encourage intercultural connectivity, interregional economic integration and large-scale, long-distance mobility (both voluntarily and involuntarily). This of course began in the Achaemenid period-an age of globalization too-but in the Hellenistic Age, networks of connectivity expanded enormously because a linkage was achieved of the pre-existing land-based networks maintained by the Achaemenids and their agents, and the maritime networks operated in the Mediterranean by Greeks, Phoenicians, and others. 6 The period moreover saw the integration of the Indian Ocean world of connectivity into the Hellenistic world system. These networks extended far beyond the empires of Alexander and his successors. In addition, "Hellenistic World" denotes the area between the Pamirs and the Straits of Gibraltar, and between the Scythian plains and the Sudan, where this increased interconnectivity and mobility took place. 7 In this world we see the simultaneous use of two major linguae francae, Aramaic and Greek, and as a real sign of proto-globalization, if I may call it that, the spread of a common, international standard of coinage with approximately the same weight standards from Gibraltar to Taxila and a shared system of iconography to guarantee monetary value. 8 The adjective Hellenic means "Greek". It may refer to people with a Greek identity or the culture by which these people expressed their identity. One usually recognizes Greek style when one sees it. In addition, "Greek" of course indicates a language. In order not to make things too confusing, I will from now on write

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The Akchakhan-kala Wall Paintings: New Perspectives on Kingship and Religion in Ancient Chorasmia

Abstract: and stanislav khashiMov 1 "The world is at peace on the walls of Persepolis as it never was in reality.While news of the Persian sack of Miletus was striking terror in the Athenian soul, artisans from near and far were carving dreams in stone for Darius." (Cool Root 1979:311)

Cited by 20 publications

References 46 publications

When Did the Chicken Cross the Road: Archaeological and molecular evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia

When Did the Chicken Cross the Road: Archaeological and molecular evidence for ancient chickens in Central Asia

Millet cultivation in Central Asia: A response to Miller et al.

Hellenism and Persianism in Iran: Culture and Empire after Alexander the Great

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