Margiana… Where are the sources of this stirring name which
has been entered into the history text-books as a symbol of undiscovered
mystery of times? It is not an idle saying that sooner and later every mystery
becomes obvious. At the turn of the XX century A.D., almost four thousand years
later, an enigmatic Margiana which is stuck in descendants’ memory only owing
to angry apophthegm by Darius I, being carved on a famous Behistun crag: “The
country of Margush became rebellious..”, has not only gone out of oblivion but
designated its own true place in the mankind development.
Margiana,
Margush… What is more correct? Both of them. Both are names of the same
country – derivates of the Murghab-the river which life giving waters over-shadowed
the birth of a country and nation inhabiting there. Today Margiana us reckoned
among the earliest centres of ancient eastern civilization, which live roots,
as researchers think, have been feeding the crown of original culture of the
Turkmens till nowadays.
The first people to appear in the Murghab delta were settled
agriculturalists. They lived in houses built of 45x25x15 cm mud bricks baked in
the sun. Their settlements were erected between the delta channels in order to
have water and ploughed fields to be irrigated. As a rule the bulk of such
settlements had no outer fortification walls, so they could be extended outward
in due course. Mud bricks were used to build house walls which were covered on
both sides with clayed plaster. Floors were made of pise and clearly laid with
large layers of felt. In the living rooms built-in-fire-places were constructed
to warm their inhabitants in winter. Adjoining the living-rooms, there were
small ancillary premises for cooking and storing food. The houses were
separated by small inner courtyards fenced with high blind walls. These
dwellings were the typical settlements of the ancient Margushians.
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