Abstract
Within Central Asia there is an unusual group of earthen buildings (köshks), usually constructed on raised platforms, with vertical engaged columns forming iconic ‘corrugations’ on the exterior walls. The complexes are semi-fortified, with a second storey entrance, and often with asymmetrical ranges of rooms around an internal courtyard. Little systematic archaeological work has taken place on these monuments, which have mainly been studied as relatively eroded standing structures. However, recent work at the Great Kyz Kala at Merv, Turkmenistan, the largest surviving monumental köshk in Central Asia, has provided more details of construction and use. The excavations suggest that this complex was constructed in the 8th/9thcentury CE, with well-appointed rooms on the second storey, including a large hall, and functional rooms and storage spaces around a courtyard on the lower floor. The complex was set within an enclosure, containing gardens and possibly ancillary buildings. This particular köshk may have acted as an elite palatial suburban residence, perhaps for the governor of Merv.
Highlights
The Great Kyz Kala (Figure 1) at Merv is one of the most iconic monuments of Turkmenistan and perhaps of all Central Asia
These structures are found across the western part of Central Asia, especially in the Murghāb Delta of modern-day Turkmenistan, where they take two locational forms: those in groups, clustered close to urban centres, especially the great city of Merv, or those singly, in isolated rural settings
The sections had not been fully revealed, primarily because of undercutting due to erosion at the base of the mudbrick walls, probably after the abandonment of the monument in antiquity. This phenomenon has been noted in the exterior walls of the Great Kyz Kala, in both historic photographs and more recent conservation records (Cooke 2014, 2015), and is caused by a combination of the destabilisation of building material due to the absorption of soluble ground salts and wind erosion (Fodde and Cooke 2013: 269–70)
Summary
Semi-fortified Palatial Complexes in Central Asia: New Work at the Great Kyz Kala, Merv, Turkmenistan. The complexes are semi-fortified, with a second storey entrance, and often with asymmetrical ranges of rooms around an internal courtyard. Recent work at the Great Kyz Kala at Merv, Turkmenistan, the largest surviving monumental köshk in Central Asia, has provided more details of construction and use. The excavations suggest that this complex was constructed in the 8th/9th century CE, with well-appointed rooms on the second storey, including a large hall, and functional rooms and storage spaces around a courtyard on the lower floor. The complex was set within an enclosure, containing gardens and possibly ancillary buildings. This particular köshk may have acted as an elite palatial suburban residence, perhaps for the governor of Merv
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