Margiana (Avestan Mouru; Ancient Greek Μαργιανή, Margianḗ; Ancient Persian Marguš; Pahlavi Marv; Turkmen Marguş) is a historical region in Central Asia, the center of which was ancient Merv.
Margiana – (Margu, Avestan Mouru, Greek Margiana, literally “meadow” or “surrounded by thickets”, from the name of the river) – a region inhabited by Iranian tribes, probably from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC.
Margiana was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire mentioned in the Behistun Inscription. It received its name from the name of its main city – Merv. Corresponds to the territory of modern Eastern Turkmenistan. To the east of Margiana were the satrapies of Sogdiana and Bactria. In 521 BC. led by Frada, the Margiana people staged an unsuccessful rebellion against Darius Hydaspes.
In 53 BC, after the Battle of Carrhae (Harran), the remnants of Crassus’s defeated Roman legions were transported to Margiana. A few years later, in the neighboring region of Talas, the first contact between the Romans and Greeks with the Chinese probably occurred — the Battle of Talas (36 BC).
Ancient settlements:
Altyn-Depe. Altyn-Depe (Turkmen: Altyn depe) is a Bronze Age settlement (2300-1900 BC) discovered in southern Turkmenistan. The name translated from the Turkmen language means “golden hill”. The city arose on the basis of a local agricultural community. It was surrounded by a fortress wall made of adobe bricks. In the center of the settlement there was a Sumerian-style ziggurat temple with a bull’s head. Artifacts (ivory items, seals, faience beads) indicate close ties between the settlers and the bearers of the Harappan civilization. Clay figurines indicate the existence of wheeled transport. During excavations of Altyn-Depe, signs resembling proto-Elamite and proto-Sumerian pictography, as well as Harappan writing, were discovered. The culture of the settlement declined without any traces of external influence.
Gonur-Depe. Gonur-Depe (Turkmen: Goňur depe; translated from Turkmen as “brown hill”) is the largest settlement of the BMAC (Bronze Age, about 2300 BC). It is located in the southeast of Turkmenistan, in the Merv oasis, on a low hill on the right bank of the Murghab riverbed. Discovered in 1972 by the Margiana archaeological expedition led by V. I. Sarianidi
Namazga-Tepe. Namazga-Tepe or Namazga-Depe (Turkmen: Namazga depe) is the remains of a large Eneolithic settlement in Turkmenistan dating back to the 5th–2nd millennia BC. It is located 80 km from Ashgabat, near the Iranian border. It is one of the oldest sites in Central Asia, and is evidence of early agriculture in the region.
Togolok 21. Togolok is an archaeological site in the delta of the Murghab River, located in Turkmenistan approximately 10–15 km south of Gonur (or approximately 40 km north of Mary). Togolok 21 is an Indo-Iranian temple and fortress dating back to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, belonging to the late phase of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex. The Togolok 1 area has also been excavated.
Ulug-Depe. Ulug Depe (Turkmen: Ulug depe) is an ancient Bronze Age site at the foot of the Kopetdag Mountains in the Karakum Desert of the Kak District of the Ahal Province in southeastern Turkmenistan. It covers an area of about 13 hectares and is located on a hill about 30 meters high, demonstrating the longest stratigraphic sequence in Central Asia, beginning with the Late Neolithic represented by the Jeitun culture and ending with the pre-Achaemenid period
Berdysychran Depe. Berdysychran Depe (Turkmen: Berdisyçran depe) is an ancient agricultural settlement of the Bronze Age, located in the Ahal Province of Turkmenistan in the old delta of the Tejen River, south of the Goksur Oasis, 15 km south of Khapuz Depe.
