Комитет по координации развития науки и технологий при кабинете министров республики узбекистан

partly preserved barrel vault with a 4.5 metre span. The 
building has been provisionally interpreted as a 
mausoleum but this has been disputed. In the south-
west corner of the upper enclosure is a massive wall, 
creating a rectangular space within the corner. 
Preliminary excavations here revealed a 
donjon 
built, in 
Kushan-Afrighid times, on the ruins of earlier massive 
walls dating back probably to around the last century 
B.C. Excavations of the monumental architecture have 
been concentrated in the north-west corner of the upper 
enclosure where traces of a massive, roughly 
rectangular, feature were originally visible above the 
drifting sand. As this area was uncovered it revealed a 
square monumental building with rounded towers 
surrounded by a series of chambers, pathways and 
courts. The whole area seems to be a complex designed 
for royal cult ceremony centred on the square building. 
The central building was elaborately decorated with 
painted walls, painted statuary and moulded and gilded 
plaster. Paintings were also found in some of the 
external chambers. Many aspects of the main building 
were associated with cultic installations relating to fire 
and some fragments of painted text in Aramaic script 
were also found. A reading of ‘king’ or ‘khan’ (MLK) 
gives substance to the interpretation of a royal cult 
centre. The size of the site, the massive and much 
rebuilt fortifications, and the idea of the ‘sacred 
enclosure’ underline the importance of the place.
Khorezmian Heritage Today 
The modern republic of Karakalpakstan has 
inherited a rich and highly significant corpus of 
monuments dating back over two thousand years to the 
time when ancient Khorezm flourished as an oasis of 
civilization within the desert. The standing remains are 
unique within Uzbekistan and are rivaled only by the 
lost cities of the Tarim Basin in western China. The 
rich heritage of Karakalpkastan is not well known as 
tourism is limited at present within Karakalpakstan, but 
the completion of the bridge across the Amu Dar’ya 
between Urgench and Biruni will bring many more 
visitors. Sites such as Ayaz-kala and Toprak-kala 
which receive the most visitors today are already 
suffering damage. A marked increase in pedestrian 
traffic will place them under serious threat. Other sites 
such as the unique cult site of Koi-kr’yl-gan-kala are 
suffering environmental damage from plant growth and 
rising water levels. This built heritage has important 
value for tourism, but is also a cultural inheritance that 
must be protected for the future. Planning and 
investment are urgently needed to secure the safety of 
these monuments. They have stood two thousand years 
already and if cared for, will stand long into the future.