Mount Imeon: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Ancient name for major Central Asia massif}}

'''Mount Imeon''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|m|i|ə|n}}) is an ancient name for the [[Central Asia]]n complex of mountain ranges comprising the present [[Hindu Kush]], [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] and [[Tian Shan]], extending from the [[Zagros Mountains]] in the southwest to the [[Altay Mountains]] in the northeast, and linked to the [[Kunlun Mountains|Kunlun]], [[Karakoram]] and [[Himalayas]] to the southeast. The term was used by Hellenistic-era scholars as "Imaus Mount", even though non-Greek in etymology, and predating [[Alexander the Great]].

A detailed description of the mountainous territory and its people was given in the [[Armenia]]n geography index ''[[Ashkharatsuyts|Ashharatsuyts]]'' written by [[Anania Shirakatsi]] in the 7th century AD<ref name="Eremian">Eremian, Suren. [http://www.kroraina.com/armen_ca/map_casia_b.jpg Reconstructed map of Central Asia from ‘Ashharatsuyts’.]</ref><ref name="Shirakatsi">Shirakatsi, Anania, ''The Geography of Ananias of Sirak (Asxarhacoyc): The Long and the Short Recensions''. Introduction, Translation and Commentary by Robert H. Hewsen. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 1992. 467 pp. {{ISBN|978-3-88226-485-2}}</ref> (or possibly by [[Moses of Chorene]] in the 5th century.<ref>Haroutunian, Babken. [http://www.matenadaran.org/en/articles/61/ Historical Geograpvan: Matenadaran, 2007.]</ref>) According to the original ''Ashharatsuyts'' mapping reconstructed by [[Academician|Acad.]] [[Suren Yeremyan|Suren T. Eremian]], the mountain system was divided into four branches (delimited by green dotted lines on the map) corresponding respectively to four present ranges:

The mountain system was crossed by a segment of the [[Silk Road]] leading westwards from [[Yarkent County|Yarkand]] to the [[Tashkurgan Town|Stone Tower]] in eastern [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] (mentioned by [[Ptolemy]], and shown on the ''Ashharatsuyts'' map too), then through the [[Wakhan Corridor]] and [[Badakhshan]] to reach the ancient major city of [[Balkh|Balh (Balkh)]]. An alternative [[Northern Silk Road]]<ref>Hogan, C.&nbsp;Michael. [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006 ''Silk Road, North China'']. The Megalithic Portal, edited by A.&nbsp;Burnham. 2007.</ref> went from [[Kashgar]] to upper Alay Valley, then crossed the [[Alay Mountains]] to enter [[Fergana Valley]].

Mount Imeon was famous for its [[lapis lazuli]] deposits in western [[Badakhshan]], indicated on Shirakatsi’s map. The mines at [[Sar-e-Sang]] have been producing lapis lazuli for millennia now, supplying the ancient civilizations of [[Egypt]], [[Mesopotamia]], [[India]], and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], and still yielding the world’s finest lapis. The [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] adventurer [[Marco Polo]] visited the mines in 1271 during his famous journey to [[China]], following the Silk Road to cross the mountains by way of Wakhan.<ref>Polo, Marco and Rustichello of Pisa. [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10636 ''The Travels of Marco Polo, Vol.&nbsp;1'']. Ed. Henry Yule (1903), and Henry Cordier (1920). Gutenberg Project, 2004.</ref>

*[[Kingdom of Balkhara]]

==References==

* Shirakatsi, Anania. ''Geography Guide (7th Century AD)''. Russian version: [http://vehi.net/istoriya/armenia/geographiya/index.html ''Армянская География VII века по Р.Х. (Приписывавшаяся Моисею Хоренскому)'']. Tекст и перевод с присовокуплением карт и объяснительных примечаний издал К.П. Патканов. Санктпетербург: Типография Императорской Академии Наук, 1877. (An early modern publication, less detailed than later ones.)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100729114730/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3236.htm Background Note: Bulgaria.] Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, US Department of State, 2010.