Yemshi Tepe
Alternative name | Yemshi Tepe |
---|---|
Location | Afghanistan |
Coordinates | 36°42′23″N 65°47′13″E / 36.70639°N 65.78694°E |
Type | Fortress |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 1938 |
Condition | Ruined |
Yemshi Tepe, also Emchi-Tepe or Imshik, is an ancient circular fortress in Afghanistan, 5 kilometers to the northeast of the city of Sheberghan.It is about 100 kilometers west of Balkh, the capital of ancient Bactria.
The city occupies around 20 hectares, and was built probably by a
According to the Soviet archaeologist Sarianidi in 1985:
Its tall, mighty walls pierced by several narrow gateways were fortified by defence towers and formed an impregnable ring ... . Inside, in the northern section, stood the citadel, at whose foot were the remains of what had apparently been the palatial residence of the local ruler. Some 50 acres (20 ha) in area, this ancient city, indubitably a vast one for its time, comprised, along with the small villages of its sprawling suburbs, the administrative seat of the entire neighbouring region, once part of the legendary empire of Bactria.[1]
The circular fortification has a circumference of 1.5 km, and a surface of 18 ha.[2] The round shape of the settlement is rather typical of the structure of Bactrian fortifications of the 1st millennium BCE, such as the fortresses of Balkh or Merv.[3][4]
Yemshi Tepe is in close proximity (about 500 metres) to the archaeological burial site of
Literature
- VI Sarianidi : Bactrian Gold. From the Excavations of the Tillya-Tepe Necropolis in Northern Afghanistan. Aurora, Leningrad 1985, p. 7.
- Warwick Ball: Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan. = Catalog des sites archéologiques d'Afghanistan. Éditions Recherche sur les Civilizations, Paris 1982, p. 96 (Synthèse 8).
References
- ISBN 978-0-8109-0987-8.
- ISBN 978-0-19-726384-6.
- ^ "Tillia Tepe is located 3 kilometers from a round ancient settlement called Yemshi - tepe . On the basis of the plan , we assume that it was founded in the mid - first millennium B . C . , for the round shape is typical of ancient Bactrian settlements" in Bulletin of the Asia Institute. Wayne State University Press. 1992. p. 11.
- JSTOR 24048280.
- ISBN 978-0-7748-4128-3.
- ISBN 978-0-19-726384-6.