Anau (also spelled Annau, tk, Änew) is a city in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...

. Until 20 December 2022 it was the capital of

Ahal Province Ahal Region ( tk, Ahal welaýaty; from fa, آخال, Axāl) is one of five provinces of Turkmenistan. It is in the south-center of the country, bordering Iran and Afghanistan along the Kopet Dag Range. Its area is and population 939,700 (2005 ...

. It is situated 8 km southeast of

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies ...

, to which it is connected via the M37 highway.

Etymology

The name Anau derives from Persian ''Âbe nav'' (آب نو), meaning "fresh water".

Overview

In 2003, the city built a new stadium, and in 2005 the National White Wheat Museum to house artifacts recovered from the area. The city received the status of "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" for 2024. This was decided at the 39th session of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of

TURKSOY The International Organization of Turkic Culture tr, Uluslararası Türk Kültürü Teşkilatı or TURKSOY is an international cultural organization of countries with Turkic populations, speaking languages belonging to the Turkic language fami ...

Archaeology

The

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "Rock (geology), stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin ''wikt:aeneus, aeneus'' "of copper"), is an list of archaeologi ...

Anau culture dates to 4500 BC, following the Neolithic Jeitun culture in the cultural sequence of southern Turkmenistan. Anau was excavated by a joint Turkmen-U.S. archaeological expedition in the 1990s and 2000s.AYDOGDY KURBANOV (2018)
A brief history of archaeological research in Turkmenistan from the beginning of the 20th century until the present.
/ref> Anau was a stopping point along the ancient Silk Road. Fine painted pottery is found here.

Notable people

Byagul Nurmiradova Byagul Nurmiradova (born 1971; , ) is a Turkmen politician who previously served as deputy chairperson for culture of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow's cabinet, equivalent to a vice president in some other countries, until 2014. Nurmiradova ...

, Turkmen politician

References

External links

ANAW (Anau)
iranicaonline.org {{coord, 37, 53, N, 58, 32, E, region:TM_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Populated places in Ahal Region Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan