Akchakhan-Kala, or Akcha-khan Kala, also named after the locality Kazakly-Yatkan/ Kazakl'i-Yatkan, in modern

Karakalpakstan Karakalpakstan, / officially the Republic of Karakalpakstan, / is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. It occupies the whole northwestern part of Uzbekistan. The capital is Nukus (' / ). The Republic of Karakalpakstan has an area of , and ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, was an ancient fortress in

Chorasmia Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...

built in the 4th/ 3rd century BCE and occupied until it was despoiled in the 2nd century CE. It is part of the "Fifty fortresses oasis" in modern-day

. The abandonment of Akchakhan-Kala was apparently followed by the establishment of the new capital of

Toprak-Kala Toprak-Kala, in modern Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, was an ancient palace city and the capital of in Chorasmia in the 2nd/3rd century CE, where wall paintings, coins and archives were discovered. Its history covers a period from the 1st to the 5th ...

, 14 km to the northeast.

Excavations

Akcha-khan Kala has been the object of numerous excavations, still ongoing. A ceremonial complex with a

hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or un ...

hall was discovered. File:Corner of upper enclosure of Kazakl'i-yatkan.jpg, Corner of upper enclosure of Kazakl'i-yatkan File:Kazakl'i-yatkan.jpg, Kazakl'i-yatkan File:Column base at Kazakl'i-yatkan.jpg, Column base at Kazakl'i-yatkan File:Mud brick floor at Kazakl'i-yatkan.jpg, Mud brick floor at Kazakl'i-yatkan

Paintings

Many decorations have been found, belonging to the period from the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE: a large quantity of frescoes, unbaked-clay modelled sculptures including fragments of a

Ketos In Ancient Greek ''kētŏs'' (, plural ''kētē''=''kētea'', ), Latinized as ''cetus'' (pl. ''ceti'' or ''cetē'' = ''cetea''), is any huge sea creature or sea monster. According to the mythology, Perseus slew Cetus to save Andromeda from bein ...

in Hellenistic style, and a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

fire altar A fire temple, Agiary, Atashkadeh ( fa, آتشکده), Atashgah () or Dar-e Mehr () is the place of worship for the followers of Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of Iran (Name of Iran, Persia). In the Zoroastrian religion, fire (see ''atar'' ...

with paintings of colossal

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

gods.

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

artistic influences have also been described. File:Akchakhan-Kala mural.jpg, Akchakhan-Kala mural File:Kazakly Yaktan mural (2).jpg, Akchakhan-Kala mural File:Kazakly Yaktan mural.jpg, Akchakhan-Kala mural File:Chorasmian oasis main fortresses.jpg, Location of the Akchakhan-Kala fortress in the

n oasis, in relation to other main fortresses

References

External links

Excavations of Kazakl'i-yatkan (Akchakhan-Kala)
{{Tourist attractions in Uzbekistan Central Asia Archaeology of Iran Archaeological sites in Uzbekistan Former populated places in Uzbekistan Kushan Empire