Mysteries of Karabil caves: facts and hypothesis
August 10, 2017 | 20:26 |835
In the ancient Pendin oasis - Tagtabazar Etrap in Mary Velayat, there are a few unusual monuments of the past, which attract the interest of researchers, excite the imagination of antiquity lovers and fans of extreme tourism. We are talking about man-made caves cut down in the thickness of the cliffed bank of the Murgab River, in the area of the Karabil hills. The entrances into them are arranged in vertical steps of soft sandstone in such a way that it is extremely difficult to get inside. This can be done from the bottom, from the water level, with the help of a ladder, or from above, going down with climbing equipment. All these signs indicate that a lack of access to the underground facilities had the only goal - to ensure their safety, to arrange a reliable shelter for the inhabitants there.Ruslan MURADOV
Who, when and why did come up with such a tricky form of home? Here are the three main questions that scientists are looking for the answers to.
The only available place for visitors so far is the cave complex of Yekegovak, or, as it used to be called, Ekedeshik. This is a two-tier structure, which is a straight corridor that goes 37 meters deep into the shore. On either side of it, opposite to each other, there are rectangular rooms, from which the entrances to the smaller chambers are cut down. In some places, there are small rooms with round pits - either buried wells or devices for storing supplies.
An oval niche, resembling an altar closes the corridor. There are holes in the walls for lamps, because there is absolutely no sunshine. It is not clear yet, how the problem of ventilation in these truly ascetic cells was solved. They have, of course, their undoubted merits: in summer heat, it was cool there, and in winter – it was warm.
Several years ago, when one of the cliffs of the right bank of the Murgab River was heavily washed by water near the settlements of Dashkyopri and Erden, the entrances to another, previously unknown cave city, were revealed. It was very difficult for the specialists of the Ancient Merv State Historical and Cultural Reserve to get into it. What they saw there, struck even these experienced professionals.
The walls of the Dashkyopri complex were decorated with relief ornaments of various types, skillfully imitating classical architectural forms. Pilasters, vaults are processed with the skillful arm of a stone carver, who had good taste and knew the laws of proportion and harmony. Unlike the harsh, ascetic interiors of Yekegovak, the architects tried to create a representative room designed for some important gatherings or ceremonies.
Today, we see Yekegovak and the neighboring underground complexes as a result of centuries-long exploitation and long desolation, when something was modified by late tenants, something collapsed or simply covered with soil. It will require a serious work to clear and study the architectural complexes.
Russian mining engineer - Athanasius Konshin discovered these cave settlements 125 years ago. After him, a geologist, traveler and writer, academician Vladimir Obruchev, who gave the first scientific description of the Karabil hills and a group of artificial caves located there in his book "The Transcaspian Lowland" in 1890, visited the site.
Many specialists - geologists, geographers and archaeologists visited the site in the XX century, but the first detailed description of these cave complexes was given by architect Galina Pugachenkova, who visited the site in the 50s. She dated these strange structures back to X-XI centuries, but this conclusion was based only on findings collected from the floor, which may be the evidence of later life in the caves and in subsequent centuries.
What is hidden below, under the rubble, where a spade of archaeologists has not got to yet?
Architectural historian Sergei Khmelnitsky noted that this type of artificial shelters served as monasteries in Central Asia, usually Buddhist and sometimes Christian monasteries. A number of such monuments are known in Western China, Afghanistan, Southern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Geometric regularity, right angles of Yekegovak leave no doubt that it was created by experienced masters and that, at least initially, it was not just some secret dwelling, but a monastic hostel.
The nearby Dortgowak complex does not look like an ordinary dungeon. If these considerations are correct, then the Karabil caves are much older than the X-XI centuries and can be dated, as well as Kara-Tepe, back to II-IV centuries, and maybe even earlier time. The arrangement of this kind of cave dwelling along the Murgab River was, obviously very popular in the Middle Ages. That is also proved by the Tagtabazar caves, and the caves of Dashkyopri, as well as the message in a medieval treatise about the Asrab settlement, found in the gorge behind Merverud – a city of Maruchak on the Turkmen-Afghan border, next to Tagtabazar. Arab geographer Kudama ibn Jafar, who lived in the 10th century, literally wrote the following: "Asrab is a small village with dwellings in caves in the mountains".
As in a number of other cases, when one has to deal with poorly studied monuments, there are more questions than answers.
