Navekat

Navekat
Ruins of Navekat
Navekat is located in Kyrgyzstan
Navekat
Shown within Kyrgyzstan
Navekat is located in West and Central Asia
Navekat
Navekat (West and Central Asia)
Alternative nameNevkat
LocationChüy Region, Kyrgyzstan
Coordinates42°54′56.2″N 75°0′29.9″E / 42.915611°N 75.008306°E / 42.915611; 75.008306
TypeSettlement
History
Founded5-6th century
Abandoned12th century
Site notes
ConditionIn ruins

Navekat or Nevkat [1] was an ancient Silk Road city that flourished between the 6th and 12th centuries. It lies near the modern village of Krasnaya Rechka, in the Chüy Valley, present-day Kyrgyzstan, about 30 kilometers east of Bishkek. It was one of the most important trading centres of the region.[2] Navekat was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014[3] as a part of the site "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor".

Archaeological site

Navekat had two walls: the first around the Shahristan, the traditional administrative center of this type of city; the second wall was more than 18 kilometres (11 mi) long, with public buildings, markets, gardens and even farms inside. There was a citadel (Persian: كهندز, romanized: kuhandiz) in the northeastern part of the city built on a massive earthen platform. The volume of this platform was about 13 million cubic meters, probably the largest man-made mound in the world.

During archaeological excavations, artifacts uncovered included a golden burial mask and an 8-meter-long reclining Buddha statue in one of the two Buddhist temples.[4] other artifacts demonstrate the presence of Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Eastern Christians, and Manicheans.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.himalayanresearch.org/pdf/2012/vol16n1-2012.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ Nevkat – An Ancient Silk Road City Retrieved 22 May 2018
  3. ^ "UNESCO World Heritage List".
  4. ^ Guides, Insight (April 2017). Insight Guides Silk Road (Travel Guide eBook). ISBN 9781786716996.