In ancient times, when the Amu Darya River fed the vast Sarykamysh Lake through its deltaic channels, the lower reaches of the river were a nearly continuous expanse of oases. To the north, they were bordered by the shores of the Aral Sea; to the east, by the left bank of the Amu Darya; to the west, by the cliffs of the Ustyurt Plateau; and to the south, by the Zaunguz Karakum Desert. This was Khwarezm, a region that many Orientalists consider to be the legendary Airyanem Vaejah (“Aryan Expanse”) described in the Avesta as the homeland of the prophet Zoroaster and the center of the world.
Today, the landscape here is harsh and appears lifeless. Sparse grassy vegetation emerges in spring only to wither under the summer sun. Few plant species can survive in the saline soil. The hard surfaces of the many plateaus, flat hills, and rocky elevations—known in Turkmen as “gyr”—contrast with the sandy dunes. It is difficult to imagine that this land once thrived with life, with green fields and fortified cities built on these plateaus. Ruins of massive clay walls still stand in some places, visible from afar, though few tourists dare to traverse the rugged terrain to visit them.
Until the mid-20th century, nothing was known about the lost civilization of ancient Khwarezm. This changed thanks to one man. In 1937, a 30-year-old historian, archaeologist, and ethnographer named Sergey Tolstov founded the Khwarezm Archaeological Expedition, which worked for 60 years and revolutionized the study of antiquity.
Tolstov first visited the region a decade earlier as a student at Moscow University. Struck by what he saw, he fell in love with the land and vowed to return to study it systematically. Young Tolstov intuitively understood Khwarezm’s crucial role in connecting the ancient populations of Central Asia with the Eurasian North. He often referred to this historical region as the “Egypt of Central Asia.” His mission was to conduct a comprehensive study of the area, assembling a strong team of specialists from various fields. Even after his passing, his team continued his work, including archaeologists, ethnographers, architects, art historians, geomorphologists, geodesists, paleobotanists, zoologists, and linguists.
Tolstov pioneered the use of small aviation in archaeological research, employing aerial surveys and photography to explore the terrain. Friends and colleagues jokingly called him “the Commander” for his courage, intelligence, and determination.
In the plains crisscrossed by ancient Amu Darya riverbeds, the expedition discovered Neolithic-era camps of primitive hunters and fishermen during its early years in Khwarezm. These people lived about 6,000 years ago. By the middle of the second millennium BCE, nomadic pastoralism and rudimentary irrigation agriculture had emerged in the region. Several centuries later, in the Late Bronze Age, the culture of the Saka-Massagetae tribes flourished in the Aral steppes. These tribes formed a powerful military alliance known as Turan. Often equated with the Scythians, they shared similarities in language, beliefs, art, and weaponry.
Before Sergey Tolstov’s expedition, the history of Khwarezm was known only through scant and often fantastical accounts by ancient authors and documents like the Avesta and the Behistun inscription of Persian King Darius I (6th century BCE). The Khwarezm Archaeological Expedition brought the written sources to life by uncovering dozens of lost cities and fortresses in the desert and hundreds of artifacts that now fill museum collections.
The ancient Greek historian and geographer Hecataeus of Miletus, who lived around the 6th–5th centuries BCE, mentioned a city called Chorasmia, though its location remains unknown. No ancient names have survived in Khwarezm’s modern toponymy; today’s names are of relatively recent origin. For instance, the largest and oldest site, according to archaeologists, is called Kuyzeligyr, meaning “Potter’s Gyr” in Turkmen. Nearby are two other large settlements, both named Kalalygyr (“Fortress on a Gyr”). To distinguish between the two sites of different layouts and ages, archaeologists refer to them as Kalalygyr-1 and Kalalygyr-2.
Both sites share a key feature of ancient Khwarezmian architecture: the inhabitants lived in long vaulted rooms built into the thick fortress walls, structures that Sergey Tolstov referred to as “living walls.” These were not cities in the modern sense but massive enclosures for livestock, surrounded by residential walls. Such settlements could house thousands of people, and their descriptions appear in the Avesta.
The most fascinating discoveries shedding light on Khwarezm’s mythology and religion were made at Kalalygyr-2. Tolstov first identified the site in 1939 during an exploratory route. Initial mapping was done that year, and an experienced archaeologist, Sergey Vyazigin, later found ossuaries—ceramic boxes used in Zoroastrian burial rites to store human remains—at both Kalalygyr sites.
Aerial views reveal that Kalalygyr-2 is almost an isosceles triangle in plan. On its northern side is a rectangular entrance complex. The fortress walls in this area stand up to five meters tall, with an arrow corridor within. In 1953, Gleb Snesarev, a member of the Khwarezm expedition, conducted exploratory excavations at the site. He uncovered collapsed walls, mapped their contours, excavated several rooms, and discovered numerous artifacts, from fragments of sculpted ossuaries to medieval black-glazed vessels with twisted handles. Among these was a terracotta flask fragment with a relief of a rider on a two-humped camel—possibly Zoroaster himself, whose name translates to “Owner of Old Camels.”
In the 1980s, Bella Weinberg, a student of Tolstov and a doctor of historical sciences, led renewed excavations at Kalalygyr-2. She focused on a circular building similar to another structure she had excavated nearby. Circular architecture is rare in antiquity, and this building, measuring 24 meters in diameter, was likely a temple. Excavations revealed that Kalalygyr-2 was constructed no later than the mid-4th century BCE and served as a major religious center. An oval tower adjoined the temple, and arrow slits are still visible in the walls. Around the 2nd century BCE, the fortress suffered a catastrophic destruction by fire, leaving traces on walls and objects buried under ash and charcoal.
The artifacts unearthed at Kalalygyr-2 provide valuable insights into the material and spiritual culture of ancient Khwarezm. They suggest the site was a sacred place dedicated to fertility cults and fire worship. Scholars believe the chief deity of Khwarezmian pagans, like in the Iranian world, was Mithra, a figure in the Zoroastrian pantheon whose cult later spread to the Roman Empire.
One nearly intact vessel features a relief interpreted as a calendar myth. The composition is divided into three parts, with the central section representing Khwarezmian cosmology rooted in Indo-European myths. One figure, a running youth shooting a bow, is thought to depict Mithra, accompanied by swirling rosettes symbolizing the three sacred fires of the Iranians. Behind him is a plant with long branches, possibly embodying life’s eternal cycle.
A vessel with a relief interpreted as a calendrical myth has been almost completely preserved. The composition on the flask is divided into three parts. At its center, experts believe, is a representation of the Khorezmian concept of the cosmos, reflecting the primary cosmological myth of the Indo-Europeans. On the right side of the middle section is a figure of a running youth shooting a bow, identified as Mithra. He is accompanied by whirling rosettes, which are associated with the three sacred fires of the Iranians. Behind Mithra’s figure is a plant with long, winding branches, identified as the sacred Haoma. The young god shoots an arrow to kill a deer, which presumably symbolizes a deity of dying and resurrecting nature. Drops of blood from the deer’s wound give rise to stalks with ears of grain, while in front of the deer is a tree with a broken branch, symbolizing the transience of life. The entire composition is interpreted as a scene of deer sacrifice performed by Mithra immediately after his birth on the winter solstice. This regularly recurring ritual is believed to renew the world and ensure the stability of human life.
At Kalalygyr-2, another flask with an image of a deer was found. The deer stands against the backdrop of a tree with sprawling branches, possibly representing the World Tree. Another figure from Khorezmian mythology, related to broader Iranian cosmological myths, is depicted on a ceramic lid. At the center of its circular field is a fantastical creature with a human head, bull’s legs, the body of a feline predator, and outstretched wings. Researchers identify this as Gopatshah, the bull-king of Iranian mythology, who resides in the land of Airyanem Vaejah and serves the gods by the sea. A key detail of this image is the hemispherical object on its head—a woven basket for carrying bricks, used in Mesopotamian construction practices. This attribute allows the figure to be interpreted as the primordial builder or the first human in Zoroastrian mythology, the sixth creation of the supreme god Ahura Mazda after the division of heaven and earth. It can be suggested that the relief on the lid illustrates the initial acts of creation as imagined by the ancient inhabitants of Khorezm.
Another fascinating group of artistic ceramics includes rhytons—special vessels with a drain hole at the bottom. The most widespread rhytons imitate the shape of a horn. At Kalalygyr, both imported ceramic rhytons and vessels made in Khorezm, modeled after Iranian metal examples from the 6th–4th centuries BCE, were found. The first category includes a rhyton with a flared upper part and a side handle—a shape entirely uncharacteristic for vessels of this type. The handle ends with the head of a mythological figure: a bearded man with bull horns sharply curved backward. “The image lacks a definitive interpretation,” says Tigran Mkrtychev. “On one hand, considering the cultural context, it could be Gopatshah. On the other hand, it parallels the Greek god Achelous, who transformed into a bull in his duel with Heracles. Achelous was the god of river streams, and he is also associated with the legend of the cornucopia. Given the semantics of the image, depicting Achelous on a rhyton seems quite fitting.”
The presence of a Greek deity on an Iranian vessel should not be surprising, especially considering the dating of the Khorezmian artifact to no later than the early 3rd century BCE. During this period, artworks created in the traditions of Eastern Hellenism were spreading in Parthia and Khorezm. At Kalalygyr-2, several fragments of imported rhytons were also discovered, including the lower part of a gray-clay vessel shaped like a realistically executed horse’s head. The exterior is covered with a dense black slip and meticulously polished. The harness with plaques at the intersections of straps, as well as the trimmed mane, is carefully detailed with incised lines filled with red paste. It is believed that libations from zoomorphic rhytons served as substitutes for actual sacrifices, particularly given the symbolic equivalence of blood and wine.
More than thirty years have passed since archaeologists left this site. Not all its mysteries have been uncovered, and much remains unexcavated. Yet, even the small portion of findings brought to light through their tireless efforts in the desert offers glimpses into how our distant ancestors lived and what they believed.