Sputnik Azərbaycan

BAKU, April 27 - Sputnik. Archaeologists accidentally found gold and bronze ornaments in one of the destroyed cemeteries in the Gazakh-Ganja region. This was reported to Sputnik Azerbaijan by Najaf Museyibli, Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of ANAS.

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When experts began to study the tombs, they found jewelry and pottery. Thanks to them, it was possible to determine the age of the graves. They belong to the first half of the first millennium BC (2700-3000 years).

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According to Museyibli, the grave where they found their jewelry is not the only one. There are several other graves nearby.

At that time, Khojaly-Gadabay culture existed in the territories of Azerbaijan.

It covers the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (XIII-VII centuries BC) of the Eastern and Central Transcaucasian archeological culture. At that time, the first state was established in these areas. The process of formation of social relations in the society has taken place, and the ornaments found show that their owners belong to a high position.

Another important aspect of this discovery is that so many gold jewelry belonging to the Khojaly-Gadabay culture has not been found so far. A total of 52 pieces of jewelry were found - earrings, rings, two medallions, necklaces and beads in the form of leaves.

Karimli is the same age as ancient Gabala and Mingachevir, and judging by the excavations, was a link between these ancient centers. And the same archaeological discovery led to the acceleration of socio-economic processes successfully coordinated by the community council within the modern village.

BAKU, 14 Feb - Sputnik. The conference on the current topic "Modern Palestine and the ways out of the crisis in the Middle East" was held in the building of the library of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. This meeting continued the cycle of scientific conferences on the historical and cultural ties of the South Caucasus with the Middle East, which have been repeatedly held in the capital of Azerbaijan in recent years.

This topic acquired a powerful documentary base after it was discovered ten years ago in the northern region of the country near the city of Oguz, which is located in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, a sensational find. In one of the seven burial mounds near the village of Karimli in the Oguz region, the archaeologist Nasib Mukhtarov discovered a gold plate with the image of a bull - the top of the royal scepter. Nearby was found a gold plate with the image of a scarab beetle sacred in Ancient Egypt.

Royal gift

The symbol of power - the golden mask of the bull - dates back to the heyday of the first states of Mesopotamia, dates back to the 15th century BC. This is the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. Gold earrings, a ring and beads were also found in a nearby burial mound. In total, seven burials have been identified on the kurgan field near the village of Karimli, and excavations were carried out only in two of them, but they gave rich material. If clay, ceramic, bronze, iron figurines or bull masks were repeatedly found in the South Caucasus, then the golden mask was previously discovered only during excavations of ancient Mingachevir. A comparative analysis of these two artifacts will answer a number of questions, in particular, about the technological aspects of making a bull mask found near the village of Karimli. In terms of performance skills, The mask is a unique phenomenon and has no analogues among the artifacts of this type found so far in the South Caucasus. In addition to the bull mask, measuring 10 by 8 centimeters, other gold items were found - beads, rings and earrings. The mask was in the center of the cell, next to the skeleton of a man, about 168 centimeters tall, with a strong build. The burial also contained more than a hundred ceramic vessels, bronze jewelry and a horse skeleton.

The publication of the find made the village of Karimli among archaeologists a territory equal in potential to the outskirts of the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia, on the territory of modern Iraq and Syria, where for several years the European and Russian experts have stopped archaeological excavations.

The discovered unique exhibits confirm the economic contacts of the ancient Mesopotamia with the South Caucasus. Symbols of royal power of such a high level as the mask of a bull and a scarab, serve as the recognition of the local ruler as the ruler of the state, worthy of the attention of the powerful civilization of Mesopotamia.

The Oguz executive branch and the community council of the village of Karimli, headed by Emir Kerimov, are assisting in the field research of the tsar's burial. After the discovery of a golden mask and other jewels in the mound, the main task was to save the burial. To this end, IV Oguz raised funds to create a museum next to the excavations. The community of the Karimli village provides archaeologists and builders with support in creating a museum. In recent years, the mounds near Karimli have attracted keen interest among archaeologists from Germany, Russia, and Japan. Historians, employees of embassies accredited in Baku, tourists are interested in the finds of the tsar's mound, and guests regret the slow progress of the construction of the museum, where the already famous golden mask of a bull should be exhibited.

Gifts of tomorrow

According to the archaeologist Mukhtarov and the head of the local community Kerimov, the mound in just one year has raised prices for land next to the found treasure five times. Then it increased again, as soon as it became known about the beginning of the construction of the museum and next to it - a tourist complex of 20 cottages. The Karimli Kurgan Field has become twice as expensive as land in the center of Baku. The striking changes in the life of a previously unknown village have only one reason: the symbol of royal power - that very golden mask of a bull.