Ancient Imprints

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Ancient Imprints
by Tom Cole

Originally appeared in HALI 145, © 2006

The search for design origins exercises a perennial fascination for those interested in the art of oriental carpets. In this exploration, Contributing Editor Tom Cole looks at evidence for the persistent influence of Bronze Age architecture and artefacts on motifs found on Turkmen and other Turko-Mongol weavings of our time.

Fig. 1. A detailed view of the Gonor South archaeological complex , Turkmenistan.

Our understanding of the ancient cultures of Central Asia is in a state of constant evolution, keeping pace with new archaeological discoveries. We now know, thanks to work carried out over the past three decades, that a number of highly developed Bronze Age societies existed in the steppe lands. Study of surviving relics and ruins from that period has led to lively debate on the nature and culture of these early peoples, their possible origins, as well as their contacts and interactions with others.

Late Bronze Age seals and building complexes left behind in the shifting sands of the desert have much to tell us. Awareness of this ancient legacy can contribute crucially to our understanding of the aesthetic conventions of latter-day Central Asian tribal cultures, as seen, for instance, in the weavings of the descendants of these early steppe cultures ¹.

Fig. 2 Aeirial view from the west of the Gonor South archaeological complex, Turkmenistan, ca. 2200-1700 bc. After Sarianidi 2002, p.183

One such Bronze Age culture, dating to circa 2200-1700 bc, was centred on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus) River in present day Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan. It is known either as the Bactrian-Margian Archaeological Complex (BMAC) culture or, more accurately, as ‘Namazga V’.²Among the most significant of the Namazga V discoveries is a series of scattered late Bronze Age sites established in the early second millennium, including Gonur Tepe or Gonur South (Fig. 1) situated in the ancient delta of the Murghab River in the southeastern part of present-day Turkmenistan, as well as two others in northern Afghanistan. All three seem to be inspired by a common architectural concept.

Possibly the capital or cultural centre of ‘Margiana’, Gonur South dates mainly to the second millennium bc. It is unlikely however that such an extensive complex of buildings and fortifications could have been built during a single period, and there is some evidence to suggest that part of the construction took place at a later date.

Some of the buildings in the oldest part of the temple complex excavated by the Margianan Archeological Expedition, directed by the Russian archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi, appear to have been used for performing ritual libations, including the preparation of psychoactive substances such as poppy, ephedra and hemp,³ of which charred remnants have been found.

Fig. 3. Lobed ‘göl’, bronze seal, northern Afghanistan, ca. 2200-1500 bc. Courtesy Anahita Gallery, Santa Fe

The foundations are all that remain at Gonur South. Within the complex is a later, unfinished construction of considerable size – a complete foundation, some 65 metres square, enclosing an unfinished interior. Above all it is this foundation that is significant here. It is ‘unique’ in Central Asia in that it bears a resemblance to a much later Persian fire temple, perhaps

suggesting an “analogous purpose of the Margianian sanctuary”.⁴ The foundation displays a form that may have inspired, or provided a model for, but at the very least reflects, the aesthetic sensibilities seen in subsequent patterning of later weavings from this and neighbouring regions (Fig.4, 5).

Fig. 4. Göl detail from a 15th century east Anatolian rug. After Balpinar & Hirsch, Carpets: Vakıflar Museum Istanbul, Wesel 1998, pl.3

In discussing the relationship between ancient architectural forms and later weavings, separated in time by almost 3,500 years, one must be circumspect about assuming a direct correlation between actual form and subsequent meaning. The visual similarities are too obvious to ignore, but to assume a

direct relationship, however tempting, may be presumptuous. In similar instances Professor Elizabeth Barber has suggested the possibility of “independent invention”.⁵ At all events, the appearance of a closely comparable ‘aesthetic’ is evident, whether it is directly derived or of independent origin.

Fig. 5 Gül detail from a 19th century Chodor Turkmen mafrash. After Andrews et al., Wie Blumen in der Wüste, Hamburg 1993, pl.77.

A singular aesthetic is also evident in bronze seals and belt studs from the same period. Given that Late Bronze Age art influenced the later Scythian ‘animal-style’, we may recognise the continuation of a distinctive aesthetic in later textiles.⁶ A reliance on geometric reticulation or abstract representation is prevalent, as is the penchant for the quartered roundel (göl), and the depiction of confronting animals within a roundel.

Many surviving bronze seals, which have a stud or handle on the back, depict abstract geometric shapes, including quartered lobed octagons (Fig. 3) and stepped polygons. The appearance of literal or stylised figures also appears to be an integral part of this Bronze Age aesthetic, and sometimes an entire figurative image appears, including “people, animals, reptiles and insects”.⁷

Fig. 6 Above - Eagle, bronze seal, northern Afghanistan, ca. 2200-1500 bc. Courtesy Anahita Gallery, Santa Fe

Below - Detail from an Arabatchi asmalyk depicting similar eagle forms, Coutresy Russian Ethniographic Museum, St. Petersburg

In an effort to identify and understand cult activity of the period, Sarianidi speculates that much of the imagery is relevant to entrenched belief systems, often having a talismanic function to ensure protection from the ‘evil eye’. Eagles (Fig. 6) and snakes are interpreted as apotropaeic images, while dragons are cast in a more threatening light, representing the forces of darkness and danger.⁸

The possession of these seals is thought to have “protected their owners from all kinds of dangers in everyday life”.⁹ The context in which these seals have been found reveals the significance attached to the images. Some seals are directly associated with cult worship, and their discovery within “a tomb for priests” has been noted in the excavation at Altyn Tepe, another late Namazga V (or early Namazga VI) architectural complex.¹⁰

Fig. 7. Scorpion, bronze seal, northern Afghanistan, ca. 2200-1500 bc. Courtesy Anahita Gallery, Santa Fe

Interestingly, it is among weavings from the Middle Amu Darya region that one may find evidence of a continuation of design tradition, with zoomorphic imagery featured in some Ersari and Uzbek rugs. Both spiders (Fig. 9) and scorpions (Fig. 7, 8) come immediately to mind. Among the Tekke Turkmen, however, it is the snake that is both liked and revered, an integral component of

local mythology, depicted on children’s clothing but rarely encountered as a recognisable image on pile weavings. Of much greater import than mere decoration, these forms were often created with a sense of purpose, perhaps representing the ideological evolution of belief systems practised at the time.

Fig. 8. Stylised scorpion used as the primary ornament of a 19th century Kirghizcarpet (detail), Fergana region. Private collection USA

Temple complexes such as Gonur South may have served as a location from which to commune with a higher force with the help of psychoactive substances. Forms similar to the foundations of these ruins are found in lobed-göl and stepped-polygon shaped seals and studs, artefacts that have also been associated with

cult beliefs and affiliation. While there appears to be some aesthetic continuity, it also seems possible that in the light of the physical evidence, a relationship between reticulated form and spiritual or cult pursuits remains a distinct possibility.

Fig. 9. Above - Spider used as the central ornament of a 19th century Ersari Turkmen gülli-göl main carpet (detail), Middle Amu Darya region. Private collection, USA

Below - Apotropaeic imagery on an Ersari long carpet suggesting insects or spiders, Private Collection, USA

Notes

1. Special thanks to Andy Hale, without whose assistance and insight this article could never have been completed, and also to Elena Tsareva and the late Robert Pinner.

2. V.I. Sarianidi & V.M. Masson, Central Asia– Turkmenia Before the Achaemenids, New York& Washington 1972, p.113.

3. Viktor Sarianidi, ‘Temples of Bronze Age Margiana: Traditions of Ancient Architecture’ Antiquities, vol.68, no.259, June 1994.

4. Viktor Sarianidi, Margush – Ancient Oriental Kingdom in the Old Delta of the Murghab River, Asgabat 2002, p.198.

5. Personal communication, 2005.

6. Kate Fitz Gibbon & Andrew Hale, Ikat Silks of Central Asia, (abridged museum edition), London 1997, p.99.

7. Sarianidi 2002, op.cit., p.274.

8. Ibid., p.275.

9. Ibid., p.274.

10. V. Masson, ‘Seals of a Proto-Indian Type’, in Philip L. Kohl, ed., The Bronze Age Civilization of Central Asia – Recent Soviet Discoveries, New York 1981, p.150.