Margush

  The word "Margush" was transcribed as «Margiana» by Greek authors and as “Mouru” in the holly book "Avesta". It wasn’t known the exact location of Murgash until XX century but thanks to ancient written sources, the eastern Academician V.V. Struve proved that Margush was in the basin of the river Murgab in southeastern Turkmenistan.

  According to another version, Margiana was located Merveruda district. Some scientists believe that it also was included into the whole river basin Murgab. In II century Margush became part of Parfiya. During the reign of Arshakid dynasty, a new life bloom was begun in Margiana. There was built a new wall thickness of 7 metres. The dominant religion of Margush was Zoroastrism. Small terracotta figurines with the image of local female deities were very popular in Margiana.

  The remains of large Buddisht temple were found not far from the settlement Gyaur Kala. There was a large stupa with a huge 5-metre-high figure of the Buddha in the centre of the complex. According to the remains, one can say that the Buddha's face was painted in brownish-red color. There also were cells for the monks. In the V century Buddhist complex was destroyed. In 1962 a large painted vase was found by archeologists where the head of Buddha and ancient manuscripts in Sanskrit were discovered. Today, the scientists excavate in order to gather as much information on the restoration of mysterious Margush.