FORT 4 OF THE MOUNTAIN WALL “DAGH BARY”

Authors

  • Murtazali Serazutdinovic Gadziev The Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Daghestan Scientific Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences 0000-0002-4592-0527 (unauthenticated)
  • Marat Arturovic Bakusev “Archaeological society of Kuban” Ltd.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH152205-223

Keywords:

Caucasus, Sasanian Iran, Derbent, Mountain wall, Dagh-bary, fortification, fort, defensive architecture.

Abstract

The article focuses on the results of the archeological study, conducted on the ruins of the Fort 4, located in the territory of the medieval settlement Pirmeshki. The work was carried out in the context of the research of the fortification system Dag-bary, which had been a part of the Derbent defensive complex, erected during the reign of shahanshah Khosrov I Anushirvan (531-579) in the late 560s’. Judging by the remains of the walls, the fort had the internal dimensions of around 13,9 by 22,5 m with a wall thickness of 2 m. These parameters are very similar to the fort dimensions of the Mountain wall, which have better preserved. The revealed remains of the walls have the same constructive features as other fortifications of the Derbent defensive complex – double-shelled masonry of slabs of the same type, laid on wide and narrow sides without mortar, with backfilling of lime mortar. The complex of ceramic ware, presented in the cultural layers of the dig, belongs to the X – early XIII c. It can be assumed that the settlement and the forts in it ceased to exist in the period of the Mongol invasion to Dagestan, namely during the campaign of Jebe and Subutai in 1222, following the campaign of Bukdai in 1239. The data from written sources, and, mainly, Adam Olearius’ information, who visited Derbent in 1638, testifies to the destruction of numerous strongholds of the Mountain wall by the XVII c.

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Author Biographies

  • Murtazali Serazutdinovic Gadziev, The Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Daghestan Scientific Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences
    Bio Statement: Doctor of History, Professor ( Archaeology), Head of Department (Archaeology of Daghestan) Researcher Focus: archeology, history, historical geography, military and political history of the Caucasus, the ancient and early medieval times, the problem of formation of the city and the early class society, the defensive architecture of Sassanian Iran, history, archeology and culture of Caucasian Albania.
  • Marat Arturovic Bakusev, “Archaeological society of Kuban” Ltd.
    PhD. (in History) Researcher

References

Gadjiev M.S. On the Construction Date of the Derbend Fortification Complex. Iran and the Caucasus. Vol. 12(1). 2008: 1-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/157338408X326163.

Gadjiev M.S. Determination of an absolute construction date of a citadel and northern city wall of Derbent and expenditures (interpretation of the Middle Persian inscription №3) [Opredelenie absolyutnoi daty stroitel’stva tsitadeli i severnoi gorodskoi steny Derbenta i proizvedennykh zatrat]. Herald of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography. 2006, 1: 77-94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32653/CH2177-94. (In Russ.).

Gadjiev M.S. Dag bary – the Great Caucasus wall [Dag-bary – Velikaya Kavkazskaya stena]. Daghestanskie svyatyni (Daghestanian shrines). Book 2. Ed. by A.R. Shikhsaidov. Makhachkala, 2008: 8―36.(In Russ.).

Gadjiev M. Dag bary. Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2017, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dagh-bary (accessed on 20 October 2017).

Simonovich F.F. Description of Southern Dagestan. 1796 [Opisanie Yuzhnogo Dagestana. 1796 g.] Istoriya, etnografiya i geografiya Dagestana XVIII–XIX vv. Arkhivnye materialy (History, ethnography and geography of Daghestan of the 18th–19th centuries. Archive materials). Ed. by M.O. Kosven and Kh.-M. Khashaev. M.: Vostochnaya literatura, 1958: 138―156. (In Russ.).

Gadjiev M.S. Pirmeshki settlement and its necropolis. History. Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus, 2018, 14(2): 10-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24411/2618-6772-2018-12001. (In Russ.).

Rubruk G. de. A journey to Oriental countries [Puteshestvie v Vostochnye strany]. 3rd edition. Introductory article and commentaries by M.B. Gorgung. M: Mysl’, 1997. (In Russ.).

Gadjiev M.G., Davudov O.M., Shikhsaidov A.R. The History of Dagestan from the ancient times to the 15th century [Istoriya Dagestana s drevneishih vremen do XV veka]. Makhachkala, 1996. (In Russ.).

Olearius A. The description of a journey to Moskovia and through Moskovia to Persia and back [Opisanie puteshestviya v Moskoviyu i cherez Moskoviyu v Persiyu i obratno]. Transl. by A.M. Lovyagin. Saint-Petersburg: A.M. Suvorin’s edition, 1906. XXVIII. (In Russ.).

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Published

2019-06-25

Issue

Section

Archeology

How to Cite

1.
Gadziev MS, Bakusev MA. FORT 4 OF THE MOUNTAIN WALL “DAGH BARY.” ИАЭК. 2019;15(2):205-223. doi:10.32653/CH152205-223