To the Question of Studying the History of Irrigation on the Territory of Central Asia in the Bronze Age

Abstract

According to researchers, irrigation farming is considered to be the basis of Central Asian economy in ancient times. It should be noted that for the first time farming based on artificial irrigation appeared on the modern territory of Southern Turkmenistan, presumably, in IV–III millennium BC, and then, in III–II millennium BC, it spread to the south of Uzbekistan. This contributed to the appearance of the first state formations in Central Asia, mainly located along the banks of the rivers: the Amu Darya (Upper, Lower, Middle), in the oases of Murghab and Surkhan. This is due to the fact that in these territories artificial irrigation is much more favourable. This situation can be traced back to the example of the first world civilisations – Egypt (Nile River) and Mesopotamia (Tigris and Froth Rivers). It is the study of the irrigation history of these territories that helps to identify the factors that led to socio-economic changes in society and, as a consequence, to statehood. The author considers not only studies on the emergence and development of irrigation system in Central Asia, but also the sources of water most important for human life, namely the history of large and small rivers and streams.

Keywords

• archaeology
• irrigation
• bronze age
• early agriculture
• climate
• river
• sherabad
• sapolli
• ravine
• liman
• agricultural areas
• anov
• surkhandarya