Göbekly-Depe in Margiana

ABSTRACT The fortress of Göbekly-depe by the North border of the oasis of Merv, 32 km to NW of the site of Old Merv, is especially significant for the history of Iranian fortification, as it was built in the Parthian period, presumably in the 1st century C.E., and then several times reconstructed under the first Sasanians in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. Approximately in the middle of the 4th century the fortress was abandoned, so the remains of the 3rd and the 4th century walls were not covered by later strata. The excavations of the fortress were undertaken in 1988-2000 by the central Asian archaeological team of the Russian Institute of Archaeology (Moscow) directed by G.A. Koshelenko.