городище «Минг Урик»

Ming Uryk Settlement lies in a bend of the Salar Channel in Tashkent, where ancient urban life occupied about 35 hectares. You can see the remains of a city inhabited from the first century AD until the eighth century, shaped by a major caravan road through Central Asia.

By the seventh and eighth centuries, the settlement included a fortress, citadel and 7.5-hectare shakhristan with houses and workshops. A ruler’s palace stood on a hill beside the citadel, above earlier structures and an ancient sun-worship temple. Its rooms included a ceremonial hall, corridors, living spaces and storage areas, while a nearby cult complex contained a fire sanctuary. Archaeologists have found painted wall fragments, ceramics, metalwork, iron objects, terracotta figures, toys and coins thought to have been minted here. The settlement and museum now stand under state protection.

Dense clay walls and unbaked bricks formed the citadel, with rectangular towers enclosing the capital’s centre. Open altars and large ash heaps still point to fire and sun worship, while surviving traces of colourful murals recall nobles, kings and religious ceremonies.