The routes of Alexander the Great's campaigns in Northern Bactria and Southern Sogd are still insufficiently identified. The existing differences between scientists, and they are listed below, can be explained both by the brevity and ambiguity of geographical landmarks given in the Greco-Roman written sources, and by a superficial acquaintance with the real geography of these areas. The discoveries of the last three decades made it possible for the first time to use archaeological exploration materials and route reconnaissance data to solve this problem, which made it possible to more specifically localize the settlements and regions mentioned in the description of Alexander the Great's campaigns ^.1

For more than 30 years, I have studied almost all the roads connecting Southern Sughd and Northern Bactria from Samarkand to the Amu Darya from north to south and from Babatag to the same river from east to west, and the study of these routes in Kashkadarya was undertaken in the mid-60s on behalf of M. E. Masson2 . When choosing these roads, I made extensive use of the most valuable data from the 1872-1876 reconnaissance surveys of Russian intelligence officers and topographers, which contained information about the system of roads and caravan trails that ran through Eastern Bukhara, and about the crossings across the Amu Darya ^.3 It is these roads (and not those marked on modern geographical maps, which are usually used by researchers of the problem) that ran here in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Their directions in these epochs are clarified by the currently explored archaeological sites located along these roads (Fig. 1).

^{Rtveladze E. V.} 1 Xenippe - Paretaka // Caucasus and Central Asia in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Moscow, 1981. pp. 95-110; Sagdullaev A. S. On the issue of the second capital of Sogdiana / / SA. 1988. N 4. pp. 223-229; Pugachenkova G. A., Rtveladze E. V. Ancient Bactria - medieval Tokharistan. Essays on history and culture. Tashkent, 1990.

² Some of these roads were also studied by A. S. Sagdullaev in the 70s and 80s (Ancient roads in the south of Uzbekistan / / ONU. 1981. N 7).

^{Bykov A.} 3 Essay on crossing the Amu Darya River. Tashkent, 1879; Maev N. A. Ocherki Gissarskogo kraya [Essays of the Gissar region]. Materials for statistics of the Turkestan region. Issue V. St. Petersburg, 1879. pp. 130-332; Kostenko A. F. Turkestan Region. Vol. I-II. St. Petersburg, 1880; Karaulshchikov N. Route from Denau to Patta-Hissar. Bbin. LVII. Moscow, 1894.

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Figure 1. Map of Northern Bactria and Southern Sughd in the era of Alexander the Great

The system of these roads (and the loss of their former significance) began to change only after the construction of the Samarkand - Termez highway in 1902 according to the project of the military engineer Major General Yanushkovsky ⁴, as well as in Soviet times. In some places, new roads were laid in the same place as in ancient times, but in other places they deviated by tens of kilometers. For example, the shortest route from Shahrisabz (ancient). Kesha) to the Iron Gate along the so-called Kaltaminor road, which, judging by the location of archaeological sites, was laid in the Achaemenid period, which was actively used at the end of the XIX century, was completely forgotten.

The most important ancient road from Kelif along the south-western spurs of Kugitang, on which a number of cisterns were built in the Middle Ages - sardoba ⁵ , and in 1876 passed and described by Major Chernyavsky, also lost its former significance. But the shortest route I explored in 1984, from the Kelif crossing to Kesh and Samarkand, went along the Kugitangdarya valley through the Hazret Bashi pass to Modun tepe (medieval Modun, where the Muqanna troops fought the Arabs), then to Ak Rabad and along the Kaltaminor road led to Shakhrisyabza (Kesh).

Based on these observations, I will try to find a solution to an old problem-the location of the city of Branhids.

The Branchid city episode is mentioned by a number of ancient authors in connection with the military campaign of Alexander the Great in Bactria and Sogdiana. But the most detailed description of it is given by Quintus Curtius Rufus, who says that after Besus was captured, he was brought to Alexander, and then Alexander's army reached "a small town inhabited by Branchids." Quintus Curtius Rufus goes on to explain: "Once upon a time, by order of

⁴ For more information, see Arshavskaya Z. V. On the construction history of the Samarkand-Termez tract / / Architecture and Construction of Uzbekistan. 1996. N 1. pp. 29-30.

^{Masson M. E.} 5 Problema izucheniya cistern-sardoba [The problem of studying cisterns-sardoba]. Issue 5. Tashkent, 1935, pp. 33-34.

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When Xerxes was returning from Greece, they moved from Miletus to this place as exiles, because in order to please this king they desecrated the temple called Didymeon. They had not yet forgotten the customs of their ancestors, but they spoke a mixed language, gradually becoming unaccustomed to their native language. They received the king with joy and surrendered to him with the whole city. But he orders to summon the Miletians who served under his banners. The Miletians had long hated the Branchid family for treason. Therefore, the king left it to the Miletians to decide their fate, taking into account both their guilt and their common origin. Since the opinions of the Miletians were divided, Alexander said that he would think about what was best to do. When they come to him the next day, he tells the Branhids to follow him. Approaching the city, he enters the gate accompanied by a lightly armed detachment. The phalanx receives orders to surround the city walls and, at a signal, plunder the city, the refuge of traitors, and kill them to a single one. And so the unarmed are beaten everywhere, and neither the prayers nor the sacred veils of those who call upon them in the common tongue can soften the cruelty of their enemies. Finally, so that no trace of the city remains, its walls are destroyed to the very foundation. They not only cut down, but even uproot trees in sacred groves and forests, so that there is a vast desert with a barren land, devoid even of tree roots. " ⁶

The question of the authenticity of this episode and the localization of the city of Branhids has been raised in historical science for a long time. As early as 1880, S. Beale analyzed the information about Branhids in a special article, which, however, did not address the question of the exact location of the city ^.7 Perhaps the first researcher who touched on this issue was F. Schwartz, which localized the Branhid city in the Kelif region ⁸ .

And later, many researchers, describing the campaign of Alexander the Great in Bactria and Sogdiana, as a rule, touched upon the question of the city of Branchids. Moreover, the opinions of researchers about it were divided. Some considered this episode unreliable. For example, V. Tarn believed that all of it was invented by Callisthenes, but in fact Alexander did not have any meetings with the Branchids ^.9 Other researchers, on the contrary, believed that the reports of ancient authors about the Branchid city in Central Asia were completely trustworthy and even drew certain historical conclusions from this fact: V. B. Head ¹⁰, K. V. Trever ¹¹, A. K. Narain ¹², F. Kauer ¹³, X. Rawlinson ¹⁴, K. Klassen ¹⁵, I. Seibert ¹⁶ , E. Bosworth ¹⁷ . B. A. Litvinsky also expressed his opinion on this issue in the early 60s: in his opinion, the question of the existence of the city of Brankhids in Central Asia remains open ^.18

^Curt. 6 VII. 5. 28-34. We used the translation: Quintus Curtius Rufus. The story of Alexander the Great. Preserved books / Edited by B. S. Sokolov, Moscow, 1963.

^{Beal S.} 7 Branchidae // Indian Antiquary. Culcutta, 1880. P. 68-71.

^{Schwarz F.} 8 Alexanders des Grossen Feldzug in Turkestan. 2. Aufl. Stuttgart, 1906. S. 37.

⁹ Tarn W.W. The Massacre of the Branchidae // Classical Review. 1922. XXXVI. P. 63-66. Later, V. Tarn returned to this question several times, complementing and clarifying his argument (Tarn W. W. Alexander the Great. Vol. I. Cambr., 1948. p. 67; Vol. II. Cambr., 1950. p. 272-275). V. Tarn's views are shared by D. W. Engels (Engels D. W. Alexander the Great and Logistic of the Macedonian Army. Berkley - Los Angeles - London, 1980. P. 99).

^{Head V. B.} 10 The Earliest Greco-Bactrian and Greco-Indian Coins / / NC. 1906. VI. P. 4. He believed that the oldest Greek coins in Central Asia were minted in this city.

¹¹ K. V. Trever assumed that in Central Asia there was a language in which Greek and Sogdian were mixed (Monuments of Greco-Bactrian Art, Moscow-L., 1940, p. 4).

¹² A. K. Narain (The Indo-Greeks. Oxf., 1957. P. 3) put forward the idea of the existence of Greek art in Central Asia even before the campaigns of Alexander the Great,

^{Cauer F.} 13 Branchidae // RE. Bd III. 1899. S. 809-813.

^{Rawlinson H.G.} 14 Bactria. The History of Forgotten Empire. L., 1912. P. 33-41.

^{Classen C.G.} 15 Branchidae // Lexicon der Alten Welt. Zurich, 1965. S. 494.

^{Seibert J.} 16 Alexander der Grosse. Darmstadt, 1972. S. 144 f.

^{Bosworth A.B.} 17 Conquest and Empire. The Reign of Alexander the Great. Cambr., 1995. P. 108 f.

¹⁸ History of the Tajik people. I. M., 1963. P. 244.

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In recent decades, there have also been articles devoted to Branchids. In particular, P. Bernard very thoroughly considered the question of the Branchid city in Central Asia and argumentatively refuted the opinion of V. Tarn, proving the historicity of information from Greco-Roman sources about the stay of Branchids in Sogdiana ¹⁹ . An even more complete analysis of these sources with the use of archaeological and epigraphic data was carried out by I. R. Pichikyan and concluded that the analysis of these sources fully confirms the existence of a Branchid city in Sogdiana or Bactria, and some details of the story of Curtius Rufus (for example, the wholesale extermination of the city's inhabitants) are one of the exaggerations caused by the desire to denigrate Alexander, which are often found from this author. According to I. R. Pichikyan, the Branchid priestly family continued to exist in Central Asia even later . We agree with this conclusion and would like to add only one point to I. R. Pichikyan's argument. The absence of this plot in Arrian's story cannot serve as proof of its legendary character. For a long time, researchers have drawn attention to significant gaps in Arrian's account of the Central Asian stage of Alexander's campaign ^.21

However, the recognition of the reality of the Branchid city in Central Asia, the presence of Alexander there, some measures taken by him in relation to the priests, etc., naturally, require a solution to the question of localization of this city. Unfortunately, this issue does not currently have a convincing solution. Most authors who recognize the authenticity of Curtius Rufus ' message do not even raise the question of the localization of the city of Branchides. Only a few offer their own solutions, but they are too general in nature. Thus, I. R. Pichikyan places it on the border between Bactria and Sogdiana [²²], A. K. Narain - between Balkh and Samarkand [²³], P. Bernard - in Sogdiana [²⁴]. Only F. Schwartz suggests a narrower localization - in the area of Kelif, ²⁵ but this localization, like the vast majority of his other historical and geographical assumptions, does not deserve attention ^.26

For the first time, the identification of the Branchid city with a specific ancient settlement was proposed by me in the early 80's. I assumed that this city could be the ancient settlement of the VI-IV centuries BC Talashkan-tepe, located 30 km north of the Amu Darya in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan, i.e. on the territory of Northern Bactria27 . However, this opinion, as it seems to me now, is erroneous. Archaeological excavations carried out on this site have shown that there are no traces of Hellenic culture, which would be expected if the city of Branchides - priests of the temple of Apollo ²⁸-was located here . In this regard, I reviewed all the archaeological materials of Northern Bactria and Southern Sogd obtained in recent years, comparing them with the results of my route research in the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions of Uzbekistan and data from ancient sources.

Let us first turn to the reports of Curtius Rufus, comparing them with the information provided

^{Bernard P.} 19 Les monnaies hors tresors. Questions d' histoire greco-bactrienne // MDAFA. T. XXVIII. P., 1985. P. 123-125.

^{Pichikyan I. R.} 20 Culture of Bactria. Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods. Moscow, 1991, pp. 288-301.

²¹ See Radet J. La valeur historique de Quinte-Curce // CRAI. 1924. P. 355-365; Bosworth A.B. Errors in Arrian // The Classical Quarterly. 1976. 26. P. 117-139; idem. A Missing Year in the History of Alexander the Great // JHS. 1981. 101. P. 17-39; Marinovich L. P. Vremya Aleksandra Makedonskogo [The Time of Alexander the Great] / / Istochnikovedenie drevnoi Greke (epokha hellenizma), Moscow, 1982, pp. 54-61.

^{Pichikyan. At K.} 22 op. p. 301.

^Narain. 23 Op. cit. P. 3.

²⁴ P. Bernard (op. cit., p.126) pointed out that Central Asia under the Achaemenids (at least since the time of Darius I) was a common place of exile.

^Schwarz. 25 Op. cit. S. 7.

²⁶ D. V. Engels (op. cit., p. 99) points out the complete inconsistency of the main localizations of f. Schwartz in general, and as applied to the Branheid city in particular.

^{Sigdullaev A. S., Rtveladze E. V.} 27 In the land of the Golden Fire. Tashkent, 1983. pp. 50-60.

^{Rtneladze E. V., Pidiea Sh. R.} 28 Drevnebaktriiskaya fortress Talashkan-tepe / / RA. 1993. N 2.

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Arriane, although the latter doesn't have the Branheed episode, but both of them had everything going on between Ox and Maracanda. The sequence of these events according to Curtius Rufus (VII. 5. 1-6. 10) is as follows: march from Bactra through the desert, crossing the Oke-camp on the banks of the Oxus-pursuit of Bess - conspiracy against Bess and his capture-movement to the city of Branchides and its destruction-bringing Bess to the camp of Alexander-hence movement to Marakanda, which Alexander and his army reached on the fourth day. Arrian's map of events (29. III. 29-30): trek from Aorn to Oxus-crossing the Oke-camp on or near the bank of the Oxus - Ptolemy's pursuit of Bess, who completed the usual 10-day route in four days - capture of Bess in a village surrounded by fortress walls with gates - Bess's drive to Alexander, who was marching with the main army to meet Ptolemy, hence the march to Marakanda.

The city of Branchides in this chain of events, according to Curtius Rufus, was captured by Alexander after capturing Bessus and bringing him to Alexander's camp, which was already located far from the Oxus, since Alexander's army had moved, perhaps, to the north of this river. According to Arrian, Bess was captured by Ptolemy in a small village in the Nautaka region, and then taken to a certain place that Alexander's army reached on its way north from the Oxus. Consequently, the Branchid city must have been either in or near Nautaka itself, to the south or southwest. The localization of Nautaka in the eastern part of the Kashkadarya oasis, which was proposed in the late 19th century, is now supported by archaeological data ^.29 It is here in the foothill areas with small rivers that more than 20 settlements of the first half - the beginning of the second half of the first millennium BC were identified, which are grouped in five districts: Kairagach, Guldarya, Shurobsai, Tankhoz-Darya, and Kyzyldarya. Among them, there are also settlements fortified with fortified walls or earth ramparts, such as the citadel fortress Sengir tepe with two rows of walls covering an area of 3 hectares, the large fortress Uzunkir, which occupies a large area, and several settlements with earth ramparts, but without traces of internal development. ³⁰ It is likely that Bess was captured in one of these villages. Based on the description of Arrian (a village surrounded by walls and gates), we can assume that this is Uzunkir or Sengir tepe, located not far from each other. It is probably from here that a detachment of Greek-Macedonian troops, after the capture of Bess, moved towards Alexander's main army, which was advancing from the Oxus.

If this group had left Nautaka immediately to the south, it would have entered the mountainous regions that stretch from Kashkadarya to Surkhandarya for more than 150 km and in which there are no Achaemenid settlements. Consequently, Ptolemy went west and met Alexander, bringing him the captive Bess, somewhere in the western part of present-day Kashkadarya province, where some scholars localize Xenippe and others Nautaka. In the western or, more precisely, south-western part of the modern Kashkadarya region, only two settlements of the middle - beginning of the second half of the first millennium BC were identified. This is a small fortified settlement of Karaul-tepe and a large settlement of Er-Kurgan, fortified already at that time by fortress walls ^.31

Obviously, based on the direction of movement of both armies of Alexander, Er-Kurgan can most of all claim to be identified with the city of Branchids. But not only do these considerations point to such localization, there are also a number of indirect archaeological data that may allow us to confirm this. Namely, a clay male head with an oblong chin, full lips and a straight nose found during the excavations of the temple of the II-III centuries on Er-Kurgan is very interesting

^Rtveladze. 29 Xenippe-Paretaca, pp. 95-102; Sagdullaev. Ancient ways ... pp. 35, 38.

^{Sagdullaev A. S. O} 30 vtoroy stolitse Sogdiany [About the 30 second capital of Sogdiana] / / SA. 1988. N 4. pp. 226-229; Lushpenko O. N. Ranne-zheleznyj vek Yuzhnogo Sogda: Avtoref. dis... Candidate of Historical Sciences. Tashkent, 1998, pp. 7-11.

^{Isametdinov M. Kh., Suleymanov R. Kh} 31 Er-Kurgan. Tashkent, 1984.

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2. The head of the deity. Fragment of a sculpture. Clay. Er-Kurgan (Southern Sughd). II-III centuries A.D.

long nose; eyes, pupils and eyebrows are rendered in black and red colors ³² (Fig. 2). This find, which has no analogies in the sculpture of ancient Central Asia, has a certain similarity with archaic Greek sculpture. I understand the whole conventionality of such a comparison, but the preservation of very ancient features of culture and art in small groups in conditions of isolation from the metropolis is a fairly widespread phenomenon and has been recorded repeatedly. Isn't this sculptural head a particular example of this phenomenon?

There is another circumstance that you should pay attention to. In the III-IV centuries AD, bronze coins were minted in the Kashkadarya valley, especially in the area of Er-Kurgan, with the image of the ruler's head on the obverse and the hero striking a lion or monster standing on its hind legs with a sword on the reverse (Fig. 3). Regarding the interpretation of these coins and the reading of the legends available on them, a number of assumptions ³³ . In particular, in science, based on their findings mainly in the area of Nashheb, the name "Nashheb coins"was established for them. However, this is illegal, since this name is recorded in written sources only for the VII century AD, while the beginning of coinage dates back to the III-IV centuries AD, and the legend reads as "king of Kesh" or "king of Kesh", which is connected with the political situation.

³² Kul'tura i iskusstvo Uzbekistana [Culture and Art of Uzbekistan], Vol. I. M., 1991, p. 186.

^{Kabanov S. K.} 33 Nakhcheb coins of the V-VI centuries / / VDI. 1961. N 1. pp. 137-144; Masson M. E. Parthian-Sogdian coins of the Kashkadarya Valley region / / Art and Culture of the ancient world. Moscow, 1977. pp. 131-137.

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3. Kesh coin of the III-IV centuries AD: a - avers; b - revers

the hegemony of the Kesh rulers over the entire territory of Southern Sogd. The presence on the reverse of these coins of the oldest plot of scenes of the hero's single combat with a monster or lion caused researchers to be puzzled, since neither in Central Asia nor in neighboring regions such a plot on ancient coins was noted. Only O. I. Smirnova drew attention to the fact that a similar scene is found on the silver coins of the Achaemenid satraps of Tarsus in Cilicia (^Fig. She also pointed out other parallels between the coins of Central Asia and the regions of Asia Minor, such as Lycia, Cilicia and Caria, while noting that the issue of the penetration of Asian minting traditions into Central Asian coinage "is still on the agenda" ^.35

Let's note one more interesting fact. A unique silver coin with a Greek legend originates from Er-Kurgan. The beginning of it reads quite definitely-D10X, the subsequent letters are worse, but this is enough to suggest that this is a coin issued by a local ruler with a Greek name. We should also point out that the reverse side shows the Dioscuri caps, which are also a purely Greek symbol. According to the authors of the publication, the coin should belong to the II-^{I centuries BC.}

The long - term preservation of strong Hellenic traditions in Southern Sogd-Nautak is also evidenced by the minting of silver coins with the image of Hercules and Zeus in the first and third centuries AD. E. V. Zeymal's cautious suggestion that ³⁷ coins were produced here is now confirmed both by individual finds and by a hoard of these coins (more than 100 copies) accidentally discovered near the village of Denau (the middle reaches of Kashkadarya). It is noteworthy that of all the numerous coin issues known to us in Sughd and Khorezm, only in Bukhara and Southern Sughd are images of Hellenic deities preserved in the coin iconography: on the coins of Bukhara - Hercules, on the coins of Southern Sogd - Hercules and Zeus. Taken by themselves, the above data would not be so interesting, but in the light of our proposed localization on

^{Smirnova O. I.} 34 Consolidated catalog of Sogdian coins, Moscow, 1981, p. 18.

³⁵ Ibid. Let us note in this connection that the question of the Cilician prototypes of the Vakhshuvar coin types has recently been raised. Until recently, it was assumed that this ruler and Andragores, the Seleucid ruler of the Parthian satrapy in the middle of the third century BC, were one and the same person. Now it can be considered proven that these are two different rulers (see Koshelenko G. A., Gaibov V. A., Bader A. N. Coins of Andragora as a source for the early history of Parthia / / Problems of History, Philology, Culture. Issue VII. Moscow-Magnitogorsk, 1999, pp. 294-309).

^{Rtveladze E. V., Nefedov N.} 36 Unique silver coin of the Greek ruler from Er-Kurgan (Southern Sughd) / / Numismatics of Central Asia, I. Tashkent, 1995, pp. 60-63.

South Sogdian coins with the image of Heracles and Zeus / / SGE. XXXVII. pp. 68-74.

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4. The coin of Sidon. IV century BC Drawing

instead of the Er-Mound of the city of Brankhids, they acquire an important historical significance.

I. R. Pichikyan showed the long history of the Branchid family-priests of the temple of Apollo of Didymus in Miletus, which continued to play an important role in the first centuries of our era. He also drew attention to the fact that the cult of Apollo of Didymus existed in Sogdiana even after the alleged complete extermination of the Branchids by Alexander ^.38 This is evidenced by the altars to Apollo of Didymus, erected by the Seleucid commander Demodamus behind the Yaxartes-Syr Darya in the first half of the 3rd century BC (Plin. NH. VI. 18) and found in the Kushan layers of Dilberjin tepe dipinti Branchids ³⁹ . It is possible that the Sogdian Branchid family persisted for a long time and restored its ties with the motherland, in particular, through the Miletians who came to Central Asia with Alexander the Great and settled here.

The above-mentioned archaeological and numismatic data indicate the persistence of ancient Hellenic traditions of Asia Minor, and they also serve as confirmation of the proposed localization of the Branchid city on the site of the Er-Kurgan settlement.

Finally, according to Curtius Rufus, Alexander's forces reached Maracanda on the fourth day from the city of Branchides or some place near it. From Samarkand to Karshi, near which the ancient settlement Er-Kurgan is located, 120-130 km of convenient steppe road, following through Jam and Sarykul along the Eski - Ankhor canal. This distance corresponds to a typical day trip of 5-6 farsakhs, i.e. 30-35 km, according to the Arab-Persian medieval road builders. This road, according to a study by S. K. Kabanov40, was intensively used in antiquity and the Middle Ages, which was also revealed as a result of the route trips of the KATE detachment led by M. E. Masson in 1964-1965, in which the author of this article also took part. The route from Samarkand to Karshi was also used by Russian troops, as evidenced by the monument near Serykul to Russian soldiers who died of diseases during the preparation of the campaign to India. According to the survey of the topographer Petrov in the early 70s of the XIX century, the path from Samarkand to Jama fit into two day trips. Then it connected to the roads going to Karshi and Chirakchi ⁴¹ . According to other sources of the same time, the journey from Jam to Karshi - 60-65 km-took two days, and the entire road from Samarkand to Karshi - four days.

Thus, later topographical data on the time spent on the transition from Samarkand to Karshi coincide with the report of Curtius Rufus about the movement of Alexander's troops to Marakanda, thereby confirming the localization of the Brankhid city on the site of the Er-Kurgan settlement.

E. V. Rtveladze

Pichikyan. ³⁸ _ _ _ Uk. op. p. 296-297.

^{Kruglikova I. T.} 39 Dilberdzhin, Moscow, 1974, pp. 74-80. Fig. 51-52; Livshits V. A. Inscriptions from Dilberdzhin //Ancient Bactria. Materials of the Soviet-Afghan expedition of 1969-1973, Moscow, 1976.

^{Wild boars.} 40 Nahsheb coins...

^Bulls. 41 Uk. soch. p. 62-63.

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A HISTORICO-GEOGRAPHICAL STUDY ON BACTRIA AND SOGDIANA IN THE EPOCH OF ALEXANDER'S CAMPAIGN

(Localizing the City of Branchides)

E.V. Rtveladze

The paper analyzes the route of Alexander the Great through Northern Bactria and Southern Sogd. The author made an attempt to follow on foot or by car the route described in written sources and attested by archaeological data. The city of Branchides, "priests of Apollo's temple" (Curtius Rufus VII. V. 27-35) is localized in Er-Kurgan (now south-eastern part of the District of Kashka-Darya, near Karsha). This localization is supported by the archaeological context: a coin of a local Greek ruler of the 2st-lnd cc. ВС and a head of a man's statue, both found at the excavation of a 2-3 cc. AD temple; as well as by the fact that this place is easily reached on foot in four days from Marakanda (Samarkand), which is in accord with the data of ancient writers. The numismatic data, in general, demonstrates steadiness of Hellenic (Asia Minor) traditions in Southern Sogd - Nautaka.

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