Adventures in Asia: Mizdarkhan Necropolis, Uzbekistan

From Nukus this morning I was picked up by a driver, Miko, and we drove to another hotel to pick up two Czech ladies, Simona and Jana, and we headed out on what will be a two day tour to (what is left of) the Aral Sea. I got lucky, because until last week I did not think I would be able to go, since going by myself would have been prohibitively expensive. But, sharing with Simona and Jana worked out nicely and made it much more affordable. We are each paying $227 USD for the 2 days/1 night all inclusive tour, traveling the route as nicely mapped out below.

The tour includes numerous stops of interest along the way, and the first was the Mizdarkhan Necropolis just outside of Khodjeili. I had actually driven by here yesterday on the way to Nukus from the border, but had not fully appreciated what it was.

Mizdarkhan was settled in the 4th century BCE and was part of the Khorezm Empire (like Konye Urgench which is quite close to here across the Turkmenistan border). It was conquered by Timur in the 14th century CE and from then on it was just used as a burial site. So, today, largely it is just an impressive graveyard.

Locally Adam is said to buried here . . . 

. . . and the story is the bricks are falling and when they all fall it will be the end of the world. So, to mitigate the risk of the world ending, locals re-stack bricks all around here. 

Originally Mizdarkhan was a Zoroastrian settlement until it transitioned to what it is today, a Muslim cemetery. At the hill across the way, there are remnants of a citadel which apparently date back to Zoroastrian times.