Fieldwork Report from Barda, Azerbaijan

By Robert Hoyland
11/30/2015

The city of Barda, ancient Partaw, in modern Azerbaijan, was founded, or at least much expanded, by order of the Sasanian Emperor Peroz (459-84), seeking to make it a base for extension of Sasanian influence in the Caucasus, and it was used as the capital of the Persian-allied kingdom of what modern scholars call Caucasian Albania. When the Arabs conquered this region in the seventh century, they established a garrison in Barda, which became an important base of operations in the fight against the Khazars during the eighth century. Its status changed again when the Arabs and Khazars established peaceful relations, which enabled the Khazars to capture the north-south trade in furs, slaves and other goods, from which Barda also benefited, such that by the mid-tenth century a famed Muslim traveller could label it “the Baghdad of Arran (eastern Caucasus)”.  Looking for a new archaeological site after it became impossible to work in Syria and Iraq, I settled on Barda, in part because so little is known about the Caucasian Albanian kingdom and in part because it flourished during the transition from the late antique to the early Islamic world, which is a particular interest of mine.  The first season of excavation, conducted in August-September 2015 and overseen by Dr. Paul Wordsworth, postdoctoral fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford, revealed evidence of 11-14th –century settlement, which was by itself a welcome result, since many had thought that Barda had been abandoned by this time in favor of nearby Ganja.  There is also a hint of further good news to come in that amid these medieval layers some residual Sasanian pottery was uncovered, suggesting that we may well learn something of Barda’s late antique history in future seasons.

Prof. Robert Hoyland is the director of the Barda excavation project. Read more about Professor Robert Hoyland here.