The vase was discovered during the 1962 excavations of the stupa in the Buddhist complex at Gyaur-kala (Merv). Currently in the State Museum of Turkmenistan.
From Merv to Dehistan: Exploring the Sasanian Frontier Zone
Aydogdy Kurbanov
ISAW Research Scholar
This lecture will take place in person at ISAW.
Registration is required at THIS LINK .
The Sasanian Empire (224/226–651 CE) was one of the most extensive and influential pre-Islamic empires, encompassing diverse regional identities and multiple centres of power, including the south of present-day Turkmenistan which was part of Kust-ī Xwarāsān (Khorasan), with Merv serving as a key administrative and military centre.
In this lecture, I present an overview of the Sasanian-period sites extending from Merv to Dehistan and argue that southern Turkmenistan was not a peripheral zone but rather an active frontier where imperial, regional, and local dynamics intersected. The situation across these regions, however, was far from uniform: while the Merv region demonstrated stronger Sasanian administrative and military control, the Dehistan area reflected greater nomadic influence and a more fluid interaction between settled and mobile communities.
Drawing on more than a century of archaeological research, the lecture explores how empire and frontier interacted in this pivotal region of Central Asia, shaping its settlement networks, defensive systems, and cultural landscapes.
Aydogdy Kurbanov is a specialist in the archaeology and history of pre-Islamic Central Asia, with particular focus on the Sasanian frontier and its interactions with neighbouring nomadic and sedentary populations. His work combines archaeological and historical evidence to examine settlement patterns, political boundaries, and related dynamics across Turkmenistan’s historical oases of Merv, Dehistan, and the Kopetdag piedmont. He has participated in numerous excavations throughout Turkmenistan, among them Ak-depe, Dashly-depe, Ovlia-depe, Merv and Sarakhs as well as wider investigations of Late Antique settlement patterns.
Aydogdy earned his Ph.D. from Freie Universität Berlin in 2010. His academic career includes appointments and research fellowships at Université Lumière Lyon 2 and the Universities of Chicago, Pennsylvania, Oxford, and Freie Universität Berlin. His research has received substantial international support from organizations such as the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Fulbright Program, and the National Geographic Society, where he is recognized as an Explorer.
Dr. Kurbanov is the author of The History and Archaeology of the Hephthalites (2013) and numerous other publications. He is additionally a co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Turkmenistan.
Photo caption: The vase was discovered during the 1962 excavations of the stupa in the Buddhist complex at Gyaur-kala (Merv). Currently in the State Museum of Turkmenistan.
The Merv Painted Vase.
Height: 46 cm
Date: 5th–6th centuries CE
The lecture will be followed by a reception.
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