Employees of the National Archaeological Center of the UZR FA are conducting archaeological research in the Mingtepa archaeological monument in the Markhamat district of the Andijan region.
The monument is adjacent to the eastern border of the present city of Marhamat. The locals call it Mingtepa because of the many hills. This city ruin is the largest among the ancient monuments of the Ferghana Valley. The city consists of three parts: the arch, inner and outer city. The area of the inner city is 41 hectares, and including the outer city, the monument is more than 270 hectares.
It is known that Chinese chronicles report that there were more than 70 large and small cities in Davan, the ancient kingdom of Fergana. The sources mention the names of three of them: Ershi, Yuchen and Guyshan. Mingtepa city ruin was originally built by A.N. Bernstam expressed the opinion that the capital of the kingdom should be Ershi. According to the Chinese source, Ershi-Mingtepa is located first, on the eastern side of the valley; secondly, Mingtepa has thick cultural layers from the time of the Chinese invasion (2nd century BC) and defensive structures (inner and outer walls) very similar to the wall they besieged; thirdly, the magnificent and large monument of Mingtepacha of antiquity has not been found in the valley so far.
In our opinion, Mingtepa is one of the "big city" ("dao chen" in Chinese) type of cities. According to Chinese sources, there were two lines of fortified cities in Dawan. The current archaeological results are the basis for including Mingtepa among such cities. It is worth noting that the term capital of any other country is not found in any Chinese source. The Chinese understood only the capitals of their countries by the term Ginshi. Other countries call their capitals du, which means residence.
The plan of the city looks like a parallelogram from the sky, two rows of majestic defensive structures and the constellations in them are amazing. In the plan taken in the 50s of the last century, the arch, the inner and the outer city are clearly visible, many of them were later demolished. The entrance to the inner city was through gates on three or four sides, and the main gate was located in the middle part of the western defensive wall, i.e. between the 10th and 11th towers.
In 2021, research is being carried out in the part of the monument, which is supposed to be the western gate, to clarify the dimensions of the defensive wall and watchtowers, and to turn them into a museum by covering them from rain and snow in the future. In addition, watchtowers are being excavated in the outer city part of the monument, that is, in the inner parts of the outer wall outside the western wall. The main goal is to obtain new information about the stratigraphy, defense system, craftsmanship, and art of the old city.
Source: https://academy.uz/uz/news/mingtepada-arxeologik-tadqiqotlar
