In southern Turkmenistan, at the foot of the Kopet Dag, a few kilometers from Ashgabat, the village of Bagir is located, and there are two ancient settlements-Old Nisa and New Nisa. Even before archaeological excavations began on these ancient settlements, they were repeatedly mentioned in the works of orientalists. The reason for this was the name "Nisa". The word "Nisa" in ancient Iranian means " a low, convenient place for settlement." Naturally, there were many such places, and in the vast expanses of the Middle East, many cities and villages with a similar name are known. Among them is the Parthian Nisa, located in the area of Parthien. What it was famous for, we do not really know, the surviving news of ancient authors is very concise. It is believed that Isidore of Charaka slightly opens this veil, who in his work "Parthian sites" indicates that the tombs of Parthian kings are located in the city of Parthavnis. This message of Isidore did not give rest to many Orientalists, and they tried to clarify the location of the city. The work of Isidore is nothing more than a guide. It contains a brief description of the main trade and military road that crossed the Parthian state from west to east. It is believed that the basis for this work was the official Parthian reference books. It consistently lists the areas that the road passed through; reports the length of the path within specific areas; indicates the main parking lots - cities and villages; in some cases, the distance between individual points is given and the sights of the latter are reported. At first glance, based on this rather detailed list, it is not difficult to determine where a particular item mentioned in the guidebook is located. But when trying to overlay a route on a modern geographical map, difficulties arise, many of which remain insurmountable to this day. The work, which is believed to have been created in the first century A.D., was repeatedly rewritten, and inevitably distorted the origi ...
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