Abiverd

An ancient city of the Sassanid era, located in the territory of the Akhal province of modern Turkmenistan. It is located at the foot of three mountains on the edge of the Kara-Kum desert. It was located in the northern part of the medieval region called "Great Khorasan". It served as a frontier city and was part of the frontier chain of cities created by the rulers of ancient Iran to prevent barbarian raids from Inner Asia. Part of the territory of the modern Akhal province, where the cities of Nisa and Serakhs were also located, was named as Etek Archaeological excavations of the ancient city were made only in the XX century - about 8 km east of Kaka station (part of the Trans-Caspian railway line Ashgabat- Merv), the total excavated area amounted to 12,000 m*. It is represented by several mounds and elevations, the character of which is defined as settlements. The central part rises 30 m high and about 350 m in circumference. Only a few sources mention the name Abiward itself (al-Muqaddasi, "Hudud al-alam"), they note only "a fairly developed agriculture" and "the warlike character of the local inhabitants, which is certainly influenced by the function of a frontier town". Corresponds with the modern city of Derregez in Iran, near Abiverd there was the Fire Temple of Bandian.