The Art Of Khorezmian Sculpture: Appearance And Specificity

This article is devoted to the formation and development of Khorezmian sculpture art, which describes the emergence, artistic features, historical significance, as well as the peculiarities of Khorezm sculpture art.


INTRODUCTION
"When we say Khorezm, we mean a unique country that has made a worthy contribution to the development of world science, culture It is well-known that fine arts are one of the types of art that quickly affect the human mind, evoke good feelings and enrich the spiritual world. At the same time, the fine arts are also educators that help the formation and maturation of the human personality. In their works, the artists express a certain view of events and happenings, different situations, reveals the inner essence through the image, depicts the spiritual image, psychological (mental) state and thoughts of people.
Fine art emerged in very ancient times, as a result of the development of the labor process.
In the process of labor, human thinking has matured, the sense of beauty has increased, and the concepts of beauty, convenience, and usefulness in reality have expanded.
By ancient Khorezmian art we mean the art of the period from the appearance of buds of art in the Khorezm oasis to Islam, to be clear from Due to the lack of large mountains in the Khorezm oasis, the most ancient rock carvings and petroglyphs are almost non-existent. Khorezm has long been one of the regions where sculpture was developed. The first sculptures in Khorezm were found at the site of Joytun and date back to the Neolithic period and are associated with the matriarchal system. The influence of early religious beliefs on the formation and development of sculpture was also strong here.
Kaltaminor culture periodized by the V-IV millennia. BC. It is known that the Kaltaminors lived mainly on hunting and fishing,. Remains of many stone and pottery objects have been found in the Tozabogyop culture of the 3rd-2nd millennia BC. Representatives of the Suvyorgan and Amirabad cultures were actively involved in agriculture. Stone and bone statues of female goddesses have been found in these Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments.
The monuments of Kozalikir and Dingilja of the Archaic period (VII-VI centuries) have been studied. The elements of the city are clearly visible in the mirror. In the VI-IV centuries BC , Khorezm was subordinated to the Achaemenids of Iran and had active economic and cultural relations with the countries of the East. The development of Khorezmian art in antiquity dates back to antiquity (IV-IV centuries BC). Hundreds of archeological monuments of this period have been studied and many different works of art have been found in them.
The monumental and terracotta-small sculptures of Khorezm sculpture were included in the study. In Khorezm, the statues are mainly made of ceramics and plaster, a common material in the region. In ancient Khorezm, statues of copper, bronze and gold -cast, terracotta ceramics, plaster and stone -were also found. Pottery masks, embossed objects, ostads and coins are also common.
The literature on the archeological monuments discovered during the research of the Khorezm archeological and ethnographic expedition is given in the literature. Small sculptures made of ceramic plaster were found in the monuments of Jonbosqala, Bozorqala, Teshikkala, Koyqirilganqala, Qalaliqir, monumental statues and murals were found in the monuments of Qoyqirilganqala, Qalaliqir, Elkharas.
Small sculptures often feature images of gods, women, as well as men, various animals, and mythical creatures. There are various scenes in the murals and human figures on the walls. Plastic, painting and embossing techniques were used to process the images.
The monumental sculpture found during the excavations in 1947 entered a completely new page in the ancient art of Khorezm. It is rich in sculptural materials. Nine rooms have been excavated of unburned clay sculptures. The total number of these statues whose fragments have survived is more than 30, two of which are almost whole (no head), plus four heads (one has a long hat), two hats, five without heads, the whole body without limbs, the base of about 15 statues without moving independence. Perhaps, during this period there were some changes in the field of ideology, as a result of which the same type of miniature anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images of the ancient Khorezmian gods appeared and became widespread.
Among anthropomorphs, female statues predominate. Most of them were made of clay and left a mark in the form of a special mold. From the 3rd century BC, plaster figurines appeared in everyday life. From the end of the 4th century AD, the tradition of mass production of miniature images of the gods was almost completed.
Ancient sculpture was associated with religious beliefs, and mostly statues of female goddesses were found. Anaxita, the goddess of water and fertility, has a special place in this. Subsequent archeological excavations have also uncovered Anaxita statues in Katkala and Khumbuztepa.
Other types of terracotta depicting women, such as the "mirror goddess," are known. At the end of antiquity, new species of terracotta appeared. Among them are statuettes depicting a woman sitting with her legs crossed, wearing a long dress and bare head. These statues partially oust the image of the "scarf goddess" from everyday life. 15 The images of people are embossed on the statues as well as on the dishes. The eagle must have been depicted as wearing a long helmet similar to that of a rider and an Attic who held a long spear in his bed (this helmet is similar to Among the images of animals, there are more figures and heads of horses, sometimes in a schematic way, and sometimes in a very realistic way. This is a clear proof that the worship of horses was widespread in the religion of the Massagets, and, as noted above, there are similarities between the Khorezmian Massaget and the Phrygian culture. Although in addition to the above, there are images of camels, sheep, pigs, and even rhinos and monkeys (although belonging to a later period), but the horses are so numerous that they are accompanied only by a series of lions, which are lowered into the above-mentioned vessels can be put. Of course, this is also associated with the worship of the sun.
It is possible to assume that the statues of women depict the mother goddess Ardvisura Anaxita, the patron saint of water and irrigation in general (especially, the Amudarya), and the male figures depict the goddess Sabazi-Siyavush, the companion of the great goddess. According to Narshahi, the Zoroastrians of Bukhara annually smashed the clay statues of the gods on the day of Navruz and replaced them with other statues from a special market attended by the king himself. Apparently, this ritual, which was also depicted in Khorezm (usually all statues were broken in ancient times), was important for Old Asia, 16  The discovery of large-scale murals also supports this idea.
Khumbuztepa is located in Hazarasp district of Khorezm region, one side of which is washed away by the waters of the Amudarya. The monument was discovered by M. Mambetullaev in the 1970s. In the 1990s Yu.Manilov, S.Bolelov, Sh.Matrasulov conducted research. In 2010-2019, scientists of the Khorezm Mamun Academy regularly conducted archeological research under the scientific guidance of S.R. Baratov. As a result of research, from the 8th century BC to the 5th century AD, a large pottery complex was discovered here. This monument has special importance in the study of the history of pottery, as it allows to analyze the changes in the shape and technique of various pottery products over many years. Terracotta figures depicting gods, women and various animals were found on Khumbuztepa, painted on ceramic surfaces. As a result of preliminary