




































CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 71-77, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-17 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

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   https://masterjournals.com/index.php/CRJH 

 

ANCIENT BACTERIAN BRONZE AGE FIRE WORSHIP 
 

Komil Akramovich Rakhimov 

National Center Of Archeology Academy Of Sciences Of The Republic Of Uzbekistan 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Furnaces found in the Stone Age sites were not 
only for food processing, but also for the creation 
of comfortable living conditions, but also as a 
socio-cultural center that reflected the economic, 
industrial and ideological unity [1, p. 161]. The 
worship of eternal fire was apparently 
widespread among the peoples of Indo-Europe, 
who saw some kind of divine power in the 
burning flame.  

It is known that the peoples of Central Asia from 
ancient times began to believe in the sun, that is, 
fire as a part of it. The worship of fire, its 
temples, and Zoroastrianism originated on the 
basis of a fire-worshiping religion.  

The main religious deity of Zoroastrianism is the 
sun and its fragment is fire, which is the main 
purifying element in Zoroastrianism, and its 
traces have played an important role in religious 
sites, burial rites, lifestyles and religious 
ceremonies of ancient ancestors[2, p. 1995-

1999]. At the same time, Zoroastrians base their 
beliefs on the struggle between two gods. 
Ahuramazda is a symbol of goodness, Ahriman is 
a symbol of evil. The fire, which is a symbol of 
salvation, is supposedly created by Ahuramazda, 
and the fire serves as a reliable tool in the fight 
against the giant Ahriman.  

The peoples living in these areas have not 
practiced their religious rites without fire since 
time immemorial. This process began in the 
Eneolithic period, when the custom of divine 
worship around special devices. This ritual is 
reflected in the material sources studied in the 
monuments of the Eneolithic period Sarazm, 
Geoxyur, Changtepa and Aynatepa. During this 
period it was discovered that there was one 
common place of worship for the whole 
community. Similar rooms have been discovered 
in the Naked, Yassitepa, Chakmakli, Pessedjik, 
Geoxyur and other monuments of southern 
Turkmenistan [3, p. 44-45; 4, p. 87-89; 5, - p. 12-
13].  

ABSTRACT  
 
This article gives a brief overview of the results of research on the monuments of the Sopolli culture in 
northern Bactria, as well as the origin, shape, size, functions, stages of development, geography of 
distribution, geography of other cultures. comparisons with the findings of the eneolithic and Bronze Ages 
and comments on their periodic dates. It has also been scientifically substantiated that double-fire fire-
worshiping furnaces in the eneolithic period continued as a tradition in later periods, i.e. in the Bronze Age, 
and that these furnaces were observed not in centralized temples but in family houses. 
 
 
KEYWORDS: - Ancient Bactria, Eneolithic, Chopontepa, Geoksyur, Altyndepe, Sapalli, Jarqo'ton, Dashly, 
Gonur-depe, Yassitepa, Chakmakli, Pessedjik, Togolok, Keleli, altar, fire, hearth, temple 
 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 71-77, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-17 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

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Archaeological excavations of Bronze Age 
monuments have shown that the fires were of 
two types, namely circular and square [6, p. 70-
78]. The circle has been accepted by many 
researchers as a symbol of the sun [6, p. 74; 7, p. 
47-51]. The rectangle, on the other hand, 
represented the four elements of the world, "fire 
- water - earth - air", and thus a solid system, a 
whole was achieved, uniting the basic lines of the 
universe [8, p. 630]. Therefore, fires of this type 
are considered sacred. The discovery of a 
circular altar in a woman's tomb Although 
Mother Earth is revered close to the sun, which 
shares energy and heat, we can interpret the man 
as the guardian of the four sacred elements, 
namely, the sanctity and purity of the earth, fresh 
air and water. The walls of the fireplaces are 
made of specially baked clay, they are made of 
clean earth, there are no additives in the 
composition. They are mainly made on sofas 
built at a height of 50-60 cm in the central part of 
the rooms.  

Circle-shaped fires have been known in Central 
Asia since the Eneolithic period. While the oldest 
flares have been studied in the Sarazm, 
Aynatepa, Changtepa, Geoksur monuments, by 
the Bronze Age the geography of the spread of 
the flares expands. In the Caucasus, the 
occurrence of Kura in the monuments of the 
Araks culture, in the monuments of the Harappa 
culture, indicates that fire has begun to occupy a 
central place in the religious imaginations of the 
peoples of the East and the Caucasus. The largest 
in Togolok - 3 m. the encounter of a diameter fire 
shows that the whole community worshiped the 
fire. According to archeological data, circular 
fires in the Central Asian region have been 
observed since the Eneolithic period, but spread 
to large areas by the Bronze Age.  

Circular fires have been found in Eneolithic 
monuments in southern Turkmenistan, Suza in 
Iran, Sarazm in Zarafshan, and other monuments. 
N.A. Avanesova's research According to, a large 

number of miniature, dwarf fires were found in 
Boston VI Cemetery. They are in the shape of a 
circle, completely replicating the shape of real 
fires.  

Rectangular fires are observed in the Bronze Age 
strata of Sarazm, in monuments such as 
Oltintepa, Ilk Tulkhar, Dashli, and in terms of 
distribution do not occupy a much larger area 
than circular fires and are numerically deficient. 
In the case of Jarqo'ton, it is difficult to believe 
that the square-shaped fires were divine in 
nature. Because it is located in the center of a 
simple utility room, the walls are burnt like a 
furnace and seem to have served as a furnace 
rather than a natural divinity. In general, circular 
fireplaces are characteristic of Sopolli culture, 
and its earliest specimens, i.e. prototypes, are 
also found in tombs.  

The coals burned in the fires were kept in special 
pots, and the inhabitants of the Bronze Age 
considered the fire sacred and regarded the 
ashes as its product. For this reason, the 
inhabitants of the Sopolli culture not only 
trampled the ashes of the burning fire, but also 
revered it as sacred as fire. 

THE MAIN FINDINGS AND RESULTS 

10 fire places of worship of different stages of 
pottery culture were identified, 8 of them were 
identified in the Jarqo'ton fire temple, and 2 in 
the “ark” [9, p.15 p; 10, p. 66-78]. According to 
the researchers, although there were special, i.e. 
family worship centers in the eneolithic and 
Early Bronze Ages, it was also noted that there 
were family and collective fire-worship practices 
based on Jarqo'ton materials [11, p. 59-68; 12, p. 
6-8; 6, p. 77].  

The fires found at the Jarqo'ton monument were 
discovered by T.Sh. Shirinov's according to plan, 
he divided them into circles and squares and 
gave detailed information about their function, 
geography and chronology of distribution [6, p. 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 71-77, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-17 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

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70-78].  

In general, the main focus of many years of 
archeological research on the monuments of 
Sopolli culture is to observe the formation and 
development stages of the local Bactrian hearth 

of ancient Eastern civilization in the upper basins 
of the Amu Darya, to study the problem of early 
urban culture and the emergence of the first 
state system.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 1 

 

As a result of scientific research conducted in 
recent years at the Jarqo'ton monument, the 
location of a house inhabited by a large 
patriarchal family consisting of many rooms has 
been explored here (Fig. 1). The courtyard, stone 
walkways, and adjoining living rooms of this 

large patriarchal family house were explored. An 
analysis of the materials obtained here showed 
that the house belonged to two construction 
periods. The courtyard and hallways functioned 
in both periods. The places of worship - the fires 
- were in the form of a circle, in which the 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 71-77, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-17 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

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presence of layers of ash was observed. The 
fireplaces are built on a special platform 40-50 
cm above the floor of the room. In the courtyard 
on the north side of the house, it was found that 
there were two adjacent two-tiered pottery jars 
belonging to the Jarqo'ton stage [13, p. 42-47]. 
However, archeological research conducted here 
has yielded new material on fire-worshiping 
hearths. Therefore,                                 Fig. 1.in this 
article we would like to make some comments 
based on new information about the shape, size, 
function, geography of distribution of the double-
fired fire-worshiping furnace, which was 
discovered for the first time at the Jarqo'ton 
monument.  

In the 8th room of a multi-room house belonging 
to the large patriarchal family mentioned above, 
a double-fire fire-worshiping furnace was 
opened and studied  

 

(Fig. 2). 

The room is rectangular in shape and measures 
4.85x4.10 m. The oven is built into the north wall 
of the room. The overall view of the furnace is 

square and measures 1.02x1 m. The furnaces of 
the furnace are rectangular in shape, the size of 
one of the furnaces is 83x24 cm and the other is 
86x33 cm. The walls of the kiln are made of raw 
brick, its thickness is 14 x 16 cm, height is 20-22 
cm. The hearths of the kilns were plastered very 
thinly with straw-mixed clay, and the walls did 
not burn too much under the influence of fire. 
The floor of the kiln is the same, the floor is 
covered with a layer of soft soil. Under the floor 
of the western kiln there are three pieces of raw 
stone and on the floor of the eastern kiln there 
are small stones, the upper part of which is 
plastered with straw.                                 Fig. 2 

Based on the above analysis, it should be noted 
that the furnace did not have a strong fire and 
the walls did not exceed 20-22 cm in height like 
the walls of the furnace, the boiler was not built 
to fit the pot and the interior of the furnace was 
not too red. That is, they may have been used in 
ceremonies associated with the sacred fire, not in 
cooking. In addition, the walls of the furnace did 
not burn very strongly under the influence of 
fire, as evidenced by the cleanliness of the 
interior of the furnaces, which was always 
cleaned of ash from the inside after the 
ceremony, and at the same time, the fire was 
brought to the furnace during the ceremony.  

According to our stratigraphic observations, the 
fact that the double-fired furnace was built at the 
same time as the house and the installation of a 
pottery of the Jarqo'ton stage of the Sopolli 
culture on its western side serves as the main 
source in determining its periodic date. This type 
of fire-worshiping hearth is being discovered for 
the first time in the monuments of Sopolli 
culture. 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION  

V.I. Sarianidi double-hearth furnaces were 
discovered and studied by in the Yalangochtepa 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 71-77, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-17 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
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and Oltintepa monuments of the Geoxyur oasis of 
the Eneolithic period [14, p. 42; 3, p. 24].  

A double-fired kiln is also found at the Kelleli VI 
monument in the Murgab oasis, and it was built 
by I.S. Masimov found that it belongs to the 
beginning of the II millennium BC [15, p. 117].  

In the Dashli-3 temple of the Bronze Age of 
ancient Bactria, it was found that there were two 
and even three fireplaces with a rectangular 
shape in front of the wall [7, p. 34-36; 16, p. 17].  

V.I. Sarianidi although noted that the double 
fireplace in Yalangochtepa was designed for the 
worship of the sacred fire [3, p.24], subsequent 
research suggests that instead of this type of 
stove at the Gonurtepa monument and having all 
the amenities for cooking, food was prepared for 
sacrifice in this oven. past [17, p.98].  

Although the researchers noted these furnaces as 
examples of material culture and did not analyze 
them comparatively with materials from other 
monuments, they commented on the function of 
these devices at that time.  

Based on the above considerations, we also 
believe that the double fireplace in front of the 
wall found in the eighth room of the house in the 
southern part of the Jarqoton “ark” served to 
worship the fire. This is confirmed by a number 
of material evidences related to this finding. This 
is because there is no strong fire in this furnace, 
the side walls are not very high, and there is no 
need to heat two rooms in one room at a time.  

The characteristic feature of these furnaces is 
that, although the furnace is full of ashes, there 
are no signs of strong fire on the walls. Material 
sources indicate that while the circular fireplaces 
at the Jarqoton monument were built in the 
courtyard of the temple, mostly in open 
courtyards, the double fireplace was built in the 
rooms of a house belonging to the patriarchal 
family.  

In addition, from the above comparative analysis, 

it was found that these types of furnaces are 
found in the temples of the Gonurtepa, Dashli 
monuments, and in the fire-worshiping rooms of 
the Yalangochtepa, Oltintepa, and Keleli 
monuments.  

It is known that the peoples of Central Asia from 
ancient times began to believe in the sun, that is, 
fire as a part of it. According to the analysis of 
archeological sources, the existence of sun 
worship in Central Asia from the Eneolithic 
period was noted in the example of fires [6, p. 69-
79]. The peoples living in these areas have not 
performed religious rites without fire since time 
immemorial.  

During the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods, that 
is, during the time of the blood-brotherhood-
based seed community, the community's 
separate shrines began to appear. It is typical for 
the whole community to have one common 
worship room during this period. Similar rooms 
have been discovered in the monuments of 
Pessejik, Chakmakli, Yassitepa, Yalangach and 
Sarazm [18 .; 2.p. 24; 4.p. 87-89]. With the 
emergence of patriarchal families, the existence 
of each patriarchal family’s own worship rooms 
V.M. Masson Observed by on the example of the 
Oltintepa monument [19, p. 165]. In the 
Yalangachtepa monument, similar rooms are 
slightly larger than ordinary living rooms, with 
mud plastered on the walls and decorated with 
divine symbols. The divine furnaces located in 
these rooms are radically different from the 
household furnaces, and the fireplace is divided 
into two. Due to the low fire in the furnaces, the 
furnace walls did not burn strongly [4, p. 87-89]. 
The presence of patriarchal families in their own 
rooms of worship, the location of circular 
fireplaces in these rooms was preserved until the 
late Bronze Age [14, p. 35-55]. This is evidenced 
by the fact that a separate place of worship was 
recorded in the rooms belonging to patriarchal 
families at the Jarqo'ton monument.  



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 71-77, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-17 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

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With the emergence of the first city-states, 
temples began to be built for the whole 
community. Examples of such temples are the 
Bronze Age temples studied in the monuments of 
Jarqo'ton, Dashli, Gonur, Tugoloq. It is noted that 
in ancient Bactria, during the rise of government 
to the city-state level, central monumental 
temples appeared, and at the same time, family 
and community shrines of the population did not 
lose their place [20, p. 20-21]. Jarqo'ton temple 
was built by T.Sh. Shirinov although stated in his 
early research that it was built for the sun [6, p. 
69-78], and in his later scientific works he 
advanced the first Zoroastrian theory [7, p. 31-
42; 21, pp. 35-47]. Based on a scientific analysis 
of the glyptics and sphragistics of the pottery 
culture, the researcher noted that in the culture 
community the beliefs of fertility, water and fire 
and haoma were revered, but the main deity was 
the sun god and the Jarqo'ton temple was 
dedicated to the sun god [22, p.18].  

 

CONCLUSION 

 

It should also be noted that double-hearth 
furnaces are also found in monuments such as 
Geoxyur, Oltintepe, Keleli, Dashli Gonur. we can 
pass. 

In conclusion, it should be noted that instead of 
locating the fireplaces and places of worship 
studied at the Jarqoton monument, a fire was 
worshiped as a group in the centralized temple, 
and the Copper-Stone Age tradition continued, ie 
in the Bronze Age, special fire was used in each 
patriarchal family.  proves that there were rooms 
of worship. It is also possible to say that the 
double fireplaces are designed for the daily 
ceremonies of family members, while the circular 
and square fireplaces are of a collective nature 
and are designed for large ceremonies.  

 

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CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 71-77, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-17 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

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