Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Doctor of Historical Sciences E. A. Davidovich and full member of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences B. A. Litvinsky (Moscow, April 3-5, 2003).

Ed. by E. A. Antonov, T. K. Mkrtychev, Moscow: Eastern Literature, 2005, 799 p., fig.

The peer-reviewed collection is a publication of the conference materials dedicated to the 80th anniversary of two of the largest Soviet and one of the most famous Orientalists in the world, the spouses of Elena Abramovna Davidovich and Boris Anatolyevich Litvinsky. Both heroes of the day met while studying at a school in Tashkent and have been living together for more than 60 years-almost their entire adult, long and fruitful life. This married couple is a rare example in world science of two close people with the same level of brilliant intellectual potential, supported by great creative activity and constant mutual assistance. Their intellectual power is combined with great erudition, goodwill to real scientists, to creative youth. As befits a happy married couple, they successfully complement each other psychologically. The fruitful work of both today clearly shows that a science worker can maintain creative activity, a brilliant memory and a keen perception of novelty, even after crossing the 80-year milestone.

The scientific activity of E. A. Davidovich and B. A. Litvinsky began in Tashkent, continued in 1952 in the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, and from 1971-1972 to this day it is firmly connected with the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where they headed the Historical Source Studies Sector and the Department of History and Culture of the Ancient East, respectively. All the various aspects of the scientific, scientific-pedagogical and organizational activities of E. A. Davidovich and B. A. Litvinsky are difficult to list. As Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences G. M. Bongard-Levin rightly noted, it would not be a mistake to call both anniversaries the largest humanitarians in Russia. In world science, Elena Abramovna is best known for her comprehensive study of medieval Muslim numismatics in Central Asia, while Boris Anatolyevich is best known for her research of the Buddhist culture of this region and major publications of various archaeological sites of the Ferghana Valley, Pamir, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Chinese Xinjiang (among which the Greek-Bactrian Takhti-Sangin temple and the Ajina-Tepa Buddhist monastery are particularly famous) with great historical and cultural commentary. The collection contains a complete list of B.'s publications. A. Litvinsky (503 works from 1949 to 2004, more than 90 edited editions) and a list of the main publications of E. A. Davidovich (205 works from 1945 to 2004).

Naturally, the anniversary of these Central Asian researchers was accompanied by many official and unofficial congratulations from institutions, students and fans of their scientific activities from different cities and countries around the world. The anniversary conference was organized at the State Museum of Oriental Art (GMV). The collection opens with an introductory article by one of the editors, Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Director of the State Museum of Fine Arts for Scientific Work T. K. Mkrtychev. This small text, written informally and in a good language, successfully and succinctly describes the creative path of E. A. Davidovich and B. A. Litvinsky and their main scientific achievements. The article by M. B. Meitarchiyan, an employee of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (pp. 7-19) provides a very complete chronicle of the conference, festive events and congratulations. Among them were congratulations from President Taji-

Russian Academy of Sciences, from many leading scientific organizations in Russia, and from the French National Center for Scientific Research (it is also a good idea to include a fragment of the speech of French Academician P. Bernard in connection with the awarding of the Roman Hirschman Prize to B. A. Litvinsky).

One of the main themes of the collection is the analysis of religious beliefs. E. V. Antonova's article (pp. 105-117) is devoted to the interpretation of animal bone remains as traces of sacrifices in settlements and burial grounds of the Bactrian - Margian cultural complex of the Middle Amu Darya basin of the Late Bronze Age. The author focuses on the variety of possible interpretations of sacrifices, drawing extensively on historical and ethnographic materials from neighboring territories. F. L. Helt (pp. 721 - 726) examines the images of Poseidon in ancient Bactria in the context of the popularity of such a hypostasis as Poseidon-Hippeus. E. V. Abdullaev's research (pp. 73-80) is devoted to the influence of ancient philosophy, especially Platonism, on Manichaeism. The author believes that Mani could have been directly acquainted with the latter through the teachings of Amelius, and the image of the voice - " companion "in the life of Mani may be the result of acquaintance with the interpretation of Socrates '"demon" in Platonism. K. Lo Musio (pp. 477-496) analyzes the image of the" Buddha in Flames " from the Bactrian Kara Tepe in the context of Buddhist ideas about death and reincarnation.

V. P. Androsov's article (pp. 81 - 104) is very critical of the shortcomings of translation of religious texts from Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan by Russian Buddhologists. The research of L. A. Chvyr (pp. 726-747) is devoted to the shamanism of the Uyghurs of Chinese Xinjiang (East Turkestan): the main actions of shamans, the role of shamanism in the Islamic Uyghur society of the XIX - early XX centuries, and the dual perception of shamanism itself by native speakers of this culture.

Another large thematic block of articles is related to the study of the art of ancient societies. A.-P. Franfort (p. 711-720) examines the plot of the Tauromachy (duel of a man with a bull) in the art of the most ancient civilizations of Central Asia against the background of iconographic analogies from the Harappan culture to Syria. M. N. Pogrebov and D. S. Rayevsky (p. 578-588), analyzing the formation of the art of the "Scythian-Siberian animal style" The authors conclude that the content of his images reflected the verbal culture of nomads, in particular cosmological views, and was understandable to ordinary consumers, while specific elements of iconography were borrowed from various developed traditions within the so-called art of quotations. J. Boardman (pp. 205-214) describes the details of the design of the golden dagger scabbard from the Amu Darya hoard (Oxus hoard) and considers the possibility of pre-Achaemenid dating of the product. N. S. Baimatova's research (pp. 145-171) is devoted to the vaulted architecture of pre-Islamic Central Asia for about 4,000 years. The author shows the distribution and development of certain architectural forms in relation to the climate, seismicity, practical tasks of construction and settlement in the" western "and" eastern " regions of the region.

E. V. Rtveladze's article (p. 640-651) notes that the clay Buddha figurines from Kampyrtepe in Bactria, according to stratigraphy, certainly date back to the time before Kanishka I, and this clarifies the chronology of the penetration of Buddhism into the south of Central Asia. S. Ya. Berzina (p. 191-204) devoted her essay to two Central Asian finds, evidence of the influence of Roman military symbols on a similar Parthian one. The iconography of images of soldiers in scaly armor in Gandharic art is studied by D. Fachennoy (p. 692-710) . G. A. Koshelenko and V. A. Gaibov (p. 365 - 382) consider a Syrian mosaic from a private Moscow collection with the iconographic scheme "Alexander defeats the Persians at Issa" and come to the conclusion that the image reflects the conflict with the Persians the first half of the third century. The article by I. A. Arzhantseva and O. N. Inevatkina (pp. 118-144) is devoted to the analysis of unpublished " new " drawings of the famous murals of the "Hall of Ambassadors" in ancient Samarkand (Afrasiab), made in 1978: to clarify a number of technological techniques of masters and many details of images. (p. 497-523) consider a series of early medieval clay plaques with images of deities from Buddhist Tokharistan, the iconography of their images and, in some cases, the origin of the latter. G. V. Shishkina (p.755-775) gave a detailed description of a monumental structure of the pre - Arab period to the west of Samarkand, possibly a Zoroastrian funerary dakhma. A. Naimark (p. 524-542) examines the evidence of Narshahi's" History of Bukhara " about the construction of a mosque under Ismail Samani on the site of the former residence of Bukharkhudats in Varakhsh in the context of the policy of this ruler.

The series of articles deals with problems of a general historical nature, in particular with issues of ethno-cultural interaction, ethnogenesis, political history of individual countries, social structure, and the study of urban life. The article by E. E. Kuzmina (p.383-411) is devoted to the identification of monuments of ancient Indo - Iranians. It examines the methodological and factual errors of a number of modern authors, emphasizes the importance of specific Central Asian monuments for solving the Indo-Iranian problem. L. T. Yablonsky (pp. 776-791) believes that the version of E. E. Kuzmina about the close connection of Indo - Iranians with the Central Asian cultures of the "Andronovo" circle is not yet confirmed by either archaeological or even anthropological material. He is inclined to deduce the ancestors of Indo-Iranians from the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia. I. V. Pyankov (p. 600-620) uses the analysis of various written traditions to reconstruct the class and more fractional social division of ancient Iranian-speaking peoples. V. N. Pilipko (p. 562-577) suggests clarifying the dates of the reign of a number of kings of Parthian Iran on the basis of a combined study written and epigraphic sources, their iconography on coins. The article by E. E. Nezdik (p. 542-561) outlines the problems associated with the study of the cities of Khorezm of the ancient era, in particular, highlights the stages of urban planning, their internal structure and the reflection of social stratification in it. L. R. Kyzlasov (p.450-463) examines the use of the Sogdian language and script in the early Turkic states and emphasizes their role in the spread of Manichaeism in Eurasia.

Another complex of problems considered in the collection is handicraft production in Central Asia and neighboring regions. N. V. Polosmak and L. P. Kundo (p.589-599) characterize the textile dyes of the Pazyryk culture of Gorny Altai - krapplak, carmine, kermes, indigo and purple - based on the material of technological analyses. The authors note the imported nature of the dyes and believe that all the fabrics of the" Pazyryk people " come from Xinjiang, China, located to the south. Southern borrowings in the material culture of Khorezm (and first of all foreign analogues of pottery from the Khorezm Kalala-gyr 2 in the Achaemenid and Hellenistic times) are considered in the article by S. B. Bolelov (pp. 215-234). He comes to the conclusion that there is a very wide range of such borrowings. J. Lerner (p. 464 - 476) describes the ceramics of the IV period (260 - 220 BC) from the Greco-Bactrian Ai-Khanum, specifying its chronology in the context of coin finds and historical events. V. A. Zavyalov (p. 340-358) based on the analysis of the ceramics of the Bactrian Zartepe period of the Sasanian conquest M. A. Bubnova and M. S. Shamakhanskaya conclude that a large number of Iranian forms appeared there from the turn of the third and fourth centuries. 235-241) based on the results of spectral analysis of Pamir metal products from the late Bronze Age to the early Middle Ages, they formulate the differences between metallurgy in the western and eastern regions of this highland. The article by M. S. Shamakhanskaya (pp. 748-754) examines the spread of the original copper alloy with zinc in ancient Bactria - the so-called Bactrian brass.

Comprehensive and generalizing characteristics of specific archaeological sites -

another topic of publications. V. N. Ranov and A. G. Amosova present the results of studies of the Karatau Early Paleolithic site in Southern Tajikistan, its probable cultural connections, and questions of correlation of the found artifacts with the data of paleosoil science (pp. 621-639). The analysis of materials of the Bronze Age settlement Kangurttut in the south of Tajikistan using a number of natural-scientific methods is given in the article by N. M. Vinogradova (pp. 242-265). The essay by A. S. Belokhvantsev (p. 172-190) is devoted to controversial issues of interpretation and chronology of the architectural complex of the Old Nisa settlement in southern Turkmenistan with the involvement of written sources. The author sees it as a cult center of the Seleucid dynasty at the beginning of its existence, and since Mithridates I (about 150 BC), the same complex of buildings has been used for the royal cult of the Arsacids. Historical landscapes (on the example of monuments of the Durmensai Valley near Samarkand of the IV-III centuries BC - early Middle Ages), patterns of placement of various types of monuments are considered by Z. S. Galieva and O. N. Inevatkina (pp. 275-291).

Analysis of written sources - Babylonian cuneiform texts of the second half of the VI century BC about Cyrus the Great as the crowned king of Babylon allowed M. A. Dandamaev (p.292-296) to specify the time of the death of this Persian sovereign. A comprehensive outline of various contemporary problems of studying ancient Turkic runic inscriptions is given by I. L. Kyzlasov (pp. 421-449). G. I. Japaridze (p. 332-339) writes about the circumstances of the arrival of the Egyptian embassy in Georgia in 1219 due to inaccuracies in the translation of the anonymous work "Wonders of the World". G. M. Kurpalidis (p. 419-426) examines the author's treatise of the turn of the XIII - XIV centuries. Muhamme-

da al-Qurashi as a valuable source of information about the position of muhtasib-an official who monitored the market and the behavior of the faithful in the mosque. Evidence of the relationship between the Uzbeks of Sheibani Khan and the Yasawiyya Sufi order at the beginning of the XVI century in the program of Jamal ad-Din is considered in the article by D. T. A. Denisova (pp. 311-331), referring to the methods of analyzing Malay chronicles written in Arabic graphics, comes to the conclusion that they are a full - fledged historical source and do not deserve hypercritical treatment.

N. M. Smirnova's article (pp. 664 - 680) on the production of imitations of the coins of the Greco-Bactrian kings, and above all of Eucratides, on their main types and their circulation is devoted to numismatic topics. P. Calleri's research (pp. 359-364) compares gemstones and coin material to clarify the basics of iconography of the Indo - Saka rulers of Afghanistan. The article by P. G. Gaidukov and A. A. Molchanov (pp. 266-274) on the findings of Kufic Muslim coins (almost exclusively in the 9th - 10th centuries) in the area of Lake Ilmen in the Novgorod land emphasizes the importance of such finds for clarifying the chronology of the settlement of the region by the Slavs. A series of Sheibanid gold coins of the late 16th century from the German University of Tübingen is published by G. Kurbanov (pp. 412-418).

Some articles are related to the history of science. Scientific expeditions of the first researcher of antiquities of Tajikistan - editor of "Turkestan Vedomosti" N. A. Maev are reviewed by V. S. Solovyov (p. 681-691). N. I. Serikov (p.652 - 663) analyzes the notes and drawings of two anonymous Russian orientalists in the margins of the works of V. V. Barthold in the first years of Soviet power.

It should be noted that the quality of illustrative materials of the reviewed publication is good, with rare exceptions, but we regret the lack of English summaries for Russian-language articles. In general, this collection is a valuable contribution to the study of the history and culture of ancient and medieval Central Asia and neighboring regions, thanks to the efforts of authors, editors and publishers who were inspired by sincere admiration and appreciation for both anniversaries. It contains a wide variety of useful information and new ideas, and it is undoubtedly destined for a long life in the scientific community.

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