Dilberjin Tepe

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Dilberjin

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Dilberjin

Dilberjin (South Asia)

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Dilberjin (Bactria)

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Dilberjin (Afghanistan)

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Dilberjin Tepe, alsoDilberjin orDelbarjin (Persian:دلبَرجین), is the modern name for the remains of an ancient town in modern (northern)Afghanistan. The town was perhaps founded in the time of theAchaemenid Empire. Under theKushan Empire it became a major local centre. After theKushano-Sassanids the town was abandoned.

The town proper was about 390 m × 390 m (1,280 ft × 1,280 ft) in size. Dilbarjin had a city wall built under the Kushan rule. In the middle of the town there was a round citadel, built at about the same time. In the north-east corner of the town was excavated a temple complex. Here were found many wall paintings, some in a purely Hellenistic style. Originally the temple was perhaps dedicated to theDioscuri, of which a mural in Hellenistic style has been recovered.^[1] A long inscription in thekushan language was also discovered, dated to the early great Kushans, around the period ofKanishka I, on paleographic grounds, as it seems slightly younger than the inscription ofSurkh Kotal.^[2] Outside the city walls there were still substantial buildings. Finds include inscriptions inBactrian, most of them too destroyed to provide any historical information. There were fragments of sculpture and many coins.

The paintings of Dilberjin Tepe belong to the 5th-6th century CE, or even as early as the 4th century CE according to some authorities, based on numismatic evidence.^[3][4] The paintings have some similarity with those ofBalalyk Tepe, and some fromBamiyan.^[4] A comparison withthe swordsmen atKizil Caves would also suggest a date from the 5th century to the early 6th century CE.^[5] The same authors consider that the paintings atBalalyk Tepe are about a century older than the paintings at Dilberjin, dating from the end of the 6th century to the early 7th century CE.^[6]

These murals are general thought to representHephthalites, with their characteristic tunics with a single lapel folded to the right, cropped hair and ornaments.^[7][4][8]

A famous mural shows a row of warriors in kaftan, relatively similar tothe mural from Kyzyl.^[5]

A much later fresco showing an Indian scene, withShiva andParvati on the bullNandi, has been dated to the 8th century CE.^[9][10]

Coins of many periods were found at the site, including Hephthalite coins, but those of theKushano-Sasanians and theKidarites were the most numerous from the early Sasanian period to have been found on the site.^[11] About 72 such coins were found, belonging toArdashir I,Peroz I,Hormiz I, as well as each type of theVarahran I, that is, the coins first struck under Varahran, and then those struck on the model of Varahran by theKidarite rulersKirada,Peroz andKidara I.^[11][12] These coins suggest that the murals themselves should be dated to the late 4th century CE or early 5th century CE at the latest.^[3][4]

In 2023, Iconem reported the detection of massive damage that had occurred to the site.

• 
  Remains of the Dioscuri mural at the entrance (left side of the mural).^[13]
• 
  Dilberjin fresco, 5th-6th century.^[5]
• 
  Dilberjin fresco fragment.^[13]
• 
  Dilbergin fresco royal figure
• 
  Dilberjin attendants
• 
  Man in white caftan coming out of a tree
• 
  Cup bearers.^[13]
• 
  Athena Anahita.^[13][5]
• 
  Athena Anahita in profile.^[13][14]

• Tavka Kurgan
• Penjikent
• Dalverzin Tepe
• Kara Tepe
• Fayaz Tepe
• Balalyk tepe

• Warwick Ball:Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan : Catalogue des sites archéologiques d'Afghanistan, Paris 1982, p. 91-92
• Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. (1996).History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO.ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0.
• И. T. Кругликова,Дилъбепджин, Москва 1974
• И. T. Кругликова, Г.A.Пугаченкова,Дилъбепджин, Москва 1977
• Muzio, Ciro Lo (1999).The Dioscuri at Dilberjin (Northern Afghanistan): Reviewing their Chronology and Significance. Vol. 28. pp. 41–71.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)

• DELBARJĪN on Iranicaonline.org

37°01′21″N66°31′35″E / 37.02250°N 66.52639°E /37.02250; 66.52639

• Archaeological sites in Afghanistan
• Kushan Empire
• Castor and Pollux

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