Review: “Cities of Clay”
Sharh: “Loydan shaharlar”
Sarlavha va pastdagi so‘zlarga qarang. Matn nima haqida bo‘lishi mumkin? Bir daqiqa o‘ylab ko‘ring — bu miyani o‘qishga tayyorlaydi.
Markaziy Osiyoning qadimiy shaharlari haqidagi ilmiy-ommabop kitobga sharh.
Kalit so‘zlar
Bu so‘zlar matnda uchraydi va matnda ajratib ko‘rsatiladi. Bosing — talaffuzini eshitasiz.
⏱ O‘qish boshlanganda vaqt o‘lchanadi — oxirida tezligingizni ko‘rasiz.
👆 Istalgan so‘zni bosing — tarjimasi yoki lug‘atga havola chiqadi.
The ancient cities of Central Asia have long suffered from a curious form of neglect. Visitors flock to the blue-tiled domes of Samarkand and Bukhara, yet the far older settlements that preceded them, many built of mud brick and now reduced to anonymous mounds in the desert, rarely capture the public imagination. “Cities of Clay”, the ambitious new book by the archaeologist Kamola Yusupova, sets out to change this, and for the most part it succeeds admirably.
Markaziy Osiyoning qadimiy shaharlari uzoq vaqtdan beri g‘alati bir e’tiborsizlikdan aziyat chekib keladi. Tashrif buyuruvchilar Samarqand va Buxoroning moviy koshinli gumbazlariga oqib keladi, biroq ulardan oldin bo‘lgan, ko‘pi xom g‘ishtdan qurilgan va hozir cho‘ldagi nomsiz tepaliklarga aylangan ancha qadimiy manzilgohlar kamdan-kam hollarda jamoatchilik tasavvurini o‘ziga tortadi. Arxeolog Kamola Yusupovaning yangi ulkan kitobi “Loydan shaharlar” buni o‘zgartirishni maqsad qiladi va aksariyat hollarda bunga a’lo darajada erishadi.
Yusupova’s narrative spans some four thousand years, from the Bronze Age settlements of the Oxus civilisation to the cities destroyed by the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century. Each chapter is built around a single site, from Gonur Depe in present-day Turkmenistan to Afrasiab, the predecessor of Samarkand, and Toprak-Kala in Karakalpakstan. Rather than simply describing ruins, she uses each one to explore a broader theme: the origins of urban life, the role of irrigation, the spread of writing, the coexistence of religions along the trade routes.
Yusupovaning hikoyasi Oks sivilizatsiyasining bronza davri manzilgohlaridan XIII asrda mo‘g‘ullar bosqinida vayron qilingan shaharlargacha bo‘lgan qariyb to‘rt ming yilni qamrab oladi. Har bir bob hozirgi Turkmanistondagi Gonur-depadan Samarqandning o‘tmishdoshi Afrosiyobgacha va Qoraqalpog‘istondagi Tuproqqal’agacha bo‘lgan bitta yodgorlik atrofida qurilgan. U shunchaki xarobalarni tasvirlash o‘rniga, har biridan kengroq mavzuni o‘rganish uchun foydalanadi: shahar hayotining kelib chiqishi, sug‘orishning roli, yozuvning tarqalishi, savdo yo‘llari bo‘ylab dinlarning birga yashashi.
The book’s greatest strength is its ability to make the distant past feel tangible. Yusupova has spent more than two decades excavating in the region, and her descriptions of fieldwork are vivid and often witty: the sudden sandstorm that buried a week’s work in an afternoon, the shepherd who turned out to know more about the local water channels than any map. She is particularly good on everyday life, reconstructing from fragments of pottery, seeds and animal bones what ordinary people ate, how they worked and what they believed.
Kitobning eng kuchli tomoni uzoq o‘tmishni sezilarli qila olish qobiliyatidir. Yusupova mintaqada yigirma yildan ortiq qazishma ishlarini olib borgan va uning dala ishlari tavsiflari jonli va ko‘pincha hazilomuz: bir haftalik ishni bir tushdan keyin ko‘mib yuborgan to‘satdan bo‘lgan qum bo‘roni, mahalliy suv kanallari haqida har qanday xaritadan ko‘proq narsa bilib chiqqan cho‘pon. U ayniqsa kundalik hayotni yaxshi tasvirlaydi, sopol, urug‘lar va hayvon suyaklari parchalaridan oddiy odamlar nima yegani, qanday ishlagani va nimaga ishonganini qayta tiklaydi.
Yusupova is also refreshingly candid about the limits of archaeological knowledge. She repeatedly distinguishes between what the evidence shows, what it suggests and what remains pure speculation, and she is sharply critical of what she calls “romantic nationalism”: the temptation, present in every country of the region, to claim ancient cultures as the direct ancestors of modern nations. The peoples of ancient Central Asia, she reminds us, moved, mixed and changed constantly, and they would not have recognised the borders that divide the region today.
Yusupova, shuningdek, arxeologik bilimlarning chegaralari haqida yoqimli darajada ochiq gapiradi. U dalillar nimani ko‘rsatishi, nimani taxmin qilishi va nima sof faraz bo‘lib qolishini qayta-qayta farqlaydi va o‘zi “romantik millatchilik” deb ataydigan narsani — mintaqaning har bir mamlakatida mavjud bo‘lgan qadimiy madaniyatlarni zamonaviy millatlarning bevosita ajdodlari deb da’vo qilish vasvasasini keskin tanqid qiladi. U qadimgi Markaziy Osiyo xalqlari doimiy ravishda ko‘chgan, aralashgan va o‘zgarganini, ular bugun mintaqani bo‘lib turgan chegaralarni tanimagan bo‘lishini eslatadi.
The book is not without flaws. The middle chapters, dealing with the complex politics of the Kushan and Sogdian periods, become dense with names and dates, and readers without some background may struggle to follow the argument. The maps, though attractive, are too few, and it is frustrating to read detailed descriptions of a site’s layout without a plan to consult. One also wishes that the publisher had included more photographs; the handful of colour plates in the centre of the book hardly does justice to the landscapes described so lovingly in the text.
Kitob kamchiliklardan xoli emas. Kushon va So‘g‘d davrlarining murakkab siyosati haqidagi o‘rta boblar ismlar va sanalar bilan to‘lib ketadi va biroz bilimga ega bo‘lmagan o‘quvchilar dalillarni kuzatishda qiynalishi mumkin. Xaritalar chiroyli bo‘lsa-da, juda oz va yodgorlikning tuzilishi haqidagi batafsil tavsiflarni rejaga qaramasdan o‘qish asabga tegadi. Shuningdek, nashriyot ko‘proq fotosuratlar kiritganini istardik; kitob o‘rtasidagi bir hovuch rangli sahifa matnda shunchalik mehr bilan tasvirlangan manzaralarni munosib aks ettira olmaydi.
These are minor complaints about a major achievement. “Cities of Clay” combines scholarly authority with genuine literary skill, and it fills a significant gap: there has been no comparable account of the region’s early urban history written for general readers. It deserves to be read not only by those planning a trip to Uzbekistan but by anyone interested in how civilisations rise, flourish and, in the end, return to the earth from which they were built.
Bular katta yutuq haqidagi kichik e’tirozlar. “Loydan shaharlar” ilmiy obro‘ni haqiqiy adabiy mahorat bilan uyg‘unlashtiradi va muhim bo‘shliqni to‘ldiradi: mintaqaning ilk shahar tarixi haqida keng o‘quvchilar uchun yozilgan shunga o‘xshash asar bo‘lmagan. U nafaqat O‘zbekistonga sayohat rejalashtirayotganlar, balki tsivilizatsiyalar qanday paydo bo‘lishi, gullab-yashnashi va oxir-oqibat o‘zlari qurilgan tuproqqa qaytishiga qiziquvchi har bir kishi tomonidan o‘qilishga loyiq.
Tushundingizmi?
Javob topa olmasangiz, «O‘qish» bosqichiga qaytib, matnga qarang — bu ham mashq.
-
Asosiy g‘oya
1 What is the reviewer’s overall judgement of the book?
-
2 How is each chapter of the book organised?
-
3 What does the reviewer praise about Yusupova’s descriptions of fieldwork?
-
4 What does Yusupova criticise as “romantic nationalism”?
-
5 Which of the following is a weakness mentioned by the reviewer?
True / False / Not Given
True — matnda aynan shunday deyilgan. False — matn aksini aytadi. Not Given — matnda bu haqda ma’lumot yo‘q.
-
1 Yusupova personally discovered Gonur Depe.
-
2 The book uses pottery and seeds to reconstruct everyday life.
-
3 The reviewer says no similar book for general readers existed before.
-
4 The reviewer believes the book has too many photographs.
-
5 The book covers only the period after the Mongol invasions.
-
6 Yusupova’s book has been criticised by historians in neighbouring countries.
-
7 Afrasiab is described as the predecessor of Samarkand.
-
8 Yusupova presents all her ideas as certain facts.
-
9 The reviewer found the middle chapters difficult.
-
10 “Cities of Clay” has been translated into Uzbek.
-
11 Yusupova has excavated in the region for more than twenty years.
-
12 The reviewer thinks older Central Asian settlements receive less attention than Samarkand and Bukhara.
So‘zni ma’nosi bilan juftlang
Chapdan so‘zni, o‘ngdan uning ma’nosini tanlang. Hammasi juftlansa, natija chiqadi.