Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve

      Gobustan,fame of Baku.

Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve is a reserve in the territory of Azerbaijan, near Baku, where a complex of archeological monuments is protected. The reserve is located in Gobustan settlement of Garadagh district, 55 km from the capital Baku (65 km by road). There is also a museum here. Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) monuments are mainly exhibited in the reserve. There are caves, springs, etc.


Different researchers have different opinions about the origin and meaning of the name Gobustan. However, the most commonly used opinion is the origin of the toponym in connection with geographical conditions. According to this opinion, Gobustan is a land of goblins, endless plains, ravines and ravines formed by landslides between countless hills. In this systemlessness, which has no geometric shape, there is a great world of natural chaos created by water, air, wind, earthquakes and mudslides. This is not the result of years and centuries, but of millions of years of successive destruction and "installations." The origin of the name Gobustan is explained by these natural conditions.
In Turkish, the word "gobu / kobu" means "ravine, void, semi-desert."
According to another version, the original form of the word Gobustan was Gavistan. "gav" in Persian means ox, cow, and "stan" means land. In this case, the word is interpreted as "the land of the bulls." It is no coincidence that this version was also put forward. Because in the past, many wild bulls lived in Gobustan. Thousands of years later, some of them died and some were domesticated.
According to another version, the place was called Cemetery. When "grave" is taken to mean a fire-worshiper, and "stan" is taken to mean a land, the word is understood as the land of fire-worshipers. According to this version, fire-worshipers lived in these places, so the area was called Cemetery.






Mother Zaga Camp
In Gobustan, on the upper sidewalk of Boyukdash Mountain, in a small and large, two-eyed rocky space formed between rocks 29, 30, 31, 32, on which ancient rock carvings were recorded. The first researcher of Gobustan rock paintings is I.M. This place was named "Ana Zaga" by Jafarzadeh, and a large western chamber of "Ana Zaga" with an area of ​​100 square meters was studied and studied by conducting archeological excavations.
In addition, "Kaniza", "Hunters", "Bulls", "Bulls-2", "Dashalti", "Deer", "Rock-2", "Rock-2", "Gazelles", "Firuz-1", "Firuz -2 "," Shongar "camps are also available.



Residences

The ancient people of Gobustan lived mainly in the open air. However, on rainy and windy days, however, they retreated into caves, rock shelters, or under large, standing rocks. The best known examples of rock shelters are the large camp in the southeast of the Boyukdash and Kichikdash mountains. Archaeologists called one of these settlements "Chardag Zaga" and the other "Feyruz-1".
The roofs of both camps are formed by a large flat rock that sits on the ground from the west. Experts believe that the residents of these shelters did some of the housework on the flat roofs of the camps. One of such camps is the "Seven Beauties" cave on the southern slope of Boyukdash Mountain.
"Ana Zaga" and "Ovchular Zaga" on Boyukdash Mountain are shelters standing between high cliffs. The name of these caves was discovered by the archaeologist prof. Posted by Ishaq Jafarzade. Yazilitepe in Cingirdag was once one of such settlements. However, because the soil in those places was very fine and was always washed away by running water, the rocks settled on the ground and lost their former state.