Tali-Barzu

the site of an ancient settlement approximately 5 hectares in area that existed from the early Common Era to the eighth century A.D.; the site is located 6 km south of Samarkand in the Uzbek SSR. Tali-Barzu was excavated between 1936 and 1940 by G. V. Grigor’ev. The settlement’s inhabitants engaged mainly in land cultivation and stock raising, as well as in such handicrafts as pottery-making.

During the early Common Era, Tali-Barzu was a fortified settlement. In the fifth and sixth centuries, a castle made of pisé, with a citadel in its center, was built at Tali-Barzu. Archaeologists have surmised that during the period between the fifth and seventh centuries, Tali-Barzu was the city of Rivdad, mentioned in written sources and destroyed during the Arab conquest of Middle Asia. Examples of Sogdian writing and sculpture were found at Tali-Barzu.