Chilpik Dakhma

Chilpik stands on a solitary conical hill, about 35–40 metres high, on the right bank of the Amu Darya some 43 kilometres south of Nukus. On its summit is a circular enclosure of rammed clay, roughly 65 metres across by most measurements, with walls up to about 15 metres high. It is visible for miles across the flat river plain.

A tower of silence

Zoroastrians held that a dead body was impure and must not touch earth, fire or water. Instead, the dead were laid out in a dakhma, an open enclosure on high ground, where birds and the sun stripped the bones clean. The bones were then gathered and placed in ossuaries. Chilpik is thought to have served as a dakhma for the surrounding area for many centuries, until the spread of Islam after the Arab conquest of the early eighth century.

Dating

Archaeologists do not agree on when Chilpik was built. Dates from the fourth century BC to the first century AD have been proposed, and the structure may have been rebuilt or reused over time. What is clear is that it belongs to the long pre-Islamic history of Khorezm, the region where many scholars believe Zoroastrianism took early root.

Experiencing it

A path leads up the side of the hill; the climb is steep and loose in places and takes 10–15 minutes. From the top you look down into the empty ring and out over the Amu Darya and the cotton fields. There is no shade or water, so go early or late in the day and bring a hat.