“We want to learn about new archaeological methods”
Aydogdy Kurbanov, Turkmen visiting researcher at the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin
Aydogdy Kurbanov from Turkmenistan is researching the secrets of the White Huns at the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin. For decades, international networking has been an important part of the programme of the DAI, one of the largest and leading institutions of its kind in the world. Although archaeologists’ work focuses on long-past centuries, it often provides new insights into a country’s history and thereby plays a role in promoting a common identity.
Aydogdy Kurbanov is gathering together knowledge about a mysterious people that dominated the Central Asian region from the 4th to the 6th century: the Hephthalites or, as they are sometimes known, the White Huns. However, he is not conducting his research in the wide-open steppes of Asia, but in Berlin – at the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI).
The 33-year-old Turkmen is glad to be able to complete his research here and with it to work towards gaining a doctorate at the Free University Berlin in 2010. “Working on my subject would be practically impossible in Turkmenistan,” he says. This is because very few archaeological finds can be attributed to the Hephthalites and the historical sources that are vital for his work are almost nonexistent in Turkmen libraries.
Serving international cooperation
Coins remain practically the only tangible witness to the existence of the White Huns. Aydogdy Kurbanov has become a passionate numismatist because money played as important a role in the lives of the Hephthalites as weapons. They came as conquerors from the Altai Mountains, and the vanquished peoples had to pay them taxes. As a result, the nomads eventually became empire builders and financial experts. Kurbanov’s most important “tools” include the special library of the Eurasian Department at the DAI. Not without pride, departmental director Professor Svend Hansen describes the library as a powerful “magnet” with an irresistible attraction for Eurasian archaeologists all over the world – 70,000 volumes in the service of international cooperation. The stimulating interchange with his colleagues here is something Kurbanov would not miss for the world. The DAI is a leading archaeological research institution and one of the world’s largest establishments of its kind with some 250 permanent members of staff.
New archaeological methods
Aydogdy Kurbanov came to Berlin at the beginning of 2008 as the recipient of a Georg Forster Scholarship from the Humboldt Foundation. His stay at the DAI of almost two years is longer than that of most other scholarship-holders, who normally only spend one or two months at the institute. Kurbanov comes from the “State Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Turkmenistan, Central Asia and the Orient” in Ashgabat. He is also using his time at the DAI to familiarize himself with the latest trends and methods in archaeology. “I would like to pass on a lot of the knowledge I have acquired here to people in my own country.” As a member of staff at the state institute and also as advisor for other subject areas he will be able to make excellent use of his knowledge and contacts.
Archaeology contributes to a common identity
The DAI is known for its work in many countries around the world, but above all for its famous departments in Rome, Athens and Cairo. It is the only institution under the auspices of the Federal Foreign Office that has maintained close contacts with research institutes all over the world for decades and in the process has made an important contribution to the dialogue of cultures. Not only does the DAI go out into the world, but it also brings the world back within its walls in the shape of young foreign researchers. A stay at its headquarters in Berlin-Dahlem is intended to facilitate especially intensive research work and training. Dr. Barbara Helwing, head of the Teheran office, explains what guests like Aydogdy Kurbanov mean for established DAI researchers: “Our perspective is also always limited. That’s why work and discussions with our guests are very important to us.” She is also aware of the value that the excavations organized or supported by the DAI have for people in many countries. After all, archaeology often opens the door to a new view of your country’s history. “Our work ,” says Barbara Helwing, “has an identity-building aspect.” That is why the DAI attaches importance to “lighthouse projects” that can convey a new historical awareness as well as to training young researchers in those countries.
New perspective on the history of Central Asia
The longer you listen to Aydogdy Kurbanov, the more exciting the history of the Hephthalites becomes. He is researching a closely interwoven web of different sources from India, Armenia, China and Bactria. Enemies and neighbours wrote a large number of reports about the Hephthalites. Each people describes them a little differently. They spoke their own language, but it is unclear whether it was of Persian or Turkic origin. Were they a thoroughly belligerent people who oppressed and exploited the countries they conquered? “No, it’s not as straightforward as that,” says Aydogdy Kurbanov. “They were probably even a very tolerant people.” Wherever they ruled, they maintained relatively peaceful conditions and played the role of a protective power that left internal relations, culture and religion intact. “They stood between the large empires of China and Persia like a buffer.” He says they represented an important regulatory power for the whole region and prevented many serious wars. Kurbanov’s work will provide an entirely new perspective – on Turkmenistan and its neighbouring countries in the early Middle Ages, on the age of the Hephthalites.
Text: Reinhard Osteroth
"12 Worlds of Knowledge" is realized in cooperation with the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Last updated 31.10.2009
