Koi-Krylgan-Kala

(also Koi-Krylgankala), the remains of an ancient sanctuary and settlement in the Kyzylkum Desert in Turtkul’ Raion, Kara-Kalpak ASSR. Excavations conducted between 1951 and 1957 have unearthed the remains of an ancient Khwarazm mausoleum-temple from the fourth-third century B.C. with a central two-story round building measuring 44.4 m in diameter and about 9.5 m high, ringed by a fortified wall measuring 7 m thick. The outbuildings were located between the building and the wall. In the second-first century B.C. the sanctuary was abandoned, and in the first century A.D. a settlement arose on its ruins, which existed until the fourth century A.D. The items found in Koi-Krylgan-Kala include specimens of ancient writing, religious statuettes, ceramic funerary sculptures, weapons, ornaments, and ceramic vessels.