Nisa was an ancient settlement of the Parthians, located near Bagir village, 18 km southwest of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Nisa is described by some as the first seat of the Arsacid Empire. It is traditionally assumed to have been founded by Arsaces I and was reputedly the royal residence of the Parthian kings, although it has not been established that the fortress at Nisa was either a royal residence or a mausoleum. In 2007, the fortress was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
History
Nisa was a major trading hub in the Parthian Empire. Nisa was later renamed Mithradatkirt Parthian: ???????? by Mithridates I of Parthia. The region was famous for the fast and beautiful horses. Nisa was totally destroyed by an earthquake, which occurred during the 1st decade BC.
Excavations
Excavations at Nisa have revealed substantial buildings, mausoleums and shrines, many inscribed documents and a looted treasury. Many Hellenistic art works have been uncovered, as well as a large number of ivory rhytons, the outer rims decorated with Iranian subjects or classical mythological scenes.
Gallery
Selected bibliography
Sorted by year then author:
MASSON M.E., PUGACHENKOVA G.A., The Parthians rhytons of Nisa, Monografie di Mesopotamia, Firenze, Le Lettere. 1982
Invernizzi A., KOSHELENKO G.A., «Soviet-Italian Excavations in Old Nisa », Mesopotamia, XXV, pp. 47–50. 1990
GABUTTI A., «The Italian Excavation in Old Nisa: the Northern Corner of the Round Hall Complex», Mesopotamia XXXI, pp. 161–177, 1996
Invernizzi A., «Archaeological research in Old Nisa 1990–1994», in La Persia e l’Asia Centrale da Alessandro al X secolo, Atti dei Convegni Lincei, 127, Roma, pp. 237–249. 1996
Invernizzi A., «New Archaeological Research in Old Nisa, 1990–1991», in The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Persia. New Light on the Parthian and Sasanian Empire, ed. V. Sarkhosh Curtis, R. Hillenbrand, J.M. Rogers, London-New York, 8–13. 1998
Invernizzi A., «Parthian Nisa. New Lines of Research», in J. Wiesehöfer, Das Partherreich und seine Zeugnisse, Beiträge des internationalen Colloquiums – Eutin, 1996,, Stuttgart, 45–59. 1998
Invernizzi A., «The Square House at Old Nisa», Parthica 2, pp. 13–53. 2000
Invernizzi A., «Arsacid Dynastic Art», Parthica 3, pp. 133–157. 2001
LIPPOLIS C., book review of PILIPKO V.N., Staraja Nisa – Osnovnye itogi arheologicheskogo izuchenija v sovetskij period, su Parthica 5, 2003, p. 3–13. 2003
Invernizzi A., «The culture of Nisa, between steppe and empire», After Alexander-Central Asia before Islam. Themes in the history and archaeology of Western Central Asia, British Academy Conference, 23–25 June 2004.
Invernizzi A., «Thoughts on Parthian Nisa», in Parthica 6, pp. 133–143. 2004
Invernizzi A., «Representations of Gods in Parthian Nisa», Parthica 7, pp. 71–80. 2005
