Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University (AYBU) has successfully completed the second phase of its international excavation project, conducted in collaboration with the National Archaeology Center of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences. As part of the "Timurid-Era Shah Ruhiya City Excavation Project," sponsored by TİKA and supported by Özgüven İnşaat and Alvina L Chemical, significant discoveries were made in the Shah Ruhiya region of the Akkurgan district of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The excavations, which began on May 10, 2025, and concluded on June 20, 2025, are expected to be completed in 2028. The project's Turkish coordinator, a team led by Associate Professor Dr. Tuba Tombuloğlu of AYBU's History Department, unearthed the historic city walls.
Layers of History Unearthed
Excavations on the city walls, built in 1392 during the reign of Emir Timur, uncovered artifacts dating back to the 15th-18th centuries in areas thought to have served as ammunition depots and military garrisons. In some areas, excavations extend back to the Karakhanid period of the 10th-11th centuries, revealing the region's multilayered history. Drilling work in workshops in the city's inner city has also been completed.
From Turkey, the excavations were attended by Prof. Dr. Hayrunnisa Alan from Istanbul Civilization University, Dr. Ayça Gerçek from Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Dr. Fatma Çağım Özcan from Kütahya Dumlupınar University, and Dr. Ece Demirelli Aslan, an anthropologist from Termiz State University. Additionally, AYBU History Department PhD candidates Mustafa Topal, Res. Asst. Metehan Demirci, Aigerim Zhanatkyzy, graduate students Kader Karakuş, Merve Şahin, Ali Özdemir, and Muğla Sıtkı Koçman, along with History Department student Mustafa Yavaş, were also part of the delegation.
The Uzbek side was represented by Prof. Dr. Ferhood Maksudov, Director of the National Archaeology Institute of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences; Doston Rustemzade, director; Nishonboy Sobor, researcher; and Dr. Oman Mamirov, Vice Rector of the Institute of Social and Political Fans. The results of the excavations, which involved approximately 18 people, will be presented to the scientific community and the public in scientific reports and articles.
Thanks were extended to those who contributed to the project. Thanks were also extended to TIKA and the TIKA Uzbekistan Representative Office for their in-kind support of the excavation; Prof. Dr. Ali Cengiz Köseoğlu, Rector of Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, for the carbon-14 analyses and the meticulousness shown in the project's execution; and Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Tutar, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Gratitude was also expressed to Mehmet Güven, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Özgüven İnşaat Emlak, Seyfettin Akbaş, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alvina L Chemical, who sponsored the project, and Enver Demirel, the former mayor of Etimesgut, for their support.
