Khinisli

Xınıslı — an archaeological monument from the early and developed Middle Ages located in the territory of the Shamakhi district of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The ancient Shamakhi settlement has revealed ruins and graves, including a certain amount of glass products, pottery and decorative items considered the work of local craftsmen. As raw material, the Khirdalan sand from Abşeron was probably used. Glass production in Bukhara dates to the early centuries AD. The indicated materials make it possible to assume that the ancient Shamakhi settlement was one of the important economic centers on an international trade route. During archaeological excavations at Xınıslı, a number of imported objects were found: Roman glass bowls with milled rims, glass vessels, decorative items, seals, Sasanian silver vessels, coins, etc., which shows economic contacts with various European and Eastern countries. Together with a gold coin from the vicinity of Shamakhi, a rare artwork from the 2nd–3rd centuries AD, probably brought here in the Roman period, was also found—a silver medallion engraved with a scene from Greek mythology depicting a nereid seated on a sea horse—further confirming these connections.

The obtained materials currently allow the identification of four main construction phases at the Xınıslı settlement.

First phase

The first phase covers the 4th–2nd centuries BC. The discovered houses were built of clay mixed with river stone and chalk stone. Floors were plastered with a mixture of straw and clay. In this cultural layer, various shaped clay jars, bowls, vases, grill parts, as well as animal figures made of clay, wheel models, stone pestles, kirkires and other household items were found, sometimes covered with red slip. The large quantity of animal bones and petrified wheat grains indicates agricultural activity. In a burial pit one person was interred, with clay vessels and a number of other items placed there.