Ideological and Practical Policy of Ancient Eastern Society
A special attitude towards fire is evident not only in the monumental cult complexes uncovered at Toprak-Kala. There is a clear desire to specifically preserve the ashes of the sacred fire, for which special pits or wells were constructed, filled with such ashes. In smaller sanctuaries, small pits were made to collect the sacred ash.
The symbolism and sign systems of the ancient era do not provide a clear solution for defining the ideological macrosystem.
For example, Kushan coins depict images of female deities with inscriptions reproducing their names, associated with the circle of Eastern Iranian religious concepts (Ordokhsho, Vaninéd, Nana). However, their attributes and sculptural solutions do not find direct correspondences in the mass terracotta sculpture, which apparently differed from the monumental statues reproduced on the coins. The attributes of the female deity in its various manifestations (or deities), most popular in mass coroplastic art, vary somewhat by regions (Vorobyova, 1981), although there is some overlap (vessels, mirrors, plant motifs or wreaths). There are no convincing solutions that reveal the incognito embodied in terracotta of the female image referred to by G.A. Pugachenko as the "Great Mother Goddess" (Pugachenko, 1974).
At the same time, there is another type of information that leads us to define a stable ideological macrosystem, the reflection of which we find in ritual practices. The archives of documents from Nisa and Toprak-Kala, as well as the old Sogdian letters from Eastern Turkestan, testify to the enduring ancient Eastern Iranian traditions and the corresponding pantheon. The Zoroastrian calendar and theophoric names clearly from the Avestan circle are widespread. The burial rite with the purification of bones and the cult of fire, mentioned above, also indicate the establishment of a Zoroastrian type. A common objection to such comparisons is references to the strict canons of Zoroastrianism in Sasanian Iran, which indeed contradict many of the phenomena widely observed in the practices of the ancient peoples of Central Asia. However, it is hardly advisable in historical reconstructions to view everything through the narrow lens of the orthodox Zoroastrian mage of Iran. Therefore, the religious macrosystem of ancient Central Asia, as the main ideological layer of the era, should be defined as Central Asian Zoroastrianism with natural local peculiarities both on a regional scale and in specific civilizations. At the same time, other beliefs were also quite popular, the external attributes of which were sometimes actively absorbed by the local ideology. Researchers have written extensively about the so-called Central Asian Dionysianism, whether it be the sculpture of Khorezm's Toprak-Kala, the painting of Bactria, Parthian rhytons, or small terracotta. This "local Dionysianism" (Dalverzin, 1978), with Hellenized or Indianized manifestations, undoubtedly has deep local roots in agrarian rituals that were formed back in the early agricultural era.
Iconographic and semantic syncretism, widely discussed in the literature (Pugachenko, 1974), reflects the interaction of different ideological currents, similar to what is observed in cultural genesis.
This phenomenon reflects a characteristic feature of the ideological practice and politics of ancient Eastern society, which was marked by a broad tolerance of beliefs during the pre-monotheistic period. This largely corresponded to the mythological nature of thinking. As is known, mythology represents a language of symbols that equally satisfied, especially in iconographic transmission, all layers of social groupings regardless of their mastery of the prevailing writing system, which was often quite complex.
At the same time, the very system of myths, built on associations along semantic rows, was indifferent to logical contradictions that seemingly arose with the coexistence of various religious structures. This was the epistemological basis for the practice of tolerance in most ancient Eastern societies.
Burial Chambers of Bactria