Airtam

Settlement site consisting of a number of separately standing monuments situated along the right bank of the Amudarya river in 18 km to the east of Termez, with a total area of about 90 hectares.

A monumental building - a fort - was erected on the territory of Airtam in the Greco-Bactrian period (2nd c. B.C.). In the opinion of researchers, it was not completed by the time of the Saka invasion.

With the penetration of Buddhism into North Bactria at the turn of the millennium, a mass construction of Buddhist shrines began in Airtam. The ruins of a Greco-Bactrian structures were used as a platform for Buddhist complex. During the Kushan period, a large Buddhist centre consisting of a temple and monastery and stretching for almost 3 km along the Amudarya river, was formed in Airtam. Its buildings were richly decorated with sculpture and architectural decor made of marble-like limestone. Baked brick was used in construction. Around the complex there were auxiliary buildings, including furnaces for baking brick and killing pottery. In the second half of the 3rd century Airtam decayed and was never restored.