|
The Nakh (or Vainakh) medieval towers were a characteristic feature of medieval architecture of the Nakh peoples in Chechenya and Ingushetia, with few parallels outside that region. Some towers were used as dwellings, others had a military purpose; some combined both functions. The roots of Nakh tower architecture seem to be very ancient. Similar dwellings were built in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC by the Hurrians and Urartians,〔〔Erol YILDIR., Kuzey Kafkasyada Vaynah Kule Mimarisi (Vaynah Kuleleri), Flaş Ajans, İstanbul 1997. pages 62-63 ISBN 975-7129-01-1〕 believed to be close relative to the Nakh peoples. According to a Roman author of the 1st century BC, the people of Colchis on the west shores of the Black Sea, also connected to the Nakh, lived in log towers with square foundation, tapering walls and pyramidal roofs. The invariably square floorplan of the Nakh towers contrasts with the round towers built by peoples south of the Caucasus.〔 The oldest fortifications in the Nakh area date from the 3rd millennium BC. The oldest remains of buildings with the characteristics of Nakh towers date from the 1st century AD, and can already be distinguished into residential and military types. Construction greatly increased in the 12th and 13th centuries. Nakh tower architecture and construction techniques reached their peak in the 15th–17th centuries.〔Lecha Ilyasov. ''The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present.'' ISBN 9785904549022.〕 ==General features== Typical Vainakh towers were built on a square base, ranging from 6 to 12 m wide and 10 to 25 m high, depending on the function. The walls were built of stone blocks, possibly with lime, clay-lime, or lime-sand mortar. The walls were inclined inwards and their thickness decreased on higher floors. The towers were built on hard rock. Vainakh towers used to be sparingly decorated with religious or good-wishing petrographs, such as solar signs or depictions of the author’s hands, animals, etc.. Defensive towers often bore a Golgopha cross. The construction of a tower, whether residential or military, was accompanied by rituals. Songs and folk tales emphasise the role of the "master builder", who, according to tradition, would direct a group of assistants who did the actual work. Some of these masters had their names preserved—such as Diskhi, associated in the local tradition to the military tower of Vougi. Some Chechen villages, such as Bavloi, specialized in tower building. Legends ascribe to the master builder the honourable and extremely dangerous task of erecting the ''tsIurku'' stone that topped the step pyramidal roof of a military tower. A ladder was tied to a machicolation on the outside for the master to reach the roof. It cost many masters their life. In case of success, the client gave the master a bull. The construction of a family tower cost the household 50 to 60 cows. Ivan Shcheblykin claimed that that tower builders did not need any scaffolding,〔Щеблыкин И. П. Искусство ингушей в памятниках материальной культуры // Известия Ингушского научно-исследовательского института истории и культуры. Владикавказ, 1928. Вып. 1. Page 282.〕 and many researchers make that assumption. However, he may have meant that they used no scaffolding ''on the outside''. Cornerstones were included in the design, to join the walls together and to support the higher floors. Interior scaffolds used in erecting the walls probably rested on those cornerstones, in which corbels were made for the purpose. Stones and beams were lifted with a windlass known as ''chIagIarg'' or ''zerazak''. Large stones—some weighing several tonnes—were brought to the site by oxdriven sleds. The builders used many stonedressing tools—the ''berg'' (pick), the ''varzap'' (a large hammer), the ''jau'' (a small hammer), the ''daam'' (chisel), etc. Mortar was made on the site. Sand or clay was admixed to it in localities where lime was expensive. One of the master builder's most critical tasks was to estimate the proper amount of mortar to ensure the seismic resistance of the tower. Joints between stones were filled in with limewash for rain not to damage mortar. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nakh architecture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|