“High altitude urban sites are extraordinarily rare in the archaeological record because of a unique set of landscape ...

It combines architecture and planting in a conceptual East-West landscape with a dramatic 'Silk Road' bridge linking the various elements of the garden. It represents the historical trade links ...

Once a vital location on the Silk Road, the town offered connectivity ... the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya—and contains a vast landscape comprised of rolling sand dunes, myriad oases, and takirs ...

Research shows that landscape changes across the Musi River ... The kingdom’s rulers maintained a vital maritime Silk Road staging post on the Musi River, which today runs through the city ...