Roofing in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is a largely desert country between the Caspian Sea and the Amu Darya river, bordering Iran and Afghanistan to the south. Its roofing heritage is earthen and brick: the domed mausoleums of the medieval cities of Merv and Kunya-Urgench, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are among the most important early domed buildings of Central Asia. Its modern history was shaped by the 1948 earthquake that levelled the capital, Ashgabat.

Climate and hazards

Most of the country is occupied by the Karakum desert, with very hot summers, cold winters and little rain. The south, along the Kopet Dag mountains where Ashgabat lies, is highly seismic. The earthquake of 6 October 1948, of surface-wave magnitude 7.3 and maximum intensity X, killed between 10,000 and 110,000 people by different estimates. Almost all brick buildings in Ashgabat and nearby villages collapsed, concrete buildings were heavily damaged and the old adobe city was destroyed.

Roofing history

Merv, in the Murghab river oasis, was one of the great cities of the Silk Road. Its city of Sultan Kala, walled in the 11th century, contains the Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, the ruler who reigned from 1118 to 1157; it is admired for its brickwork and carved stucco and retains mural paintings. The Merv oasis is also known for its köshks, fortified mud-brick manor houses.

Kunya-Urgench, in the north, preserves monuments mainly of the 11th to 16th centuries, including a mosque, caravanserai gates, fortresses, mausoleums and a 60 m (197 ft) minaret. Its buildings are of unfired mud brick and fired brick, decorated with terracotta arabesques and brightly coloured glazed work. UNESCO notes that local masters developed the treatment of the inner surface of domes from cellular forms to muqarnas, or stalactite vaulting.

After 1948 Ashgabat was rebuilt as a Soviet city. Across the USSR, seismic zoning maps were compiled from 1937 and updated in 1957, 1968 and 1978, and the codes SNiP II-A.12-62 and SNiP II-A.12-69 introduced seismic design based on dynamic theory.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Domed brick tombs and mosques: single-chamber domed buildings and more complex domed compositions in mud and fired brick.
• Köshk: fortified mud-brick houses of the Merv oasis.

Codes, standards and regulation

An assessment by the Global Earthquake Model Foundation found little official information on current building codes, but noted updated seismic zoning and new building codes adopted in 2021.

Notable roofs

• Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, Merv (12th century).
• Domed mausoleums of Kunya-Urgench (11th-16th centuries).

Sources and gaps

Descriptions of traditional house roofs and of the Turkmen yurt, information on modern roofing, housing statistics and domestic roofing manufacturers: published information is limited.