Author: Veyis M. Ibrahimov
Azerbaijan. In the historical center of Baku, stands the Maiden Tower, a miracle of engineering thought.
The Maiden Tower is one of the oldest historical monuments of Azerbaijan. The date of its construction, the name of the architect and the purpose of the tower have remained a mystery to this day.
None of the existing versions - observatory, signal tower, religious object, water well, defense tower - can withstand criticism and do not explain the architectural features of the Maiden Tower.
A version close to the truth should explain the general purpose of the tower, each of its elements, and its interrelationships with other historic structures.
Due to the lack of historical sources, I decided to research the Maiden Tower based on its architectural features.
In the course of the research:
- I researched in detail the historic structures discussed in this article;
- studied the designs and drawings of the historic structures and compared them with their modern counterparts;
- consulted with historians, chemists and restorers;
- studied the works of ancient and medieval authors and the history of engineering;
- I held discussions with local residents.
The results of the research allow us to assert that the Maiden Tower is an ancient rectification column for oil refining.
It is important to specify that we are not talking about cracking, but about the process of primary atmospheric distillation of oil.
WHAT IS RECTIFICATION?
The process of separating a liquid into its components by evaporation is called rectification. The principle of rectification is used in modern oil and gas and chemical facilities.
A rectification tower is a vertical industrial column consisting of eight floors, producing one fraction of oil on each floor.
So what happens in a rectification column?
Crude oil is heated in furnaces and enters the lower section of the rectification column as steam. The crude oil is fed into the middle section of the column. Mixing with the steam rising from the bottom, the crude oil is also vaporized. The fractions formed at a certain temperature on each floor condense on the plates and are removed from the column as the finished product.
The trays of a distillation column are structural components of the column that are used in processes to separate liquids into components with different boiling points.
The excess liquid formed on the floors flows to the lower floors, vaporizes again and condenses on the plates of the upper floors.
The hot product removed from the column is cooled in coolers and sent to the tanks.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE MAIDEN TOWER?
The Maiden Tower is 28 meters high and 16-16.5 meters in diameter. The walls are 5 meters thick at the bottom and 4 meters thick at the top.
The inner diameter of the first floor is 6.25 meters and the height is more than 3 meters, the inner diameter of the last floor is 7 meters and the height is 2.5 meters.
Under the southeast wall of the tower there is a well with a diameter of 0.7 meters and a depth of 12 meters. There are openings into the well shaft from the first and third floors.
During the restoration in 1960, inter-storey ceilings were built to divide the tower into floors. Before their construction, the inner walls had circular protrusions up to 80 centimeters wide, which divided the tower into 8 floors.
A 30-cm-diameter ceramic pipe, sealed at the top and directed to the first floor, is built into the southwest wall. The circular protrusions from the 2nd to the 7th floors have funnels connected to this pipe.
The tower has a slope towards the buttress. The buttress is the projection of the structure facing east.
There are 3 relatively small towers adjoining the tower from the northern side. There is another small tower 10 meters away from the Maiden Tower.
The entrance to the tower was at the level of the 4th floor. There was a wooden platform on the facade of the tower. More than 10 wells of different depths were dug around the tower.
EXTERIOR OF THE MAIDEN TOWER
1. Why does the tower have 8 floors?
During the primary refining of crude oil, 8 fractions are separated - tar sands, oil fraction, gas oil, diesel fuel, kerosene, naphtha, gasoline, gas, one fraction per floor.
2. Why is the top of the tower ribbed and the walls have loose masonry?
The loose masonry, ribbed surface, and buttress direction promote rapid natural cooling.
3. What was the purpose of the “buttress”?
The buttress had a cooling function. The winds typical for Baku - northern Khazri and southern Gilavar - cooled the surface of the buttress facing east.
The buttress also channeled the finished product to the tanks through pipes. The presence of pipes in the past is evidenced by bronze rings found on the facade and removed during restoration.
4. Why does the tower have a slight slope towards the buttress?
The slope of the tower directs the product by gravity from the circular protrusions into the troughs to drain out of the tower.
5. What are the three towers adjacent to the Maiden Tower for?
These towers are tanks for collecting finished products. Old photographs show a round metal structure on top of the first tower that resembles a manhole with a guardrail. Unfortunately, more detailed information about these structures could not be obtained. The top of these towers has been rebuilt and no trace of the structure now remains. The presence of a manhole may indicate the presence of voids within this structure.
There is another small tower located 10 meters north of the Maiden Tower. A round hatch (now a window) on the roof of the tower indicates that it also served as a reservoir. Later, a door was added to this tower and it is used as an office.
The walls of this structure use the same stones as the Maiden Tower, but the masonry is more modern. Apparently, this structure was rebuilt during the restoration.
Small towers are characteristic of Absheron castles. They are built into the walls surrounding the towers and served as reservoirs.
6. Why is the entrance to the tower located at the level of the 4th floor? What was the wooden platform built on the front of the tower used for?
The door and platform were used for pipe repairs and maintenance.
7. Why has the wooden beam found in the buttress not rotted over hundreds of years?
This beam is a fragment of the outer platform. Impregnated with petroleum products, it is resistant to decay.
8. Why do the narrow windows face the sunrise and the direction of the sun?
The arrangement of the windows allows illumination of the interior of the tower from sunrise to zenith. The design of the windows indicates that their main function is to illuminate and control the processes taking place at the level of the circular protrusions (inter-story slabs). This is confirmed by the mock-up on display in the Maiden Tower.
9. What explains the thickness of the walls of the tower, which is 5 meters?
Oil refining is an explosive process, so the thickness of the walls is a mandatory precaution. In addition, there are communications located in the thickness of the walls.
10. Why was there no entrance on the first floor?
The entrance to the first floor was cut through in the 19th century by the Russian military.
In the photos, at the junction of the buttress with the tower on the south side, a doorway, laid in the 1960s, can be seen. According to old residents, there was no entrance there. Had it existed, the military would not have had to cut through the door, they would have used this entrance.
The design of the tower did not originally provide for a first floor entrance.
An interesting observation about entrances: towers in Absheron were usually locked from the outside, not the inside. This is evident in the design of the entrance openings in the tower of Ramana settlement. The locking of the doors from the outside indicates that the source of danger was not outside but inside the tower.
11. How can the large number of wells around the towers be explained?
The wells around the Maiden Tower and other historic structures are associated with oil and served for extraction and storage.
Similar wells are found in the historic area of Tustan, located in the city of Boryslav, Ukraine. In ancient times, there was a 25-meter high tower there, where fires often occurred.
12. What is the purpose of the round stones with a hole that are found around the Maiden Tower, Shirvanshahs' Palace and other buildings?
These stones were used to prevent foreign objects from falling into wells and to guide pipes.
13. Were traces of oil found in the Maiden Tower and other historical buildings?
There are no traces on the floor and ceiling because the floors between floors were built during the 1960 restoration.
The marks on the walls are clearly visible in old photos from before the 2013 restoration. During the subsequent restoration work, the walls of the tower were sanded down to a depth of 10 cm. Despite this, the gray color of the stones indicates oil contamination.
The traces are clearly visible in places where the restorers were not comfortable working - in stairways, window and door arches, in wall crevices.
Traces of oil are visible on the outer surface of the tower.
I found remnants of fossilized fuel oil in stone troughs near the tower in Mardakan settlement and observed traces of oil and lime in the stone containers, stairways and window openings of the tower in Ramana settlement.
Oil traces can be observed on the walls of the photo studio in the Shirvanshahs' Palace, on the eastern wall of the palace fence and in the hollows of the walls of the Shah's Mosque. In other rooms, the gray color of the polluted old masonry differs from the beige color of the masonry of the Shirvanshahs' era.
14. Why is the limestone from which the Maiden Tower and other ancient buildings are built gray?
Some sources mention that the tower is built of gray limestone. This is unreliable information. As a result of the ongoing processes, the walls of the tower were soaked with oil and the stones look gray. During the restoration process, the polished fine stones acquire their natural beige color.
In addition, the marks on the stones are also not patina, as confirmed by the restorers.
MAIDEN TOWER'S INTERNAL STRUCTURE
15. Where did the Maiden Tower get its hot steam from?
The buildings located near the tower, currently used as souvenir shops, are tubular furnaces. The construction of these buildings, the absence of water and sewage pipes, the presence of 100 mm diameter ceramic pipes in the walls, the oil residue in these pipes and the thick layer of soot on the walls all serve as evidence of their purpose. The furnaces were fueled by natural gas or fuel oil, and the oil heated in the pipes was transferred to the tower.
16. What function did the opening in the first floor wall, directed from the tower outward to the pit under the outside staircase, serve?
In the process of oil separation into fractions, fuel oil was collected on the first floor and discharged through the opening into the pit at the base of the tower.
17. Archaeological excavations revealed that the first floor was half-filled with stones. What was this done for?
These stones are designed to heat the oil evenly.17. Archaeological excavations revealed that the first floor was half-filled with stones. What was this done for?
These stones are designed to heat the oil evenly.
18. What function did the opening from the first floor to the well shaft, which is under the wall of the tower, fulfill?
Hot steam was supplied to the first floor of the tower through this opening. During the rectification process, unprocessed oil was discharged through this opening into the well, which prevented the column from flooding.
19. What is the purpose of the opening from the 3rd floor to the well shaft?
This opening is used to feed the feedstock into the tower. As in a modern rectification column, the oil was fed into the middle part of the tower.
20. How did the oil get up to the 3rd floor?
Oil was pumped to the 3rd floor using pumps. Sources indicate that hand pumps were used in oil refining until the 19th century.
21. What function did the ceramic pipe serve, running from the upper floors to the first floor with a receiving funnel on each floor?
During the refining process, excess liquid accumulating on the floors can lead to flooding of the distillation column. To prevent column flooding, the excess liquid is transferred through this pipe from the upper floors to the first floor.
22. Why were there no ceilings (ceilings and floors) between the floors, and why were there circular protrusions up to 80 cm wide on the inner walls?
The ceilings between floors were added in the 1960s, according to the imagination of a restorer who thought the tower was defensive.
The circular protrusions collected fractions that were first condensed on ceramic plates and then discharged from the tower.
23. Where did the fractions condense?
Logs were placed between the floors. On the logs were plates with ceramic caps, similar to gutters. Fractions condensed on these plates.
24. Why is the inner diameter of the tower 6 meters?
Modern industrial distillation towers are also up to 6 meters in diameter.
25. Open doorways between the interior of the tower and the staircase compromise the airtightness of the tower. How was the tower sealed?
There are niches on the sides of the entrance where the mechanisms closing the doorway were attached. Later some of them were laid. Similar niches are also located on the sides of the entrance to the middle part of the tower.
26. Traces of lime can be seen on the inner walls of the tower. How was the lime formed on the walls of a structure that processed oil?
The Maiden Tower is built of limestone. When exposed to high temperatures, calcium oxide is released from the limestone, which is the lime that coats the walls.
Lime is released from limestone at a temperature of about 900-1000°C. But the temperature in the rectification column does not reach such values and usually does not exceed 400°C. The fact is that the process of lime extraction is also at 400°C, but very slowly, it can take years or even decades.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
27. Is there oil in the area where Maiden Tower is located?
The Bibi-Eybat oil and gas field, located only 2 km from Maiden Tower, has been producing oil for over 200 years. At the time of construction, Maiden Tower was within the contours of this field. The current lack of oil around Maiden Tower is due to depletion and narrowing of the contours to the center of the field.
Oil fields are often associated with uplands. This landform may indicate the presence of a convex (anticlinal) fold in the Earth's crust where oil collects. The location of Icherisheher on a hill indicates the possibility of oil in the past.
28. How were fires prevented?
Fire safety was ensured by building walls around the tower. These walls were not built for defensive purposes. The machicolations on the walls were built later.
The ovens were located behind the walls and some of them are now functioning as mosques, for example, in Ramana and Mardakan villages.
The structure located near the walls of the tower in Ramana has characteristic features that leave no doubt as to its purpose. It has a stone chute connecting it to the tower and pits for the discharge of fuel oil.
29. To prevent hydrates from forming, oil is separated from gas before refining. How was this problem solved in ancient times?
In ancient times, because of the short distance between the source of the oil and its refining and the high temperature, oil was refined as it was extracted without separating it from associated gases.
30. How was oil separated from sand and water?
The extracted oil was collected in stone tanks, and after the sand and water settled, the refined oil was poured into other stone tanks. Excavations in the rocks, called stone graves, were used for the same purpose.
31. How were oil wells drilled?
The depth of ancient wells, reaching 35 meters with a width of 70 cm, indicates the impossibility of doing this work manually, especially in rocky terrain. Horizontal circular marks on the walls of the wells indicate the use of a mechanical drill. When such work is performed with modern hand tools, vertical impact marks are left on the well walls.
Some wells were drilled in the shape of a rounded rectangle. Of modern devices, only the device patented by Harry Watts in 1917 (the Watts drill) allows drilling in the shape of a rounded rectangle.
In the Middle Ages, step wells were dug to extract oil. These wells are now called “ovdans” and are mistakenly thought to be water wells. At the end of the 19th century, N. I. Voskoboynikov, the manager of Baku oilfields, patented the technology of step wells. Obviously, Voskoboynikov was inspired by the technologies that existed in Absheron.
32. Is it possible to use some mechanisms in oil extraction and refining?
Various mechanisms such as pumps and drills could have been used in the oil extraction and refining process. As I mentioned earlier, it is impossible to manually extract oil from a pit up to 35 meters deep.
Modern oil pumps work on the principle of the piston pump invented by the ancient Greek mechanic Ctesibius.
In 1588 Agostino Ramelli published in Paris a book “Treasury of the ingenious machines of the noble and famous Captain Agostino Ramelli”, in which he described more than 100 different water-lifting machines, complex in their structure, interesting from the point of view of kinematics, which can be considered the predecessors of modern oil pumps.
In historical sources, particularly in numismatics, one can find depictions of various mechanisms. On Sassanid coins there are depictions of a device that is generally considered to be an altar of fire. Due to the depiction of flames at the top, this device is associated with Zoroastrianism, but Zoroastrians worship Ahura Mazda, not fire. This image is very old and is found in the Sumerians, Egyptians and Hittites, who did not worship fire. This device looks more like a mechanism associated with oil production than an object of worship.
During archaeological excavations near the Maiden Tower, a similar altar with traces of oil was discovered, which was soon destroyed!
Archaeological findings show that the parts used in antiquity sometimes look just like their modern, industrially manufactured counterparts.
While exploring a tower in Ramana township, I came across a pipe at the base of the tower that turned out to be a rod and coupling of a pump used for oil extraction. The pipe was partially inside the rock face and looked modern. I assumed it had gotten there by accident and didn't pay attention.
But after a while, questions began to arise. Why doesn't it have a maker's mark on it, like modern counterparts? Why was it partially inside the rock? This detail could have fallen into the remnants of cement mortar, which over time became similar to natural stone. Then why was the foreign object preserved on the territory where restoration work was carried out?
These questions remained unanswered as I did not find the pipe when I revisited the tower in January 2024. The supervisor explained that the pipe was interfering with the filming of a movie and had been cut and discarded.
Perhaps the use of such devices was common much earlier than we realize, which may indicate a higher level of technology in antiquity than is commonly believed.
33. Where were refined petroleum products stored?
Here is how the German traveler of the 17th century E. Kaempfer described the storages: the oil storage is a hollow in the ground with the length of 17, width of 7 steps, where the channel from the well leads. Steps were made in the walls of the storehouse, and an arched structure was built over the storehouse itself.
Today, these oil storage facilities are mistakenly identified as sheds for pack animals.
Traces of oil on the ceilings and walls also testify to their use as oil storage.
34. How was refined oil transported?
The oil refined in Absheron was shipped to Europe in caravans of pack animals. The four caravanserais around the Maiden Tower indicate that the products were shipped from this tower. Ships were also used for the transportation of oil.
35. The presence of so many historical buildings related to oil extraction and processing in Absheron indicates a large volume of production. What were the volumes of production?
According to the famous traveler and geographer Abdurrashid al-Bakuwi (14th-15th centuries), a caravan of 200 camels, each carrying 300 kg of oil, left Baku every day. This amounts to 60 tons of oil products per day.
FORGOTTEN TECHNOLOGIES
36. Why was gasoline and diesel needed in ancient times?
Gasoline and diesel were used to create a very valuable combustible mixture - “Greek fire”. These two components were considered to be the basis of the secret of “Greek fire”.
In 1960 British chemist and historian of science, author of many books and articles, member of the Chemical Society of London James Riddick Partington in his work “History of Greek fire and gunpowder” suggested that the secret weapon of the Byzantines included light fractions of oil, which could be obtained as a result of processing, as well as tar and sulfur.
Since gasoline and diesel are lighter than water, the “Greek fire” could burn directly on the surface of the sea. Sources indicate that it could not be extinguished with water, which also confirms the use of gasoline and diesel, which do not use water for extinguishing.
The main components of modern flamethrower munitions are also gasoline and diesel.
The needs for construction, heating, lighting, and weapons production, also the inefficiency of crude oil for these purposes, created the need for refined products.
37. How realistic is the realization in antiquity of such a complex technological process as oil refining?
The realization in antiquity of such a complex technological process as oil refining seems incredible. Let's clear up any doubts about it.
In Ancient Egypt the process of distillation was known, which was used to obtain various oils.
In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle, in his work Meteorology, described the principles of distillation that could have been used for oil refining.
The great Arab physician and philosopher Avicenna (980-1037) conducted multiple distillations of oil, and the 13th century Arab scholars Al-Barawi and Al-Qwazwini reported in their works a number of data on oil distillation experiments.
In XII-XIII centuries Muhammad ibn Najib Bakran testifying about oil refining wrote about transformation of black oil into white oil in Absheron.
Even before Abraham Gesner patented kerosene in 1854, Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin (1744-1774) described the process of distilling oil, stating that the oil was purified by “cube distillation” and after double distillation the oil changed color, becoming transparent.
38. What function did the buildings called hamams perform?
These buildings were distillation cubes to produce kerosene.
The unusual layout of the structure resembles a gas stove grate, which provides stability and even heat distribution.
In fact, the walls of the bathhouse served the same role as the grate of the gas stove. This shape of the structure was necessary to support the vat of crude oil that was under the dome.
Under the vat of crude oil there was a round gas burner. This burner is considered to be a fountain, but the absence of water supply and sewerage, traces of soot in the bowl indicate that it was a gas burner. This information was confirmed by the old residents of Balakhany settlement, who live near such a bathhouse.
39. Why were two different devices used that perform a similar function - a rectification tower and distillation cubes?
Initially rectification towers were built and operated.
As a result of cataclysms, the skills of operating rectification towers were lost. The loss of the secret of “Greek fire” coincides with this period. Production became impossible due to the lack of gasoline and diesel.
In the Middle Ages, the technology of oil refining was restored using distillation cubes. With their help, kerosene was obtained.
At the end of the 18th century, there was again an event that led to a partial loss of technology.
From the 19th century oil refining began to recover and is successfully developing to this day.
40. In ancient times, people's tombstones depicted tools related to their craft. Is it possible to find tombstones depicting tools related to oil extraction?
To answer this question, we need to know what the mechanisms used in ancient times looked like. On the stone slabs around the tower in Mardakan settlement, I have seen images that look like equipment used in oil extraction. Perhaps it is a plow for plowing the land, although stones with such images are often found where there is oil.
It would be wrong to draw conclusions on the basis of a single drawing that does not give full confidence in its interpretation. Images on ancient graves should be investigated from this point of view.
The tombstones - “koch dash” - could be a reference to the oil-related profession. These are sculptures of rams, which in shape are very similar to oil pumps. There are sculptures made of gray limestone in the Shirvanshahs' Palace and near the Maiden Tower. Limestone becomes gray due to oil pollution.
41. Why is there no information about kerosene or other oil products in historical evidences?
In ancient times, the terms associated with petroleum and its derivatives were little differentiated and all petroleum products were referred to as “naphtha”. In Azerbaijan, oil and kerosene were called by a single word – “noyud”. Such terminological inseparability complicates interpretation of historical sources.
Mentioning the color of oil - white or transparent - may indicate a processed product rather than crude oil, as there are few wells with white oil.
42. Are there analogs of these buildings in Azerbaijan and other countries?
In Azerbaijan, outside of Absheron, I have seen such buildings only in the districts of Khizi, Hajigabul and Agsu.
Analogues of historical buildings of the Absheron Peninsula are found in Lebanon (historical center in Tripoli), Jordan (Umayyad Palace in Amman), Turkey (Shanliurfa), Russia (Naryn Qala in Derbent), Iran (Isfahan), Ukraine (Tustan, Borislav), Uzbekistan (Ichan Qala, Khiva).
Most of the towns mentioned still have refineries in operation today.
ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS
43. Was Maiden Tower intended to collect groundwater and rainwater?
Unequivocally, no. Digging a well is sufficient to extract groundwater. The drying up of the well after the slabs were built inside the tower indicates the insufficiency of groundwater.
The version about condensation of atmospheric moisture does not stand up to criticism, the limestone used in the construction of the tower absorbs moisture and does not allow it to accumulate.
Water accumulated from rainfall would have been drained outside through an opening in the first floor wall.
44. Is the Maiden Tower a defensive structure?
Proponents of this theory put it forward on the basis of the tower's modern construction. Before 1960, the tower was a hollow cylinder, and the central part of the roof may have been in the form of a dome. It is impossible to defend with only cramped stairwells.
The tower's ribbed walls and exterior wooden platform would have made it easier for the enemy to attempt to capture it.
45. Could the Maiden Tower have been an astronomical observatory?
The place to build an observatory was chosen away from city lights, free of dusty air, wind, and humidity. The area has been inhabited since ancient times, so light pollution was high. I'm not talking about the dusty winds, the soot from oil fires, the humidity of the sea.
The Maiden Tower is located in one of the most unsuitable places for astronomical observations.
46. Could the Maiden Tower have been a religious temple or dakhma?
It is possible to write about any religious rituals only on the basis of sources. There are no such sources. The construction of the tower - lack of floors, cramped staircases, presence of stones on the first floor, etc. - does not create conditions for conducting rituals.
Dakhmas (towers of silence), used in Zoroastrian funeral rituals, are not widespread in Azerbaijan, and there is no information about such rituals.
Dakhmas are usually built far from cities. With Baku winds, the inhabitants would suffocate from stench and disease.
47. Can the Maiden Tower function as a lighthouse?
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Russian military tried to use the Maiden Tower as a lighthouse. To do so, they cut an entrance on the first floor and installed equipment on the roof. As the lights of the lighthouse began to merge with the lights of the city, the lighthouse was moved to the island of Boyuk Zira.
DIFFICULT QUESTIONS
48. Why is the tower called “Giz galasi”?
In Azerbaijani, the name of the Maiden Tower is “Giz galasi”. The word “giz” has two meanings - the noun “girl” and the verb “to heat up”.
The word “gala” is translated as “tower” and also as “to set on fire”. Perhaps the name of the tower sounded not as “Maiden Tower” but as “Tower of Heating”.
The consonant with the Azerbaijani Lezghin name “Kviz kyele” is translated as “Burning Tower”. The second name of the Maiden Tower is “Hunzar” - “G'uzar kyele” translates as “God's Tower”.
49. When was the Maiden Tower built?
There is no information in historical sources about when the Maiden Tower was built.
There is an inscription on a stone slab on the tower that reads “Masud son of Davud's Dome”. Based on this inscription, it is assumed that the Maiden Tower was built in the Middle Ages.
Apparently, it was installed later, as the composition of the mortar used for fixing the slab on the wall is different from that used in the construction of the Maiden Tower.
The lack of information about the construction of the tower in medieval sources casts doubt on its construction by Masud, son of Davud, in the Middle Ages. The construction of such a grandiose building could not but attract the attention of travelers of that time. The absence of written sources on the construction of the tower testifies to its deep antiquity.
In Gobustan, on the rocks of the Yazily hill, there are paleographic images of three tower constructions typical for Absheron dating back to the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. These are round three-storied, round eight-storied and quadrangular towers.
Taking into account the presence of paleographic images, the absence of written sources, erosion of masonry, and comparing the technological level demonstrated in the construction of the tower with the level of other historical constructions, we can assume that the Maiden Tower was built in the II millennium BC.
50. Who built the Maiden Tower?
The search for an answer to this question takes us back to antiquity. The sources that bring information from antiquity to the present day are myths and legends.
Myths are considered fairy tales, but in antiquity their veracity was not questioned. “The Iliad” of Homer was considered a fairy tale until H.Schliemann dug up ancient Troy.
Relying on the only source telling about fire and the Caucasus Mountains, we can assume that the Maiden Tower was built by the legendary Prometheus.
The existence of such a historical character can be questioned, although some ancient historians, such as Herodotus of Heraclea, considered Prometheus to be a real historical character.
The following arguments can be given in favor of this version:
- The ancient name of Baku - “Ateshi - Baguan” translates as “City of the Fire God”. Who can be considered the God of Fire in the Caucasus, if not Prometheus?
- The second name of the Maiden Tower - Tower “Hunzar” - translates as “Tower of God”.
- Prometheus taught people crafts, including metalworking. It is logical that he also taught people to extract and process oil. It is not by chance that a sculpture of Prometheus was installed in front of the Rockefeller Center, the founder of the oil company “The Standard Oil”.
- Prometheus was a Scythian king and his kingdom included the Absheron Peninsula.
- The existence in ancient times of a figure considered the God of Fire would have led to the emergence of a cult of followers and a religious movement associated with him. The rise of Zoroastrianism in these regions and the fact that fire was considered a means of communication with God suggest that the figure known to us as Ahura Mazda (Ὠρομάσδης) was, in fact, Prometheus (Προμηθες).
- Prometheus was punished in a desolate area near the sea, in the Caucasus Mountains.
Ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus in his work “Prometheus Bound” described the place of Prometheus' imprisonment - the mountain Beshbarmag on the shore of the Caspian Sea.
I offer you an excerpt from this work:
“A desert, deserted land in the country of the Scythians, on the far edge of the earth. Hard rocks rise above the clouds with their sharp tops. Everywhere lie chunks of black stones broken off from the rocks. The sea breaks at the foot of the cliffs, and the salty waves rise high... Behind the rocks one can see the snowy peaks of the Caucasus Mountains covered with a light haze”.
At present there is a sanctuary of Khydyr Zinda on this mountain. Mount Beshbarmag is declared a State Historical, Cultural and Natural Reserve.
To summarize the above, I want to categorize the structures and describe how the process took place:
- round and square towers - rectification columns;
- baths - distillation cubes;
- ovdans - stepped oil wells;
- stone tanks, rock “graves” - reservoirs for separating oil from sand and water;
- small caravanserais - oil storages;
- mosques adjacent to towers - tube furnaces;
- caravanserais;
The refining process is as follows: the extracted oil is collected in stone tanks where it is separated from water and sand. The oil is then pumped to the 3rd floor of the tower and from there flows to the lower floors.
Steam flows from the furnaces to the first floor of the tower. The liquid mixes with the steam, vaporizes and condenses on ceramic plates on each floor.
Because the building slopes toward the buttress, the products accumulated on the circular protrusions are discharged from the tower, cooled, and collected in tanks next to the tower.
The heavy fraction (fuel oil) accumulating on the first floor is discharged through an opening into a pit next to the tower. Light fraction (gas) - discharged outside through the roof.
The finished products are transported by caravans and ships to various countries.
EXPERT OPINION
This article uses information from open sources, but as it may contain errors - the main emphasis is on our own observations.
Historians of research institutes of the Academy of Sciences gave official conclusions that it is impossible to confirm or refute the version on the basis of reliable sources and referred to specialists in the field of chemistry.
Experts in the field of experimental chemistry confirmed that the design described in the article is capable of refining oil.
To finally dispel doubts, it is enough to conduct an experiment - to build a copy of the tower and reproduce the described processes.
There will remain questions that cannot be answered due to the inaccessibility of archival materials, museum funds, destruction, restoration and other circumstances.
CONCLUSION
According to the generally accepted scientific paradigm, advanced technologies such as complex machines or sophisticated engineering solutions emerged only in recent centuries due to the industrial and scientific revolutions.
Archaeological findings and historical evidence are interpreted within the framework of the knowledge and capabilities of ancient civilizations, while those that do not fit within this framework are destroyed or concealed.
However, I am confident that a version based on logic and evident facts will take its place in society, and this ancient monument will receive its well-deserved name.
The Tower of Prometheus – it is under this name that it should remain in the memory of future generations.
2020 (Updated 25.01.2025)
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Additional photo materials (amateur photography)
Maiden Tower
Tower in Mardakan village
The tower in Ramana village
Shirvanshahs Palace
Classification