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Damascus has the reputation of being the oldest city in the world though there are no actual records of when Damascus was founded - as records were not kept by its early inhabitants. More recent discoveries suggest that Damascus was first settled ca. 6,000 B.C. but some discoveries suggest that it is older than 8,000 B.C. but we don't know exactly who ruled Damascus at that time. An old story says that its name "Sham" was derived from "Shem" the eldest son of Noah because he chose to live there after the flood. .......Shem in Hebrew means "Sun"
COSMIC CITY..."Plato explained the ideal city as divided into 12 sectors which allowed cosmic laws and proportion to penetrate the city and allow the inhabitants to live under cosmic laws. This cosmic pattern is especially clear in the royal circular cities of the ancient Orient. A number of Parthian, Sassanian, and Abbasid cities are cited. In Persia: Darabjird, Firuzabad, Kalach, Hiraqla, Hamadan (Ecbatana)" (Sacral Kingship: 1959..pg 481)...
APAMEA....Syrian city founded in the Third Century BC by the Seleucids.
ASCALON....Syrian Temple to Astarte (Venus)..Herodotus.Bk I, #105....
ASH SHAMAKHA....(49E..41N)...(Shemakha)..."Beyond the Kur River (Araxes), along the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus Range is the Shirvan Province with its capital of Ash-Shamakha, site of the fountain of life.. Foot of the mountains. Beautiful gardens. In the mountains of Darband was the fortress of Kabalah, on a hill." (Le Strange; 1966..pg 179)...
Ash- Shamaka.....aka: KABALAH...(48E 42N)...On the Caspian Sea where the Caucasus Mountains meet the sea, in the Shirvan province is the capital Ash-Shamakha, near the famous port of Darband. In the mountains near Darband was the ancient fortress of Kabalah, on a hill, near the current Soviet border. north of the port of Baku. Location of a great castle called Kal'ah Taj. The remains of a mighty castle (kal'ah), a 'mother of castles' situated on the great Tarum River that flowed from the mountains of Tarum in northern Persia. Like Samiran, its site remains unidentified. On its walls were lions of gold. The ancient fortress of Kabalah near Darband is more than once mentioned in the campaigns of Timur. Le Strange, G...."The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate"...1966
ASH SHIZ...."Median city. Fire temple was the source of the fire for all the rest of the fire temples in Persia. Great horses. Great Palace built by King Kay-Khusraw." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 224)...
ASSUR...(Asshur)..Near the modern Kileh-Sherghat on the Tigris, 60 miles south of Neneveh...Fall of Assyris in 612 to Medes. Median Empire. (Phillips: 1965..pg 128)..."The Assyrian empire was overthrown late in the 7th C BC. Assur, the city god of the first capital of Assyria and the protector of the Royal House was a sun god. Nimrud was a later capital of Assyria. First capital was Assur. Nimrud was a later capital. Assur was a warrior god. A man with a bow was often beside the solar disk. Ancient temple of the Sun at Sippar, the original home of Shamash. Restored by Nabonidus of the Babylonians who was captured by Cyrus." (Hawkes: 1962)
BALANJAR....the first Khazar capital identified with the archaelogical site of Verkhneye Chir-Yurt until the 720's when the Khazars transferred their capital to Samandar.
BALKH...(Bactra)...(67E..36N)..."Mother of Cities'. A beautiful city in northeastern Persia. Four leagues to the mountains called Jabal Ku. Had 7 gates. Destroyed by the Turks in 1155 AD. Rebuilt. Destroyed by Mongols in 1220. Great Fire Temple. Shrine to rival the Ka'abah in Mecca. Castle was called Kal'ah Hinduwan. (Castle of teh Hindus). Balkh is currently an important town in modern Afghanistan." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 423)..."Balkh is a large and magnificent city. It was here that Alexander married the daughter of Darius." (Marco Polo in Waugh: 1984..pg 42).."the Saka rulers left India and returned to Balkh"..(Soucek..pg 19)..
BARIKOY...In Swat, Pakistan...the ancient castle of Bir
BORSIPPA....(modern Birs-Nimrud) was a building in 7 platforms coloured similarly to Ecbatana (Rawlings: Heordotus)...
BUKHARA....(64E..39N)..."the most beautiful city in Persia. (Waugh: 1984..pg 11)...
CRESIPHON...(33N...44E)..."Yasdgard left the ruined royal city on the Tigris with the advance of the Arabs and fled to Hulwan, not far from Jalula (present day Khanaqin). The victory of Nihavand in 622 AD marked the beginning of the dissolution of teh Sasanian empire.".....In Iran, the great Sassanian dynasty collapsed in the 7th century under the Arab onslaught. Yazdgard fled the royal city of Cresiphon and the Arab victory of Nihavand in 622 AD marked the beginning of the dissolution of the Sassanian empire..."Yasdgard left the ruined royal city on the Tigris with the advance of the Arabs and fled to Hulwan, not far from Jalula (present day Khanaqin)...."the Moslems called Ctesiphon by the name Madain. On the Tigres, the chief city of the province and winter capital of the Sassanian kings. Ctesiphon and Seleucia were founded in 300 BC. Great Sassanian plalace ruins still exist." (LeStrange: 1966)
DARABJIRD...."In Parthia, the circular city has walls marking a concentric circle with the gates the four points of the compass." (Sacral Kingship: 1959..pg 481)..."the city was circular, having four gates. A rocky hill in the center. In was in ruins by 1200 AD." (LeStrange: 1966..pg 288)...
DARBAND... (Derbent)...(48E 42N)..."On the Caspian Sea where the Caucasus Mountains meet the sea, in the Shirvan province is the capital Ash-Shamakha, near the famous port of Darband. (Arabs called Darband 'Bab-al-Abwab'. In the mountains near Darband was the ancient fortress of Kabalah, near the current Soviet border. River Samur. Darbent" (LeStrange..1966..pg 181)...
DELPHI...in Greece...(22E..38N)...site of the sacred meteoric stone the Omphalos....
ECBATANA.(Hamadan)..(48E..35N)...(Herodotus: 800 BC)...Capital of rich province in northern Persia. Surrounded by mountain ranges. Near the Tarum River. Eastward was the Great Desert of Persia. Capital was Hamadan (Ecbatana)..."Ecbatana, a circular city. Strong walls one within the other, seven in all and within the final circle the royal palace (kal'ah). The highest and innermost wall was lined with gold. The next outer wall was lined with silver. The next wall was painted orange. The next blue. The next red. The next black. And the outermost and lowest wall was painted white. The king in the inner circle was seen by no one and all business was transacted by messengers." (Grene: "Herodotus History"..1987..pg 81)...Hamadan was rebuilt after the Moslem invasion but was again destroyed during the Mongol invasion of 1220 AD. Twenty four subdistricts. In the middle of the city stood the ancient castle (Kal'ah). Twenty four subdistricts in the 12th century. The city was 6 miles across. Southwest of Hamadan rose the great mountain of Alvand, or Arvand, summit always covered in snow." (LeStrange: 1966..pg 194)...."There may have been another Ecbatana in Media Atropatene (Azerbijan) at a place called Takht-i-Suleiman (Ganzaca), where extensive ruins are still visible. (Bunbury: 1959...pg 258)..."The royal palace of Agbatana is said by Polybius to be 4/5ths of a mile in circumference." (Rawlins: Herodotus)
EMESA..."At Emesa in Syria there was a large black meteoric stone which bore the Phoenician name of Elagabalus. It was considered to be an image of the sun. The stone was moved to Rome to the site of the ancient Roman god Orcus, by Elagabalus." (Hawkes: 1962..pg 195)...
FIRUZABAD...(Gur)(28N..52E)...Photo of ruins in Frye: 1963..."Circular city in the heart of Persis. A gate at each of the four directions. Residence of the Sassanian dynasty. Aerial photo of the ruins." (Sacral Kingship: 1959..pg 482)..."Ancient Persians called it Jur. Built by King Ardashir (the first Sasanian King) around an artificial mound. In the 10th century was as large as Istakhr. Beautiful gardens. Jur was beseiged by Alexander the Great. Celebrated fire temple." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 255)..."Firuzabad was a Tarum capital. Fortress was called Kal'ah Taj. Great Castle of Sham Irun. In 943 Ad it was the stronghold of the Daylamite Kings. The Sham Irun had 'lions of gold' and the 'sun and moon' on its walls. In 1046 it was the cpaital of Tarum in Daylam. It was in ruins in the 13th century. It was the 'mother of castles ' situated on the great Tarum river. It's site is yet unidentified." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 227)...
FIRUZKUH......(65E..34N)(36N..53E?)......"Ghuristan attained its greatest splendor in 1148-1215 during the Sam Dynasty. Their great capital was Biruzkuh (Firuzkuh)(Turquoise Mountain) an immense fortress in the mountains, site unknown. Great mountainous region and source of many great rivers. Murghab River. Headwaters of the Hari River. Castle was called Kal'ah Khastar. Bamiyan. Herat, rich city of 400,000 people in the 12th century. Great Buddhist sculptures at Bamiyan.Bactria. The city of Bamiyan was the capital of a great district and a great Buddhist center long before the days of Islam. Great sculpture. The Ghurid princes were defeated in 1215 AD and the dynasty disappeared a few years later with the Mongol invasion. Destroyed by Ghengis Khan in 1222 AD. The great castles (kal'ah) mentioned in its history seem to have disappeared. " (Le Strange: 1966..pg 418)...."Subjugation of the mountainous region of Ghur required great effort of the part of the Mongols. The mongols gradually adopted the Iranian language. The Hazaras are Mongolian in origin but Iranian by speech. Between Harat and Qandahar. On the upper reaches of the Murghab River live the Mongols who speak Persian. There is a road from Badakhshan to Tibet." (Barhtold: 1984..pg 83)...
GANZAK.....(Shiz)...Photo of ruins in Frye: 1963....Ancient circular city in Azerbaijan. Sacred place in Median or pre-Median times.
GARTOK...Gesar epic...(David-Neel...1981..pg 242)...
HIRAQLA....(34E..37N)...(Eregli)..."Persian circular city Harun al-Rashids." Aerial photo of the ruins. (Sacral Kingship: 1959..pg 483)..."32 miles from the Tamarisk Valley is Hiraklah (later: Arakliyah, the Greek Heraclia), the town which Harun-ar-Rashid took by storm. Near Tarsus and the Cilician Gates." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 134)...
ITIL....(Atil) on the edge of the Volga River. The name Itil designated the Volga in the mideval age. It was the Khazar capital from 750 AD to 950 AD. Itil was the administrative center of Khazar kingdom and was next to Khazaran, the trading center. The kings palace was located on an island nearbye, which was surrounded by a brick wall. Their diet was fish and vegetables. This was an important Silk Route city.
KALACH PALACE...Assyrian city which maintained the primeval ground plan of the Oriental military camp, which is circular." (Sacral Kingship: 1959..pg 482)
KALA ATASH..."castle of fire worshippers" (Marco Polo in Waugh: 1984..pg 29)...
KALAH......One of the most magnificent capitals of antiquity. ....(also Nimrud)...ancient Assyrian City near Nimeveh, built around 1300 BC. by Shalmaneser I...abandoned, then rebuilt as a royal residential city about 880 BC...excavations revealed much monumental material....Nineveh was the splendid capital of the Assyrian Empire. Conquering Medes and Chaldeans swept over the city in 606 BC and made it a desolate waste.. The great palaces of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal...thousands of tablets of their libraries have been deciphered. ...The mounds extend for 15 miles along the Tigris, opposite the modern city of Mosul, represent the also the cities of Dur-Sargon and Kalah. Ninevah existed as early as 2000 BC and was chiefly the creation of Sennacherbi (705-681 BC) who walled and fortified it for two and 1/2 miles along the Tigris, building a great new palace and laying out extensive gardens.......(Comptons 1934 Edition).
KABALAH....(48E..42N)..."In the mountains near Darband was the fortress of Kabalah, on a hill. North of the port of Baku. The Arabs called Darband (Bab-al-Abwab)." (le Strange:1966..pg 181)...A second TARUM RIVER in ancient Persia...near the Caspian Sea. A ring of mountains surrounding the small kingdoms of ancient Persia. North of Hagmatan. Location of a great castle called Kal'ah Taj. Had 'lions of gold' on its walls. Tributary of the Safid River in the Elburz Mountains. North of the ancient city of Ray. South of the ancient city of Kabalah. (LeStrange: 1966..pg 227))...On the Caspian Sea where the Caucasus Mountains meet the sea, in the Shirvan province is the capital Ash-Shamakha, near the famous port of Darband. In the mountains near Darband was the ancient fortress of Kabalah, on a hill, near the current Soviet border. north of the port of Baku. Location of a great castle called Kal'ah Taj. The remains of a mighty castle (kal'ah), a 'mother of castles' situated on the great Tarum River that flowed from the mountains of Tarum in northern Persia. Like Samiran, its site remains unidentified. On its walls were lions of gold. The ancient fortress of Kabalah near Darband is more than once mentioned in the campaigns of Timur.
Le Strange, G...."The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate"...1966
200 B.C - 400 A.D Kabala is a capital of Caucasian Albania
400-600 A.D. Barda becomes capital of Caucasian Albania in VI
century A.D.
629 A.D. Army of Kok-Turk Empire and Khazars enter Azerbaijan
(Albania), defeating Persians. Azerbaijan is declared to
be "eternal possesion" of Turks. The capital of Albania - Kabala
renamed into Khazar. Albanian nobility and clergyman escape
from Barda to the Albanian stronghold - Mountaineous Karabagh.
[Source: "History of Albans" by Moisey Kalankatly]
The next year both withdraw from Azerbaijan
due to internal strife within Empire.
1221-1227 Georgian feudals occupy Sheki and Kabala, but later those cities
are liberated and again become part of Shirvan
1755 Sheki khan Haji Chelebi conquers Kabala and Sheki sultanates, but defeated
in wars with other khanates.
KARAKORAM....Uigur capital in Northern Mongolia until 840 AD. On the Orkhon River. (Chadwick: 1969..pg 8)
KAYSARIYAH....(39N..35E)...(Caesarea Mazaka, of Cappadocia).."The chief city east of the Karaman frontier. Mt Arjaish (Argaeus, Erciyas Dagi)...is near Kaysariyah. A great town with a castle at the foot of the extremely high mountain, whose summit is always covered in snow. On the summit was a great church."
KHOTAN...(Li Yul)..(37N...80E)....near the Tarim River..."Khotan (kamsadesa, Li Yul) an ancient city-state in Central Asia, beyond the Karakorum Range. The city has been buried for centuries near the village known as Yotkan."...(Kongtrul: 1995..pg 153)
KILAT...(Qazvin)...(36N..49E)..."Another castle (kal'ah) of this district was Kilat,in the Tarum Mountains between Kazvin and Khalkhal (49E...38N).... It occupied the summit of a mountain. This castle belonged to the chief, but like Samiran its site remains unidentified." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 227)...
KUBIA......"Umai's village of Kubia is in the Altaic Mountains near Shuranak. Nearest city is Biisk which is near Novosibirsk." (Kharatidi; 1996)....."Denisova's cave, one of the best known archaelogical sites in Altai traces human life in the region to 300,000 BC...(Kharatidi: 1996)...
LAMPAKA...(33N..70E)..."On the Kabul River above Jalalabad. Location of an Ashoka Stone with inscriptions. The frontier between the Greeks and Candragupta along the Kunar River." (ActaIranica: 1977)...
LARSA...(31N..45E)...Capital of the Elamite and seat of Sumerian Sun worship. (Mackenzie: pg 240)
MADHYADESA.."the Kalachakra was taught at Madhyadesa" (Roerich: 1974..pg 756)...
MERV...(38N..61E)...(Gyaur-Kala)..."Manichaean center on the Amu Darya (Oxus). Also in Balkh and Zamm (Zamb)." (Litvinsky: 1992..pg 417)...
MITRA VIHARA....Atisha visited Mitra Vihara near the Nepalese Therai. (Lopez: 1997..pg 174)...
MULTAN...(72E...30N)...'the famous city of Multan was a gateway to India for Iranian cultural influences. The extreme climatic conditions prevailing there would have made the worship of the Sun God especially appropiate. An annual festival called Sambapurayatra was celebrated by the people of Multan. Multan was also called: Kasypapura, then Hamsapura, then Bhagapura, then Sambapura, then Mulasthana ('original place'). At the site of Multan/Mitravana there was a sun sanctuary as early as the 6th century BC, which might have come under the control of the Persian Magi w/ the conquest of the Indus Valley in 518 BC by the Persian King Darius." (Humbach: 1978..pg 236)...
OZ....(50N..56E)...
PALMYRA..."Palmyra was the center of Syrian sun worship. Razed by Aurelian in 272 AD. Temple of the Sun was restored in 274 AD."...
PARSOGARD..........(54E-30N) Photo of ruins in Frye: 1963....was one of the capitals of the Persian Empire: Pasargadae (Greek) or Parsogard (Persian)...Bar-po-so-brgyad (Tibetan). In 550 BC this city became the capital of the 1st two Persian emperors." (Kuznetsov: 1970..pg 565)...."Contained the tomb of the great Persian King Cyrus. The tomb was on a Swastika Hill (representing the sun). Nine stories tall. Crystal columns. Four sacred gardens: Lotus, Wheel, Yungdrung, and Precious." (Kuznetsov: 1970..pg 570)..."born in a palace south of Mount Yungdrung Gutseg in 1857 B.C." (Wangyal: 1993..pg 29)..."Shen rab was born in Sam bha la (sTag gzigs) in the west in the town called Yans pa can, in the dwelling place of the 33 Gods, the palace called Barpo so brgyad". (Kvaerne: 1971..pg 220)..."Pasargadae is a holy place for the followers of the ancient traditions of Iran." (Kuznetsov: 1970..pg 568)..."Into Phar-po-so-brgyad, the castle of happiness and blessing. Phar: other side...pho: change...so: watches over...brgyad: overcomes faults..." (Francke: 1950..pg 166 & 183))..."Shenrab Miwo was born in the Barpo Sogye Palace to the south of Mount Yungdrung." (Wangyal)..."To the south of Mount gYung drung dgu brtsegs is the palace Bar-po so-brgyad, the birthplace of Shenrab." (Karmay: 1975..pg 173)..."30 km NE of Persepolis. Has a large irrigated lotus garden with a citadel (castle, kal'ah) in the center 1,900 meters high." (Wiesehofer: 1996)
PERSEPOLIS...Photo of ruins in Frye: 1963...
RAY...(52E..36N)...Northern Persia. Northeast of Hamadan. (Rhages, Ar-Rayy). Destroyed by teh Mongols in 1220. Near Tehran. 100 miles SE of the great mountain chain of Daylam." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 214)...
SAMANDAR...a coastal town on the north Caucasus noted for tis beautiful gardens and vineyards. In 750 AD the capital of Khazaria was moved to Itil (Atil).
SAMARKAND...(39N..66E)...Alexander stayed a year in Samarkand (then known as Marakanda) because it was so beautiful....As a prehistoric settlement was known as Afrosiab...Ancient Greek name was Maracanda...destroyed by Mongols in 1219 AD...
SARAY...Lower Volta city which was founded in 1242 AD and was the capital of the Golden Horde...
SHAMIRAN....(Samiran)(37N...49E)......"Capital of Tarum in Daylam in 1046 AD. In ruins in 13th century. Great castle (kal'ah). In 943 AD it was one of the chief strongholds of the Daylamite Kings and contained 2850 houses. The walls of the castle had 'lions of gold.' It lay 9 miles west of the junction of the Shah Rud and the Safid Rud on the high road to Sarav in Adharbayjan. It was finally destroyed in the 1200's by the chief of the Alamut. It is not evident today. The Tarum (Tarm, Tarumayn)river in the Jibal Province was a right bank affluent of the Safid Rud." Le Strange: 1966..pg 227)...In the Ghur Region there appears another Shamiran. "Six miles to the north of Herat (35N..60E) is a great castle called Shamiran (Kal'ah Amkalchah). Destroyed by Timur in the 14th century. This area was visited by an Egyptian Pharaoh. (LeStrange: 1966..pg 226 & 417)...
SIPPAR...seat of Akkadian sun worship and the Sun God Babbar (Semitic: Shamash)(Mackenzie: pg 240)...
SUSA...(32N..48E)...Photo of ruins in Frye: 1963..."the country which is currently called Khuzistan. The Elamite city of Susa (Shushan)"..(32N-48E)..(Kuznetsov: 1970..pg 566)...."Hos-mo: the country of Hos or Susa. Originally the capital of the ancient state of Elam, and later one of the main cities of the Achaemenid empire."(Kuznetsov: 1970..pg 573)...'from Hos, from the six provinces of Hos-mo" (Francke: 1950..pg 163)......Cyrus the Great, Achaemenid Ruler, conquered Asia Minor and in 539 BC occupied Babylon together with the Fertile Crescent. Susa was his capital.Cyrus I was also known as Kura-as Sar.....[The lotus blossom on the tomb of Cyrus dated to 540 BC seems identical to the ring of petals in the Shambhala cosmology. One of the gardens surronding the tomb was a lotus garden.]..(Acta: 1984..pg 68)(Bryant: 1992..pg 65)...
SULTANIYAH...(36N...48E)..."After the Mongol invasion of 1222 AD and the establishment of the Il-Khans in Persia, Sultaniyah became their capital." (LeStrange:1966..pg 227)...
TARA...(53N...6W)...site of the ancient kings of Ireland...the Lia Fail: a magical stone) stood there that was brought to Ireland by the Tuatha De Danann (legendary god-like people) 20 miles NW of Dublin...there are 70 know 'sheelas' (feminine fertility carvings) in Ireland...
TRALETI....Kurgan archaelogical site between the Caspian and Black Sea dating to 3000 BC
TUN HUANG.....(Dunhuang)...An ancient settlement on the convergence of the Northern and Southern Silk Routes. An oasis town in the western Gansu province in the Gobi desert. The 30,000 Tun Huang documents discovered by Stein and Pelliot in East Turkestan in 1907 are ancient source materials for the historical studies of Central Asia (Karmay: 1988, Chapter Two)....480 caves founded in 366 AD...."The Dzogchen text: 'Cuckoo of Pure Consciousness' was discovered among the Tun Huang manuscripts"....
UCH-TEPE...Kurgan archaelogical site between the Caspian and Black Sea dating to 3000 BC
VIKINGS..."The great Danish Viking castles Trelleborg (55N...13E)...and Aggersborg (57N...9E)...from the 10th century AD show the same circular geometric plan as the cosmic city of the Orient. " Aerial photo." (Sacral Kingship: 1959..pg 489)...
XANADU..."royal palace of the Kublai Khan" (Marco Polo in Waugh: 1984..pg 62)...
ZARANJ...(31N..62E)..."The capital of Sistan. Sistan (Sakistan) Land of the Saka. Persians of the earliest Aryan type. Zaranj was a 'London of the East'. The homes, like other towns in Central Asia were built from clay in the form of archlike vaults." (Barthold: 1984..pg 69)..."Zaranj, the capital of Sistan was a great city. Destroyed by Timur (1383 AD). Near modern Nasratabad. Strongly fortified castle (kal'ah)." (Le Strange: 1966..pg 337)...
ZAITUN...."A Manichean shrine at Hua-pi'o Hill near Zaitun in China houses the only known statue of Mani as the 'Buddha of Light'." (Acta: 1985...pg 418)...
."A glimpse into ancient Persian cosmology is the royal city of Hagmatan (Hamadan, Agbatana, Ekbatana)[50E 32N] built in 800 BC by King Deioces (Daiukku) of the Medes. Seven concentric circles within walls, each higher than the preceding wall as one passed toward the center hill where the palace stood. The 7th and highest wall was painted gold (sun)...the 6th was painted silver (moon)...the 5th wall was painted orange...the fourth was painted blue...the third was painted red...the second black...and the outermost wall was painted white. Orange was the fiery morning 'asman', blue the noonday 'asman', red for the evening asman. The array of colors chosen for the encircling walls of the royal city was similar to that of the robe of warriorhood and sovereignty described in the Denkart."
Around the base of the sacred mountain in the center are literally hundreds of cities, palaces, and temples, but among them there are four, which are especially important. To the east of the mountain is the shining white temple of Shampo Lhatse (sham-po lha rtse). To the south is the great palace of Barpo Sogyad (bar-po so-brgyad) where Tonpa Shenrab`s had lived and he was born. To the west is the palace of Trimon Gyalzhad (khri-smon rgyal-bzhad), where the chief queen of Tonpa Shenrab, Hoza Gyalzhadma (Hos-bza` rGyal-bzhad-ma) had lived and where three of his children were born, namely, Tobu (gTo-bu), Chyadbu (dPyad-bu), and Ne`u-chen. And to the north is the palace of Khong-ma Ne`u-chung where another one of his queens, Poza Thangmo (dPo-bza` thang-mo) lived and three more of his children were born, namely, Lungdren (Lung-`dren), Gyuddren (rGyud-`dren), and Ne`u-chung. Surrounding this innermost region in every direction is an intermediate region with twelve great cities, four in each of the four cardinal directions. One of these cities located in the west is Gyalag Odma (rgya-lag `od-ma) where the fabled king and disciple of Tonpa Shenrab, Kongtse Trulgyi Gyalpo (Kong-tse `phrul gyi rgyal-po) lived. He was important for the transmission of astrological and magical teachings coming from the Master. The miraculous temple erected by this king on an artificial island built by the Rakshasa demons in the western sea was also very important since it was here that certain teachings of Tonpa Shenrab were written down and deposited for safe keeping. These texts have been preserved there until this very day. This second region is completely surrounded by two more concentric rings, an outer region and a border region. As said above, these regions and their subdivisions are separated by rivers and other bodies of water. The entire land is in turn surrounded by an ocean called Mukhyud Dalwa (mu-khyud bdal-ba`i rgya-mtsho), “the wide-spreading enclosing ocean”. Again, this sea is surrounded by a mighty wall of snow-capped mountains called Walso Gangri Rawa (dbal-so gangs ri`i ra-ba), causing the imperishable sacred land to be impenetrable to any intrusion from the outside world.
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