Amul is one of the main urban centres of Khorasan on the Silk Roads located within a relatively narrow strip of agricultural land along the left bank of Amu Darya. It was the administrative and cultural center of middle Amu Darya region. Situated at a convenient crossing place of the Amu Darya river, suitable for passage on boats or on ice, it controlled the vital river crossing. This was strategically the most effective route: to the east to Bukhara and Poykent, along the Zarafshan river; and to the east, the shortest crossing of the Karakum Desert to the Murghab delta and Merv. The survey excavations there document its continuous occupation since first centuries CE till 19th century.