Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tion with their characteristic hair fringe. In Fig. 7 bride “Sogdu” is on a
white elephant but cannot be seen clearly because of extensive damage.
In Fig. 8, Sogdian ambassadors riding camels carrying scepters of am-
bassadorship are seen. The sacred swans seen in the background are an
indication of a royal wedding. The name of Alp-er Tungas' daughter was
“korday” which means swan in Turkish. Korday symbolizes long life and
divinity. When Turkish qaghans ascended to the throne, they were given
gifts such as birds (Esin, 1973; Pugackenkova, 1968). These mural paint-
ings are now exhibited in the Afrasiab Museum of History. On the other
hand, all the colors that are used in these paintings and particularly the “la-
pis” blue (Fig. 8) with mesmerizing stamina have an impressive effect on
viewers. This type of blue is produced only by Samarkand's' lapis powder.
Lapis powder naturally contains a small amount of gold dust, which gives
its distinctive vividness. Being so expensive it was only used by the very
rich. Many frescoes by Michelangelo in Florence and Rome is known to
contain Samarkand's' lapis powder.
More mural paintings relating to the 6th-7th centuries were found 60
km east of Samarkand in Panjikent (Fig. 9). These paintings probably be-
long to a Turkish Qaghan of Penc from the tribe of Khalaj. This could be
understood by the writing of the
Khalaj Army
in Turkish that is engraved
on the coins of the same region (Esin, 1973). According to Russian archae-
ologist Belenitsky, the Panjikent palace was a building with domes and
vaults. He had excavated many wooden artifices, clay sculptures, and ce-
ramic household items. In the east of Panjikent at Mug Castle an archive of
written texts was found. Most of these texts are in the Sogdian language.
More than 50 pieces of mural paintings were found in Panjikent. Although
extraordinarily varied in subjects, these paintings are all produced in very
rich colors and contain the Samarkand's' unique lapis blue. Legends,
daily life, religious ceremonies, hunting scenes, feasts and competitions
are among the subjects of these paintings which evidently summarize the
wide cultural and spiritual diversity of the region since the foundation of
Samarkand (Marshak, 2002). This cultural diversity had its most valuable
times during the 5th-8th centuries in the Turkic Yagbu period before Islam
(Cezar, 1977). Today some of the Panjikent mural paintings are exhibited
in the Uzbek History and Culture Museum at Registan, and a number of
them are in Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search