Rear of Shah-i Zindah Mosque. Samarkand

1905
The Shah-i Zindah Necropolis is located at the outskirts of Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan). Placed on an ancient burial ground, Shah-i Zindah (Persian for “living king”) is revered as a memorial to Kusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammad. Shown here is the back facade of the domed Khodzha Akhmad Mausoleum built in the mid 14th century for a local spiritual leader. Located at the end of the necropolis in the northern cluster of shrines, this damaged monument contains bright ceramic work with floral, geometric, and inscriptional patterns. The walls of the structure display geometric tile figures within which are patterns of block Kufic script forming words from the Kalima, the basis of the Shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith. On the right is the polygonal cylinder above the early 15th-century Khanaka of Tuman Aka. The image is by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944), who used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan, where he photographed monuments of Islamic architecture.

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Filename: 5775.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1671 / 500.3KB; 1905 Uzbekistan Samarqand Samarkand Shah-i-Zindah Mosques Architectural Decorations Domes Necropolis Khodzha Akhmad Mausoleums Islamic Architecture Photo WDL 010434
Contained in galleries: UZBEKISTAN

1905<br />
The Shah-i Zindah Necropolis is located at the outskirts of Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan). Placed on an ancient burial ground, Shah-i Zindah (Persian for “living king”) is revered as a memorial to Kusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammad. Shown here is the back facade of the domed Khodzha Akhmad Mausoleum built in the mid 14th century for a local spiritual leader. Located at the end of the necropolis in the northern cluster of shrines, this damaged monument contains bright ceramic work with floral, geometric, and inscriptional patterns. The walls of the structure display geometric tile figures within which are patterns of block Kufic script forming words from the Kalima, the basis of the Shahada, or Islamic declaration of faith. On the right is the polygonal cylinder above the early 15th-century Khanaka of Tuman Aka. The image is by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944), who used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan, where he photographed monuments of Islamic architecture.