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Antiquities of Samarkand. Tomb of the Saint Kusam-ibn-Abbas (Shah-i Zindah) and Adjacent Mausoleums. Mausoleum of Sha Arap

1865
This photograph of the facade of an unidentified mausoleum in the northern cluster of shrines at the Shah-i Zindah necropolis (Samarkand, Uzbekistan) is from the archeological part of Turkestan Album. The six-volume photographic survey was produced in 1871-72, under the patronage of General Konstantin P. von Kaufman, the first governor-general (1867-82) of Turkestan, as the Russian Empire's Central Asian territories were called. The album devotes special attention to Samarkand’s Islamic architecture, such as 14th- and 15th-century monuments from the reign of Timur (Tamerlane) and his successors. Of particular note is Shah-i Zindah (Persian for “living king”), built on the elevated site of an ancient settlement known as Afrosiab and revered as a memorial to Kusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. Although the patron of this mausoleum has not been conclusively identified, its date of construction is known to be 1360-61. The mausoleum facade is distinguished by its vibrant polychrome ceramic ornamentation. The facade arch, or peshtak, is flanked by glazed terracotta columns carved in elaborate geometric patterns. This fragment on the left side of the arch shows the lower shaft of the column with hexagonal “cells” containing a symmetrical foliate pattern of six components and a six-pointed star in the center. To the left is a decorative inscription band.

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Filename
3670.jpg
Copyright
acku Afghanistan
Image Size
1800x2416 / 210.3KB
Contained in galleries
UZBEKISTAN
1865<br /> This photograph of the facade of an unidentified mausoleum in the northern cluster of shrines at the Shah-i Zindah necropolis (Samarkand, Uzbekistan) is from the archeological part of Turkestan Album. The six-volume photographic survey was produced in 1871-72, under the patronage of General Konstantin P. von Kaufman, the first governor-general (1867-82) of Turkestan, as the Russian Empire's Central Asian territories were called. The album devotes special attention to Samarkand’s Islamic architecture, such as 14th- and 15th-century monuments from the reign of Timur (Tamerlane) and his successors. Of particular note is Shah-i Zindah (Persian for “living king”), built on the elevated site of an ancient settlement known as Afrosiab and revered as a memorial to Kusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. Although the patron of this mausoleum has not been conclusively identified, its date of construction is known to be 1360-61. The mausoleum facade is distinguished by its vibrant polychrome ceramic ornamentation. The facade arch, or peshtak, is flanked by glazed terracotta columns carved in elaborate geometric patterns. This fragment on the left side of the arch shows the lower shaft of the column with hexagonal “cells” containing a symmetrical foliate pattern of six components and a six-pointed star in the center. To the left is a decorative inscription band.