Antiquities of Samarkand. Tomb of the Saint Kusam-ibn-Abbas (Shah-i Zindah) and Adjacent Mausoleums. Mausoleum of Emir Kutuluk Turdi Bek Aka. Column Base
1865
This view of ceramic ornament at the Shadi Mulk mausoleum at the Shah-i Zindah necropolis in Samarkand 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, in 1867-82, of Turkestan, as the Russian Empire’s Central Asian territories were called. The primary compilers for the visual material were Aleksandr L. Kun, an Orientalist attached to the army, and Nikolai V. Bogaevskii, a military engineer. They devoted special attention to Samarkand’s Islamic architecture, such as 14th- and 15th-century monuments from the reign of Tamerlane and his successors (the Timurids). Built 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 Muhammad. The Mausoleum of Shadi Mulk Aka was built in 1372 for the burial of Uldjai Shadi-Mulk, the daughter of Tamerlane's elder sister, Kutlug-Turkan-Aka. In 1383 the mother was buried in the same mausoleum. The decoration of the main facade includes carved, glazed terracotta columns. This photograph shows the base and lower part of the shaft of the column located at the left corner of the mausoleum. Also visible are vertical strips of majolica tiles. The basic colors are dark blue and turquoise.
- Filename
- 3653.jpg
- Copyright
- acku Afghanistan
- Image Size
- 1800x2609 / 219.9KB
- Contained in galleries
- UZBEKISTAN