Domed Adobe Buildings with Several People Standing Nearby, Part of Crumbling Mosque Visible in Background, on Right

1905
Shown here is a group of small adobe shrines at the mazar (mausoleum) of Ahmed Zamcha, located among the ruins of the fabled city of Merv (on the Murghab River in the Mary region of Turkmenistan). Settled in the third millennium BC, Merv reached its zenith under the Seljuks in the late 11th and 12th centuries, when it was one of the world’s largest cities and a major point on the Silk Road. Destroyed by the Mongols in 1221, Merv never regained its former importance. The figure at left in this photograph of the shrine is wearing an elaborate robe and a large Karakul hat. Visible in the far right background is a corner of the great Mausoleum of Sultan Sandjara. 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. He was particularly interested in architectural and archeological monuments in recently acquired territories of the Russian Empire such as Turkestan in Central Asia, which he visited on a number of occasions, including two trips in 1911.

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Filename: 6541.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1718 / 569.5KB; 1905 Turkmenistan Mary Domes Adobe Buildings Men Mosques Ruins Shrines Mausoleums Photo WDL 010580
Contained in galleries: TURKMENISTAN

1905<br />
Shown here is a group of small adobe shrines at the mazar (mausoleum) of Ahmed Zamcha, located among the ruins of the fabled city of Merv (on the Murghab River in the Mary region of Turkmenistan). Settled in the third millennium BC, Merv reached its zenith under the Seljuks in the late 11th and 12th centuries, when it was one of the world’s largest cities and a major point on the Silk Road. Destroyed by the Mongols in 1221, Merv never regained its former importance. The figure at left in this photograph of the shrine is wearing an elaborate robe and a large Karakul hat. Visible in the far right background is a corner of the great Mausoleum of Sultan Sandjara. 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. He was particularly interested in architectural and archeological monuments in recently acquired territories of the Russian Empire such as Turkestan in Central Asia, which he visited on a number of occasions, including two trips in 1911.