Historical monuments of Samarkand

History of the archeological site of Afrosiab

To the south, beyond the Siab River, are the gloomy yellow-grey hillocks of Afrosiab, full of mysteries. Afrosiab is the name of the mythological king of Turan, who is a heroic character in the poem "Shakh-name" by the great poet Firdousiy. Today, Afrosiab consists of a great number of lifeless hillocks adjoining Samarkand to the north. However long time ago Afrosiab was the place where the life of the ancient Samarkand people was in full swing.

Archeological excavations of Afrosiab began at the end of the 19^th century, after Central Asia had been annexed to Russia. The first excavations were conducted by Major Borzenkov in 1874 and Lieutenant Colonel Krestovskiy in 1883.
Subsequent excavations, conducted under the guidance of the competent historians and archeologists N. I. Veselovskiy, V. V. Bartold, V. L. Vyatkin, M. E. Masson, A. I. Terenozhkina, and the latest excavations by Professor V. A. Shishkin and Academician Y. Gulyamov, have proved what was claimed in old historical works; that long before the Christian Era, Samarkand had been one of the biggest trade and cultural centers of Central Asia.
It has now been proven that the first Afrosiab settlement, in the form of a town, existed more than 2000 years ago. The town was encircled by strong defensive walls, and had a citadel, a mosque, houses and workshops for artisans. The area was crossed by many straight streets and divided into blocks, or "guzars". A ramified system of channels and reservoirs supplied the population with water.
A barrow opened in 1965 in the center of Afrosiab turned out to be amazingly rich in archeological finds. The finds were beyond scientists' expectations. The excavated buildings made of adobe, murals in many colours and inscriptions in Sogdian.
The buildings found were dated the 6^th-7^th centuries AD. The walls of the buildings were decorated with paintings made with glue paint on a clay surface. The unique finds prove the high level of original art developed in ancient Samarkand. The Samarkand artists of the first centuries possessed consummate skills, and the viewer is delighted with the combination of colours which have remained bright and rich, with delicate, thoroughly realized details, and expressively depicted faces and figures. The newly found works of art by the ancient Samarkand masters have taken their honourable place in the history of art of Oriental peoples.
Afrosiab Museum
Afrosiab Museum is a museum in Samarkand dedicated to the history of the city. The museum is located in the northern part of Samarkand, round central bazaar, near the hills of the ancient settlement of Afrosiab.
Afrosiab, once located in the heart of ancient Samarkand, was destroyed by the Mongols in the early 13th century. The museum's exhibits illustrate the history of Samarkand’s development from the time of Alexander the Great conquest.
The findings discovered during archaeological excavations at Afrosiab, each of which belongs to a different period of the settlement history are one of the most valuable artifacts of the museum. These include ossuaries, fragments of ancient swords, knives, arrows, coins, pottery and frescoes of Samarkand palace belonging to the Ikhshidid dynasty (7-8th centuries).
Archeological excavations and the study of the ancient city began in the late 19th century and are underway to the present day. The most valuable exhibits of Afrosiab museum also include unique pieces of wall paintings dating back to the 7-8th centuries, depicting hunting scenes and holiday celebrations. The museum building designed by the Armenian architect Bagdasar Arzumanyan in 1970 is more than 40 years old.