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Afrasiab murals
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Afrasiab murals
The Afrasiab murals, also called the Paintings of the Ambassadors, is a rare example of Sogdian art. It was discovered in 1965 when the local authorities decided to construct a road in the middle of Afrāsiāb mound, the old site of pre-Mongol Samarkand. It is now preserved in a special museum on the Afrāsiāb mound.
The paintings date back to the middle of the 7th century CE. They were probably painted between 648 and 651 CE, while the Western Turkic Khaganate was in decline and the Tang dynasty was increasing its territory in Central Asia. Paintings on four walls of the room of a private house at the site depict three or four lands neighbouring Central Asia: On the northern wall, China (a Chinese festival, with the Empress on a boat, and the Emperor hunting); on the Southern Wall, Samarkand (i.e.; the Iranian world: a religious funerary procession in honor of the ancestors during the Nowruz festival); on the eastern wall India (as the land of astrologers and of pygmies, though this painting is largely destroyed).
The topic of the main (or western) wall, which depicts Kökturk soldiers escorting ambassadors from various parts of the world (Korea, China, Iranian principalities etc.), is debated. Boris Marshak, a leading expert on Sogdian painting and the excavator of Panjikent, holds that since Sogdian painting always depicts gods on the top of the main wall, the central figure might be the ruler of Samarkand Varkhuman or the goddess Nana. However, as the Turks are guiding the envoys but are not themselves ambassadors, it has been suggested that the painting depicts the Khagan, with the possible candidates being Ashina Buzhen or more probably Ashina Mishe.
The four walls of the palatial room in Afrasiab seem to depict the four principal civilizations influencing in Central Asia at that time: Chinese, Indian, Iranian, and Turkic. The Chinese chronicles of the Book of the Later Han appears to describe such mural depicting the four civilizations as a common feature in the region:
The country of He, also named Qushuangnijia (Koschânyah), or Guishuangni [...] To the east of the city, there is a storied pavilion inside of which are paintings. On the north wall, the former emperors of China. To the east, the princes and king of the Turks and the Hindus. To the west, the Persians and those from Byzantium. Every morning the prince of this country goes to this pavilion to pray, and then retreat."
— New Book of Tang, Book 221B.
Inscriptions at the site mention the king of Samarkand Varkhuman. Written in Sogdian, the inscription, reads:
When King Varkhuman Unash came to him [the ambassador] opened his mouth [and said thus]: "I am Pukarzate, the dapirpat (chancellor) of Chaganian. I arrived here from Turantash, the lord of Chaganian, to Samarkand, to the king, and with respect [to] the king [now] I am [here]. And with regard to me do not have any misgivings: About the gods of Samarkand, as well as about the writing of Samarkand I am keenly aware, and I also have not done any harm to the king. Let you be quite fortunate!" And King Varkhuman Unash took leave [of him]. And [then] the dapirpat (chancellor) of Chach opened his mouth.
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Afrasiab murals
The Afrasiab murals, also called the Paintings of the Ambassadors, is a rare example of Sogdian art. It was discovered in 1965 when the local authorities decided to construct a road in the middle of Afrāsiāb mound, the old site of pre-Mongol Samarkand. It is now preserved in a special museum on the Afrāsiāb mound.
The paintings date back to the middle of the 7th century CE. They were probably painted between 648 and 651 CE, while the Western Turkic Khaganate was in decline and the Tang dynasty was increasing its territory in Central Asia. Paintings on four walls of the room of a private house at the site depict three or four lands neighbouring Central Asia: On the northern wall, China (a Chinese festival, with the Empress on a boat, and the Emperor hunting); on the Southern Wall, Samarkand (i.e.; the Iranian world: a religious funerary procession in honor of the ancestors during the Nowruz festival); on the eastern wall India (as the land of astrologers and of pygmies, though this painting is largely destroyed).
The topic of the main (or western) wall, which depicts Kökturk soldiers escorting ambassadors from various parts of the world (Korea, China, Iranian principalities etc.), is debated. Boris Marshak, a leading expert on Sogdian painting and the excavator of Panjikent, holds that since Sogdian painting always depicts gods on the top of the main wall, the central figure might be the ruler of Samarkand Varkhuman or the goddess Nana. However, as the Turks are guiding the envoys but are not themselves ambassadors, it has been suggested that the painting depicts the Khagan, with the possible candidates being Ashina Buzhen or more probably Ashina Mishe.
The four walls of the palatial room in Afrasiab seem to depict the four principal civilizations influencing in Central Asia at that time: Chinese, Indian, Iranian, and Turkic. The Chinese chronicles of the Book of the Later Han appears to describe such mural depicting the four civilizations as a common feature in the region:
The country of He, also named Qushuangnijia (Koschânyah), or Guishuangni [...] To the east of the city, there is a storied pavilion inside of which are paintings. On the north wall, the former emperors of China. To the east, the princes and king of the Turks and the Hindus. To the west, the Persians and those from Byzantium. Every morning the prince of this country goes to this pavilion to pray, and then retreat."
— New Book of Tang, Book 221B.
Inscriptions at the site mention the king of Samarkand Varkhuman. Written in Sogdian, the inscription, reads:
When King Varkhuman Unash came to him [the ambassador] opened his mouth [and said thus]: "I am Pukarzate, the dapirpat (chancellor) of Chaganian. I arrived here from Turantash, the lord of Chaganian, to Samarkand, to the king, and with respect [to] the king [now] I am [here]. And with regard to me do not have any misgivings: About the gods of Samarkand, as well as about the writing of Samarkand I am keenly aware, and I also have not done any harm to the king. Let you be quite fortunate!" And King Varkhuman Unash took leave [of him]. And [then] the dapirpat (chancellor) of Chach opened his mouth.
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