Afrasiyab (Samarkand)
Encyclopedia
Afrasiyab is an ancient site of northern Samarkand
, Uzbekistan
which was occupied from c 500 BC to 1220 AD. Today it is a hilly grass mound located near the Bibi Khanaum Mosque.
Afrasiyab is the oldest part and the ruined site of the ancient and medieval city of Samarkand. It was located on on high ground for defensive reasons, south of a river valley and north of a large fertile area which has now became part of the city of Samarkand.
The habitation of the territories of Afrasiyab began in the 7th-6th century BCE, as the centre of the Sogdian
culture.
The term Qal’a-ye Afrasiab (Castle of Afrasiab) appeared in written sources only towards the end of the 17th century. The name is popularly connected with the mythical King Afrasiab
, but scholars consider it a distortion and a corrupted form of the Tajik word Parsīāb (from Sogdian
Paršvāb), meaning "beyond the black river", the river being Sīāhāb or Sīāb, which bounds the site to the north.. It is interesting to point out that Afrā is the poetic form of the Persian word Farā (itself a poetic word), which means 'beyond, further', and that sīāh means 'black' and Āb, 'water; river; sea' (depending on the context).
The area of Afrasiyab covers about 220 hectares, and the thickness of the archaeological strata reaches 8–12 metres. Archaeological excavations have been carried out in Afrasiyab since the end of the 19th century. In the 1920s it was extensively excavated by the archaeologist Mikhail Evgenievich Masson
who placed artifacts found at the site in the Samarkand museum. His archaeological study revealed that a Samanid
palace had once been located at Afrasiyab. It was again actively excavated during the 1960-70s.
See also Afrasiab painting
for wall paintings discovered in the archeological site.
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
which was occupied from c 500 BC to 1220 AD. Today it is a hilly grass mound located near the Bibi Khanaum Mosque.
Afrasiyab is the oldest part and the ruined site of the ancient and medieval city of Samarkand. It was located on on high ground for defensive reasons, south of a river valley and north of a large fertile area which has now became part of the city of Samarkand.
The habitation of the territories of Afrasiyab began in the 7th-6th century BCE, as the centre of the Sogdian
Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
culture.
The term Qal’a-ye Afrasiab (Castle of Afrasiab) appeared in written sources only towards the end of the 17th century. The name is popularly connected with the mythical King Afrasiab
Afrasiab
Afrasiab is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan.-The Mythical King and Hero:According to the Shahnameh , by the Persian epic poet Ferdowsi, Afrasiab was the king and hero of Turan and an archenemy of Iran...
, but scholars consider it a distortion and a corrupted form of the Tajik word Parsīāb (from Sogdian
Sogdian language
The Sogdian language is a Middle Iranian language that was spoken in Sogdiana , located in modern day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan ....
Paršvāb), meaning "beyond the black river", the river being Sīāhāb or Sīāb, which bounds the site to the north.. It is interesting to point out that Afrā is the poetic form of the Persian word Farā (itself a poetic word), which means 'beyond, further', and that sīāh means 'black' and Āb, 'water; river; sea' (depending on the context).
The area of Afrasiyab covers about 220 hectares, and the thickness of the archaeological strata reaches 8–12 metres. Archaeological excavations have been carried out in Afrasiyab since the end of the 19th century. In the 1920s it was extensively excavated by the archaeologist Mikhail Evgenievich Masson
Mikhail Evgenievich Masson
Mikhail Evgenievich Masson was an important Uzbekistani archaeologist from Samarkand. He was the founder of the archaeology school in Central Asia and a professor, doctor of historical and archaeological sciences and member of the Turkmen Academy of Sciences.In 1916 he started studies at the...
who placed artifacts found at the site in the Samarkand museum. His archaeological study revealed that a Samanid
Samanid
The Samani dynasty , also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids was a Persian state and empire in Central Asia and Greater Iran, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Sunni Islam despite being from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility...
palace had once been located at Afrasiyab. It was again actively excavated during the 1960-70s.
See also Afrasiab painting
Afrasiab painting
The Afrasiab painting is a rare example of Sogdian art. It was discovered in 1965 when the local authorities decided the construction of 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...
for wall paintings discovered in the archeological site.