This photograph of the facade of the Shirin Bika Aka Mausoleum at the Shah-i Zindah necropolis in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) is from the archeological part of <em>Turkestan Album</em>. The six-volume photographic survey was produced in 1871-72, under the patronage of General Konstantin P. von Kaufman, the first governor-general (1867-82) of Turkestan, as the Russian Empire's Central Asian territories were called. The album devotes special attention to Samarkand’s Islamic architecture, such as 14th- and 15th-century monuments from the reign of Timur (Tamerlane) and his successors. Of particular note is the Shah-i Zindah (Persian for “living king”) ensemble, revered as a memorial to Kusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. The Shirin Bika Aka Mausoleum was built in 1385-86 for Timur’s younger sister and shows Persian influence. Despite significant damage, the facade has preserved profuse ceramic ornamentation, including early examples of composite mosaics in colors ranging from orange and red to deep blue. This fragment is located to the left of the facade arch, or <em>peshtak</em>, and displays two inscriptional bands in cursive Thuluth letters intertwined with floral motifs. Between the inscriptions is a vertical band with floral motifs arranged in geometric patterns. To the right is an attached ceramic column that defines the left corner of the arch.
<br>Archaeological sites; Architectural decorations and ornaments; Islamic architecture; Photographic surveys; Sepulchral monuments; Shāh-i Zindah; Tombs
Bogaevskii, Nikolai V., 1843-1912
between 1865 and 1872 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1865-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1872-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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<ul><li>Gallery: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3697/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3697/</a></li></ul>