This photograph of the anterior triangular side of the marble Qur’an holder at the main mosque of the Bibi Khanym ensemble 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. Built in 1399-1405 with the spoils of Timur’s campaign in India, the Bibi Khanym ensemble was the location of the city’s main, or Friday, mosque, named in homage to Timur’s senior wife, Sarai Mulk Khanym. The ensemble centers on the mosque, one of the largest in the Islamic world. Inside the mosque was an enormous Qur’an holder (<em>rihal</em>) donated by Timur’s grandson Ulugh Beg and consisting of two massive triangular marble blocks resting on a marble plinth. Shown here is the triangular side of one of the blocks, with carved decoration consisting of floral patterns and bands of cursive script. (Background detail was eliminated to highlight the carving.) In 1875, a few years after this photograph was taken, the lectern was moved into the courtyard in front of the mosque.
<br>Inscriptions; Koran stands; Photographic surveys
Bogaevskii, Nikolai V., 1843-1912
between 1868 and 1872 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1868-00-00T00:00:00Z/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/3764/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3764/</a></li></ul>