This interior photograph of the mosque at the Kusam-ibn-Abbas memorial ensemble in the northern cluster of shrines at the Shah-i Zindah necropolis in Samarkand 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. The Shah-i Zindah (Persian for “living king”) complex is revered as a memorial and pilgrimage site for Kusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. This view shows a worshipper in front of a wooden <em>rihal</em> (Qur'an holder) in the largest structure of the ensemble, the memorial mosque, or <em>khanaka</em>, which dates from the first half of the 15th century. The rihal supports a large Qur'an donated, according to the album caption, by Emir Nasrullah of Bukhara. The walls behind the rihal are partially covered by polychrome ceramic work with a geometric motif formed by intersecting lines that create six-pointed stars. The upper part of the middle wall displays remnants of an inscription. The door to the right leads to other chambers in this mausoleum complex.
<br>Koran; Koran stands; Mosques; Photographic surveys; Sepulchral monuments; Shāh-i Zindah; Spiritual life; 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/3684/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3684/</a></li></ul>