This photograph of the Khodzha Akhrar shrine 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 architectural heritage. Dedicated to the memory of the renowned 15th-century mystic Khodzha Akhrar (1403-89), the shrine contained several structures, including a winter and a summer mosque, as well as a <em>minaret</em> and cemetery. Seen here is the <em>mihrab</em> niche (showing the direction to Mecca) in the summer mosque, so called because its pavilion has one side open to the courtyard. The mihrab is set within a lavish display of polychrome ceramic work including faience mosaics. The primary color is dark blue, with details in yellow, orange, and white. This sacred space is defined by a network of ceramic inscription bands in an elongated cursive Perso-Arabic script (Thuluth). The pointed arch is framed by an outer inscription that extends to the top of the wall. The pointed arch leads to a faience panel with floral motifs, above which is an inscription square that, in turn, contains a smaller square with a sacred text in Arabic. The panels are bordered with patterned strips.
<br>Architectural decorations and ornaments; Islamic architecture; Mosques; Niches; 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/3742/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3742/</a></li></ul>