Samarkand

Low angle view of the Gur-Emir Mausoleum, 1417-20, framed by the monumental entrance arch, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, pictured on July 14, 2010, floodlit at night. Gur-Emir Mausoleum, or Tomb of the Ruler, was built by Timur in 1404 for his favourite grandson, Mohammed Sultan, and became the mausoleum for the Timurid dynasty. The simply formed building is an octagonal drum beneath an azure fluted dome (diameter: 15m, height: 12.5m). Its walls are tiled in blue and white geometric and epigraphic patterns including the words God is Immortal in 3m. high white Kufic script around the top of the drum. Samarkand, a city on the Silk Road, founded as Afrosiab in the 7th century BC, is a meeting point for the world's cultures. Its most important development was in the Timurid period, 14th to 15th centuries. Picture by Manuel Cohen

Picture No

13425302

Media ID

45091415

Size

3592px x 5616px (5.0MB)

Credit

Manuel Cohen / Mary Evans

Source

Photograph by Manuel Cohen