Shah-i-Zinda - Samarkand - 2013
This complex includes many beautiful mausoleums and other buildings.
It was the most impressive sight that I saw on this whole trip.
Beautifully tiled buildings kept appearing as we walked up a long winding avenue.
The name Shah-i-Zinda (meaning "The living king") is connected with the legend that Kusam ibn Abbas,
the cousin of the prophet Muhammad was buried there.
The legend, which became popular in the Timurid period, says that he came to Samarkand with the Arab invasion
in the 7th century to preach Islam, and that he was beheaded for his faith.
However he carried his head in his hands, and led by the prophet Khizr, he descended into a well,
where he resides eternally in an underground palace (Garden of Paradise) as a "Living King".
(Shah - i - zinda means "The Living King".)
Stunning tile-work.
Many people wanted to buried in mausoleums near "the living king".
Next ... Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum at Samarkand ...
This complex includes many beautiful mausoleums and other buildings.
It was the most impressive sight that I saw on this whole trip.
Beautifully tiled buildings kept appearing as we walked up a long winding avenue.
The name Shah-i-Zinda (meaning "The living king") is connected with the legend that Kusam ibn Abbas,
the cousin of the prophet Muhammad was buried there.
The legend, which became popular in the Timurid period, says that he came to Samarkand with the Arab invasion
in the 7th century to preach Islam, and that he was beheaded for his faith.
However he carried his head in his hands, and led by the prophet Khizr, he descended into a well,
where he resides eternally in an underground palace (Garden of Paradise) as a "Living King".
(Shah - i - zinda means "The Living King".)
Stunning tile-work.
Many people wanted to buried in mausoleums near "the living king".
Next ... Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum at Samarkand ...
