A rare portrait of Tamerlane and decoding of architectural patterns were shown in Uzbekistan

The VII International Congress “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan – the Foundation of a New Renaissance” started in Samarkand, where more than 300 orientalists from 40 countries of the world, including Europe and Russia, are participating. The event opened with a meeting of the Scientific Council and a presentation of an exhibition of books and albums. Every year, the library of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan, which presents the results of its work at the congress, is replenished with approximately ten new volumes. More than 70 books have already been published. The MK correspondent looked through the most important of them.

The conference hall of the international congress resembles a fantastic library, where you feel like a midget among the giant spines of books that adorn the walls of the room. The unique publications themselves are displayed right there – along the walls. Over the seven years of work of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan, more than 70 volumes have been published, and 50 thematic films have been shot. Initially, the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan set out to study artifacts and manuscripts that ended up in collections around the world. But over time, the project expanded deeper into the country.

“The project “Cultural heritage of Uzbekistan in the world’s collections” has transformed over time and focuses not only on the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan that is stored outside the country’s borders, but also on what is also in national museums,” professor, doctor of art history, tells MK. Head of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts of the Institute of Art Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Akbar Khakimov, who moderated the meeting that opened the international forum.

It was he who represented his compatriots and foreign colleagues at the meeting of the international society of orientalists. Responding from Russia was Irina Popova, director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who confirmed the words of our interlocutor: “Our institute has been cooperating with this project from the very beginning. We started with large collections and are now focusing on more local ones, going into a more academic and detailed approach, which I think is great.”

– The Seventh Congress may not be an anniversary, but 7 is an attractive number. The scale of the congress corresponds to the dynamic growth of the project, continues Akbar Khakimov. – This is reflected in the results of publishing activities. Among the exhibition publications, one of the main ones is the book-album “Historical Personalities in Miniature of the Middle East” by Bakhrom Abdukhalikov, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of Uzbekistan. He recently defended his dissertation on this topic and, as a result, published this book, which presents portraits of great rulers, poets and scientists. The genre of portraiture was formed here completely differently than in Western Europe. Abdukhalikov studied historical miniatures and cut out figures of important figures to tell more about each one.

In Muslim culture there is a ban on depicting a person, but this does not mean that portraiture as a genre is completely absent in the culture of Uzbekistan. Chronicles of historical events contain illustrations by artists, where people are usually depicted in a group during some event. Until now, there has not been a complete publication where one could peer into the faces of each individual ruler and thinker of Uzbekistan. This is the first. On the glossy pages of the monumental leather-bound book there are more than 80 princes and princesses and more than 20 poets and artists. The publication includes over 300 miniatures from the collections of museums such as the Freer Gallery in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Libraries of France, Britain, Egypt, the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, etc.

Among the heroes is the legendary Tamerlane, who conquered the territories of modern Afghanistan, Iran, Mesopotamia, northern India and Central Asia, founding the Timurid Empire on these lands. His image was found in the archives of Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA). The plot of the miniature from the series “Zafar-name” (a historical work by the Persian historian Sharafaddin Yazdi, describing the biography of Tamerlane) depicts the taking of the oath of the beys of the Chagatai ulus, from which the commander’s great conquests began. In the portrait, Temur Amir solemnly sits on an ottoman, surrounded by associates and nobles. He is wearing a crown (taj) and a green caftan. One leg is tucked under him, the other is lowered onto a bench near the throne, which indicates his limp. During one of the battles, he lost two fingers on his right hand and received a serious wound to his right leg, the pain from which haunted Temur for the rest of his life. The wound led to lameness – it is no coincidence that Tamerlane is called the “Great Lame”. This pose, as well as a reddish wedge-shaped beard, became mandatory attributes in the image of the ruler throughout the 15th century.

Another gem of the exhibition is a facsimile edition of the Koran with gold embossing, made by Austrian and German orientalists. Like miniatures, they are given a place of honor at the exhibition. And the exhibition opens with 30 volumes of architectural epigraphy of Uzbekistan. Before us are deciphered inscriptions on minarets, madrassas and other buildings. Here, for example, is a volume about Samarkand. Many tourists think that some of the patterns with which the minarets of Registan are richly decorated are purely for beauty. In fact, every stroke, often very geometric and conventional, is text. Most often he talks about the greatness of Allah. Take, for example, the black and gold pattern of one of the columns of the Sherdor madrasah, built in the 17th century in Samarkand on Registan Square. These seemingly abstract patterns mean: “O Living One, O Existent One!” And here is a fresco from the same architectural masterpiece, depicting a vase from which a mysterious flower grows. It is crowned with a frame with a hieroglyph. Researchers have found out that this is the signature of a master named Muhamed Avaz.

However, the exhibition is a big, but far from the only event of the cultural forum. About 120 scientific reports will be heard during the congress.