Saturday, May 3, 2008

Samarkand, Uzbekistan-pictures




Pictures from Samarkand--the Registran, which consists of 3 massive madrassas, the inner courtyard of the Ulegbek Madrassa at the Registran (the building on the left in the picture), and in front of a statue of Ulegbek, near his observatory.


Ulegbek was the grandson of Tamurlane, and was more interested in the arts and sciences than he was in ruling. He was eventually assassinated (beheaded). His Sher Dor Madrassa in Samarkand is famous for depicting a human face--which is very unusual for Islamic art.

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