In Uzbekistan, the historic city of Samarkand, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has stood as a crossroads of cultures since time immemorial.

Today, to the northeast of the Siob bazaar, sprawling across a vast plateau, a 219-hectare archaeological site and museum together preserve the remains that bear witness to the founding of this legendary city, originally named Afrasiab.

By visiting the Afrasiab Museum, you will discover the story of one of the greatest stops along the Silk Road—a city positioned at the convergence of routes from China, India, Persia, and the Byzantine Empire, and one of the most important centers of international commerce.

A glimpse into history

Founded in the 7th century BCE, Afrasiab was the principal city of Sogdiana, an ancient and important region of Central Asia whose territory extended between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. Its refined civilization reached its zenith between the 5th and 8th centuries CE.

Afrasiab was conquered numerous times—notably by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE, who renamed it Marakanda, and by the Arabs in the early 8th century—before being nearly completely destroyed by Genghis Khan in the 13th century during the Mongol invasion.

Since 1873, ongoing archaeological excavations have continuously confirmed that this city, the birthplace of modern Samarkand, was a great cultural, commercial, artistic, and religious crossroads on the Silk Road. Citadels, palaces, places of worship, and other structures have been unearthed over successive missions, along with countless artifacts.

However, the Afrasiab Museum owes its creation to a discovery made in 1965 during the excavation work for the new Tashkent highway. Its construction was decided upon to house an extraordinary collection of murals unearthed by a bulldozer (which, sadly, also destroyed much of it).

Since then, these masterpieces, named the "Ambassadors' Frescoes," have adorned the walls of the museum's main gallery, which opened in 1970, and have recently undergone an extensive restoration program.

Visiting the Afrasiab Museum

Located on the edge of the Afrasiab archaeological site excavations, the all-marble museum houses a collection of over 20,000 pieces spread across two floors.

The photographs and relief maps presented in the first room provide information about the history of excavations that began in the 19th century.

The exhibitions in the following rooms trace the evolution of the city through the ages. You discover coins, swords, and knives inherited from Alexander the Great and the Macedonian invasion, as well as Greco-Bactrian ceramics. Zoroastrianism (the dominant religion in Sogdiana, now extinct) is particularly illustrated through altars devoted to fire worship, sculptured ossuaries, and various objects bearing solar symbolism.

Jewelry, bone chess sets, and other precious items reflect the great prosperity of Afrasiab/Samarkand during its pre-Islamic period, properly called the "Sogdian" era, spanning from the 5th to the early 8th centuries. The famous "Ambassadors' Frescoes" constitute the most fascinating testimony to its golden age.

These paintings are presented in a specially designed room identical in proportions and layout to the original chamber for which they were created. Research revealed that this was the reception hall of the family residence of the Sogdian king Varkhuman, who reigned around 650–660 CE.

Each panel of this epic painting occupies an entire wall. The scenes depicted celebrate various triumphs of the sovereign and reveal the splendor of this era.

The west wall, facing the entrance, depicts "the reception of multiple embassies by King Varkhuman of the Unash clan," as confirmed by a 16-line inscription in Sogdian on the white robe of one of the figures. The costumes and hairstyles, painted with precision, disclose the origin of these embassies. The figures wearing black caps and holding clusters of fruit and silk scrolls are Chinese; those dressed in hoods and thick socks represent mountain principalities. Koreans from the Koguryo kingdom wear double-plumed hats, and the Turks display braided hair. Sogdian dignitaries are clothed in patterned silk robes and carry swords and daggers suspended horizontally from their belts.

The two tableaux, separated by a band, adorning the north wall (to the right upon entering the room) evoke Tang-era China, the privileged ally of King Varkhuman and a land of great importance for Sogdian merchants established at every stage of the Silk Road.

In one, you can see the Chinese empress taking a pleasure boat ride with ladies of the court; in the other, the emperor hunting leopards. They are identifiable by their great height, for in Sogdian art, disproportionate scale signified gods and kings.

The painting on the south wall, to the left, has undergone many interpretations. It was once thought to depict a wedding, then another foreign embassy procession, before scholars finally determined it describes the summer solstice procession of the Zoroastrian New Year, led by King Varkhuman to the tomb of his ancestors. Indeed, all the illustrated details align with ancient Chinese chronicles reporting that each year, at New Year, Sogdian sovereigns conducted a procession to their parents' mausoleum, culminating in a ritual animal sacrifice. In this work, a grey saddled but unmounted horse and four geese are reserved for this somber fate.

Of all the remains yielded by the Afrasiab archaeological site, the "Ambassadors' Frescoes" are arguably the most precious testimony to the cosmopolitan and refined character of the city. Moreover, they illuminate three defining aspects of Varkhuman's reign: diplomatic influence, alliance with China, and Zoroastrian worship.

Hours and admission

The Afrasiab Museum is open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM.

The museum is located a 15-minute walk north of the bazaar. You can also take a taxi or a marshrutka (shared minibus).