Registan Ensemble

The southern wall

The southern wall on the left from the entrance is difficult to interpret as the colors are faded away.

At first it was interpreted as a festive entry of foreign ambassadors to Samarkand, but professor B.I. Marshak (State Hermitage, Saint Petersburg) gave a reliable explanation.

The most important thing of the festivity can be seen in the movements of the figures from the central part and going away to the East. The last point of the walking (on the left) is not a city, but an isolated building, where several people are depicted. As it is known from the Chinese chronicles, every year Zoroastrians visited the graves of Sogdian governors and their parents at Navruz celebrations. These graves were situated in the south eastern side of the capital and considered to be the road to the Heavens. In the end of the pilgrimage the animals were killed and sacrificed; and at the center of the composition we can observe these scenes. Two people, illustrated on the wall in festive clothes, armed and with covered mouth strike our eyes being the aristocrats. They were delivering their animals to sacrifice. One of these animals is a grey horse saddled, but without a rider, the other one is carrying four geese. Sogdian inscriptions can be seen on their wings. According to different documents saddled horses were used during sacrifices. They seem to have been sacrifices to the Sun-god and Mitra, the judge of the dead. As to the geese they have been brought to Zurvan, which can be compared to the god of eternity Brakhma. Zurvan had four forms and its symbol was the wild geese. In front of the offerings two riders on the camels are going with the sticks in their hands. At the end of the procession we can see a huge man on the yellow horse – Varkhuman in a red dress, his talisman on the neck and leopard skin on the shoulders. The place where the king was described corresponds with the place on the northern wall, where Chinese emperor stood. Near the relatives of the king we can see white elephant with the palanquin on it. There is an aristocrat woman in the palanquin, who seems to be the king Varkhuman’s wife. Behind her there are three saddled horses with young women on, and on the wrist of one of the women there is an inscription denoting “an official lady”. Above them there is the line of official riders, whose horse legs can only be seen. They seem to be Turk guards.