Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-15
.TOMBS OF HOLY MEN
Samarkand Contains Supposed
Graves of Two Saints.
ONE IS MAH0MET'S COUSIN
Shah Zindah, Great Warrior, Ruled
Over Central Asia.
PROPHET DANIEL IS OTHER
Hebrew Prime Minister Of Arta-
xerxes Probably Rests in susa,
However.
PROPHET DANIEL IS OTHER
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondents Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.


Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
SAMARKAND, Asia, July II, 1910.
The graves Of two holy men" are, or
they arc believed to be. in Samarkand.
and are .orshiped as such.
In the more pretentious Of the tombs
is supposed to rest the mortal remains OF
Shah Zindah, a cousin Of Mahomet. the
prophet, and one OF the most revered
saints In the Moslem calendar. The other
is claimed to be the tomb OF Daniel. the
Hebrew prophet of the scriptures, inter
prefer OF dreams Of kings and prime
minister OF an empire.
There Is evidently q misrepresentation
about Daniel, because he lived In exile
and died at Susa, Persia. There the
romantic incidents In the career OF
Esther, the Hebrew queen OF Artaxer-
xes also occurred.
Esther and Mordacai. her uncle. who
was also prime minister. are buried at
in perfect order by Hebrew custodians.
and are the object Of pilgrimages from all
the Hebrew communities In the east.
Susa was one Of the richest cities In the
Persian empire. Descriptions OF It's
palaces and the sumptuous habits OF its
people may be found in the books of
Esther and Daniel In the Old Tesla
ment.
It was captured and looted by Alexander
the Great, and has been thoroughly ex-
plored by Psychologists within the Iast
half century. The frieze of the throne
room and several other architectural Tea
lures Of the palace Of Artaxerxes may
be seen in the Louvre museum at Paris.
Daniels Tomb at Susa.
Daniels tomb Is in the walls OF the
citadel at Susa. He was buried with the
king, proving the honor In which he
was held and the eminence which he at
tanned.
His tomb Is well preserved. Is shaded
by groves of palms and reverently guard
ed by a group OF rabbis. 1t IL venerateo
by Moslems as well as by Hebrews.
Hundreds OF thousands of pilgrims. whose
contributions pay for its maintenance.
visit It, There are khans erected ex-
pressly to accommodate them.
The theory OF the Samarkand Mosierns
and Hebrews Is that Tamerlane, after he
Of Daniel to Samarkand and left the tomb
at Susa empty. Archeologists believe
that q msapprehension has been caused
by a similarity in the name OF a great
Usbeg statesman. Daniel Bi. a KHAN OF
Samarkand for more than thirty years
in the earlier part Of the seventeenth
century and buried in the tomb wor-
SHIPPED for that OF Daniel the prophet.
II is not nearly so fine or imposing as
the tomb of original Daniel at Susa. al.
though it is well kept ~ cis Is s, and is
reached by a rough and much Travelled
road. always deep in mud or deep IN
dust according to the season. which
leads through a desolate and neglected.
cemetery and nfe s1y, sano cut h ths, way we
met several parties OF pilgrims who mao
cnu,s eli the way from Persia to venerate
the Hebrew prophet. They oeneve tnA'
the remains were transferred from Susa
here by Tameriane In the latter part VI
the fourteenth century.
Mud Brick Mausoleum.
rba mauso!eum is an unpretentious
h,,,,a,r1 Of mud brick, coated with plaster
a "A roosed with tiles There is a mosque
h.s,da !, and a large cave in the rock in
which pilgrims are accustomed 10 nho &C
when they have no means
to pay hotel bills.
rom the entrance to the tomb you
look down upon a romantic it a sors rs
throueh which the river Stop nows ano
s,,.us .ha wheel of a flour mill. almost at
panisrs feet. The surroundings are AZ.
trant,vs the trees are thick and In good
condition and everything LOOKS p'ospeiouS
A The sarcophagus Of Daniel Is about sixty
feet long. six feet wide ana nve rec. n,sn,
a IA the attendant told us that the propnet
a ALA I" every inch OF It. They were big
men in those days. he said. and the nu,
nan stature had been growing less ana
ma man annually for hundreds Of years.
Tamerlane was also large man. twen wen
$40 or thirty feet tall. While ne could
i've ms the exact dimensions OF Dan
lei the Prophet he erS Mas so CABIN ss 'nA' nc
Toah' who is buried near Damascus &C
cording to tradition. was sixty-nve iee t
hirh Other OF the patriarchs were OF
7 have never been able to get from any
Of these people an explanation OF !r ths
hmnan race. / suppose they have some
good reason for 1t.
Pebbles at Daniels Tomb.
The tombs of Noah and other pa
triarchs and prophets that I have seen,
and the tombs OF Esther and Mordecai.