page_title: Samanid Mausoleum
hierarchical_section_title: Samanid Mausoleum
caption_attribution_description: English: Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara, Uzbekistan Eesti: Samaniidide mausoleum Usbekistanis Buhhaaras Русский: Мавзолей Саманидов в Узбекмстане в Бухаре
context_page_description: The Samanid mausoleum, built in the 10th century C.E., is located in the northwestern part of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, just outside its historic center. It was built as the resting place of the powerful and influential Islamic Samanid dynasty that ruled the Samanid Empire from approximately 900 to 1000. It contained three burials, one of whom is known to have been Nasr II.
  The mausoleum is considered one of the iconic examples of the early Islamic architecture and is known as the oldest funerary building of Central Asian architecture. The Samanids established their de facto independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad and ruled over parts of modern Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. It is the only surviving monument from the Samanid era, but Arthur Upham Pope called it the "one of the finest in Persia".
context_section_description: The Samanid mausoleum, built in the 10th century C.E., is located in the northwestern part of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, just outside its historic center. It was built as the resting place of the powerful and influential Islamic Samanid dynasty that ruled the Samanid Empire from approximately 900 to 1000. It contained three burials, one of whom is known to have been Nasr II.
  The mausoleum is considered one of the iconic examples of the early Islamic architecture and is known as the oldest funerary building of Central Asian architecture. The Samanids established their de facto independence from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad and ruled over parts of modern Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. It is the only surviving monument from the Samanid era, but Arthur Upham Pope called it the "one of the finest in Persia".
  Perfectly symmetrical, compact in its size, yet monumental in its structure, the mausoleum not only combined multi-cultural building and decorative traditions, such as Sogdian, Sassanian, Persian and even classical and Byzantine architecture, but incorporated features customary for Islamic architecture – a circular dome and mini domes, pointed arches, elaborate portals, columns and intricate geometric designs in the brickwork. At each corner, the mausoleum's builders employed squinches, an architectural solution to the problem of supporting the circular-plan dome on a square. The building was buried in silt some centuries after its construction and was revealed during the 20th century by archaeological excavation conducted under the USSR.
caption: Samanid Mausoleum, Bukhara, general view
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