Amazon Audible Gift Memberships


Try Amazon Fresh



Sogdian Hunting Scene Relief in Varahsha (Varakhsha), 6th-7th Centuries.
National Museum of Uzbek History, Tashkent.


scenes vi-vii.

Description: Varahsha, Relief of a hunter on horseback chasing deer
Date: ca. 500 CE–ca. 700 CE
Creator: Ab Langereis
Museum: Tashkent, National Museum of Uzbek History
Licence: CC0 1.0 Universal
Source: livius.org



The town of Varakhsha, located on the northwestern periphery of the Bukhara oasis. Set within the citadel above the town, the palace contained a large, open courtyard, and was distinguished by three sizable, vaulted halls (iwans) and several other spacious, painted rooms. The remains of the East Hall bear traces of a monumental painting of a figure seated on a throne supported by winged camels, all against a deep blue ground. In the left-hand portion of this painting are the remnants of drawings of several figures kneeling at an elaborate, free-standing altar, with the first one tending its flame. Better preserved is the Red Hall, so named because of the vivid background color, on which a number of animal-and-human combat groups are arranged in a long, horizontal frieze. We see pairs of leopards; panthers; tigers; and horned, dragonlike creatures with elaborately feathered wings attacking a series of elephant riders and their mahouts.
Source



See also Sogdian murals from Panjakent, 6th-8th Centuries
Other 6th Century Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers