Silk Road - 31 May 2009 - Tomb of Tamerlane & Dinner

After lunch we headed to the burial place of Tamerlane. In the local language, Timur means iron. This was an Islamic center built by the Grandson of Tamerlane. It has what are called Mellon Domes which have 63 lines. They were popular in Iran and Tamerlane brought the craftsman back to Samarkand to create them here. The base of the building is 36 meters and the dome is another 36 meters. It is made and plaster and decorated with paper mache painted with gold. Tamerlane had assembled an army of 400,000 men to invade China, but on the way, Tamerlane developed pneumonia and died. He was supposed to be buried in another city, but because of the heavy snows that city could not be reached; consequently he was buried in the tomb prepared for his grandson Uleg Bey, who was a scientist and astronomer. In June 1941, the bodies were excavated. A Russian scientist took the skull to Moscow where is spent two years doing a facial reconstruction, which proved that Tamerlane was Turkic and not a Mongol and consequently could not have been the grandson of Genghis Khan. The statue in Samarkand is based upon the facial reconstruction. He was a middle sized person and he was lame. Uleg Bey had been murdered by having his throat cut from behind.

We then went to the house of a Russian woman who is a noted fashion designer. Most of her designs were too avant garde for me. I did see a jacket that I would have loved to have bought for Marla, but (a) it looked to small and (b) at $150, it was a bit pricey. If I felt confident that It would have fit her, I probably would have bought it.

Sanam, our guide, Kathy, Leslie Anne and I returned to the Tomb of Tamerlane for a little more viewing of the site. We walked back to the hotel passing through a craft area, where I would up buying a silk scarf for $6. She asked $10, I offered $5 and Leslie Ann got involved and bought two.

Tomb of Tamerlane
Plaster Work
Exterior Wall being Constructed
Statue of Tamerlane
Me in front of Statue of Tamerlane

After resting at the hotel for a short time, we went out to dinner at the home of a family. The food was good, but we saw the family only upon entry and exit. Their home, what we saw of it, was very nice.

Diner Family Host
Dinner