شواهد قبور سمرقند المنقوشة على حصى البازلت خلال القرن الثالث حتى السابع الهجري/ التاسع حتى الثالث عشر الميلادي

Abstract

In Samarkand’s cemeteries, a distinctive type of gravestones spread, made of large-size river stones. It is a stone formed by nature, which gives it its irregular shapes. This type of gravestone was common in Samarkand in the period from third century AH/ninth century until the beginning of the seventh century AH/thirteenth century CE, and most of it was concentrated in the sixth century AH/twelfth century CE. Inscriptions of these gravestones represent the link between early gravestones in Central Asia and the gravestones from the Timurid period, in which we observe development of the gravestones in terms of the general form, raw material used in its manufacture, shapes of the lines inscribed, and their contents. This research is concerned with study of these tombstones by identifying the type of stone used in the manufacture of gravestones, how to implement the inscriptions, read the inscriptions, analyzed it to access its contents, types of lines engraved on them, and other information about the population of the city.