Gur-Emir mausoleum
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The Gur-Emir mausoleum ( Persian گور امیر, DMG Gūr-i Amīr , 'Tomb of the Prince (Ruler)'; Uzbek Goʻri Amir ) in the Uzbek city of Samarqand is the tomb of Timur Lenk , some members of his family and other personalities from the ruler's environment, including Ulug Beg , Schah-Ruch and Mir Said Berke . It was built in 1403/04 and is considered the most outstanding example of the special construction of a double-shell dome developed under the Timurids . The melon-shaped ribbed dome of the mausoleum over a high drum forms the dominant center of the complex.
Building history
The mausoleum ( qubba ) was commissioned during the reign of Timur and was originally intended for his favorite grandson, Muhammed Sultan , who fell in the Battle of Angora (1402) . Timur had planned his own resting place in his home town of Schahr-i Sabs (formerly Kesch ). As early as 1401 a Koran school ( madrasa ) and a building for a Sufi brotherhood ( chanakah ) were completed, which later flanked the mausoleum to the right and left of its front. The mausoleum was completed before Timur's death (February 14, 1405), i.e. at the end of 1404 or the beginning of 1405. In the report of the Spanish ambassador Ruy González de Clavijo , who was in Samarqand at the time, it is mentioned that Timur was the original building was too low and therefore - allegedly within ten days - was completely rebuilt. On October 30, 1404, a celebration took place in the madrasa on the occasion of the renovation, which was also reported by Clavijo, who had been invited to this festival.
Under the aegis of Ulug Beg, a large ivan was built as the main portal around 1434 and the minarets at the mausoleum were connected by an arcade panel.
After the end of the Shaibanid dynasty , Samarqand fell back into insignificance, and the monuments also fell into disrepair.
The Soviet scientists working with anthropologist MM Gerasimov opened Timur's grave shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union (June 19, 1941). Gerasimov made Timur's facial reconstruction and realized that Timur was limping and 172 cm tall. When the German Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union shortly after Timur was exhumed , the legend about the curse experienced a surge in popularity. The turn of the war in Stalingrad also brought popular superstition to the reburial of the bones according to Muslim rites in 1942.
Comprehensive restoration work began only after the Second World War . In the 1950s the dome was restored, the colored tiles of which had largely fallen off, as well as the entrance sofa and the minarets. The interior was restored in the 1970s. Neither the madrasa nor the chanakah could be reconstructed. While there is no idea of the latter, the foundation walls that have been preserved give an impression of the design of the madrasa . With the revival of the Timur cult after the founding of the Republic of Uzbekistan (1991), the maintenance of its places of worship also intensified. When it gets dark, the museum complex is illuminated in different colors, emphasizing its position as an outstanding architectural monument of Samarqand.
architecture
Exterior construction
The main entrance to the mausoleum complex is a large arch ( iwan ) 12.07 m high, which is attributed to the architect Muhammad ibn Mahmud from Isfahan . It is adjoined by an inner courtyard, on the right side of which there was once the Chanaka and on the left the madrasa , of which only remains of the foundations still exist. The inner courtyard measures approx. 29.50 × 30.40 m and was designed around 1434 during the reign of Ulug Beg. Immediately in front of the actual mausoleum, a second iwan was built, which is open to the courtyard and, including the rectangular frame ( pishtak ), is approx. 11.80 m high. To the right and left of the ivan are two arcade walls, the decorations of which suggest niches and give the front the appearance of a madrasa. Of the original four minarets , which once marked the corners of the inner courtyard, only the two have been preserved on the mausoleum. They are decorated with mosaics similar to the substructure of the mausoleum, which spiral upwards around the body of the minaret.
The total of 34.09 m high mausoleum is divided in three in height. The load-bearing element is an approx. 13 m high substructure with an interior square floor plan, which is extended by niches on all four sides. The outer walls form a regular octagon with an edge length of approx. 7.50 m. The substructure is decorated with geometric mosaics , and a sixteen-sided trumpet zone was added as a link for the tambour . On top of it is the cylindrical drum, which is decorated with a band of majolica tiles with Kufic writing , on which "Allah alone is eternal" is written. There are mosaic friezes above and below the writing tape, which are also designed as a tape around the drum. The melon-shaped dome, which is about 13 m high, completes the construction. The transition zone between the reel and coupling - which is bulged outwardly and has a larger radius than the main cylinder has ( bulge ) - forms a double row Stalaktitband ( muqarnas ) . The dome is provided with 64 even ribs, each supposed to represent one year of Muhammad's life . Glazed tiles that form a simple diamond-shaped and regular mosaic make up the ornament. Although tiles of different colors - mainly turquoise and cobalt, but also purple and orange - were used, the dome appears blue from a greater distance. Depending on the time of day and the incidence of light, the color nuances and the shadow effects that are caused by the ribs change.
inner space
The way to the tomb does not lead directly from the entrance sivan into the interior, but via a gallery running to the side. The interior of the mausoleum again has a square floor plan, which is enlarged by four niches, so that a cross-shaped room is created. The niches are designed in the manner of an ivan and transferred into the ceiling of the building with stalactite canopies. The visitor immediately notices that the shape and height of the ceiling do not match the dome that is visible from the outside. The reason for this is that there is a second cupola inside, the shape of which corresponds more to a Persian arch and whose clear height is only 22.85 m. The space between the inner and outer dome shell is hollow, but wooden struts run through it, which support the outer dome shell against the inner dome and thus stabilize the building.
The interior is also lavishly decorated. The base walls were provided with hexagonal onyx tiles. A stalactite band moves the walls a little more into the room above the base, a band of green jasper runs through the interior directly above this muqarnas decor, on which the genealogy and life of Timur are recorded. The remainder of the wall surface was covered with Persian wallpaper, the outstanding feature of which is paper mache reliefs. The wallpaper is lavishly painted, the dominant colors are blue and gold. The transition between the angular walls and the round dome is again formed by muqarnas vaults.
There are several cenotaphs on the floor that mark the respective underground resting places of the dead. The black cenotaph of Timur made of nephrite stands out in this ensemble . There are also inscriptions on it that describe the life of Timur and emphasize his Chagataid descent in an idealized form.
crypt
Below the main room there is a crypt with a flat brick vault, in which the actual tombs are also located. The crypt is accessible via an entrance outside the mausoleum.
literature
- Dietrich Brandenburg: Samarkand. Studies on Islamic architecture in Uzbekistan (Central Asia) , Berlin: Hessling, 1972; ISBN 3-7769-0108-X .
- Ernst Cohn-Wiener : Turan. Islamic architecture in Central Asia , Berlin: Wasmuth, 1930.
- John D. Hoag: Islamic Architecture . Stuttgart: Belser, 1976; ISBN 3-7630-1704-6 .
- John D. Hoag: Islam . DVA, Stuttgart 1986, pp. 140f, ISBN 3-421-02855-9 .
- Alfred Renz: History and sites of Islam from Spain to India , Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1977 ISBN 3-7913-0360-0 .
- Mortimer Wheeler (ed.): Magnificent buildings of the east. Temples, graves and fortresses of Asia , Frankfurt / Main: Ariel, 1965.
- Charles Shaw The Gur-i Amir Mausoleum and the Soviet Politics of Preservation. In: Future Anterior: Journal of Historic Preservation, History, Theory, and Criticism, Vol. 8, No. 1, summer 2011, pp. 43-63.
- Werner Speiser: Architecture of the East . Essen: Burkhard-Verlag Ernst Heyer, 1964.
- Klaus Pander: Central Asia . Ostfildern: Dumont, 2005; ISBN 3-7701-3680-2 .
Web links
- Bernhard Peter: Gur-i Amir - Timur's Mausoleum in Samarqand (viewed on September 29, 2006)
- Mark Dickens: Timurid Architecture in Samarkand (English, accessed September 29, 2006)
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert Hillenbrand : The Development of Saljuq Mausolea in Iran. In: Ders .: Studies in Medieval Islamic Architecture. The Pindar Press, London 2006, Volume 2, p. 433.
- ↑ GN Matuschin (Г. Н. Матюшин): Archaeological Dictionary . Moscow 1996, ISBN 5-09-004958-0 , pp. 61 (Russian: Археологический словарь .).
- ↑ Антон Евсеев: Проклятия гробницы Тамерлана не существует. November 30, 2012, Retrieved December 19, 2018 (Russian).
Coordinates: 39 ° 38 '54.3 " N , 66 ° 58' 8.4" E