Sogdian murals from Panjakent

[druzhina345]

I have added more images to my collection of Sogdian murals from Panjakent (Panjīkant) including the Rustam Cycle in the Blue Room.


The Rings and Dragons Cycle is so named as the pommels of all the swords and daggers in one army are ring-shaped, but the second army has them in the form of a dragon’s head. I have included an extract with an interpritation of the story with links to images of the original paintings.
The right hand figure in the feast scene is shown wearing a scale cap in the drawing (which has been copied by later authors after Yakubovski and Dyakonov 1954), but I can't see a scale cap in the original painting of this warrior. The parts of the paint that have survived above his forehead do not look like scales and bits that may look like scales may be just the texture of the loess plaster.



Drawing from The military technology of classical Islam by D Nicolle


Is it a scale cap?


Marshak sees a camel behind this warrior, not mentioned by earlier authors. Is there a camel?


Some drawings of murals were based on watercolours rather than the originals e.g. a watercolour of 'Offering Gifts', northern wall of room 8 of sector VI, Panjakent, so may not be very accurate.


Other images of the original murals include a warrior armoured in lamellar, with mail cowl or aventail, Sector VI, room 55, Sogdian Piandjikent, a King of the Demons in mixed mail and lamellar, Piandjikent, a warrior in full mail armour, Sogdian mural from Panjakent, a Sogdian Banquet, a Battle, Sogdian mural from Piandjikent in the Tajikistan National Museum of Antiquities, Dushanbe, an 'Amazon Epic', East Wall, Sector XXI, Room 1, Sogdian Piandjikent and others.


mirror site: Sogdian murals from Panjakent (Panjīkant)


Druzhina345
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers