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Court art of Sogdian Samarqand in the 7th century AD

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Northern wall

The hunters

The right part of the northern wall depicts a hunting party. Of the hunters, five persons in uniform size are at least partially preserved (figures 2-6). A sixth hunter (figure 1) is emphasized by his enormous height.

image after Al'baum, Zhivopis' Afrasiaba (1975)

Our images show a copy from Al'baum's book (above) and the present state (below) of a section around hunter no. 4. The persons clearly represent Tang Chinese personal clothed in yellow (the imperial colour).

image by S. Stark (2000)

The hunters are furnished with Turkish quiver, bow in bowcase, a spear and a long object wrapped in a red piece of textile. The last seems to be a banner in state of transportation.

Right: Note the crenelated mane of the horse (above head). This special variant with very long isolated tufts is similar to the contemporary Tang type.     image by M.Mode (1988)
       
image by M.Mode (1988)     Left: Hunter no. 2 at the right end of the northern wall. He attacks a jumping leopard.

Compare some parallels from Tang dynasty tomb painting.

Read about the oversized hunter

Back to overview of the northern wall


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