Ancient Panjakent

Panjakent is located on a five-kilometre-wide plain in the valley of the Zerafshan River and was once a trading town on the Silk Road in close connection with Samarkand, about 60 km away.

Next to the modern site are the ruins of a Sogdian city that has been excavated since 1947 and is an important archaeological site in Tajikistan. Their area was once about 19 hectares, of which about a third have now been excavated. The old city had its heyday especially in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, when it was on the Silk Road and was the capital of a Sogdian principality. It was destroyed during the Arab conquest of the country after the revolt of the city lord Divashtich in 722 failed. After that, the city was only inhabited for a short time.

A wall eight meters thick surrounded the city proper. Next to, it was the citadel where the local rulers lived. Outside the walls was a suburb and the city of the dead. The residential town consisted of two to three-story buildings.

The excavation site is characterized by good conservation conditions. Many wooden objects (furniture, sculptures) are still in remarkable condition. The peculiarity of the site, however, are wall paintings that were found in the houses of the upper class and in the temples of the city. The name “Pompeii Tajikistan” is derived from this.

The core of the residential city are two temples, each standing on a platform and surrounded by a wide courtyard. They were richly painted. The deities worshiped here remain unknown. The centre of the houses of the upper class was a ballroom, which was largely illustrated, with mostly epics being depicted here. The ballroom was often furnished with ornate wooden pillars and an artistically panelled ceiling.

Buddhist, Zoroastrian and Manichaean influences can be read from the paintings, a mixture of Eastern and Western stylistic elements, which often depict the struggle of good against evil. Most of them are now in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg and in the Museum of Antiquity in Dushanbe. For the conservation of the excavation site itself, the effort is considered too high. Artefacts are recovered and the ruins are left to their own devices.