International conference to focus on ancient city once shrouded in mystery

August 17, 2011

On August 22-23, an international archeological conference titled “The History and Culture of Bukhara Oasis in Antiquity and the Middle Ages” will be held in Bukhara to mark thirty years since the start of the archeological expedition at Paikend, a Bukhara suburb, as well as the 20th independence anniversary of Uzbekistan.

The archeological excavations at Paikend, located 60 kms south-west of Bukhara, were launched in the early 20th century. Several archeological expeditions have been working to unravel the mysteries of the dead city since then. Experts who have been involved in the archeological research since the early 80`s represent leading museums, including Russia`s Hermitage and France`s Louvre, among others.

Paikend, dubbed “Asia`s Pompeii”, was a city that was “devoured” by a dessert, which explains why the area, gradually sinking in sands, has been well preserved. The local residents call Paikend`s ruins Shahri vayron (a destroyed city). Archeologists have been working meticulously to remove the curtain of secrecy that has covered Paikend for thousands of years. Each archeological monument is a message from the past and each offers so much to listen to and to understand.

The archeological activities at Paikend have piqued the interest of the foreign scientific community as well, as will be evidenced by speeches on the applied arts, language, literature, architecture and religion of Paikend as well as architectural finds unearthed there. Experts who will speak at the conference include R. V. Almeyev, the director of the Bukhara Architecture and Art Museum (Uzbekistan), G. I. Bogomolov, an archeologist (Uzbekistan), S.B. Adaksina, deputy director of Hermitage Museum (Russia), P. B. Lurye, PhD in Philology (Russia), Soeren Stark (USA), Eric Aubert (Cultural Attaché with the French Embassy in Uzbekistan), S. Azarnouche and F. Grenet (France) among others.

The conference will include an opening ceremony for a new exhibition, dedicated to the history of Paikend, mounted by the Bukhara Architecture and Art Museum. The exhibition will present the results of the painstaking efforts by the Museum`s team. The organizers believe that the exhibition will be of interest not only to historians and art specialists but also to ordinary visitors as it opens another page in the centuries-old history of ancient and mysterious Bukhara.

Organized by the Fund Forum, the Institute of Archeology under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, Hermitage Museum (Russia) and the Bukhara Architecture and Art Museum, the conference will serve as a platform for leading scholars to share the archeological expedition`s research findings since 1981 related to the history, culture and various aspects of life at the ancient site.

The conference will conclude with a field trip led by scholars from Uzbekistan and Russia.