Statue of Sultan Sanjar in Baiyrum Ali
This past month, I spent nearly every day excavating in front of the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, a sultan of the Seljuq Empire who died in 1157.
On site in front of the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar
Turkic Seljuq rulers
like Sultan Sanjar
adopted and promoted
local Perso-Islamic traditions,
and Seljuq art is renowned
for its fusion of Persian
and Central Asian styles.
Sultan Sanjar’s mausoleum
is just one
prominent example
of the numerous
funerary monuments erected
by the Seljuqs
on
the
Silk Road…
It was a dream come true
to excavate at the base of this great
monument every day,
unearthing the history hidden in the sands surrounding it…
Walking past the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar after work
