Roundtable in Tashkent: Wisdom Revealed in Epigraphy
On October 17, 2016, Tashkent hosted a roundtable, which included a presentation of the project ‘The Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan.’ The event was timed to the 25th anniversary of the country’s Independence, and 10 years of establishment of Uzbekistan Today News Agency.
The event was organized by Uzbekistan Today News Agency, the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of Uzbekistan, the UNESCO Office in Uzbekistan and other organizations.
The event was attended by members of Uzbekistan’s scientific community, representatives of governmental and public organizations as well as international organizations, diplomatic missions and media outlets.
The roundtable began with the congratulatory words on the 10 years of Uzbekistan Today News Agency. Video on the Agency activities was screened.
As part of the roundtable, the participants summared the first results of the project, which included film demonstration and speeches by leading scholars, who have contributed to the project, as well as representatives of the international public.
“Publication of book-albums on epigraphy of Uzbekistan is the unprecedented project in its scientific and cultural value,” emphasized Akmal Saidov, Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for the Management of Assets of the Public Fund for Support of NGOs and Other Civil Society Institutions under the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “The government had supported it from the start of implementation. The first President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov paid great attention to it. It is no accident the project dedicated to the 25th anniversary of independence. It is during the years of independence a huge work is carried out to preserve the great cultural and historical heritage of the country. And the publication of the books on epigraphy of Uzbekistan is a clear illustration of it.”
“It is quite illustrative that many of the inscriptions on the numerous monuments of Uzbekistan convey the wise messages, exhortations, poetic maxims, good wishes, messages about historical events aimed at cultivating in every person the desire for education, enlightenment, peace and creation,” said the head of the creative team, the Honored Journalist of Uzbekistan, Firdavs Abdukhalikov. “It took six years for the creative team to decipher and read the inscriptions. I want to express my gratitude for the all-round support to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, regional administrations, and Tashkent, as well as our partners, including the Center of Memorial Complex of Bahauddin Naqshband, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Registan complex management and Uzbekistan Today News Agency journalists, the Darakchi Publishing House, the team members, and the Kolor Pak Printing House,” Firdavs Abdukhalikov said.
The first stage of the project has been completed this on the edition of 12 volumes on the epigraphy of Karakalpakstan, Andijan, Namangan, Farghona, Samarqand (inscriptions on the of Shohi Zinda and Registon complexes), Navoi, Khiva, Sukhandarya, Kashkadarya, Bukhara, and Tashkent.
Monuments of Uzbekistan, and especially architectural, underwent a complicated history, including ancient writing (epigraphy) on them. Due to various circumstances and events it often destroyed or obscured by militant atheists, and some samples even were buried in the ground in order to preserve them. So, not only part of the history disappeared, but also the memory of the centuries, and ancient culture, and epigraphy as the part of it. The meaning of many of the inscriptions is still a mystery for citizens and guests of the country, as well as specialists. The country’s independence returned them a worthy place in the history, and even more emphasized the contribution of ancestors in the treasury of the world civilization. Special advert to the cultural and historical heritage after gaining independence provided the opportunity to worthily represent these monuments in the book-albums.
Time has preserved for us the wonderful world of medieval architecture of Uzbekistan, charming the eyes of millions of people from around the world visiting our country to touch into the history of ancient walls of the majestic buildings with refined decor and exquisite calligraphic inscriptions. Many are wondered what are they about and what wisdom do they convey? Today, for the first time we have a unique opportunity to discover these secrets by reading a series of books ‘Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan.’
Epigraphy is the most significant and spectacular part of the cultural heritage of not only Uzbekistan and the Muslim world, but also the entire global civilization. Moreover, Uzbekistan is one of the world leaders in terms of the amount of architectural epigraphy. However, due to certain circumstances, these inscriptions have not been studied and published until recently. According to our estimates, only 10% of inscriptions on monuments of Amir Temur’s era have been explored, read and partially published. Consequently, the most remarkable and significant pages of our cultural legacy remained out of the reach of science as well as our nation and visitors to our country.
The research has helped to read and translate inscriptions on more than 1,500 epigraphic landmarks (most of them for the first-ever time), which include over 200 poems, edifications, maxims, names of over 100 masters and calligraphers, 300 religious and 150 dedicatory inscriptions, 150 chronograms, 100 historical dates and around 100 edicts by rulers of the days gone by.
‘The Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan’ is the only project of its kind that has seen the government explore, collate and sum up all the architectural epigraphy found in the country, something that no country in the Muslim world has done before.
For many years, experts and scholars have struggled to decipher the inscriptions, and scientific debate about the correctness of the reading of the centuries-old monograms and other texts made by talented craftsmen continues even today. However, as it has been stated above, a complete deciphering of epigraphy monuments located in the ancient Uzbek land, and a publication thereof, has still not been made. The publication of ‘The Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan’ series is the first full-scale project of its kind that encapsulates architectural epigraphy in Uzbekistan.
The series of books represent the first phase of the project which will be continued. The next series will encompass the remaining unexplored epigraphic inscriptions across Uzbekistan. All told, 25 volumes are expected to be published.
“The huge work is done on identification, study and publication of the epigraphic inscriptions on architectural monuments of Uzbekistan,” says Edvard Rtveladze, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. “The authors of the project enabled to study lots of epigraphic material that previously could not be read by experts and remained unknown to researchers. This arduous and laborious work is a clear contribution to the study of the culture and history of the peoples of Central Asia. I should emphasize that Uzbekistan, the first among the countries where the monuments of Islamic art and architecture preserved, has implemented such an extensive project.”
“The book-albums on epigraphy provide a unique opportunity to get familiarized with the unique architectural monuments of the country, learn the meaning of the inscriptions left by ancestors,” noted John MacGregor, the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan. “This hard work is significant not only for your country, but also for other countries. It is very important to continue this project.”
“I have carefully read some books published within the project on the epigraphy of Uzbekistan,” says Mjusa Sever, Director of Regional Dialogue Office in Uzbekistan. “I have no enough words to express my impressions. It is really a treasure trove of knowledge, a message from the past. I would even say more - this is a mass of bricks and a bridge between the East and the West. And the West will be able to see on the other side of the bridge unrevealed Eastern beauty, to hear the good and wise call for the goodness and creativity, peace and harmony.”
Dmitry Petrov, representative of the Embassy of Russia:
“The event is organized at the highest level. It was very interesting to learn a lot of new. The project ‘Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan’ is quite unique and practical.”