Bukhara

One of the oldest cities in the world at more than 2 1/2 millennia and a major intersection of the many routes of the silk road. The first pic is chassma ayub: Job's Spring. Tradition has it that the biblical figure Job arrived here and made the spring by banging his rod on the ground. Note the conical dome. That survives from Tamerlane's time. Next is the main mosque here followed by the Ark. This is the fortress and residence of the emirs/khans who ruled Bukhara. In the local Turkic language, ark=home. An interesting parallel to the Noah story. Next is a madrassah, a mosque and another madrassah portico that actually has pre-Islamic symbols, some are even Zoroastrian.Read more