Afrasiab
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Afrasiab (Persian: افراسياب; Uzbek: Afrosiyob; Turkish: Efrasiyab \ Alp Er Tonga), near Samarkand, Uzbekistan is the name of both a historical city and its legendary founder.
[edit] Legendary king
The person Afrasiab is said to be king of all Turan, mentioned in Persia's classic epic, Ferdowsi's Shahnameh ('Book of Kings'). The legendary hero-king battles a legendary Iranian Shah, Kai Khosrow who also happened to be his own grandson (son of his daughter Farangis). Al Biruni tells us that the Khwarezmian calendar starts with the arrival of Sijavus (Siavash) around 1300 BC, and it is thought that the two may be the same person. One view is that Khwar-Ezem is derived from Afr-Asiab.
Some linguists state that Afra-Sia-Ab is literally translated into "past the black river"; In Persian the prefix Afra- is over or past. "Sia" is black and "Ab" is water. So the term Afrasiab refers to the area beyond the black river, believed to be Amu Darya lined with dark pebbels. Part of this river runs through Samarkand and the old city of Afrasiab, see below. Afrasiab could also identify the people who lived in the area, although among Persian surnames Afrasiabi is used for this purpose.
According to Ferdowsi, Afrasiab is the ancestor of the Hephthalites, and the name apparently has also appeared as an Uyghur dynasty as well as being claimed as ancestor by the Kara-Khanids.
When Afrasiab subjected the Iranians, homosexuality was noted among his people. The conservative Zoroastrian priests reacted strongly, and decreed that any man caught in the act could be put to death - a stronger sanction than that against murderers. (Westermarck, Edward: The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas. London 1908, 1912, 1971)
NOTE: There is also an epic about Afrasiab (Alp Er Tonga) in Turkish. [1]
[edit] City
Afrasiab is currently the oldest part of the city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan. It is one the the world's most ancient cities. it was founded in the 8th-7th century BC. The city of Afrasiab has archeologically confirmed sites from c. 500 BC to the 13th century AD. The archeology of the site is interpreted in the Afrasiab Museum on the site. The museum contains the oldest surviving chessmen. The mural paintings of Afrasiab are famous. Afrasiab lay on the Silk Road, on the borders of Achaemenid Persia. Of note is also the purported tomb of Daniel, the Old Testament prophet. The body was reportedly brought to Afrasiabi from Susa, Iran by Tamerlane. The restored monument is a long, low structure with five domes, containing an immense 18-meter long sarcophagus. According to legend, Daniel’s body grows by half an inch per year, thus the long tomb.
[edit] External links
| Shahnameh by Ferdowsi |
|---|
| Characters |
| Abtin | Arash | Afrasiab | Esfandiyar | Fereydun | Goodarz | Gordafarid | Hushang | Jamshid | Kaveh | Kai Khosrow | Keyumars | Manuchehr | Rakhsh | Roham | Rostam | Rostam Farrokhzad | Rudaba | Saam | Shaghad | Simurgh | Siavash | Sohrab | Tahmineh | Tahmuras | Zal | Zahhak |
| Places |
| Iran | Mazandaran | Turan |
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