Roads and Kingdoms: Two Encounters with the Nazarenes Beyond the River: Two Encounters with the Nazarenes Beyond the River

"This book solves the long-standing mystery of a Christian monastery near Samarkand, seen and described by two Arab travellers in the tenth century. Despite several attempts made since the 1890s, its precise location had never been established. The first part covers the quest, the find, and the archaeological excavations' results. Then the author proceeds to search for a mediaeval Christian enclave near modern Tashkent, which appears to have been washed away by a river that changed its course over centuries. Apart from the Christians, the book also touches upon the Manichaeans, Buddhists, Zoroastrians and other Sogdians, their languages, faiths, and material remnants"-- Provided by publisher Contents 8 Preface 10 Figures and Tables 11 Abbreviations 16 Note on Orthography 22 The Monastery in Urgut 24 1 Res ipsa loquitur 24 1.1 First Landmark 27 1.2 Second Landmark 30 1.3 Urgut Obscured 32 1.4 Urgut Explained 35 2 Searching for Evidence 37 3 Closing the Books 47 3.1 The Rock 48 3.2 The Gorge 50 3.3 The Cross 50 3.4 The Scene 50 4 Hunting the Thimble 51 5 Urgut Unearthed 58 5.1 Monastic Compound 59 5.2 Hermits’ Caves 84 5.3 Reconstruction 84 5.4 Finds 92 6 The Timeline 109 6.1 Terminus post quem 109 6.2 Terminus ante quem 112 6.3 Cemetery 120 7 Whence and Whither 127 7.1 From al-ʿIrāq to Urgut 127 7.2 From Urgut to Panjikent 131 7.3 From Urgut to Samarkand 137 7.4 The Urgut Side 149 7.5 The Bukhara Side 158 7.6 Priest’s Daughter 164 The Village in Chach 166 1 Res ipsa loquitur 166 2 Sound and Sense 174 2.1 ويش 174 2.2 كرد 179 3 Closing the Books 181 4 Hunting the Thimble 182 5 The Environs 190 5.1 Chach and Ilaq 190 5.2 Ferghana 208 Appendix 212 Concordance of the Variant Readings Discussed in the Text 233 Works Cited 241 Index of Geographical Names 255