Samarkand

Samarkand (Samarqand or Самарқанд in Uzbek, in Persian سمرقند) (population 400,000) is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan, capital of Samarqand Province. It is located at latitude 39° 39' 15, longitude 66° 57' 35E, at an altitude of 702 meters. The majority of the city's inhabitants are ethnically Tajik. In 2001, after several abortive attempts, UNESCO inscribed the 2700-year-old city on the World Heritage List as Samarkand - Crossroads of Cultures.

Samarkand in literature

In The Arabian Nights, King Shah Zaman is king of Samarkand.

Related Topics:
The Arabian Nights - Shah Zaman

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Samarkand can appear as an archetype of romantic exoticism, notably in the work by James Elroy Flecker: The Golden Journey to Samarkand.

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Samarcande is the title of a novel by Amin Maalouf.

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Samarkand is one of the cities Audre Lorde describes visiting in her collection of essays and speeches, Sister Outsider.

Related Topics:
Audre Lorde - Sister Outsider

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Samarqand is the center of the Islamic Renaissance in Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt.

Related Topics:
Kim Stanley Robinson - The Years of Rice and Salt

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In some futuristic science fiction universes (most notably BattleTech), there is a human-populated world named New Samarkand.

Related Topics:
Science fiction - BattleTech

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The Nightingale of Samarkand is a character in the Broadway musical Once Upon a Mattress.

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Angela Carter's short story "The Kiss" discusses the legend of Tamburlaine's mosque in Samarkand.

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In Islamic literature and discussions, Samarkand has taken on a semi-mythological status and is often cited as an ideal of Islamic philosophy and society, a place of justice, fairness, and righteous moderation.

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For part of the history espoused in Clive Barker's 'Galilee', the city of Samarkand is held as a shining light of humanity, and one of the characters longs to go there.

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