The Shakh Fazil Archaeological Complex is located in the village Safedbulan,

Jalal-Abad Region Jalal-Abad (; ) is a region (''oblast, oblus'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is the city of the same name, Jalal-Abad. It is surrounded by (clockwise from the north) Talas Region, Chüy Region, Naryn Region, Osh Region, and Uzbekistan. Jalal-Abad ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. It is a sacred Muslim site, and an annual mass

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

occurs here. The name of the main building in many scholarly sources is the Tomb of Shah Fadl, and this is a major Qarakhanid tomb probably built between 1050–1060.

Site description

The collection of sites is made up of the Shakh Fazil

Mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

, Safed-Bulan Mausoleum, the holy mountain of Archa Mazar, Alamberdar Mausoleum, holy hermit's cave, an 18th/19th-century

Mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, and vertical stone

phallos A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

. The mausoleum of Shakh Fazil, the most important site in the collection, is unique in its own right and stands apart from other

Karakhanid The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; zh, t=喀喇汗國, p=Kālā Hánguó), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Karluk Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the early 13th century. Th ...

-era mausolea.

World Heritage status

This site was added as an individual entry to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Tentative List of Kyrgyzstan on January 29, 2001 in the Cultural category.Shakh-Fazil
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, archived in web.archive.org on February 24, 2007 The individual enty was removed from the list in 2010, and Shakh Fazil was instead included in the serial entry "Silk Roads Sites in Kyrgyzstan".Silk Roads Sites in Kyrgyzstan
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, accessed on February 13, 2019

Notes

References

Shakh-Fazil
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, archived in web.archive.org on February 24, 2007. *Sheila Blair. The Monumental Inscriptions from Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana. Brill, 1992, pp. 128–29. *Vladimir N. Nastich. A NEW GLANCE AT THE ATTRIBUTION OF SHÂH FÂZIL (FERGHANA). Article published in Islamic Art Resources in Central Asia and Eastern and Central Europe. Proceedings of the Fifth International Seminar for Islamic Art and Architecture (Mafraq, Āl al-Bayt University 2000), p. 45–49. Online at
academia.edu

Shah Fadl Tomb
Archaeological sites in Kyrgyzstan Ancient Central Asia