Among Zoroastrian burial items, there is a camel-shaped zoomorphic OSTADON lying there. It was found…
The al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan was founded in 1943 on the basis of the Oriental Department of the State Public Library of Uzbekistan (now the Alisher Navoi National Library).
Until 1950, it was named the Institute for the Study of Oriental Manuscripts. Subsequently, with the development of new areas and the expansion of research scale, it was renamed the Institute of Oriental Studies. In 1957, the Institute was named after the great medieval scholar and encyclopaedist Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973 – 1050). Nowadays, the depository keeps several collections.
Among the most widely known medieval geographic works are copies of “Mu’jam al-buldan” (The Dictionary of Countries) by Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179 – 1229); “Nuzkhat al-qulub” (Delight of the Hearts) by Hamd Allah Qazwini (1281 – 1349), anonymous Persian translations of “Masalik wa al-mamalik” (Roads and Countries) by Abu Ishaq al-lstakhri (10th century); and “‘Ajayib al-makhluqat” (Curiosities of Creation) by Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203 – 1283). Also quite popular in Central Asia was “Majma’ al-gharayib” (The Collection of Rarities) by Sultan Muhammad al-Balkhi, an astronomer and geographer of the 16th century who dedicated his work to the Shaybani rulers. The collection includes 37 copies in Persian and one unique manuscript, which is an Uzbek translation titled “Anjuman-il badayi’” (The Collection of Rarities) made at the end of the 19th century.
You can learn more about this topic in the book-album “The Collection of the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental studies, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan” (part two, “Miniature and Calligraphy”) (Volume XXII) from the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
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