Among Zoroastrian burial items, there is a camel-shaped zoomorphic OSTADON lying there. It was found…
The accuracy of the images in the Sogdian samit (a new type of silk fabric in the 6th century, technically combining satin and satin weaving styles to create patterned fabric) is clearly visible in the details. For example, according to sources, a tree among animals arranged in a stamped pattern "reminds of paired statues of animals in Samarkand, depicted as if admiring each other." In turn, the influence of the Turks reflects reverence for the images of certain animals: if lions, elephants, and birds were more characteristic of Byzantian and Sasanian silk weaving, then in Sogdian textiles wee see images of ibex, wild boars, horses and deer or animals otherwise close to the cultural circle of the nomadic Turkic peoples.
In the patterns, great attention is paid to the lines. Judging by the graphics depicting the animals, there is reason to believe that they were indeed created in Sogdiana. These features are a combination of conciseness and expressiveness, characteristic of syncretistic Sogdian art, which underwent a special Turkic influence.
One of the most important clarifying motifs, allowing us to speak about the Sogdian origin of the Samites, is the equilateral crosses, placed in the middle of the main medallions, with spiral branches installed inside. It is not found in all early medieval silks decorated with a medallion composition; in some, round rosettes, palmettes, or other floral motifs, rhombuses, and other decorations were used instead.
This motif is the main deity of the Turkic pantheon - Tengri, which became famous in later textile products (carpets) of Central Asia as kaykalak/kuchkorak, a symbol of prosperity. This, in turn, is a clear manifestation of the alliance between the Sogdians and the Turks in the Sogdian lands.
The fusion of Zoroastrian images with the image of Tengri on Sogdian silks is a vivid example of the Turkic-Sogdian symbiosis that emerged in the 6th-7th centuries.
The weaving of silk fabrics was an integral part of Sogdian culture.
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