Pages: 439-456 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp226439456

The article presents materials of An Jia tomb, one of the early medieval Sogdian burials in China. A description of the burial complex is offered, descriptions of the painted reliefs of the stone burial couch and a stone panel above the tomb door, as well as the complete commented translation of the epitaph of the deceased are provided. Two versions of interpretation of stone reliefs’ semantics are proposed: an idealized report on the earthly life to higher powers or ideas about the afterlife. The identification of specific features of the funerary rite, the stylistic and semantic analysis of images on reliefs in comparison with epigraphic data confirm the thesis about the syncretic nature of the studied complex, which combined elements of the Zoroastrian, Confucian, and Buddhist religious and worldview traditions.

Keywords: China, Central Asia, Northern Zhou, Sogdians, Turks, An Jia, funerary rite, reliefs, epitaph, Silk Road

Information about authors:

Maria Kudinova (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-8369-2089
Sergey Komissarov (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation; Novosibirsk State University. Pirogov St., 2, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-7657-054X
Aleksandr Soloviev (Novosibirsk, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-3891-8944