A dramatic rediscovery
At the British Museum this week an object from Uzbekistan, once thought to be lost forever,will begin the journey back to its original home. An important glazed Islamic calligraphic tile which had been illicitly removed from the entrance façade of a well-known monument near Bukhara, will bepresented to the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistanat the British Museum in London,prior tothe object’s return to Uzbekistan. The tile was fixed to the Chashma-i Ayub in Vobkent 20km from Bukhara. Itis inscribed and this dates it to AD 1208–1209 (AH 605 on the IslamicHijri calendar).
This tile was removed from the building in about 2014, illegally exported and entered the art market.
It was identified in London in October 2016 and the British Museum was immediately contacted in order to arrange for its repatriation. In May of that year Professor James Allan, former Keeper of Eastern Art at the Ashmolean Museum, had visited the monument and found that this portion of the inscription was missing. He was informed that it had beenremoved about two years previously.The whereabouts were uncertain until it was acquired in good faith and offered for sale in London by the art dealer Simon Ray, in October last year(Indian & Islamic Works of Art, 1st November to 30th November 2016: cat. 8). It was promptly identified by Professor Allan, both individuals immediately contacted the British Museum and the tile was deposited at the Museum for official confirmation and investigation.
The British Museum promptly initiated discussions with the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in London and the British Embassy in Tashkent with a view to returning the tile to Uzbekistan and making arrangements for its restoration onto the monument from which it came. The authorities in Uzbekistan have confirmed the tile will be initially held by the State Art Museum of Uzbekistan in Tashkent but will be restored to the Chashma-i Ayubat Vobkent as part of a public ceremony as soon as possible after its return.
The Mausoleum Chashma-i Ayub
The tile came from the Chashma-i Ayubcomplex in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan. The inscription on the tileis in thuluth script (a form of Islamic calligraphy) and is read from top to bottom: ‘in the year five and six hundred’, which translates toAH 605, orAD 1208/09. It measures 52.5cm high, 30.5cm across and is 7cm thick. It has a stone-paste body covered with two shades of turquoise glaze on the face. The lighter shade highlights the inscription and differentiates it from the surrounding foliated scroll design and the background.
The building to which this tile belongs is a special type of eastern Islamic building known in Arabic as a hazira. These were commemorative monuments and consist of a tomb or memorialwithin an open enclosure with a monumental entrance. This is one of many in Central Asia which are dedicated to the Job, a prophet in the Bible who was known in Islam as Ayyub.In Koranic tradition, Ayyub is regarded as a martyr and prophetwho was rewarded with a source of water to soothe his skin afflictions, and in local Central Asian folklore was viewed as a healer and a patron of silk farming which was an important part of theeconomy of medieval Bukhara. The well at the centre of the monument was believed to have restorative powers.
The monument was constructed in the 12th century AD but later remodelled during a time when Bukhara was an important Silk Road centre and a provincial capital of the powerful Karakhanid empire. During this second phase a tall entrance was added with a 10-metre-high portal framing alightly recessed doorway. This is decorated on either side and has a magnificent high-relief turquoise glazed inscription along the top. This tilebelongs to the end of this inscription which reads: ‘The Prophet [Muhammad] – peace be upon him – said: I had forbidden you to make pilgrimages to tombs. Now make pilgrimages. This monument was erected in the year five and six hundred’. The inscription illustrates an important tension within Islam as to whether visiting the shrines of saints was a form of idolatry and forbidden in society.
The construction of magnificent funerary monuments was a feature of Iran and Central Asia and the combination of a colourful glazed turquoise tile section with relief brickwork is typical of these. This is one of the earliest surviving monuments in the region and a particularly fine example of the architecture of the era.The return of this tile to the Chashma-i Ayubwill see the completion of the historic inscription for the first time since its removal in 2014 and represents a hugely significant moment in the preservation of Uzbek history.
Dr Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, said:‘I am delighted that the Museum has played a part in the return of this important object to Uzbekistan. It is important that the glazed tile can be restored and the original inscription completed once more. The British Museum plays in important role in issues around cultural heritage – we see it as an essential part of our mission to help in the identification and restoration of trafficked antiquities.’
His Excellency Mr Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, said:‘On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the assistance provided in arranging the return of this ancient glazed calligraphic tile to Uzbekistan. The return of this object is evidence of the close collaboration established by our country with the British Museum and of our country’s commitment to preserving invaluable heritage of human civilisation and strengthening Uzbek-British relations.’
Simon M W Ray of Simon Ray Limited said: ‘I bought the tile in good faith in the belief that it had a good German provenance. After Professor James Allan’s discovery that the tile is in fact part of the inscription of the Chashma-i Ayubin Vobkentregion, near Bukhara in Uzbekistan, I felt it imperative that I should immediately return the tile to the monument from which it was removed. I am very happy that the tile will now return to its original home and I am grateful to James Allan for his identification of the tile and to the British Museum for their efforts in liaising with the Uzbekistan authorities for its repatriation.’
Notes to Editors:
Further documentation on the Chashma-i Ayub
This building was published in detail by E G Nekrassova in a paper published in 1996 (‘Un monument de culte à l’époque prémongole: le hazira Tchachma-Ayyub’, Archéologie islamique 6: 67–76). Two years later the complete inscription was again photographed in situ and published by the late J Soustiel and Y Porter (Tombs of Paradise: The Shah-e Zende in Samarkand and architectural ceramics of Central Asia, Saint Rémy-en-l’Eau: Monelle Hayot, 2003, p. 33).
The British Museum and the return of trafficked antiquities
The British Museum is actively involved in the monitoring and restitution of illegally trafficked antiquities from across the world. It has acted as an independent centre of expertise on the probable origin of trafficked antiquities and has advised government authorities and other partiesin connection with stolen antiquities. The British Museum was involved in the cataloguing and subsequent return to Afghanistan of large quantities of objects seized by the UK Border Force in 2009 and again in 2012.
During the preparations for the 2011 exhibition Afghanistan: crossroads of the ancient world, the British Museum helped to identify a group of 20 ‘Begram ivories’. These are ivory and bone overlays originally set into items of wooden furniture found at the ancient site of Begram and again dispersed following looting of the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul during the 1990s. With the generous support of a private donor, these objects were physically transferred to the British Museum in late 2010 where they underwent an intensive programme of conservation and scientific analysis supported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. They were displayed in the subsequent exhibition in 2011 (with the approval of the Afghan authorities), returned to the National Museum of Afghanistan in July 2012 and are the subject of a detailed full-colour monograph entitled Looted, Recovered, Returned (Archaeopress Archaeology, 2014).
Also returned in 2012 was the important figure of a ‘Fire Buddha’ which was found at Sarai Khuja in 1965. This magnificent Gandharan sculpture had been stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan in 1996 and entered a private collection. Thanks again to the generosity of a private individual this was acquired on behalf of Kabul, displayed for a short period in the Enlightenment Gallery (Room 1) at the British Museum prior to its return. It was promptly placed on display in the National Museum in Kabul.
In May 2016 another antiquity stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan was also successfully returned. This was a Safavid metal bowl with an inscription stating ‘Owned by Mohammad Abū Tāleb 1013 [30 May 1604–18 May 1605]. It had been stolen during the Afghan civil war in 1992/94 andsurfaced in Jeddah where it was acquired in good faith in December 1994 by Patrick and Paola Von Aulock. The owners finally decided to sell it and took it to Christie’s in London where it was identified by Sara Plumbly as being a stolen museum piece and deposited at the British Museum for official confirmation and discussion with the National Museum of Afghanistan. The owners then generously agreed to present it to the National Museum in Kabul. It was officially received by the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at a small event organised at the British Museum and was personally presented by President Ashraf Ghani to the Director of the National Museum in Kabul, Fahim Rahimi, where it is destined for permanent display in a new Islamic gallery.
The British Museum continues to liaise closely with the UK Border Force, the National Crime Agency and the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police to try to combat the illicit trade in antiquities.
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