Skip to content

Nameless Mausoleum II (Shah-i-Zinda)

A large 1390s domed tomb in the middle group of Shah-i-Zinda in Samarkand, whose occupant and builder are unknown.

Mausoleums1390s

About the place

Neither the name of the person buried here nor the date of building survived in its inscriptions, so scholars simply call it Nameless-2; some sources link it to Ulug Sultan Begim. It was built in the 1390s on the walls of the 11th-century Qusamiya madrasa, and only its entrance portal is original.

Excavations showed it was a single domed square room like its neighbours but noticeably larger, about 8 metres across inside where most tombs of the ensemble measure 5–6.5 metres. It stands a few metres from Nameless-1 and the Amir Burunduk mausoleum, which were built at the same time.

Why go

  • A Timurid-era tomb in the Shah-i-Zinda lane
  • Larger than its neighbours inside
  • Built over an 11th-century madrasa

Sources (4)

  1. 1.Wikidata
  2. 2.en.wikipedia.org
  3. 3.ru.wikipedia.org
  4. 4.openstreetmap.org

Nearby

  • Shah-i-ZindaEnsembles

    Under 1 km awayUNESCO World Heritage

    Shah-i-Zinda

    A narrow lane of mausoleums climbing the edge of Afrasiyab hill, with some of the finest glazed tilework of the Timurid era.

  • Amir Burunduk MausoleumMausoleums

    Under 1 km away

    Amir Burunduk Mausoleum

    One of the simpler tombs at Shah-i-Zinda, from the late 14th century, said to belong to one of Timur's commanders.

  • Nuriddin Basir MausoleumMausoleums

    Under 1 km away

    Nuriddin Basir Mausoleum

    A shrine built in 1997 in the Hazrat Khizr cemetery of Samarkand over the reburied grave of a blind 13th-century sheikh.