I02 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 1 10 



in the desert 12 km. west of the modern oasis. Excavations were 

 concentrated on the ruins of a large building located on the western 

 side of the citadel which was attributed to the fourth and fifth cen- 

 turies of our era. This building was constructed of large unburnt 

 bricks. Six rooms were cleared. A number of fragments of stucco 

 carving, marked by various ornamental motifs and diverse methods 

 of execution, were found in the piles of building rubbish which filled 

 one of the rooms. In general, these are carvings in low relief, con- 

 sisting of geometric and stylized floral ornament, including meanders, 

 rosettes, palmettes of rhombics and crosses, in a geometric pattern. 

 There were also some high-relief carvings, which often merged into 

 sculpture proper. This method was used for depicting different 

 themes and for realistic treatment, such as birds, fish, fantastic beings, 

 a winged horse, a bird with a female head and breast, a male torso, 

 fragments of human figures, trunks of large trees with branches and 

 carved leaves. 



A large room with wide clay benches was unearthed in the central 

 part of the building. Traces of a unique distemper painting on clay 

 plaster were found on one of the walls of this room. The wall was 

 divided into two horizontal parts by a cornice. Above the cornice on 

 a vivid red-ocherous background were figures of animals shown mov- 

 ing toward the left : deer, tiger, panther, and horse. The upper part 

 of the picture has not been preserved. Hunting scenes were depicted 

 on the portion beneath the cornice : first come the drivers dressed in 

 short breeches and cloaks, mounted on white elephants; following 

 them are hunters armed with spears and bows. The elephants are 

 sumptuously outfitted in colored saddlecloths and harness. One of 

 the scenes depicts a hunter hurling his lance at a lion who has leapt 

 at him with fangs bared. In another episode a hunter has loosed his 

 arrow at a griffin. The lion is painted in orange-yellow and the griffin 

 in white colors. The contours of the figures are outlined in black and 

 brown ; shadow planes and perspective are lacking but the firm paint- 

 ing and the bold strokes reveal the touch of an experienced master. 

 The colors have preserved their freshness, although many portions 

 of the human figures were obliterated as far back as ancient times. 



This building, lavishly decorated in stucco work and paintings, is 

 identified with the palace of the Bukhar-Khudats, described by Mu- 

 hammad Narshakhi, a tenth-century historian, who wrote that this 

 palace, built more than a thousand years before his time, had been 

 repeatedly demoHshed and restored. 



Simultaneously with the excavations of the palace, the expedition 

 carried out some trial trenches, the lower strata of which yielded 



