The story of Samanid Mausoleum

This compact brick cube is known as the oldest funerary building of Central Asian architecture, and it survived thanks to a lucky accident. Built in the 10th century as the resting place of the Samanid dynasty, it was buried in mud and sand by floods and landslides before Genghis Khan's armies sacked Bukhara in 1220, so the conquerors passed it by. It stayed hidden for centuries, until archaeologists rediscovered it in the early 20th century.

Three male burials were found inside; one is identified as Nasr II from an inscription on a lintel. Each side is about 9.4 metres long, the walls are about 1.8 metres thick at the base, and a dome about seven metres across crowns it. Now look at the brickwork: its rhythmic patterns combine Sogdian, Sassanian, Persian, Arabic and antique motifs.

At the corners inside, squinches carry the round dome over the square. The American art historian Arthur Upham Pope called it "one of the finest in Persia".