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Archeological excavations at Afrasiab revealed the ceramic complex dated from the 9th-11th centuries. The ceramics represents culture of Samarkand in the period of the Samanids and Qarakhanids. The Afrasiab ceramics is exposed at the Samarkand Museum of History and Art. First of all, these are perfect dishes and jugs, made on a potter's wheel. They are decorated with engobe and enamel.
Uzbekistan is a country of ancient high culture with its exceptional architectural patterns. Famous historians of the East in their writings on the ancient cities such as Bukhara , Samarkand and Khiva and other places mention palaces of the rulers, places of residence of aristocracy, market places, madrasah, mausoleums, and describe them as very beautiful with evergreen gardens.
In the pre-Arabic period, religious and cultic environment in Central Asia represented a motley picture of beliefs - Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, Buddhism and Manichaeism. Royal dynasties patronized Zoroastrianism, which prevailed. For its millennial history, this religion had absorbed a plenty of local cults, including cults of fire, water, earth and air. Zoroastrianism esteemed archaic Indo-lranian gods and ancestor worship.
The style of art depicted in ancient monuments is said to have also reflected in the applied art of antique Uzbekistan. In some stone as well as silver- and gold-embroidered items of the Bactrian period one may observe the influence of the Hellenic-Roman period upon art.
