Sanjar-Shah excavations

Location: Panjikent, Tajikistan

Season: August 25, 2025 to September 25, 2025

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: https://www.exploration-eurasia.com/inhalt/projekt_5.htm

Program Type:
Volunteer

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Project Director:
Michael Shenkar and Sharof Kurbanov

Project Description:

The excavations at Sanjar-Shah have exposed the remains of a Sogdian town that existed between 5th and 8th centuries CE, prior to the Arab conquest. The most remarkable finds at Sanjar-Shah include numerous fragments of cotton and silk fabrics, leather, woven baskets, a well-preserved child’s cotton shirt, and fragments of three Arabic letters written on paper from the first half of the 8th century, which makes them the earliest preserved Arabic texts written on paper in the world. In recent years, were are excavating a monumental palace at Sanjar-Shah, constructed in the 740s under the last Umayyad governor of Khurāsān, Naṣr b. Sayyār (738–748), was adorned with figurative wall paintings and architectural elements made of carved wood. It was destroyed in the third quarter of the 8th century, possibly during the al-Muqanna‘ uprising.

Period(s) of Occupation: Sogdian, Early Islamic, Umayyad, Samanid (5-9 century CE)

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Age: 20

Experience Required: No

Room and Board Arrangements:
Panjikent archaeological base.