THE IMPORTANCE OF WALL PICTURES OF AFROSIYAB IN STUDYING THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF UZBEKISTAN

The center of civilization that has existed since antiquity on the territory of Central Asia and has come down to us is a vivid proof that the formation of the Uzbek costume and art in general has its roots in ancient times. An especially important role is played by wall painting, where you can enjoy the culture and be a people. With the help of the found monumental works of painting in Afrosiyab, the peculiar specific qualities of the costume of each region were examined.


Introduction
In the second half of the 20th century, among the ruins of ancient Afrosiyab, 150-200 meters west of the Afrosiyab museum, a palace with wall paintings dating back to the 7th century was found. The walls in some rooms of the palace are completely decorated with picturesque paintings. Despite the fact that thirteen centuries have passed, the purity of the colors and colors of the paintings is amazing (the frescoes are currently exhibited in the halls of the Afrasiyab Museum). The central hall of this palace, 11x11m, is very well preserved. Like the walls of other rooms, the walls of the hall were made of straw, thinly plastered with straw clay, then plastered and painted. The height of the preserved wall is 2-2.5 meters. The upper parts of the walls were destroyed and have not survived. The restored frescoes have been shown to the general public since 1985.
The paintings on the west, north and south walls of the room reflect independent content and landscape. To the left of the wall on the western part, opposite the entrance, there is a depiction of a man in white and on the hem of his clothes there is a 16-line Sogdian inscription. The inscriptions refer to the reception of ambassadors by King Varhuman, a descendant of Unash. The ceremonial procession of ambassadors carrying gifts depicted in the middle of the wall matches the inscriptions. On the right and left sides of the wall, according to early narratives, spears are depicted mounted on pillars (eleven on the right and nine on the left), battle shields are decorated with legendary masks. In the images on the left and right in the middle ground, it is likely that the long-haired heroes sitting behind the viewer are the Turks who formed the royal army.

Materials and Methods
Research in recent years has led to the assumption that these heroes may not be the Turkic army, but representatives of a small principality who gathered to politically unite under one state. If they were soldiers of the royal army, the focus would be on the side where the king was sitting and the ambassadors of different states. But they are depicted as sitting freely, interacting with each other. The spears shown in the upper plan (they must be in the hands of the guards as a security requirement) may be the flags of these principalities. Because if you look closely, you can see eleven flagpoles on the right side, tied with tape, and on the left, nine that do not have such a connecting tape. The reason is that they are still negotiating unification under the same flag. More precisely, this composition reflects a great event in the history of Sogd -the solemn coronation of Sogd ihidi, Samarkand Afshin Varhum.
Information about these events is contained in the chronicles of the Tang Dynasty of China. At the beginning of the 7th century, the East Turkic khanates were in crisis, and in 657 the Western Turkic khanates.
After that, small principalities in the Sughd region came under the rule of Varhuman. The wall paintings depict congratulations and gifts from the ambassadors of China, Korea, Chaganiyan and Choch at the official erection of Varhuman's cemetery in 658.
Looking at Afrosiyab's wall paintings, one can study the rich cultural heritage of different states and objects of applied art, including clothes of that era. Since the works depict plots of the palace way of life, they contain images of the palace nobility, representatives of the upper class, generals, merchants, dancers and musicians, etc.
Let's consider clothes separately by type, starting with outer swing clothes, with smells in the front. We will begin our analysis of clothing with cut, drawing on ethnographic data that will help us study the ancient design of clothing.
In the wall paintings of the 7th-8th centuries, one can see tunic-like outerwear for men that have existed since antiquity on the territory of Uzbekistan. The merchants' clothing is portrayed as lush and rich. A large amount of matter in clothes testifies to the wealth and social status of representatives of the upper stratum of society. In the depiction of merchants' clothes, the sleeves are long and wide, at the place of the shoulder seam folds in a circle and taper at the wrist, they are gathered in wide folds along the entire arm to the level of the cuff.
On the neckline, front part and hem, a strip of fabric of a different color is sewn -a border (or braid), 5-6 cm wide. The swing part hides only the braid. Since the robe was not fastened at the top, the inner garment was visible from the outside. From the bottom of the clothes, a round neckline was visible, which repeated the line of the neck and covered part of the chest. In some works, the front of the outer garment is depicted in a single cut. This suggests that the outerwear was of two types.
The clothes were narrow at the waist and widened downwards. At the waist line was a belt made of leather, decorated with a silver buckle. To guess what the silver buckle was, let us turn to one of the buckle samples from the excavations at Khalchayan. This buckle belongs to the 1st century BC. Oe., made of gold, circumference 4.7 cm, engraving 0.95 cm, weight 75 g 40 mg. It is believed to have been used for various purposes. Perhaps it was fastened to the belt, to the clothes itself, or served as an ornament for the handle of a long knife and dagger. In the middle, in a round shape, there is an image of an animal with two ears, at the edges it is surrounded by twenty heartshaped cells (undoubtedly, these cells contained precious stones) and it, in turn, was also surrounded by round hooks.
Varakhsha (VII-VIII centuries AD) was located on the territory of Bukhara Sogd. The murals that have come down to us are few, of the surviving depictions of the costume, only three are clearly visible, with the help of which we examine the women's clothing of this area. In the eastern part of the wall painting of Varakhsha, in the scene of the incense burner on the southern wall of the eastern hall, there is an upper swinging men's clothing like a robe, sewn from painted fabric with a belt weapon in the form of an engraved dagger and sword. Patterned tape trims the hem and wide cuffs. Clothes are not fastened at the top and were worn on an open chest.
On the left side of the wall of the room of the Afrosiyaba palace, three bearded heroes are depicted, armed with swords and daggers in royal robes. The fabrics from which the costumes are sewn are decorated with images of various animals. The heroes were dressed in accordance with the tradition of the Sogdian culture, which at that time spread from the Sassanids of Iran to China. Messengers from different countries, one of them carries jewelry and ornaments, and the other a roll of silk fabric. According to the inscription, the central character in a red robe was appointed by the head of the Chancellery of King Chocha. Heroes dressed in civilian clothes stand next to him. In the middle of the wall, two groups emerge, symmetrical to each other, to celebrate. On the right are Chinese ambassadors in black hats with fruit and silk fabrics. To the right of these heroes are the Turks with long hair, and in this case they are depicted as foreign ambassadors.
On the right are also depicted three heroes, dressed in camisoles with false collars, but long stockings-boots on their legs. Apparently, these people were ambassadors of the mountainous region. The two men are behind them with a headdress with feathers thinking. These are ambassadors from Korea. The wall above is broken and it is not known what is depicted there. Probably Varhuman himself was depicted at the top. The compositions of the north wall, which start from the right side of the hall, call for a completely different world. On the left are two boats depicting women, and one of them is well preserved. The back of the boat depicts musicians playing various musical instruments. The woman pictured larger than the others is the Chinese queen. Various mythical creatures are depicted in the water, as well as a dragon with a serpentine tail and a goat's head. The longhaired hero on the right holds the tail of a horse floating in the water. On the other hand, depicting a wavy line divides life into water and land. Here, the Chinese, dressed according to the Tang era, hunt tigers. This wall depicts the diplomatic and embassy relations of the Sogdian state with China.
The paint on the south wall of the hall is well preserved. The ceremony is not moving towards the central stage, but towards the opposite east. The end point of the procession is a separate building, and not a city in which several people are standing. It is known from the Chinese chronicles that every new year the Sogdian rulers of Zoroastria visited the graves of their ancestors and made sacrifices. These ceremonies are reflected in the center section of two men with their mouths tied. The representative of the Zoroastrian religion carries sacrificial animals. One of the animals is a gray horse that saddles, but without a rider. Another representative carries four white birds, and two horsemen with golden sticks walk in front of the victims. At the end of this ceremonial procession, King Varhuman is depicted on a yellow horse with jewelry on his neck and a tiger skin on his shoulders in a red shirt. A high-ranking woman sits on a throne atop a white elephant, next to the place where the descendants of kings lie. This must be the Queen of Sogd. Behind her are three young women on horses. One of the women had the inscription "the official lady-hostess" on her wrist. The horses' legs are visible in the top row. The king's bodyguards must be sitting on them.
The image of fish swimming in the water, children swimming and bulls in the middle of the east wall are not well preserved. Perhaps this is paradisethe image of the river separating the dead and the living.
The wall paintings reflect three aspects of the policy of Ikhshid Varhuman: the reception of ambassadors depicted on the western wall, recognition of the independence of the Sogdian state with other states; the image on the north wall signifies the visit of the Chinese ambassadors to Sogd; the religious ceremony depicted on the south wall means that King Varhuman will strengthen his dynasty in Sogd by adhering to local customs.
The compositional and stylistic harmony of the plot of the murals testifies to the fact that the decoration of the palace of the ruler of Afrosiyab was carried out by the artists of the majestic school of painting of early medieval Sogd.

Conclusion
Analysis of Afrosiyab's wall paintings makes it possible to study the rich cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. This is a school of painting, formed from antiquity, traditional clothes, musical instruments, gold jewelry, weaving and many other types of decorative and applied arts of Uzbekistan, the continuity of which can be traced through the centuries. B.Bernshtein, G.Grachev, S.Ayazbekova note that the "national prism" is not formed during the formation and development of the nation -the highest stage of the evolution of the ethnos, but much earlier.
Its most important foundations were formed in ancient times, although in the future, adjustments are constantly being made that affect the design of the "picture of the world" of this or that ethnic group. These adjustments are very relevant for the Central Asian type of culture, which constantly appeals to its heritage, preserving age-old continuity with its roots, the peculiarity of which can be traced long before the formation of nations. And it was the rich heritage of the people that attracted rulers and researchers, connoisseurs of the art of foreign countries with its diversity. The originality of the wall painting is that it has been preserved in its original form.
Studying the wall painting of Afrosiyab and the early Middle Ages makes it possible to see features rooted in a deep historical tradition in modern painting and clothing, and other types of decorative applied art of Uzbekistan.