Blog Entry IV - On Religion...

Religion, I think, is a subjective name given to classify shared systems of thought that include narratives, symbols, values and applications that comprise what individuals interpret as an overall experience. Religion should not exclusively study the ways in which people express their religion, but rather should study why people express religion in these ways and what their religious experiences mean to them. Until recently, anthropologists have focused on particular stories, icons, and rituals, and how culture affects them, how they affect culture, and how they compare to the religions of other cultures. This method of inquiry is limited similarly in the way that ethnographic writing is limited, not taking into account the individual members of particular cultures, and religions in this case, and what and why they believe, think, and feel.

For two centuries, anthropologists attempted to define religion by separating societies and cultures into those that were civilized and those that were uncivilized, and used religion as a primary means to measure the level of advancement a particular society or culture displayed, and their advancement was accordingly demonstrated by the complexity of their religion. Anthropologists compared the spheres of “Western” religions to “non-Western” religions, as they similarly compared the relative intricacy and progression of “Western” and “non-Western” spheres of thought. Until the mid-twentieth century, anthropology and the study of religion endured a conceptual polarity between “primitive” and “civilized” modes of thought and inquiry. As in Edward Said’s “Orientalism”, scholars were constantly attempting to make comparative analysis based on the comparison of “Us” and “Them,” and on the Silk Road, anthropological concepts were derived from the ethnographic accounts of explorers and missionaries who originated from clear-cut religious traditions, and these accounts were assessed by scholars whose concepts were shaped by the same clear-cut religious traditions.

Current studies of religion still struggle to overcome the biases that anthropologists of religion established throughout two centuries of study, but current anthropologists have realized that the focus of their study should not be a comparison of religions and cultures, but to the way that religion is experienced by people as individuals, and how these individual people express religious experience. This idea is appropriately summarized as follows: “An important concept in the study of religion is that anthropologists fail to take religion seriously, and hence no matter their level of methodological sophistication, they simply cannot fully understand and appreciate the experience of people for whom religious experiences are real.”

Blog Entry III - A Glimpse of Sogdian Art

The Sogdians became prominent as traveling merchants subsequent to the domination of Alexander the Great, maintaining a crucial position both culturally and geographically on the Silk Road. They ruled the trading economy across the Silk Road from the 2nd century BCE until the 10th century. Their language became the lingua franca of the Silk Road, which was important not only to the propagation of Buddhism, Manichaeism, and Zoroastrianism, but to the diffusion of art!

Most sites where Sogdian art has been recovered are in modern Uzbekistan and northwestern Tajikistan. This location allowed for the infusion of various influences ranging from western, Hellenistic-style art to southeastern, Buddhist-style art. The amalgamation of techniques from such diverse sources coupled with a local ingenuity inspired a rich artistic culture that was the symbol of Central Asian art at it's finest. The Sogdians were the first Central Asian people to display technique and style of unprecedented caliber in their murals, paintings, sculptures, woodwork and gilding. There art was diverse in it's sources, but more importantly, Sogdian art made its way across an entire continent; penetrating almost as far west as it did east.

Identifiable for its varied characteristics, the art of Sogdiana is most recognizable for influencing the art of other cultures! Their location on the Silk Road made it possible for the unassuaged transmission of artistic techniques across space and time. Geographically, influences of Sogdiana have been recorded all throughout Central Asia and north into the steppes, south into the Arabian Peninsula, east across the Taklamakan through to central China and as far west as the Balkans and the rest of Southern Europe. Historically, and geographically correlated, influences have been recorded from the end of the Early Christian Period until the beginning of the Byzantine Period. (Prior to researching Sogdiana, I wouldn't have fathomed the breadth of importance their art possessed!)

According to archaeologists and anthropologists alike, the 6th century was the pinnacle of Sogdian culture, and also when they flourished with artistic tradition. Appreciable amounts of temporal and religious pottery and sculptures were discovered at Samarkand, the best examples dating from before the Hellenistic period in the mid 3rd century BCE, to the Muslim conquests of Persia in the mid 6th century.

Some of the most revealing of these Samarkand finds include statuettes of women that characterize Zoroastrian deities like Anahita, revered as the deity of water and fertility (all the figures hold a piece of fruit, a symbol of fertility in terms of childbearing and of trade). It’s interesting to note that, in comparison to the discovery of other similar statuettes, Anahita was the most frequently discovered, which implies that water and fertility were very important in the everyday life of Sogdians.

Sogdian art frequently reflected the routine and banal, but it's style was often whimsical. For example, there were several benches recovered from Bukhara that displayed murals and paintings depicting processions of various animals that were escorted by elaborately clad hunters seated on elephants, chased by leopards and griffins (neither native to Sogdiana). Scenes of sportive pursuit such as these were popular in Sogdian art, and were often depicted on wooden shields painted with figures of riders mounted on festively decorated horses, wearing hunting robes donned with knives, bows, and a quivers of arrows. This theme is thought to have influenced the style of book illumination in Islamic Persian art following the Muslim conquests of Persia.

Sogdian art reflected what was important to them as people and as a culture. Their art portrayed their strong beliefs, both religious and temporal. What was more significant than their refined techniques and vibrant style was their capability to transmit these aspects liberally. Their prominence as merchants and strength as a culture made the diffusion of their art possible then, and admired now.

Sogdian mural recovered at Bukhara, exemplifying the style that would later influence Islamic Persian art. Note the rich colours, flowing lines and well defined features.