The ancient part of Samarkand, commonly known with the evocative name of Afrasyab, has been interesting students of Sogdian art since its accidental discovery happened in 1965. The more interesting paintings are certainly the scenes reproduced on the walls of the room commonly known as the “Hall of the Ambassadors”. This name is due to the representation of diplomatics from several parts of the ancient Asiatic kingdoms in contact with Sogdiana arrived at the court of the king of Samarkand Varghuman (about the middle of the 7th century) to present their gifts. Such interpreation is supported also by a Sogdian inscription which mentions the ambassadors from Chaghanyan (a part of the historical region of Tokharistan) and Chach (Tashkent). Unfortunately, the upper part of the whole composition in the Hall of the Ambassadors was completely destroyed by a bulldozer during the works for the contruction of a modern road, so the interpretation of the scenes has been very enigmatic and conditioned by the Sogdian inscription mentioned above.
For more than ten years the Franco–Uzbek archaeological expedition has started the researches interrupted in the Sovietic period with very important results. The two partner teams had also the opportunity to confront their conclusions with the knowledge of other scholars such as Boris Marshak, Chiara Silvi Antonini, Etsuko Kageyama, etc. In particular, Marshak’s intuitions deserve special attention because they shed new light on the interpretation of the religious meaning of the scene painteded on the southern wall at Afrasyab[1] (fig. 1).
Here a procession can be observed moving from the corner with the western wall onward. Among the riders on the right part of the scene there is also Varghuman himself represented bigger in size than his attendants. On the left part, the p
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