As observed above, much of the paintings were destroyed but, thanks to the reconstructions proposed by Markus Mode and Frantz Grenet it is now possible to argue about the more probable original scenes on strong bases[2]. An important detail is constituted by the building at the end of the scene, clearly the target of the procession (fig. 2).

According to Marshak interpretation, this is the temple of the ancestors of the king of Samarkand. This ipothesis is further supported by the Chinese sources: in fact, in the Beishi and in the Suishu it is reported that the king of Chach accomplished the sacrifices for the ancestors on the occasion of the festival of the New Year (Marshak, 1994: 14–15). It is commonly accepted that this last festivity (we could even say the Festivity par excellence in the Iranian lands: the Nouruz) is the one reproduced on the western wall at Afrasyab (fig. 3)

 In figure 2 one can observe the state of preservation of this part of the painting (the terminal part of the building and the feet of four people), while in figure 1 it was proposed a reconstruction clearly based on other Sogdian mural paintings (especially from Panjakand).

   Among the people of the procession of the southern wall there are also some sacrifical animals and priests or, as it was recently proposed, even nobles who received the honour to lead and probably to kill the animals. They can be recognized by the special masks on their mouths normally used by Zoroastrians not to pollute the rituals with the breath and by the sacrificial maces in the hands of the two camel

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