Samarkand Congress highlights Uzbekistan’s unique cultural heritage

Samarkand, a city in southeastern Uzbekistan that is steeped in history, played host to the 7th International Congress, 'The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan – Foundation of New Renaissance.'

In this episode of CULT, Euronews correspondent Galina Polonskaya delves into the country's cultural tapestry as global scholars celebrate its rich history at the event.

She spoke to Samarkand University of Technology Rector, Yusuf Abdullaev, who highlighted Uzbekistan’s role in shaping civilisation.

Firdavs Abdukhalikov, Chairman of the Board of the World Society on the Study, Preservation and Promotion of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan, said the country’s priority was to preserve its unique legacy. 

His society is carrying out a major project that involves compiling cultural treasures that have been scattered in different locations. It is curating 'albums' made up of the pieces and ten recent editions of these were showcased at the Congress.

Also unveiled at the Congress was a facsimile of the late 7th to early 8th century Katta Langar Quran, meticulously reconstructed from pages discovered in Uzbekistan. Since Soviet times, the pages of this book have been kept in different museums and now exact copies of these have been brought together.

Charlotte Kramer, the President of Mueller & Schindler Publishing House, explained that the pages are exact copies of the originals.

A separate collection of books presented at the Congress was dedicated to epigraphy, looking at inscriptions on Uzbekistan’s monuments.