The “Heavenly Stone” (Kök Tash) of Samarqand: A Rebels' Narrative Transformed

Extract

Travellers to the fabled city of Samarqand will not miss the opportunity to visit the tomb of Tīmūr (Tamerlane), the famous conqueror of much of Central Eurasia in the fourteenth century. In the courtyard of the Gur-i Amir, Tīmūr's mausoleum, stands a stone of greyish marble, approximately ten feet long, four feet wide and two and a half feet high, decorated with arabesques. A relic of a glorious past, this stone, known as the Kök Tash, is reputed to have served as the great coronation stone for Central Asian rulers ever since it was used as Tīmūr's throne.