Epigraphic and pictorial materials from An Jia the tomb (preliminary report)

Abstract

The article presents materials of An Jia tomb, one of the early medieval Sogdian burials in China. A description of the burial complex is offered, descriptions of the painted reliefs of the stone burial couch and a stone panel above the tomb door, as well as the complete commented translation of the epitaph of the deceased are provided. Two versions of interpretation of stone reliefs’ semantics are proposed: an idealized report on the earthly life to higher powers or ideas about the afterlife. The identification of specific features of the funerary rite, the stylistic and semantic analysis of images on reliefs in comparison with epigraphic data confirm the thesis about the syncretic nature of the studied complex, which combined elements of the Zoroastrian, Confucian, and Buddhist religious and worldview traditions.