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The traveling exhibition "The Great Silk Road and its heritage" will last till December 2005 in the museums of Japan's cities Fukuoka, Ivaki, Okadzaki, Kagava and Kyoto.

The most valuable exhibits for this event were provided by the State Art Museum and Museum of Applied arts of Uzbekistan, Samarkand State History, Architecture and Art museum, Research Institute of Art Studies of Uzbekistan. The considerable part of the exposition is formed by the exhibits provided by the museums of Tajikistan and Japan's "Miho" collection. All the exhibited articles were discovered during the archeological excavations and ethnographic expeditions carried out on the territory of the Silk Road countries.

The first section called "Legacy of Alexander the Great. The onset of West-East interrelations" represents the articles made of gold and ivory, sculptures of Buddha, gemmas depicting deities and sacred animals, vessels and coins dating to the reign of Alexander the Great and the rulers of Graeco-Bactrian kingdom which appeared on the ruins of Alexander's empire in 111B.C., and which embraced most of the southern territories of Uzbekistan.

The section devoted to the Kushan Empire period includes artifacts representing clay and alabaster sculptures, which used to decorate the palace premises and the Buddhist temples in Khalchayan, Dalverzintepa, Airtam settlements. Of special interest is the fragment of a statue of the 1st-2nd centuries - a head of a Kushan prince in a pointed crown. There are also exhibited many other interesting archeological findings: terracotta statues of men and women, bone knives and combs, beads made of mountain crystal, cornelian, and coral, - all testifying to rather sophisticated techniques of execution.

Among the exhibits of the third section called "The Silk Road trade heyday. The Sogdians and Zoroastrianism" there are many ossuaries - clay containers used for keeping the bones of the dead. Such ossuaries were the compulsory attributes of the Zoroaster religion. The fragment of one ossuary from Samarkand museum contains the images of two figures of men and solar signs, whereas the other fragment contains the carved picture of a Nestorian cross - symbol of Christianity. It is known that Christianity professed by Nestorians penetrated to Central Asia along the Great Silk Road in the first centuries A.D. No less interesting are two ossuaries from Toytepa settlement (Tashkent region) dating to the 6th century, also kept in Samarkand museum.

At the exhibition there are also exposed the Chinese coins with square apertures in the centre, which were in circulation in Ferghana Valley, Bukhara oasis and other territories in the early Middle Ages. Unique exhibits of this section are the fragments of wall paintings from ancient Penjikent, where there were found the ruins of many Zoroastrian temples decorated with amazing frescoes made by local artists and depicting antique myths.

The fourth section of the exhibition is devoted to the main types of applied arts: wooden fretwork and painting, architectural decor of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand monuments of Islamic period, ceramic and copper embossed articles, embroidery, artistic printing and punches to make printed fabrics, textile and articles of national clothing.

Such an imposing exposition representing so many displays, including 300 exhibits from Uzbekistan, has been held in Japan for the first time ever. It attracts the endless stream of visitors in each city where it is demonstrated. The favourable comments testify to great public interest in the art and culture of the Great Silk Road countries.

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