CHASHMA-AYUB MAUSOLEUM
Chashma-Ayub mausoleum
The name of the Chashma-Ayub mausoleum is translated as “Spring of Job” as the Chashma Ayub mausoleum was built over a famous, ancient spring. According to legend, when the prophet Job came to Bukhara, the residents at that moment were dying of thirst and they prayed to God for salvation from drought. Job, heeding the requests of the suffering people, hit the ground with his stick and a well with the purest cool water appeared at the site of the impact. Some locals still believe that the water from the well is healing and capable of fulfilling wishes.
The building of the mausoleum stands directly above the well and the sacred water from the well is still obtained in the old way, using a bucket on a rope. The structure of the mausoleum could be described somewhat resembling a rock with the different shaped ascetic, colorless and non ornate domes that separate the building from many others in Bukhara. The main dome, resembling a double tent, is located precisely above the spring. Chashma-Ayub is filled with mysterious charm of simplicity that bewitch the guests.
History of Chashma Ayub
The mausoleum was constructed during the reign of the Karakhanid dynasty in the 12th century. Two centuries later, Amir Temur decided to maintain what his ancestors had begun and hired the best craftsmen to transform and improve the building. The architects were brought from Khorezm and Shakhrisabz to produce the masterpiece. For five centuries, from the 14th to the 19th century, the mausoleum was reconstructed and developed more than once. There are several graves on its territory and the most ancient of them belong to Khoja Hafiz Gunzhori, the famous scientist and theologian who was buried here in 1022.
Museum of Water
Today the Chashma Ayub mausoleum has been officially turned into a Water museum but it still holds the old gravestones. Inside the museum, you can study in detail how the process of formation and establishment of water supply in the region occurred. Furthermore, you can observe ceramic water pipes dating back to the 18-19th century, a huge variety of all kinds of containers made of leather, glass and other materials, which were strictly intended for water, models of the reservoir and other objects. Additionally, you can trace the history of water supply over 10 centuries as well as study the history of the tragedy of the Aral Sea if you haven’t been in Moynak.
Other sights near Chashma Ayub
Page updated 11.2.2022
