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Tashkent - the Timur museum

Since independence the government of Uzbekistan has been promoting Timur as a national hero. A large square in downtown Tashkent now carries his name, and a large museum which glorifies his life faces it. The museum is built in the form of a traditional cap, like the one worn by Timur during his lifetime. You enter the museum from the basement, and then walk up, as if into a shrine. Timur, a descendant of Genghis Khan, created a vast empire during the 14th century with its center in what is now Uzbekistan. At its height the empire extended from the Middle East to India. In the process Timur and his army committed countless massacres.

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Uploaded on November 3, 2007
Taken in October 2007