97651. Tasting an Ancient Culture

By Douglas J. Gillert
American Forces Press Service

        TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- Envoys, attaches and delegations on 
hand for CENTRAZBAT '97 not only observed the Central Asian 
Battalion training but got a first-hand look -- and taste -- of 
the region's history and culture.
        From the moment it arrived Sept. 13, the DoD delegation led 
by Katherine Kelleher was treated to a rich tapestry of exotic 
locales and tantalizing treats by the enthusiastic hosts in 
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Kelleher, deputy assistant secretary 
of defense for Russia, the Ukraine and Eurasia, graciously 
accepted the hospitality. By the end of her week-long visit, 
however, she and everyone had that plaintive look in their eyes 
that seemed to say, "Please, no more food."
        The venues were as tantalizing as the menus, ranging from 
the mayor's mansion in ancient Samarkand to urtas (large 
shepherd's tents lined with colorful silk and wool carpets) in a 
Kazak village.
        Modern buses whisking the delegates from place to place 
shared the narrow highways with herds of cattle, goats, even 
camels. Sometimes, it appeared entire communities turned out to 
see and greet the visitors. At one stop, an American lieutenant 
colonel with a Polaroid camera took pictures of the children, 
then parceled them out to the eager youngsters with outstretched 
hands.
        Entering Samarkand on the ancient Silk Road in Uzbekistan, 
the entourage passed the ruins of a mountaintop fortress built by 
Alexander the Great and learned about Ulugh Beigh, a 15th century 
scientist and Islamic heretic who developed the world's largest 
sextant. Earlier this century, an 11-meters long section of the 
sextant was discovered in the ruins of the scientists' 
observatory and now is on display.
        Here also the group viewed the splendor of Bi Bi Hanym, a 
15th century mosque also called the Big Friday Mosque. Uzbek 
Muslims consider the site a second Mecca -- two visits in a year 
count as one sojourn to Islam's holiest city, at far less expense 
to economically strapped Uzbekies. Eleven of 24 mosques built in 
Samarkand between the 14th and 17th centuries remain standing, 
punctuated by an 11th century mineret. 
        Even the events surrounding the exercise itself exposed the 
delegations to the Central Asian culture. At opening and closing 
ceremonies, first in Kazakhstan, then Uzbekistan, musicians 
performed and young men and women displayed their prowess on 
horseback. 
        More than once, they showed off a favorite game called 
"Catch the Girl." In the game, a young woman gallops off upon her 
horse, chased by a young man also on horseback. The object is for 
the boy to catch up with the girl and kiss her while both remain 
at full gallop. If he doesn't accomplish the feat in a quarter 
mile, the girl becomes the pursuer. Catching up to the boy, she 
then beats him on the back repeatedly with a stick.
        Leave it, however, to the Americans to steal back the show. 
At one military ceremony, exuberant Uzbek paratroopers broke 
ranks to dance to music a band was playing in front of the 
reviewing stands. Not to be outdone, members of the 82nd Airborne 
ran from their file across the field to join in, and the 
attention in the reviewing stand soon shifted from the stage to 
the field. 
        Toward the end of the show, hundreds of soldiers from the 
United States and several Central Asian republics stood arm in 
arm, swaying slowly to the music in a gesture of friendship and 
mutual respect. The spontaneous display of camaraderie 
underscored the deepening relationships between the United States 
and the burgeoning republics of this ancient land.

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Uzbeki Muslims come and go from the ancient mosques in Samarkand, on the historic Silk Road in Uzbekistan. Douglas J. Gillert

An intricate mosaic design adorns the inside of a dome at an ancient mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Douglas J. Gillert

A Samarkand, Uzbekistan, bazaar attract shoppers in search of fresh herbs and spices. Douglas J. Gillert

Minarets stand as sentinels guarding the entrance to an ancient mosque in fabled Samarkand, queen of the Silk Road that at one time stretched from Europe to the Far East. The United States and others are taking a fresh look at the ancient highway as the possible location for new oil and trade routes. Douglas J. Gillert