Between 1360 when he gained control of his tribe and his death in 1405, the war lord Timur (Tamerlane) reconquered much of the area that Ghengiz Kahn had taken during the years of his campaigns, 1206-1227. Much of Timur's success was due to his ability to use both the resources of the steppes and those of the cities. The heirs of Timur, who ruled until 1507 when Herat was taken by the Uzbecs, became patrons of the arts. Following his example, they used the energies of both the nomadic and settled worlds. The genius of the Timurids was their ability to forge a new culture in which traditions from both the urban civilization of Persia and the nomads of the steppes were preserved, revitalized, and intertwined.

A31. Spiral

Detail from the Shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa, Balkh, Afghanistan, January 1975, 35 mm, Pentax ES, 200 mm SMCT lens, Kodachrome II film, Dye transfer print 1985, ŠLuke Powell, 1996.