Ubiquitously Uzbekistan – The Lyab-I Hauz Square and the Jewish Old House
The Lyab-I Hauz Square is the gathering place for the people of Bukhara and even in our first night there we had a preliminary view of the jovial atmosphere there. Locals and tourists alike sit at all the restaurants at the Lyab-I Hauz Pool for snacks and drinks, in the midst of the century-old trees that surround them.
To non-Muslims the area is the perfect venue for a beer, especially in midst of the slightly cool April nights that followed the days of rising heat in late spring.
The Lyab-I Hauz Pool
In Persian, the word “hauz” means an artificial reservoir of water, and Lyab-I Hauz means “by the pond.” With a dimension of 42 x 36 meters and running 5 meters deep, the Lyab-I Hauz Pool was built around 1620 by the order of the Grand Vizier, Nadir Divan-Begi. He served in the court of the Ashtarkhanid dynasty, which was known for its city planning initiatives.
Even at its inception the pool was meant to be a gathering place for the Sufis (the mysticism school under Islam, and it thrived in Bukhara) to rest and meditate.
In the evening, after the muezzin has sounded from the minaret the call to prayer, the men of the city gather around the ponds, which are bordered by tall, silver poplars and magnificent black elms, to enjoy a period of ease and leisure. Carpets are spread, the ever burning chilim is passed from mouth to mouth, the samovar steams away, and lightfooted boys hand round the shallow bowls of green tea. – Gustav Krist
The water of the pool is drawn from the Shah Rud, meaning “Royal Canal.” The aqueduct of the Shah Rud still exists by the pool today. The pool served the function of both reserving water and draining. It has remained the same throughout its history.
During the Soviet era, many of Bukhara’s “hauz’s” were drained because the Soviets thought of them to be the sites harboring diseases. Due to its historical significance, the Lyab-I Hauz was preserved by the Soviets. Most of Bukhara’s other ponds were filled.
Besides the pool, Lyab-I Hauz ensemble, consists also of the Kukeldash Madrassa (1568–1569) as the largest madrassa in the city, the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasa and a Khanagha. The Khanagha is the lodging house for itinerant Sufis.
The Nadir Divan-Begi Madrassa
Perhaps the most notable feature of the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrassa is the pair of birds on its grand and beautiful front portal. Islamic architecture and art typically shun figurative representations of animals. There are very few other examples of this break with Islamic tradition, but, like the Sher Dor in Samarkand that features a pair of lions, in Bukhara’s Nadir Divan-Begi Madrassa simurgh birds also adorn the pishtaq. Indeed, this feature of the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrassa was built upon the similar artistic representation in Sher Dor.
The Nadir Divan-Begi Madrassa is contemporaneous with the Lyab-I Hauz pool.
The Jewish Old House of Bukhara
The Jewish Old house is located close to the Lyab-I Hauz Square, behind the Arch in what is called the Old Jewish Mahallah (neighborhood).
are not so many Jewish heritage sites remaining in Bukhara now, but two synagogues, the Jewish Old House (it is a petite museum) next door to it, are still the living testament to the once sprawling Jewish presence in Bukhara. There is also a Hebrew school in Bukhara, and a number of old, unrestored Jewish houses in the Mahallah.
The Mola Mani Synagogue
Legend has it that the Mola Mani Synagogue had an inseverable relationship with the Lyab-I Hauz ensemble. When Nadir Divan-Begi decided to use the land for the construction of the ensemble, a Jewish woman’s home stood on the land. Despite keen negotiations with the woman, Nadir Divan-Begi was not able to make a deal with her to move. The offer was “any kind of money to buy off your land.”
By a series of coercive actions, including the construction of the Shah Rud Canal that flooded the Jewish woman’s home, Nadir Divan-Begi finally managed to get the consent from the faithful Jewish woman to move. In exchange, she was given a plot of land next to the Lyab-I Hauz. She then built the Mola Mani Synagogue, now standing as No. 20, Sarrafon Street in Bukhara.
As such, the Old Jewish Mahallah in Bukhara was also contemporaneous with the Lyab-I Hauz.
The Old Jewish House is a UNESCO Heritage site. The somewhat dilapidated souvenir shop itself is the heritage. Despite the aging décor, you can still sense the grandeur that it was once meant to be.
The Jewish Story in Bukhara
The history of the Jews in Bukhara dates back to centuries, perhaps as far back as 5th century, as they might have been exiles from Persian persecution. This root has manifested in the language and customs of the Bukharian Jews, as they speak Bukharian, or Bukhori, “a Jewish dialect of the Tajik language (in turn a variety of Persian) with linguistic elements of Hebrew.” (Wikipedia) In the middle ages, the Jews in Bukhara has developed their own community, and became the very heart of Jewish life in Central Asia. They traded with the Russian Empire.
“By the turn of the 20th century, the Jewish community of Bukhara was the largest among a network of Jewish minorities” in Uzbekistan (World Monuments Fund). During the Holocaust years, the Jewish people fled Europe and some came to Bukhara for refuge. These were the historic factors that kept the Bukharian Jews a thriving community. The graves at the Jewish Cemetery in Bukhara count more than 10,000 Jewish burials.
In the second half of the 20th century, the end of WWII, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the fall of the Soviet Union were the main events that caused a continuous exodus of Bukharian Jews. During the Soviet era, the Soviet Government had once relaxed emigration controls and that policy resulted in many Bukharian Jews moving abroad. When Uzbekistan became an independent state in 1991, there were fears of extremism of the Muslim population and that caused another wave of emigration. Many Bukharian Jews settled down abroad in Israel, and also in New York.
By now, there are certainly many more Bukharian Jews scattered all over the world, many more so than those still living in Bukhara. Many sources suggest that there are now fewer than two hundred, or maybe even less than one hundred, Jews still living in Bukhara.
The dwindling number of Bukharian Jews in Bukhara presents a problem that has both practical and philosophical consequences. In terms of daily life, the difficulty with too small a population is that the Jewish people cannot maintain the traditional requirements of their customs, including, and chiefly, kosher food. There are no longer any Jewish slaughters or bakeries in the city. In the Hebrew school, a majority of the students are no longer Jewish as well. This is a looming threat to the Jewish way of life in Bukhara.
As a matter of philosophical significance, the Bukharian Jews, with their own community history, musical traditions, special dialect, trades and crafts, is an ethnographic identity itself. And it is on the verge of disappearing altogether.
Sources
Andrew Higgins, In Bukhara, 10,000 Jewish Graves but Just 150 Jews, The New York Times, April 7, 2018.
Sophie Ibbotson, Uzbekistan, Bradt Travel Guide (2020).
Uzbek-travel.com, Nadir Divan-begi Madrasah.
The Wikipedia on the Lyab-I Hauz.
Gustav Krist, Alone Through the Forbidden Land (1937) at 214.
World Monuments Fund, Traditional Houses in the Old Jewish Mahallah of Bukhara.
Jewishtraveler.co.il, Bukhara: A Timeless Oasis of History and Culture.