!!Michael Shenkar - Biography
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Michael Shenkar's research focuses on Ancient and Early Islamic Iran and Central Asia, with a particular focus on the Sogdians, an Iranian people whose civilisation in Central Asia played a crucial part in East-West exchange (the ‘Silk Roads’) in the 4th to 9th centuries CE, but has been little studied. Since 2014, he has co-directed the excavations at Sanjar-Shah (Tajikistan), uncovering significant evidence of the transformation of Sogdian culture following the Arab conquest in the 8th century CE. The discoveries include a Sogdian palace, the first depiction of fire worship in Sogdian wall paintings, and the earliest Arabic documents written on paper. \\
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Michael Shenkar published on subjects such as Sogdian art, religion and social history, Sasanian history, and Kushan religion. His recent book, 'Kings of Cities and Rulers of the Steppes', explores royal iconography across Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Early Islamic period. \\
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His research has been supported by major grants, including those from the Israel Science Foundation and the Gerda Henkel Foundation, and he has secured funding to establish the Kliakhandler Program in Central Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Michael Shenkar has held academic affiliations as a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, and as a Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre. He also maintains an active record of collaboration with Central Asian institutions, currently serving as a Visiting Professor at Samarkand State University.\\ \\[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW edit mshenkar}][{ALLOW upload mshenkar}][{ALLOW comment All}]