The Afrosiab Museum was built around one of Samarkand’s more important archaeological finds, a chipped 7th-century fresco of the Sogdian King Varkhouman receiving ranks of foreign dignitaries astride ranks of elephants, camels and horses. You’ll see reproductions of this iconic fresco throughout the country. It was only discovered in 1965 during the construction of Toshkent yo'li. The 2nd floor of the museum leads the visitor on a chronological tour of the 11 layers of civilisation that is Afrosiab. There's passable signage in English upstairs, but the fresco itself is only signed in French, so a guided tour can be useful.
