Samarkand

Samarkand (Uzbek Latin: Samarqand; Uzbek Cyrillic and Tajik: Самарқанд; Persian: سمرقند‎‎; Russian: Самарканд), alternatively Samarqand or Samarcand, is a city in modern-day Uzbekistan and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. There is evidence of human activity in the area of the city from the late Paleolithic era, though there is no direct evidence of when exactly Samarkand was founded; some theories indicate that it was founded between the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, at times Samarkand was one of the greatest cities of Central Asia.[2]