Chashma-Ayub: the spring of Job, Bukhara

Job, known in Islam as the prophet Ayub, is revered for his patience in suffering. A legend tells that he came to the Bukhara oasis at a time of drought, when people were dying of thirst. He struck the ground with his staff, and a spring of pure, cool water burst out. The water was said to have healing properties, and the place became a site of pilgrimage. People still come to drink the water or wash their faces with it, especially those hoping for a cure for skin and eye diseases.

Whether or not one believes the legend, the existence of a spring of good water in an oasis that depended on canals and pools made the site precious, and shrines grew up around it.

The building is a long structure of several chambers built at different times. The oldest part goes back to the 12th century; the main part dates from the 1380s, in the reign of Timur, and later rooms were added in the 16th century.

Its most striking feature is the conical dome, a pointed cone on a tall cylindrical drum over the chamber with the spring. This form is very rare in Bukhara; it is typical of Khorezm, the region around Khiva and Urgench, and it is believed that Timur brought craftsmen from Khorezm after conquering it. The cone stands out against the round domes of the city and is one of the most recognisable silhouettes in Bukhara.

The walls are of plain baked brick with little decoration, and the interior is cool and dim. In one chamber is the well with the spring water, in another a tomb, sometimes associated with a saint.

Since the late 20th century the building has housed a museum of water supply, which is more interesting than it sounds. Bukhara stands in the dry plain of the lower Zarafshan, and its survival always depended on water. The museum shows the canals that brought water from the river, the system of more than a hundred stone-lined pools (hauz) where townspeople drew water, the water carriers who sold it in leather bags, and the diseases, such as the parasitic guinea worm, that spread from stagnant water. It explains why the pools were drained in the 1920s and 1930s, leaving only a few, such as Lyabi-Hauz.

There are also displays on the Aral Sea disaster, caused by diverting the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for cotton irrigation, a reminder that water remains the critical issue for Central Asia.

Next to Chashma-Ayub stands the modern memorial to Imam al-Bukhari, built in the 2000s to honour the great hadith scholar who was born in Bukhara in 810. His tomb is near Samarkand: see the Imam al-Bukhari complex. The memorial hosts a small exhibition on his life and work.

Around the shrine are the stalls of the Kolkhoz bazaar, Bukhara’s central market, and the remains of the mud-brick city walls that once encircled the city.

Location: in Samanid Park, on the western edge of the old city, about 5 minutes’ walk from the Samanid mausoleum and 10 minutes from the Ark.

Tickets: a small fee for the museum.

Time needed: 20–30 minutes.

Tips: combine with the Samanid mausoleum and the Bolo-Hauz mosque in a morning on the western side of the old city. Drink the water only from the designated tap if you wish, and be aware that it is not treated like tap water. The conical dome photographs best from the park to the south, with blue sky behind it.