Samarqand

Samarqand (Persian: سَمَرْقَند; Özbekça: Самарқанд), previously Sämizkänd (Türki: سَمِزْکَنْد) and before that, Märäkändä (Ancient Greek: Μαράκανδα), is an ancient city along the Silk Road.

Location

67.03, 39.68

Etymology

The current name of the city, Samarqand, possibly goes back to Tägäräk *sämirʲ- "to fatten" and Sogdian *känd "city." This is assuming that the term is related to its Türki name Sämizkänd, from Tägäräk *sämirʲ "fat" and Sogdian *känd "city." However, if the city's ancient name, Märäkändä, is a truncation of *sämäräkändä, then the Türki name would accordingly be a re-etymologization of the existing name. Even so, It is unclear what sämärä could have meant in early Sogdian.