16 Tuman Aqa mosque
The Tuman Aqa complex (a mausoleum and mosque from 1404 and 1405) are situated in the upper part of the Shah-i-zinda, close to the Khodja Akhmad mausoleum.
The mosque is partially hidden behind a covered passage(15 on the plan). It's connected with the mausoleum by a window, through which people gathering in the mosque could look into the mausoleum.
Above the entrance of the mosque there's an inscription with the text: “hasten to prayer before death…hasten to repentance before death.." These are sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad and, of course, are statements urging the visitors towards prayer and repentance before death.
There is also an inscription attributed to the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law 'Ali stating “there is no strength except in obedience to God the Exalted.”
Above this inscription there's a geometric pattern, created with decagons, barrel shaped hexagons and ties. Remarkably there's just one complete10-pointed star in the whole tympanum. There are quarters of a star in both corners and 1/3 of a star in the apex.
But below the pattern is curious. One could expect half of a 10-pointed star. The space left corresponds with it, but instead there's a barrel shaped hexagon and two pentagons below. But the rest, as the little triangle below doesn't correspong with the rest of the pattern. Is this 15th century focussing on the only star or a bad restauration? One could thing 'the second', but a picture before the restauration doesn't point to a 10-pointed star below but indeed shows a barrel shaped hexagon too.
