The name itself feels like an incantation, whispered across deserts and centuries: Samarkand. It conjures images of caravans laden with silk and spices, of turquoise domes shimmering under a relentless sun, and of a place at the very edge of the map where the world’s cultures collided. Samarkand is not just a city in modern-day
Imagine standing on the median of Central Parkway in Cincinnati today. Traffic rushes past, and the noise of the city surrounds you. Now, transport yourself back to the 1850s. The asphalt disappears. In its place flows the Miami and Erie Canal, a waterway crowded with barges and lined with industrious activity. Across that water lies