The Sulayman Mountain (also known as Taht-I-Suleiman, Sulayman Rock or Sulayman Throne) is the only World Heritage Site located entirely in the country of Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzstan shares the Tian-Shan Silk Road Site with China and Kazakhstan).^[1] It is located in the city of Osh and was once a major place of Muslim and pre-Muslim pilgrimage. The rock rises abruptly from the surrounding plains of the Fergana Valley and is a popular place among locals and visitors, with a splendid view.(See List of World Heritage Sites in Kyrgyzstan)

This mountain is thought to be the famous landmark of antiquity known as the “Stone Tower” by some researchers and historians, that Claudius Ptolemy wrote about in his famous work Geography (Ptolemy). It marked the mid-point on the ancientSilk Road, the overland trade route taken by caravans between Europe and Asia.^[2]

Sulayman (Solomon) is a prophet in the Qur'an, and the mountain contains a shrine that supposedly marks his grave. Women who ascend to the shrine on top and crawl though an opening across the holy rock will, according to legend, give birth to healthy children. The trees and bushes on the mountain are draped with numerous "prayer flags", small pieces of cloth that are tied to them.