Afghanistan: Herat - Areia Antiqua (II)

2. Searching for the roots of an old capital

Excavations in Herat

Location

Herat. Blick auf Kohandaz und den Musallah-Komplex

Herat is the capital of Afghanistan´s north-westernmost province. It lies at an altitude of 1250 m at the foot of the Paropamisos in the fertile river valley of the Hari Rud. Here, major crossroads connecting Iranian Khorasan with Samarkand and Bukhara, with India via Kandahar, and Balkh, Bamyan and Ghazni, meet.

History

	Qual´a-e Ekhtyaruddin. Achämenidisches Gefäß.

First mentioned in the Avesta and as a satrapy in Achaemenian texts, ancient Areia has a long history. Alexander the Great destroyed and rebuilt its capital Artacoana. Whether this city is modern Herat is unknown and nothing but a few stray finds support the pre-Islamic textual evidence. Also the Parthian, and Sasanian kings, and even the Early Muslim rulers left hardly any tangible remains. The survey reveals that this changed with the Ghaznavids and Ghorids who ruled from the 10th to the later 12th century. The city was known for its metalwork and mosque, but little more is known. In 1232, Genghis Khan struck a death blow to the region, wiping out cities, irrigation systems, agriculture, and trade. The city recovered under the Karts, to be once more destroyed by Tamerlane in 1381. It and embarked to its most prosperous time when his son Shah Rukh, his wife Gawhad Shah (d. 1457), and Hussayn Baiqara (1468-1506) made Herat 1409 capital of their empire, home to artists, philosophers, saints and poets. Numerous monuments and works of art date to this period.

From the 16th century onwards, Herat was rather part of Safavid Persia than Mughal India. Struggles for power continued and the city was besieged several times, most devastatingly by the Persians in 1837-8 and in 1857. With the creation of a united Afghanistan, Herat was separated from Iran.  

Objectives

	Kohandaz, Befestigungsanlage

The projects targets at locating the remains of the pre-Timurid city that lies buried underneath the 15th century architecture and the modern city. In the controversial discussion, the ancient city is located either in Kohandaz, an oval-shaped mounded area north of the city, in the grid planned old city, or 80km west of Herat in Zendejan, a hypothesis that is not confirmed through the survey. 

History of Research

	Panorama der Festung Qal´a-e Ekhtyaruddin.

Apart from research on the later Islamic period, mainly based on textual evidence and architecture, little primary work has been carried out. A small excavation was carried out under the direction of A. Bruno on the citadel, in the frame of its restoration. 

Current Work

	Qal´a-e Ekhtyaruddin. Blick über Schnitt 1.

In 2005, two areas were investigated, Kohandaz and Qala´e Ekhtyaruddin. A city survey in Old Herat included inspection of foundation ditches that were up to 5 m deep and ancient sections. For 2006, a drilling program is scheduled. 

Results

	Qala-e Ekhtyaruddin
	Schnitt 3. Nördlicher Außenbereich.
	Schnitt 3. Chinesisches Porzellan und Imitationen, 14.-15. Jh.
	Kohandaz. Schale aus dem Brunnen, 11. Jh.

Work in Kohandaz brought to light a substantial fortifation wall with glacis, towers, and possibly, a bastion. These structures date most likely to the Timurid period and were re-used and built over later-on. The 15th cent. cemetery that has developed around a shrine rests on substantial silt deposits which are at least 10m high. They give testimony to intensive irrigation, a finding that can be matched with historical sources saying that the area north of the town was only built over by a bazaar in the 10th cent. Although the existence of an older site underneath these deposits cannot be excluded, they are beyond the reach of spade or excavator. Already now it is however certain that the oval shaped perimeter wall and plan of this area are not related with an antique city.

The city survey likewise failed to produce evidence older than ca. 300 years, but this is hardly surprising considering the fact that Herat is a living city. Whatever remains are present, they must also be deeply buried. Since open space is limited and since there is no clue the remains of pre-Timurid Herat are within reach, the drilling program is the most economical and in fact the only feasible solution.

The citadel, Qala' e Ekhtyaruddin, rises almost 20m high at the intersection of the perimeter walls of Kohandaz and Old Herat. Considering the structural particulars, such as the presence of a moat along the foot and the encroachment by concrete buildings, the present use as cultural centre, and last not least or areas that are still mined, an area in the upper (eastern) portion was selected for a one week sounding. Six building levels were exposed that cover the time from the 15th to the late 19th cent. AD. The upper three phases belong to the more recent times, when the Persian siege (1937-8) triggered the first Anglo-Afghan war. In the lowest two levels, the burnt brick architecture is replaced by mudbrick- and paksha walls. It is tempting to match them with historic records that mention the destruction of the mud fortifications through Timur (in 1381) and the subsequent rebuilding with burnt bricks, lasting 20 years, under Shah Rukh, when Herat was capital of the Timurid empire. The objects retrieved from these layers are important for dating the survey collections and thus for establishing a regional chronological and typological framework. While mainstream and imported Samanid, Ghaznavid and Ghorid pottery wares are known from excavations at Samarkand, Nishapur, Lashkari Baazar, Balkh, Kandahar, and Ghazna, the local types, even Timurid domestic, or local, wares as well as all later earthenware of the 16th to 19th cent. are rather unknown and therefore, the well stratified assemblage provides a unique chance for studying this material.

The drilling program, further excavations and the survey will answer the question, if and where the capital of Areia Antiqua can be located. The information gained through the unique chance to combine the different methodological approaches will reveal the important role Herat played as regional centre in between Samarqand, Nishapur and Sistan in the "Eastern Provinces" and since prehistory.  

Cooperation

Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan (DAFA), Kabul
Ministerium für Information und Kultur, Kabul
Department of Monuments and Sites Herat
National Institute of Archaeology in Afghanistan
Seminar für Orientalische Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bonn  

Contact

PD Dr. Ute Franke

Telefon: 03018-7711-325
Telefax: 03018-7711-313
Email: ufv@eurasien.dainst.de

Further Contact Partners

Roland Besenval, DAFA (www.dafa.org.af)

Sponsors

German Foreign Office  

Bibliography

Allen, Terry 1983. Timurid Herat. Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B, Nr. 56, Wiesbaden.

Bruno, A. 1976. The Citadel and Minarets of Herat, Afghanistan, Turin.

Samizay, M. R. 1981 Islamic Architecture in Herat. A Study Towards Conservation, Kabul.