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 lies at the foot of the Paropamisos mountain, at a height of 1250 m on the northern bank of the Hari Rud river, at the crossroads of the most important travel routes between the old centres in Iran, Central Asia, Afghanistan and India.

History

	Qual´a-e Ekhtyaruddin. Achämenidisches Gefäß.

Herat is mentioned as a locality already in the Rgveda (end of the 2nd millennium BC), and as a satrapy in Achaemenid inscriptions since the time of Dareios. Alexander the Great destroyed Artacoana, the capital of Areia, and built it anew. However, only few chance finds derive from this time, and even the succeeding dynasties (Parthians, Sassanians, Kushan, Hephtalids) are known mainly through written sources. The situation changed only with the advent of the Ghaznivids and Ghorids. Herat became a political, economical and cultural centre and was renowned for metalwork. This time span (10th-13th century AD) is also archaeologically now well evidenced, thanks to the results of a survey in Herat province. In the years 1232 (Genghis Khan) and 1381/5 (Timur) Herat, its hinterland and irrigation systems were destroyed by the Mongols. Yet, soon after the city grew to reach its greatest flourish: In 1409 Shah Rukh, son of Timur, made Herat the capital of his empire and the home of numerous artists. Until today, the architecture and other sources of evidence from this time have determined the image of the city, and the investigation on its history as well. After a changing history, bound with many sieges and destruction, Herat was incorporated into a new Afghanistan in 1863 and soon thereafter lost its strategic importance.  

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.

The project centres around the search for the ancient city. The controversy pertaining to this question sees the location either in Kohandaz, an enclosed oval space with numerous rises on the surface located in the northern part of the citadel, or alternatively in the old city with its almost square and regular layout. A third option is that Alexander the Great founded the city in Zendejan, ca. 80 km west of Herat. To date, however, the survey has not found any confirmative support for the latter hypothesis. 

Current Work

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

Since 2005 excavations are conducted in two areas in Herat, Kohandaz and Qala'e Ekhtyaruddin, and a survey was carried out in the city as well. The project will be concluded in 2009. 

Results

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

Excavations in Kohandaz revealed a massive fortification complex with a glacis, towers and a gate, which likely dates to Timurid times and was later built over. The cemetery of the 15th century, which arose around a Timurid shrine, lies upon massive layers of sediment, which are at least 10 m high and display intensive irrigation measures for agriculture. This find context corresponds with historical sources, according to which the area north of the city first emerged after the 10th century when a bazaar was built there. In 2008, traces of an older settlement were discovered by the DAFA-team in the eastern part of the cemetery, but its date remains to be established. Yet, the oval fortification is certainly not of pre-Islamic origin.

Likewise, the city survey, which entailed observations of construction pits reaching depths of up to 5 m, and drillings for wells, did not result in any indications of building construction that is older than ca. 300 years.

The nearly 20-m high citadel, Qala'e Ekhtyaruddin, lies at the intersection of the oval plan of Kohandaz and the squarish Old City. In view of the architectural peculiarities of the fortress, a site for further archaeological investigations was chosen in the upper part of the fortress (trench 1). Until 2008, three more trenches were opened at the northern base of the citadel (trenches 2 and 3) and in the lower courtyard (trench 4).
In trench 1 a compact succession of numerous building layers was excavated. The upper three phases contain brick architecture and represent the later history of the city, when the siege by the Persians (1837-1838, 1857 led to the first Anglo-Afghan War. In the lower levels a massive clay structure constituting several phases (A-C) was exposed (phases 5-7). The upper part of the building (A) could be part of the clay fortification, which according to written sources was destroyed by Timur in 1385 and subsequently rebuilt out of fired bricks by Shah Rukh. However, the lower part of the building (structure B) was already built in the 13th century. A similar context was found in trench 2. As in Kohandaz, this mudbrick complex is founded upon fine sediments that are mostly sterile.

Excavations in trench 3 brought forth the old gate complex with two projecting towers and a bridge spanning the moat. The exterior surface of the towers still displays the remains of the brick-decoration and a sandstone frieze. The wood used in building inside the tower dates to the early 15th century, that is, to the time of the reconstruction of the city under Shah Rukh. The base of the tower was later covered with a facing of large dressed stones. Then also a glacis, a fortification of the citadel slope, was constructed. The impressive building will be further excavated and conserved in 2008.

The finds from the layers are of fundamental importance for reconstructing the history of the region. Whereas Ghaznavid and Ghorid ceramics have become sufficiently familiar through excavations in Lashkari Bazar, Balkh, Ghazna and Kandahar, Timurid every day wares and pottery of the 16th-19/20th century are hardly known. The stratified examples from the excavation offer helpful important typological and chronological reference points when assessing surface collections.
The oldest layers were reached during excavations in the upper courtyard of the citadel, where a forerunner (C) of the Medieval clay structure is founded upon ash layers and mudbrick architecture. The pottery retrieved from these contexts date as far back as the Achaemenid period (6th-4th centuries BC). This dating is confirmed by a bronze arrowhead and three AMS readings. Thus, the presence of an ancient settlement in Herat has been proven for the first time. Yet, there is no trace of Alexander the Great.  

Cooperation

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

Contact

PD Dr. Ute Franke

Vorderasiatische Archäologie
Telefon: ++49-30-20905403
Telefax: ++49-30-20905402
Email: ute_franke@yahoo.de

Further Contact Partners

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

Sponsors

German Foreign Office  

Bibliography

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

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

U. Franke (ed.), Herat National Museum - Areia Antiqua through Time (Berlin 2008).

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