By The Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Herat, Afghanistan
Northwest corner of Masjid-i Juma (1958/1962) by Josephine Powell, Hollis Archive, Harvard University LibraryThe Aga Khan Trust for Culture
The history of Herat can be traced back to the ancient region of Ariea (Old Persian: Haraiva), which was mentioned in the Avesta (the sacred text of the Zoroastrians composed between 1500 and 1000 BCE) as the location of several cities.
Described by Herodotus as the ‘breadbasket of central Asia’, in 330 BCE, the capital of Ariea (Artacoana) was subdued by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, who built a fortress and renamed the city Alexandria in Ariea.
The remains of the square-plan city of Alexandria in Ariea can be clearly seen in aerial images of modern Herat, with the citadel fortress of Qala Ikhtyaruddin at its norther perimeter.
Archaeological excavations within the citadel have revealed Achaemenid remains at the site that predate Alexander’s intervention. While it is difficult to establish whether Alexander built his city directly above Artacoana, it remains clear that Alexandria in Ariea was built adjacent to and as an extension of a much older Achaemenid settlement.
Nineteenth century illustrations of Herat by British LibraryThe Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Over the next two millennia, the city of Herat was besieged, occupied, destroyed, and rebuilt many times by more than a dozen dynasties (Seleucid, Parthian, Sasanian, Abassid, etc.) and conquerors.
Nineteenth century illustrations of Herat by British LibraryThe Aga Khan Trust for Culture
The Mongols razed the city to the ground in 1221-22, before it was again rebuilt by the Timurid King Shah Rukh and his wife Queen Gawhar Shad as the capital of the Timurid Empire in the early 15th Century.
Referred to as the ‘Pearl of the Khorasan’ by the 15th century poet Jami, many of the Herat’s most important surviving monuments can be attributed to the Timurids under whom the city flourished as a center of eastern cultural renaissance and rebirth, said to have rivaled the beauty of Florence at its height.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) wishes to express its appreciation, first and foremost, to its staff and consultants for their tireless efforts and commitment towards preserving Afghanistan’s rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
In addition to resources provided directly by AKTC, the restoration of heritage sites shown in this exhibition were supported through financial contributions made by the Federal Republic of Germany, the Government of the United States and its Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.
This online exhibition was made possible through the efforts of Theresa zu Leiningen, Mohammad Baqir Yaqubi and Dr. Arash Boostani.
