The 12-Century Wonder and Mystery of Afghanistan

[Swede]

Some really awesome photos.




snip

Built back in 1190s by the once great Ghorid empire, this enigmatic and intricately-ornamented ancient "skyscraper" stands like a missile pointing at the stars - a 65-meter high minaret, the second biggest religious monument of its kind in the world.

Originally it was topped by the lantern - making it a sort of the dry land lighthouse (!), surrounded by the 2400m high mountains:

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2011/07/mysterious-minaret-of-jam.html

[dhill926]

1. fascinating.........

thanks for posting.

[xchrom]

2. lovely. nt

[fishwax]

3. great photos -- thanks for sharing ... the pictures of Lebanon on the next page are also impressive

:kick:

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Beautiful..

[truedelphi]

5. Thank you for posting this about Afghanistan.

amazing photos.

i read a book some fifteen years back, about the herbalists of Afghanistan and how they were tied in to growing their plants and gardens in ways that no other country could compare to. I made up my mind that someday I would visit and meet these gardeners and experience these things myself..

They knew the exact moment to pick a crop. They planted some crops at the moon's waning, others at the new moon, etc.

But now that dream of mine is probably not possible, even if I could afford it. The years of the Taliban, and now the on going American drone warfare would make such a trip rather risky, and I doubt that many of these herbalists have been able to pass on the fruits of their knowledge.