Minaret of Jam, Ghor Province, western Afghanistan

The Minaret of Jam stands sixty-five meters tall in a deep rugged valley at the juncture of the Hari and Jam rivers, approximately one hundred kilometers east of Herat. It was built by Ghurid sultan Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad bin Sam (1163-1203). The foundation plaque above the base on the north side has been read differently by Pinder-Wilson and by Sourdel-Thomine as 1194/95 and 1174/75. The earlier date supports the prevailing argument that the minaret was erected alone to commemorate the Ghurid conquest of Ghazna in 1173. Remains of a settlement on the northern bank of Hari and surrounding hillsides, and pottery fragments collected in the area suggest that the site may be the lost Ghurid capital of Firuzkuh destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1222. Remains of a fort or castle are seen on a hilltop to the east of the minaret.

Made entirely of fired brick, the minaret is composed of a two-tier cylindrical body raised seven meters on an octagonal base. Two spiral staircases, accessed from a single doorway above the ground, provide access to two balconies atop the lower shaft and midway up the upper shaft, visiting six vaulted chambers located in between. Only the supports have remained of the brick balconies. The minaret is capped at sixty-five meters with a cupola (now damaged) raised on six open archways.


The two towers of the minaret shaft differ structurally. The broad lower shaft is made of thick walls enveloping two spiral staircases at center; it rises to a height of thirty-eight meters, with an exterior diameter diminishing from 9.7 meters at the base to 6 meters at top. The narrow upper shaft, by contrast, has a central void spanned by six cross-vaults resting on four internal buttresses. The stairs are here channeled into the narrow spaces between the walls and the buttresses.


The rich decoration of the minaret, executed with tiles and terracotta in high relief, has largely survived and was analyzed in detail by Sourdel-Thomine. The upper shaft features three epigraphic bands -- one below the cupola and two below the second balcony -- that contain the shahada, Quranic verses from Sura al-Saff and the name of Ghiyath al-Din, respectively. The two lower bands are separated by a thick decorative band featuring a symbolic vase motif found in the Ghazna palace of Mas'ud III and on coins issued at Firuzkuh.


The lower shaft is covered entirely with eight vertical tile panels that lead up to a thick epigraphic band below the first balcony. Each panel h