RS 323 und 324 — Teile der alten Stadtmauer von Herat

• R. Stuckert (1994): Erinnerungen an Afghanistan, S. 48: „Heutzutage ist Herat nur noch eine Provinzstadt. Im 15. Jahrhundert war es jedoch das kulturelle Zentrum Mittelasiens. In Herat bestanden eine bedeutende Schule für Miniaturenmalerei und eine berühmte Koran-Schule. Aus dieser Zeit stammen die Reste einiger herrlicher Bauten […] Meine Hauptarbeit ist es nun, dieses Bauwerk aufzunehmen, zu untersuchen und Vorschläge zur Erhaltung und zur Gestaltung der Umgebung zu machen. […] Die Altstadt bildet ein kompaktes Hof- und Häusergewirr innerhalb des Rechtecks der Stadtmauer von 1,3 auf 1,4 km. Sie lässt sich kaum zu einem neuen Organismus umbauen. So hat man begonnen, daneben eine neue Stadt anzulegen.“
• Collection Edward L. Durand, Zeichnungen ELD 018, 020 und 021 zeigen Teile der Stadtmauer von Herat.
• Collection Afghan Boundary Commission, Fotografie ABC 104 zeigt die Stadtmauer von Herat.
• The Illustrated London News, Vol. 87 (1885/2), Aug. 15, S. 177: Beschreibung von Herat; S. 178: verschiedene Skizzen von Major Holdich.
• The Graphic Vol. 32 (1885/2), July 18, S. 173: Stich und Beschreibung von Herat (Sergeant Galindo).
• C.E. Stewart (1886): The Herat valley and the Persian Border, S. 146-148: Beschreibung der Stadt und ihrer Umgebung, „[…] The town is divided into four quarters by two long central streets, the chief one running from the arg or citadel to the Kandahar gate; the other from the Kushk gate to the Irak gate. The course of these streets, which are about 16 feet wide, is filled up with shops, and these form the four great bazaars of Herat. […]“
• W. Peacocke (1887): Diary of Captain Peacocke, S. 52: „The first appearance of this so-called fortress was disappointing, as, except in the magnitude of the extent of the enclosure, it appeared to be built little different from the ordinary mud forts of the country. The trace of the walls is rectangular and appeared to measure one and a quarter miles by one mile, the longer faces lying north and south. […] The walls appeared to be unbroken and in a good state of repair on the two faces visible. They are throughout of uniform height […] The north-western angle lies on ground somewhat (but very little) higher than the rest of the city, and the two walls converging there have the appearance of slightly running up hill. There are four gates in the walls (originally five, but the second gate in the north face is little used). […]“
• O. von Niedermayer (1935): Im Weltkrieg vor Indiens Toren, S. 97: „Der Grundriss der Stadt ist seit vielen Jahrhunderten fast unverändert geblieben. Er zeigt ein Rechteck von 1400 x 1500 Meter Seitenlänge. Im mittleren nördlichen Teil erhebt sich die auf einem künstlichen Hügel erbaute Burg; in der Mitte jeder Seite liegen durch Bastionen geschützte Tore, von denen aus die Hauptstrassen in die Mitte der Stadt, auf einen überdeckten Platz, Tscharsu genannt, führen, die Stadt so in vier fast gleiche Teile teilend. Umgeben ist sie von einer mächtigen, etwa 10 Meter hohen und am Fusse 20 Meter dicken Lehmmauer mit einem sumpfigen Graben davor, die aber keinerlei Verteidigungswert im Kampfe gegen moderne Waffen besitzt.“
• E. Fox (1943): Travels in Afghanistan, S. 134: „The present city of Herat (with possibly 10,000 inhabitants) is distinguished from most Oriental cities by the great earthwork on which the city is built. This is about two hundred fifty feet in width at the base and fifty feet high, with many towers. A great moat surrounds the earthwork.“
• L.W. Adamec (1975): Herat and north-western Afghanistan, S. 160-179: Herat, S. 175-176: „Along the crest of the mound above the upper shirazi runs the main wall, the top of which is tolerably level; its height therefore varies with the dips and rises of the mound. In some places it seems to be barely 20 feet. The thickness of the wall is also variable; often it is very weak. This is especially noticeable on the south side, where its greatest thickness at the base is probably not more than 10 feet, and in the worst places it may not be more than 3 or 4 feet. Of the total height, 6 ½ to 8 feet is parapet wall only. […] It is everywhere penetrable by the shells of modern field guns. […]“
• F.R. Allchin; N. Hammond (1978): The Archaeology of Afghanistan, S. 379: „The city wall, already disappeared by the end of the fifteenth century, was still guarded by towers and encircled by moats.“
• W. Ball (1981): Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan, S. 123-125; S. 103-104; S. 447-448: Pläne.
• R. Samizay (1981): Islamic Architecture in Herat, S. 112-117: the old town of Herat, S. 114: „The citadel of the town is located near the northern wall. The citadel is a strong old fort that was built by Fakhruddin Kart in the year 1285 A.D. and was named after Ikhtyaruddin who was governor of Herat at the time. […]“; S. 212: „The Bar Durrani District which occupies the northwestern quarter of the old town is identified more than anything else by the paramount location of Ikhtyaruddin Fortress. In this district there as well exist some portions of the old wall located in its northwestern and southeastern corners.“
• A.W. Najimi (1988): Herat, The Islamic city, S. 36-38: „The city square plan was about 1,500 metres on each side and the limits were defined by the strong fortifications while access into the city was provided through five gates on four sides of the city. […] During the 14th century the walls were repaired and restored by the Karts. During the 15th century, Shah Rukh raised them higher by about 15 metres and strengthened them by increasing the base width by about 30 metres. Throughout successive periods of the Safavids and the Afghans (18th century), the fortifications must have been periodically maintained as no invading armies could enter the city in spite of the long sieges. […] The walls had fully existed until unfortunately their destruction began about the 1940s making way for extension of the city to its periphery. In some parts however, remains of the walls are still standing in a ruined condition that can be noticed at the northern and western parts and the southern corners."; S. 69: "In Herat, this [illegal occupation] has happened after the 1940s because of the official expansion process during which the city walls were destroyed in the north-eastern part of the city. In short, due to lack of proper governmental housing programmes and lack of interest, and lack of appreciation for historical remains, people have illegally used the earth of the ramparts, making bricks for construction, and have built squatters' houses on the city walls […]“; S. 70: „The walls of the city […] were still until 1942 in good condition and one could not penetrate them. […] However, the city walls were to become neglected and slowly broken in different parts, while the city ports were no longer existing.“; S. 150: diese Aufnahme, „Fig. 8.4. View of the maidan Pay-i-hesar, the city’s northern wall and the area north to the citadel, looking down from top of the citadel. Photo: Stuckert, 1942.“; S. 151-152: „This area (area north of the city wall) was also created as the result of implementation of the city plan prepared for Herat in the late 1930s. This open area is a kind of left-over that lies behind the later built constructions along the modern main street (N), up to the northern skirt of the city wall.“
  „As a result of the construction here, the wall which already had been broken remained degraded and no attention has been paid to its conservation. Consequently people dealing with the brick industry began digging for clay from the ramparts. […]“

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