Ute Franke

Excavations and Explorations in Herat City Ute Franke

This book is the second in a series of three volumes presenting the results of the German-Afghan Archaeological Mission to Herat. The Old City Project started in 2005 and concluded in September 2009, when the restored Timurid gateway was handed over to the Afghan government. The work on the citadel was supplemented by explorations in Kuhandaz and minor investigations in the city of Herat proper. It was conducted 2005 and 2008 in collaboration with the Delegation Archeologique Francaise en Afghanistan (DAFA); the conservation of the gateway was carried out in close cooperation with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. This work unfolded archaeological remains from the 1st millennium BCE to the 19th century. Notwithstanding stratigraphic gaps in the cultural sequence substantial evidence on the material culture and chronological developments through these 2500 years was obtained. For the first time, Iron Age and Achaemenid settlement traces were discovered as well as objects from the 10th-15th century, a Timurid gateway to the citadel and 16th-19th century remains, opening new perspectives on Ancient Herat and its urban topography.