Arch at Bust - Helmand Province - Bust, Afghanistan
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 31° 30.080 E 064° 21.413
41R E 628859 N 3485961
100 Afghani depicts this gate and another building I could not identify
Waymark Code: WMT19F
Location: Afghanistan
Date Posted: 09/08/2016
Views: 11
Arch at Bust
"Variant Name (includes): Arch at Lashkar Gar (Lashkari Bazar), Arch at Qal'eh-ye Bost (Qal'eh-ye Bust, Qal'eh-ye Bist, Qal'a-i-Bust, Qal'a-i-Bost, Qal'a-i-Bist, Qala Bist, Qala Bust, Qala Bost).
"Helmand Province. South of the inner moat of the Citadel of Bust.
Date: Ghurid, 12th century.
""The ancient city of Bust on the east bank of the Helmand river in southern Afghanistan was settled as early as the 7th century BC and lived its golden age under the Ghaznavids, who established it as their winter capital in 976 AD. The monumental arch located to the north of the citadel mount (Qal'a-i Bust) was built by Ghurid rulers following their conquest of the city in 1149.
The pointed archway spans about twenty-five meters and is flanked by buttresses carved with bands of inscriptions and blind arches. An early photograph of the arch shows a northern buttress crumbled to half the height of the archway, carved with a vertical Kufic band adjoining the arch and two tiers of blind niches separated with horizontal panels of inscriptions. The lower tier in this image features a broad horse-shoe arch, while the upper tier includes twin pointed arches. Both the north and south buttresses were capped above the lower tier of niches during the 1960s restoration, leaving Kufic borders rising alone on either side of the arch. Brick supports were erected inside the arch in the 1970s; the archway is blocked on both sides by brick walls.
T"he decorative effort of the arch is concentrated on the western façade, which contains the inscriptive bands. The outer surface of the arch is covered a tile or terracotta band of floral arabesques and a band of interlacing geometric motifs -- including pentagrams and Hindu swastikas -- made of tiles encrusted with stucco. Kufic bands to the right and left of the arch contain incomplete segments of a Quranic verse and the foundation inscription, respectively. The arch soffit, which is more than one and a half meters wide, is covered with a tile relief interlacing stars and hexagons filled in with terracotta floral motifs. The exterior of the buttresses were decorated with tiles during the restorations." ~ Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage, July 17, 2006