Minaret of Jam

The Minaret of Jam stands in a remote river valley in the mountains of western Afghanistan, where the Jam stream meets the Hari Rud. It is about sixty-five metres tall, one of the tallest brick minarets in the world. It was built in the late twelfth century by the Ghurid dynasty, probably under the sultan Ghiyath al-Din, and is thought by many scholars to mark the site of the Ghurid summer capital, Firuzkuh. In 2002 it became Afghanistan's first UNESCO World Heritage site.

The tower rises in tapering cylinders from an octagonal base. Its surface is wrapped from base to top in panels of carved brick, geometric patterns and bands of Kufic and naskh calligraphy, a rounded cursive script. Among the texts worked into the brick is the entire Surah Maryam, the chapter of the Qur'an devoted to Mary, and a band of turquoise glazed tile carries an inscription naming the sultan.

Because the minaret stands on a riverbank, floods have long threatened its foundations, and it leans slightly. It is on UNESCO's list of sites in danger, and conservation work has aimed to protect the base from the river. Reaching Jam is still difficult, by long roads through the mountains, which is part of why the tower stood almost unknown to the outside world until the twentieth century.