Noh Gunbad mosque, which means nine domes, dates to the eighth century CE and is Afghanistan’s earliest known Islamic structure. It is a unique example of a standing monument that forms a link between Afghanistan and the wider region, an early example of a mosque built during the transition from Buddhism to the Islamic period in Balkh.
Providing only partial protection from the strong winds and harsh climate of the Balkh plain, a metal structure was installed to cover the site decades before any comprehensive preservation work was undertaken.
Noh Gunbad, which means nine domes, dates to the eighth century CE and is Afghanistan’s earliest known Islamic structure. The site remains a popular pilgrimage destination for the adjoining shrine, Haji Piyada, built later.
The crafted stucco adorning the eighth century CE pillars of Noh Gunbad in Balkh is stabilized by conservation experts to maintain their intricate and unique decorative forms. An international team of experts, led by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, has conducted groundbreaking preservation work at this site since 2009.
Daniel Ibled, a member of the project’s restoration team, works to reveal and consolidate the ornamentation at Noh Gunbad in Balkh.
A laborer sifts and screens dirt to be used when mixing concrete.
Six pillars preserved by a French restoration team stand underneath a protective roof. The dirt floor made up of collapsed tiles from the roof will be un-earthed.
The famed nine domes of Noh Gunbad caved in many centuries ago, burying the mosque’s interior. Here a pillar has been partially un-earthed by a team of international and Afghan archaeologists.
A farmer carries fresh forage for his horse near the Old Balkh city wall, a daily chore that has remained the same since Alexander the Great set up camp here in 330 BCE and left the lasting imprint of Greek civilization in central Asia.
Women stride along Balkh’s earthen wall, not far from the shrine of Rabaya-e-Balkhi, a famous woman poet of the Samanid dynasty (ninth–tenth century CE) who was killed after her brother discovered her love for a slave.