Protecting Historic Treasures U.S. Support for Cultural Preservation in South and Central Asia

Protecting Historic Treasures U.S. Support for Cultural Preservation in South and Central Asia

Content

Afghanistan 2Bangladesh 4

India 6Kazakhstan 11Kyrgyzstan 12

The Maldives 13Nepal 14

Pakistan 17Sri Lanka 22Tajikistan 26

Turkmenistan 30Uzbekistan 36

Content

Afghanistan 2Bangladesh 4

India 6Kazakhstan 11Kyrgyzstan 12

The Maldives 13Nepal 14

Pakistan 17Sri Lanka 22Tajikistan 26

Turkmenistan 30Uzbekistan 36

I n t r o d u c t i o nThe people of South and Central Asia bring together some of the world's

oldest cultures and religious traditions; their ethnic and cultural diversityreflect the changes that swept across the region over centuries. Today'snational boundaries are relatively modern inventions in a land crossed bygenerations of traders and pilgrims, nomads and warriors. As South andCentral Asia join the emerging global economy, historians and archeologistsare exploring and unveiling the area's diverse intellectual and cultural her-itage. Simultaneously, many ancient structures, artifacts and traditions are inprecipitous decline, making preservation an urgent priority.

Americans are more concerned than ever about cultural preservation.Public and private museums, philanthropic organizations and educationalinstitutions in the United States have made extraordinary efforts to preserve,understand and interpret South Asia's history and cultures. In addition, theAmerican people are active partners for historic preservation in South andCentral Asia through the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation.Although this booklet documents only a few of these projects, it illustratesthe broad scope of these efforts and America's deep respect for this multi-cultural region's historic and contemporary achievements.

September 2007

Performance of the Pally BaulSamaj UnnayanSangstha,Bangladesh.

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Pavilion Restoration inthe Bagh-e Babur

The Bagh-e Babur, once again one of Kabul'smost popular green spaces, was construct-ed by Babur, founder of the Mogul dynasty

that ruled much of South Asia from 1526-1857.The 11-acre "hanging garden," set on a hillsideand watered by a stream from above, became theemperor's burial place after his death in Lahore in1530. His heirs regarded the garden as a place ofreverence.

At its center stands a 100-year-old pavilion,restored by the Aga Khan Trust with the help ofinternational donations including a grant in 2002from the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for CulturalPreservation. Jolyon Leslie, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Kabul,speculates that the late 18th century Afghan rulerAmir Abdur Rahman Khan, whose palace standsnear the pavilion he built, may have used it toentertain guests. Above it sits Babur's tomb and asmall, white, marble mosque commissioned byShah Jehan, 17th century builder of the TajMahal, to honor his ancestor.

With the decline of the Mogul empire inAfghanistan, the garden deteriorated, and anearthquake damaged its structures in 1842.Despite restorations by Khan, and later by KingNadir Shah in the 1930s, decades of neglect, 23years of war and four years of drought destroyedthe gardens and damaged the buildings. Thepavilion lost its doors, windows and roof,although the ceiling survived. Matching the sur-viving ceiling tiles was one of the most difficultparts of the process and they are now among thebuilding's most eye-catching features for Kabuliswho enjoy the replanted garden.

High above the Bagh-e Babur sits the NoonGun hilltop platform. For more than 100 years, apair of 19th century cannons were fired each dayto mark the noon hour. In 2005 the U.S. Embassyprovided financial support for the reconstrution ofthis historical site.

AFGHANISTAN

Restoration of theMullah MahmoodMosque

The Mullah Mahmood Mosque is a treasurebrought back from the brink of oblivion. Arare 17th century wooden structure at the

heart of Kabul's old city, the mosque serves ordi-nary Kabulis in a neighborhood still scarred bythe factional conflict that tore the city apart in themid-1990s. Doors, window frames and rare cedarpaneling from the ceiling were used for firewoodor blown away by gunfire and shrapnel.

Currently named for a 20th century religiousleader, the mosque's original builder and year ofconstruction remain unknown. Its two-storydesign includes a trapdoor so the sermon can berepeated to the congregation on the ground floor.More than 1,000 devotees can worship in thehuge edifice.

Initial restoration work, to keep the structurefrom collapsing, was funded by a grant from theU.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservationin 2003. An additional U.S. Embassy granthelped complete the job, and the mosquereopened in 2004.

The first task was to remove unexploded ord-nance and human remains. Thousands of bricks,baked to match the originals, fit into the rebuiltfloor. Gypsum plasterwork was restored based onsurviving decoration. It took 45 workers morethan two months just to remove 400 years of oilpaint from the cedar pillars, which had also beendamaged by shrapnel and bullets. Every pillar inthe mosque today is original.

Workers dismantled the roof, replaced thelintels and restored the paneled ceiling, althoughcedar matching the quality of the original is nolonger available in Kabul. They also rebuilt theheating system and cleared an undergrounddrainage channel running all the way to the KabulRiver. With the help of the United States, the his-toric Mullah Mahmood Mosque is again open tothe public.

arrival of satellite television, videos and theInternet. Bauls have found their services less indemand and the rich heritage of their songs isin danger of being lost.

To safeguard the community and record its oralheritage, a group of Bangladeshis formed the PallyBaul Samaj Unnayan Sangstha. The U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation gavethe organization a grant in 2005 to record hundredsof Baul songs and to fund a group of performers totour schools throughout the country. The Sangsthaalso collected examples of Baul instruments, andused grant funds to support workshops to pass onskills to a new generation of performers.

Song is one of the most important expres-sions of Bengali culture, infusing society atall levels. It is a 1,000-year-old tradition

that has been perpetuated by a sect of wanderingmusicians who travel from village to villagesinging songs of love for God.

Their repertoire also includes songs for par-ticular events such as festivals, weddings, riceplanting and husking. Embracing elements ofSufism and Hinduism, the Baul tradition pre-datesthe Islamic period and embodies the pluralismwhich is an important element of Bengali identity.

But the indigenous music tradition ofBangladesh has become marginalized with the

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BANGLADESH

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Preserving the Baulcommunity of wandering minstrels

Bangladesh boasts a rich tradition of fine,handmade, metal casting work, producingreligious statues, decorative animal figures

and household utensils. But the craft has faltereddue to competition from cheap, manufacturedwares and the decline of the industry's custodians,the Hindu community, since partition of the Indiansubcontinent in 1947.

This 2,000-year-old tradition survives in 30villages around Dhamrai, in the Manikganj district

northwest of Dhaka. Here, metal crafters practicefour traditional handmade processes: lost wax,clay casting, sand casting, and hammering. Bythe late 1990s, only a handful of artists were prac-ticing the most demanding of these techniques,the lost wax method.

Sukanta Banik, who represents the fifth gener-ation of a metal trading family, formed the Initiativefor the Preservation of Dhamrai Metal-Casting tokeep the tradition of metal casting alive inBangladesh. A grant from the U.S. Ambassador'sFund for Cultural Preservation in 2003 helped Banikand other artisans build an apprenticeship programand a skills exchange program with metalworkersdoing similar work in Nepal. The grant also helpedpromote the craft as an important part of the coun-try's national heritage; Bangladesh Televisionbroadcast a 20-minute program produced with theassistance of the American Center, and a Dhaka artgallery held an exhibition on the art form.

Preservation ofmetal casting traditions atDhamrai,Bangladesh

"After the exhibition, lots of Bangladeshiscame to see our workshop," says Banik. "Before,we only had four or five artisans making smallpieces, and the quality was not so good. Now theartists compete with each other to make betterpieces. It's the confidence of the artists that is dif-ferent now, because of the recognition."

The lost wax method of metal work has a spe-cial place in Bangladeshi culture. Sculptors firstmake a model of the image using a mixture ofparaffin and wax. They coat the image with a layerof fine clay from a nearby riverbank, followed bytwo coarser layers. The mould is placed in a kiln,where the wax is allowed to melt out, andreplaced with molten bronze or brass. Once theimage has cooled, the craftsman removes it fromthe mould, files and polishes it. Because themould has to be broken, each piece is unique.

A small image takes 15 to 20 days to produce,while a big one may take six to eight months.

Cultural and architectural heritage survey atBishnupur, India

The town of Bishnupur in West Bengal ishome to a rich array of unique architectural,artistic and crafts traditions that grew out of

its strategic location between the coastal states ofBengal and Orissa. Historically, the Bishnupurculture fused elements of Bengali, Orissan andIslamic architecture, most strikingly manifested inthe style of local temples. The terracotta and lat-erite structures have curving rooflines that evolvedfrom the style of nearby wood, bamboo and strawhouses. This distinctive roof is surmounted by oneor more pinnacles, an innovation derived fromOrissan temples. Each shrine is either fronted orsurrounded by a gallery, and pierced by anentrance consisting of three arches, suggestingIslamic influence.

Some of the more eye-catching temples arecovered with vividly carved terracotta panels.Artisans developed the technique of baking thearea's rich red earth to make long lasting bricks orsculptures resembling stone carvings. The panelsportray the life of the Hindu god, Vishnu, and hisprincipal avatar, Krishna, as well as aspects ofeveryday life: bullock carts, river boats and hunt-ing scenes.

The Archaeological Survey of India manages14 of the temples, but there has been no overallconservation plan for the town, which flourishedas the capital of the Malla kingdom between 1622and 1758. Smaller, unprotected temples dot theurban area and show signs of neglect or inappro-priate alteration.

Bishnupur also gave rise to a silk sari weav-ing tradition that is still practiced, a classical styleof music known as Bishnupur gharana, and aminiature painting school. Other local traditionsinclude a unique game using round playing cardshand painted with pictures of deities, and theBankura horse, a long-necked figure popular allover India, fashioned from metal or terracotta.Handicrafts are also made from bell metal andembellished with conch shell.

The town's relatively remote location, 140kilometers northwest of Kolkata, meant that its tra-ditions and monuments survived relatively undis-turbed. But in the face of recent regional growthand change, a grant from the U.S. Ambassador'sFund for Cultural Preservation in 2005 allowed theWest Bengal chapter of the Indian National Trustfor Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to developa comprehensive plan to preserve the architecture,arts and crafts of Bishnupur. The plan will be usedto support the listing of the town as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.

"Bishnupur holds a unique place in Bengal'scultural map," says architect Anjan Mitra, whocoordinated the project. "It is the only historicBengali urban complex in the true sense becausenearly all other places are colonial towns."

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INDIA

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Renovations for theNamgyal Institute ofTibetology, Sikkim

On a leafy hillside on the edge of Gangtok,the capital of Sikkim, the NamgyalInstitute of Tibetology houses 45,000

Tibetan manuscripts. It is the third largest collec-tion of its kind in the world and thus, an importantreference center for Buddhist scholarship. Theinstitute's museum contains a rare collection ofstatues, ritual objects, traditional art objects,thangkas (painted, woven and embroideredscrolls) and ancient manuscripts in Sanskrit,Tibetan, Chinese and Lepcha.

Created by the choegyal, or ruler, of Sikkimin 1958, the collection was mostly donated bythe royal family. Parts of it were also donated bythe government of India. "Scholars come from allover the world to use the collection," says theinstitute's director, Tashi Densapa. "Most of themanuscripts come from Tibet."

Bordering Bhutan and sitting astride themain route formerly connecting India with Tibet,Sikkim was a natural collection point for works ofTibetan art and literature. With the loss of muchof Tibet's heritage and the recent growth of inter-est in Tibetan studies, the value of the collectionhas increased dramatically.

The three-story building also houses TibetanBuddhist artifacts in a museum on its groundfloor. These include thangka paintings, statues ofgurus and deities, and tantric ritual objects.

After nearly 50 years in this heavy monsoonregion and with the royal family no longer in aposition to sponsor the facility, the institute wasbeginning to deteriorate rapidly. A grant in 2004from the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for CulturalPreservation helped to address some of theinstitute's most pressing problems. In additionto waterproofing the room, the building wasrewired, and dehumidifiers were installed in thelibrary and museum.

The most visible part of the project was theredesign of the museum display to improvelighting and provide new cabinets that were builtand painted in keeping with traditional Tibetanfurniture design and decoration.

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Preservation of palmleaf manuscripts andrare books, UnitedTheological College, Bangalore

Established in 1910, the United TheologicalCollege in Bangalore is one of India's lead-ing institutions of religious studies. It has

one of the finest religious studies libraries in SouthAsia, and a collection of 2,000 palm leaf manu-scripts that is over 200 years old, written in sever-al Indian languages. The manuscripts bear testi-mony to the rich cultural heritage of India in the18th and 19th centuries. They include folk litera-ture, native medicinal formulae, religious writings,astrological texts and astronomical facts. In addi-tion, there are records of cultural practices and tra-ditional systems of medical, veterinary and agri-cultural sciences. These manuscripts are impor-

tant materials for historical research and a treasuretrove of ethnographic and historical information.

The college also has rare and historic writtenmaterials such as letters from Mohandas K.Gandhi; the first Tamil-language New Testamentprinted in India; and the writings of 18th centuryTamil poet-singer Vedanayagam Sastriar of Tanjore.

In 2006, the U.S. Ambassador's Fund forCultural Preservation awarded a grant to the UnitedTheological College, for the preservation and micro-filming of the palm leaf manuscripts and rare booksin the college's archives. This allows researchers tomore closely scrutinize and use these importanthistoric documents for the first time.

K AZAKHSTAN

The Silk Road was a vast network of routes acrossCentral Asia that flourished during the first millenniumof the current era. As much as it provided a link

between China and Europe, the Silk Road also functioned asa trading network among neighboring communities andstates. In terms of historical development, the movement ofideas and technology along the route was as important asthe trading of goods.

The focus on Silk Road documentation to date has beenon the conservation of remains of the towns that dotted theancient trade network. But conservation architect YelenaKhorosh points out that the success of the route dependedequally on the participation and cooperation of nomadic tribeswho populated the desert through which the Silk Road passed.Nomadic groups were themselves important conduits for themovement of goods, information and technology in the area.

This is particularly true for Kazakhstan, where the north-ern Silk Road passed largely through thinly populated areasof desert and steppe. A project funded by the U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation undertook asurvey of cultural landscapes associated with the Silk Roadin Kazakhstan, paying special attention to collecting evi-dence of nomadic cultures. The project, which runs from2006 to 2007, consists of a survey of existing data and afield survey of likely sites.

Evidence of nomad cultures–such as houses, yurt plat-forms, burial mounds, the remains of wells, and petro-glyphs–will be collected and the sites delineated andmapped to provide a basis for future protection.

Work is underway to compile an unprecedented "serialnomination" of sites associated with the Silk Road for aUNESCO World Heritage listing. Kazakhstani officials hopethat the project will result in the nomination of the first trans-boundary World Heritage Site, stretching across China,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan andTurkmenistan.

On the preliminary list no sites were listed for nomads,says Khorosh, who is project director for the survey, aUNESCO expert and an official at the Kazakh ScientificResearch Institute on Problems of the Cultural Heritage ofNomads.

She says the concept of cultural landscape, which shedescribes as the common work of nature and man, needs tobe more widely recognized in Central Asia, as nomads didnot build monumental cultures. The current economic boomin Kazakhstan adds urgency to the need to identify and pro-tect cultural landscapes, as mining, agriculture, housingand infrastructure projects are often launched without a pre-liminary archaeological survey. Many of the sites also facethreats of flooding and salination due to extensive alterationof watercourses during the last century.

Significant cultural landscapes along the Silk Road

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Restoration and display of the KyrgyzState Museum preciousmetals collection

KYRGYZSTAN

The small vault in the basement of the KyrgyzState Museum in Bishkek houses a remark-able collection of jewelry and artifacts that

make up the funeral hoard of a Hun noblewomanwho lived and died sometime between the firstand fifth centuries.

Each object is highly unusual and exquisite.There is a diadem with a fringe of gold tubes, thecrown still partially inlaid with semipreciousstones; a group of medallions set with cornelianonce used to decorate a bridle and saddle; jadebangles; a pair of rings; and a breast ornamentdecorated with amber and a central figure carvedout of garnet. By far the most striking object is thefuneral mask, an eerie face of beaten gold withcornelian eyes and tree shaped decorations onthe cheeks and nose.

Although the collection was discovered in1958 and has been exhibited in Europe and Japan,it has never been put on display for the Kyrgyzpeople. Because the Kyrgyz State Museum hadinadequate security and display facilities, the col-lection was kept sealed in the vault.

Under a 2006 grant from the U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation,the Centre for Museums Initiatives, an NGO,purchased display cabinets and modern secu-rity alarms so that the Kyrgyz people couldsee these interesting artifacts of their culturalhistory. Further, the project is making precisecopies of the most important pieces in thecollection, so that the originals can be pro-tected from excessive handling and changesin temperature.

In addition to the 156 objects from the Huntomb, the museum's precious metals collectionincludes: ancient Scythian artifacts, including twobronze sacrificial altar supports shaped likewomen, and brooches of gold plated bronze dec-orated with Buddha figures from the eighth andninth centuries. A bronze Buddhist statue showsclear signs of Indian influence.

In addition to underscoring the country'sdiverse and rich historical and religious tradi-tions, the collection showcases Kyrgyzstan's bril-liant metalworking tradition.

The 18th century Eid Mosque is the mostfinely carved of the four coral mosques inMale', the capital of the Maldives. The

unique features of the mosque, probably built onthe site of an ancient Buddhist temple, reflectthe history and geology of the Indian Oceanarchipelago.

The Maldives officially converted to Islam in1153, having previously been VajrayanaBuddhist. The Eid Mosque does not face Meccadirectly, but follows the alignment of its proba-ble predecessor temple. Lined carpet inside themosque shows devotees the correct direction inwhich to pray.

Early mosque designs in the Maldivesechoed the temple designs of India and SriLanka, and it was not until the 19th centurythat people were able to travel easily to Meccaand bring back more classical designs. TheEid Mosque represents the older style, instrong contrast to more modern places of wor-ship in Male'.

Blocks of coral were used relatively com-monly for construction of prestigious buildingsin the Maldives. Although soft when first takenfrom the sea, the stone quickly hardens as itdries, making the carvings durable. Along withintricate geometric patterns, a lock and keydevice features prominently on the mosque'scarved exterior, possibly symbolizing Islam asthe key to paradise. The windows and doorframes are made of finely carved wood, withverses from the Quran forming intricate lacquerdecorations on the ceiling.

Coral mining has been in decline in theMaldives since a partial ban in 1999, and withno remaining crafts people skilled in the art ofcoral carving, the Eid Mosque was seriouslydeteriorating due to lack of maintenance andabuse from the elements before it was damagedfurther by the December 2004 tsunami.

The Mosque was restored with a grant fromthe U.S. Ambassador's Fund for CulturalPreservation in 2005. The main work was toclean dirt and pollution from the coral surfaces.

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Restoration of theEid Mosque, Male', Maldives

THE MALDIVES

The woodwork had been badly damaged byinsects, and had to be restored and re-lacquered.Recent tile work in the forecourt was separatedfrom the walls to prevent contamination of thecoral, but the forecourt and surrounding wallswere left in place to accommodate a moderncongregation that cannot fit into the tiny mosque.

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N E PA L

Crammed with temples built under royalsponsorship since the 16th century, DurbarSquare in the heart of Kathmandu has long

been used for ceremonies symbolizing the powerof the King. It also serves more informal purposes:as a marketplace, an area for social interaction anda venue for speeches and demonstrations.

It is also the site of three major projects under theU.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation.

Unfortunately, pollution, poor maintenanceand unregulated development in recent decadessubstantially degraded Durbar Square and othermonuments in the Kathmandu Valley, now rec-ognized collectively as a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site. The valley is also in a seismiczone; poor restoration work following majorearthquakes throughout the 19th century and in1934 left some monuments weak and vulnerableto the elements.

A comprehensive plan to restore the templesin the square, known as the Kathmandu DurbarInitiative, began in 2000. The work is managed bythe Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, the onlynon-governmental organization in Nepal registeredin the field of heritage conservation. With local andinternational support, the trust has rescued morethan two dozen significant monuments, collecteddata and provided training in conservation.

Every day at dawn, people gather in front of thestatue of the Kal Bhairav to pray, burn incense, andmake offerings of flowers and rice. The black-skinned, three-meter tall demonic figure inspires awe

and devotion as he crushes a prostrate foe beneathhis feet and wields a sword in one of his six hands.

"Bhairav is an incarnation of Shiva. There aremany different forms of the deity, but this one isassociated with justice. People would come hereto resolve disputes," says Rohit Kumar Ranjitkar,the preservation trust's conservation architect, whooversaw the statue's restoration, substantially fund-ed by a grant from the U.S. Ambassador's Fund forCultural Preservation in 2003-2005.

The stone statue was discovered during exca-vation work for a water supply system in the 17thcentury and installed in the square by King PratapMalla. It is believed to be about 800 years old. Partof the restoration work involved removing inappro-priate recent additions to the site, including con-crete and marble walls added in the 1980s. Usinghistoric photos as a guide, restorers removedbrickwork that had been done to repair damagecaused by the 1934 earthquake and replaced itwith more authentic stone.

The U.S. Ambassador's Cultural PreservationFund entirely paid for restoration of the nearbyKageshwar Mahadev Temple in 2004-2005. Builtin 1711 by Queen Bhuvan Lakshmi in memory ofthe late King Bhupalendra Malla, the temple wasprobably originally a pagoda-style structure in thedistinctive local Newari style. Kageshwar, a Hindudeity in the form of a crow, is an incarnation ofShiva. The temple is unusual because its pagoda-style ground floor is surmounted by a Shikhari-style dome. Rohit Kumar Ranjitkar says that thiswas probably added after the temple was dam-aged in an earthquake in the early 19th century.Poor restoration work after the 1934 earthquakeled to further degradation of the Temple. The tim-bers, roof and walls had to be renovated. Mudmortar was reconstructed to reduce vulnerabilityto future earthquakes, and further structuralstrengthening was carried out. Inappropriate redwash was removed from the walls and the originalwood carvings were restored.

The Laxmi Narayan Temple, a small shrineadjacent to the square's oldest monument, the16th century Jagannath Temple, was also recon-structed by the U.S. Ambassador's CulturalPreservation Fund. The original temple wasdestroyed by the 1934 earthquake and rebuilt in asimpler style that did not match the original, so thenew one was constructed according to photo-graphic records. Particular attention was paid tothe carved wood decoration on the doors, doorframes and cornices.

The restoration of Kal Bhairav, the KageshwarMahadev Temple and the Lakshmi Narayan Templerepresent a significant contribution to the rejuvena-tion of Durbar Square, helping preserve Nepal'srich history and identity.

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Restoration of the Kal Bhairav statue,the KageshwarMahadev Temple, andthe Lakshmi NarayanTemple in HanumanDhoka DurbarSquare, Kathmandu

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Restoring Man SinghHaveli, the defining symbol of Rohtas Fort

Rohtas Fort has towered majestically on its heightabove the ancient "royal road" since it was con-structed in 1541 by Emperor Sher Shah Suri

after his defeat of Mogul Emperor Humayun. It is oneof the most important historical medieval forts still inexistence in Pakistan. Within the four-kilometer cir-cumference of this World Heritage Site is the ManSingh Haveli, a Rajput palace. Funded by the U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, theHimalayan Wildlife Foundation was able, starting in2004, to take the first important steps of documentingthe structure and layout of the palace, while carryingout a topographic survey of the area.

After constructing scaffolding and walkways to allowsafe access to the site, emergency consolidation ofdecaying parts of the ground floor of the haveli were com-pleted. Damaged floors, walls and shades on the upperfloors were repaired with lime plaster. Soil erosion in thecourtyard allowed rainwater to seep into the ground floor;that problem was resolved so that water does not accu-mulate. The restorers also had to contend with tufts ofgrass and even a tree penetrating the walls. The expand-ing tree trunk caused part of the base of the cupola's drumto separate from the structure.

Two original motifs encircling the cupola were dis-covered as workers stripped away damaged and decayedmortar; they have been restored, as well as the brickdesign on part of the rim. This allows viewers toget an idea of what the original design lookedlike. Visitors also benefit from new illu-mination, safety railing and infor-mation panels.

PAKISTAN

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Restoration ofarcades adjoining

the Wazir KhanMosque

The Wazir Khan Mosque is an architectural gemhidden amid the chaos of Lahore's old city. Themosque was built by its namesake, the gover-

nor of Lahore, during the reign of the Emperor ShahJehan in 1634-45.

"The Wazir Khan Mosque is unique in the sensethat all the embellishments that were used in variousMogul monuments were employed at this one place,"says Shahbaz Khan, director of the Punjab StateArchaeological Department. These decorative devicesinclude frescoes, stonework, tile mosaics and pat-terned brick paving. The floor of the courtyard uses 25different brick patterns, while the walls are decoratedwith brilliant floral frescoes and verses of the Quranrendered in mosaic. The fine brickwork on the wallsinterspersed with geometric patterns in yellow, blueand green make the building appear lively and inviting.

Arcades on either side of the main gate areanother unusual feature of the mosque. Originally,these were vaulted shops built in a courtyard at theentrance and rented to traders to fund maintenanceof the mosque. While the main building and prayerplaza await major renovation work, the arcades havebeen completely restored with two grants, one in2003 and the other in 2004, from the U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation. Brickand plasterwork have been restored and repainted inthe original colors, and decorative flourishes havebeen returned to their original condition.

The arcades serve as a pleasant entrance to oneof the most exceptional monuments in Lahore and asa meeting place for regular visitors. When major ren-ovations to the mosque are complete, the Punjab gov-ernment plans to rent the stalls to traders once again.

"We want to revive the old custom," says Khan,whose department oversaw the restoration. "We wantto establish a bazaar featuring Lahore's traditionalcrafts. Craftsmen would sit here and demonstratetheir work, such as bookbinding, woodwork, metal-work and jewelry making. They could make decora-tive tiles like those used in the mosque, and frescostyle paintings for sale."

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Restoration of theAlamgiri Gate,Lahore Fort

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Built by the Emperor Akbar on ancient fortifi-cations whose origins are unknown, LahoreFort is one of the great Mogul structures,

along with the Red Forts of Delhi and Agra inIndia. The massive Alamgiri Gate, which EmperorAurangzeb added to the western side in 1673, isone of the Lahore Fort's outstanding features. Itfaces the Badshahi Masjid, reputed to have oncebeen the biggest mosque in the world, and alsobuilt by Aurangzeb.

The fort, containing royal apartments, foun-tains, marble pavilions and a mosque, is a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, and has recently been restoredwith funds from Pakistani and international donors.A 2006 grant from the U.S. Ambassador's Fund forCultural Preservation helped with the restoration ofthe Alamgiri Gate, a familiar site to every Pakistanibecause it appears on the reverse side of Pakistan's50-rupee currency note.

The central arch of the gate is large enough

for the emperor to enter the stronghold mountedon an elephant and is flanked by two enormousfluted bastions decorated with lotus devices andtopped by domed pavilions.

"It's important because it's the main entry forall tourists. It symbolizes Lahore itself. It's on thecover of every book published about Lahore," saysShahbaz Khan, director of the Punjab StateArchaeological Department, which directed therestoration.

The archeologists repaired damaged brick-work at the rear of the gate and restored stonecarvings. But the most visible part of the project isthe restoration of the original plasterwork, whichwas done with lime, then polished with semi-precious stones. Khan says this assures thefaçade of the gate will remain protected and virtu-ally maintenance free, as the annual monsoonrains will wash off the dirt, just as the originalbuilders had planned it.

Taxila, an important city on the Indus River thatserved as the crossroads for three major traderoutes, was a cradle of Mahayana Buddhism

and was a Hindu and Buddhist religious centerfrom the 6th to the 5th centuries BCE. Alexanderthe Great passed through in 326 BCE, collectingfrom Taxila's king a supply of war elephants for theplanned conquest of India. From the second cen-tury BCE, Greek religion, Zoroastrianism,Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism were practicedin Taxila. It is now a multiple-location UNESCOWorld Heritage Site northwest of Islamabad.

Excavations near Taxila, at the site of a 5th cen-tury BCE monastery called Jinan Wali Dheri, tookon exciting new importance when archeologistsdiscovered rare Buddhist wall murals, the only such

Buddhist era paintings ever discovered in Pakistan.With assistance provided by a grant from the

U.S. Ambassador's Cultural Preservation Fund,conservationists working with Pakistan'sDepartment of Archeology and Museums tookmeasures to protect the monastery from illegalexcavation, fortify structural remains, and protectmoveable antiquities from further destruction,manhandling and displacement. The Fund alsohelped with erection of appropriate access facili-ties and an effective drainage system to preventdecay caused by heavy rainfall.

The project offers a valuable opportunity forresearchers, archeologists and experts to engagewith each other and learn preservation tech-niques. An additional goal of the project is to help

local communities assume stewardship of theirheritage resources.

The project has preserved an important aspectof Buddhist history in a region where the rich cul-tural diversity of Greek, Indian and Central Asianinfluences merged to produce unique art forms.

Finding and conservingBuddhist murals at Taxila

Sirkap has a rich, cosmopolitan history. It wasbuilt by the Bactrian King Demetrius after heinvaded India about 180 years before the

current era. Later it became a seat of Buddhistlearning and is now a UNESCO World HeritageSite, situated opposite Taxila.

In 2001, one of the first grants under the U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation was

provided to conserve and restore exposed stonewalls around two major Buddhist stupas amongthe ruins of Sirkap. Stupas are funeral mounds,usually associated with the death and nirvana ofBuddha. Many of those at Sirkap show Greek artis-tic influences.

Sirkap and Taxila illustrate different stages inthe development of a civilization on the Indus River

that was influenced by Persian, Greek and CentralAsian cultures. Because Demetrius consideredhimself a Greek, he laid out Sirkap according to thegrid plan characteristic of Greek cities. The ruinsare similar to those of Olynthus in Macedonia andHalos in Thessaly. They are organized around onemain avenue and 15 perpendicular streets. Thesurrounding wall is nearly five kilometers long.

Conservation of ramparts defending Sirkap'sancient stupas

SRI LANK A

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The trading enclave of Matara, on the south-ern tip of Sri Lanka, dates from the 13thcentury and has a particular importance in

the colonial history of the island. From the 16thto the late 18th century, first the Portuguese,then the Dutch and finally the British used Mataraas an administrative center for the export ofgoods. Ivory and spices passed through thetown on their way to Europe, and elephants wereexported to the Middle East.

By the early 19th century, the ports of Galleand Trincomalee had eclipsed Matara, yet itremained an important commercial center, with anew class of Sri Lankan entrepreneurs buildingsolid vernacular style houses on the riverbankopposite the 18th century Dutch fort, in an areaknown as Kumarawatunga Mawatha.

With this mixture of Dutch, Portuguese, Britishand indigenous architecture, Matara is consideredto be of particular historic importance. In recentyears the International Council on Monuments andSites (ICOMOS), in collaboration with the Centrefor Heritage and Cultural Studies at the Universityof Moratuwa, developed a conservation plan for thearea. "We were losing some of the authenticity ofthe heritage buildings due to ad hoc moderniza-tion," says Pali Wijeratne of ICOMOS.

To make matters worse, waves from theDecember 2004 tsunami engulfed buildings in thefort area, and swept upriver to hit KumarawatungaMawatha. Although the solid colonial structureslargely survived the inundation, many were floodedwith seawater and filled with sand. Furniture, vehi-cles and equipment were destroyed, and in manycases more recent outbuildings housing bath-rooms and additional accommodation collapsed.

Based on the existing conservation plan forthe district, architecture students from the Centrefor Heritage and Cultural Studies conducted asurvey of tsunami damage with a grant from theU.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural

Preservation in February 2006.The survey covered 31 buildings, including a

Dutch church, a Buddhist temple and privatehomes. While the church and the temple havebeen partly restored, homes still bear signs oftsunami damage such as salt emerging throughwalls. One house was demolished.

Few owners have the resources to conservetheir buildings properly, and the tsunami substan-tially added to the challenge. The governmentgave small grants to some owners, enabling themto do only the most urgent work.

"We have made local property owners awareof the cultural value of their property, but theydon't have the funds to do the repairs," saysWijeratne. "As a start, we have given them meas-ured drawings of their property and an estimate ofthe cost of repair.

"Our project plans to renovate one or twohouses, just to show how it's done," he adds."It's critical we do something of that nature now.Otherwise, some of these historic structuresmay be lost."

22

Survey of Mataracultural propertiesaffected by the 2004tsunami

Anuradhapura is a place of monumentalBuddhist stupas and massive reservoirs setamid emerald rice fields, reminders of a

major civilization that arose soon after Buddhismcame to Sri Lanka in the third century before thecurrent era. The culture was heavily steeped inBuddhist monastic practice, and produced atAnuradhapura some of the most important religiousmonuments on the island over a period of about1200 years until its decline in the 10th century.

The scale of the development was immense.The Jethawanaramaya Stupa, 120 meters tall, is thebiggest Buddhist stupa in the world and the tallestbrick building ever built. Monasteries had capacityfor as many as 3,000 monks and evolved sophisti-cated designs which included ritual, residential andservice buildings.

Beginning in the sixth century, Anuradhapurawas home to reclusive communities of monks.Until recently, the monasteries in which they livedremained undocumented, occupying an overgrownarea on the periphery of the old city.

A survey of the Western Monasteries was

begun in 2006 under a grant to the Sri LankanCentral Cultural Fund by the U.S. Ambassador'sFund for Cultural Preservation. The survey is serv-ing as a basis for development of a comprehensiveconservation plan and contributing to the docu-mentation of Anuradhapura, only about 25 per centof which has been surveyed.

The architecture of the monasteries is sub-stantially different from others at the site. Thestyle, which emerged in the sixth century, con-sists of two buildings raised on twin platformsconnected by a bridge. One building, always sur-rounded by a moat, is likely to have been residen-tial, while its twin would have been a prayer hall.The design took advantage of existing topogra-phy, building on rock outcrops where naturaldepressions provided a water supply for the moat.All 13 complexes were probably built within thespace of one century. "This is a completelyunique style of architecture. It only exists in SriLanka," says Wajira Ferdinandez, the conservationarchitect in charge of the survey.

The absence of kitchens, refectories and

libraries found in other monasteries suggests thatthe monks practiced an extreme asceticism, livingby begging and focusing on meditation rather thanstudy, says Ferdinandez. Decorative carving isalmost completely absent from the buildings.

Prior to the beginning of the survey inDecember 2006, the buildings were overgrown andin an advanced state of collapse. The project is thefirst comprehensive survey of the site, and includesa digital map using GPS locations, digital drawingsof the monuments, photographic documentationand preparation of a technical report on the condi-tion of the site.

Mapping boundaries and identifying encroach-ments are a top priority. Ferdinandez says that thesite has suffered in recent decades from pilferageby nearby villagers. At one monastery site, all thatremain are grooves in the rock showing where thebuilding once lay.

The survey is being implemented through theCentral Cultural Fund, Sri Lanka's principal heritagemanagement body, established in 1980 with thePrime Minister as Chairman.

24

Survey of theWestern Monasteries,Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

25

26 27

Restoration of thereclining Buddha of Ajina Teppa,National Museum of Antiquities,Dushanbe

Tajikistan's State Museum of Antiquities inDushanbe showcases the remarkable roleplayed by the Central Asian country as a

trading center and crossroads of cultures fromthe time of Alexander the Great through theIslamic period. Displays include artifacts fromthe Bactrian civilization, the Silk Road city ofPanjakent and the ancient metal working centerof Sarazm.

But the most remarkable piece in the collec-tion is the 14-meter reclining Buddha of AjinaTeppa, dating from around the sixth century,which occupies a room of its own on the secondfloor. Restored in 2001, partly with a grant fromthe U.S. Ambassador's Fund for CulturalPreservation, it is the most significant Buddhiststatue remaining in Central Asia.

The statue was discovered in 1966 at thearcheological site of Ajina Teppa, in southernTajikistan. While murals and smaller statues fromthe site were shipped to the Hermitage Museumin Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, in Russia, theBuddha was considered too large to be movedsuch a long distance. Instead it was cut into about100 pieces and stored in the basement of a muse-um in Dushanbe.

The restored statue was revealed to the pub-lic on September 7, 2001, during Tajikistan's 10thindependence anniversary celebrations and justsix months after the Taliban had demolished theBamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, about 300 kilo-meters from Ajina Teppa.

The Buddha was a product of the Kushan civ-ilization, an empire that thrived from the first tothe sixth centuries of the current era, ruling partsof what is now Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, CentralAsia and India. The Kushans were the first to givethe Buddha human representation, rather thanusing symbols such as the stupa or the wheel.Parts of the clay Buddha's face, robes, feet andone hand remain intact.

The U.S. grant also provided for secure dis-play cabinets and climate control equipment inother parts of the museum, regarded as one ofthe finest in Central Asia.

Alongside Buddhist artifacts, the muse-um's collection shows how Zoroastrianism,Hinduism and Hellenistic culture found a homein pre-Islamic Tajikistan. A statue of the Hindugod Shiva and his consort Parvati, recoveredfrom the Sogdian city of Panjakent, is thenorthernmost evidence of Hinduism yet dis-covered in Central Asia.

TAJIK ISTAN

Lying in far western Tajikistan near the borderwith Uzbekistan, Sarazm is one of the mostimportant ancient sites in Central Asia.

Discovered in 1976 after local farmer AshoraliTailonov stumbled across an axe head in a fieldoutside the modern city of Panjakent, the settle-ment has been under excavation for 30 years.

"This is the oldest city site in Central Asia,nearly 5,000 years old," says AbdurraufRazzoqov, the archeologist in charge of the site.Objects found here suggest links betweenSarazm and parts of what are now Afghanistan,Pakistan, Iran and Turkmenistan.

With its prosperity based on agriculture andanimal husbandry, the settlement developed intoa major center of metallurgy, ceramics and jewel-ry. Mining and bronze working became importantactivities, utilizing nearby deposits of copper, tin,gold and silver. High quality ceramics were pro-duced and jewelry was crafted using lapis lazuli,cornelian and shells from the Indian Ocean.

A grant from the U.S. Ambassador's Fund forCultural Preservation to the SarazmArcheological Museum to renovate the fieldmuseum and create new storage facilities at thesite has improved conservation, augmented pub-lic understanding of the site's significance, andbenefited a remote part of Tajikistan approximate-ly 250 kilometers from the capital, Dushanbe.

The grant supported renovation of the site'sfield museum, which had fallen into disrepair.This included installation of display cabinets toshowcase a wide range of artifacts including abowl from Baluchistan, the neck of a jar from Iranand a hook fashioned from flint, whose use andorigin are uncertain.

Some of the grant funds were used to createsecure, climate-controlled storage facilities forthe more than 10,000 artifacts excavated from thesite after fire destroyed the previous storage facil-ity at the city's archeological museum. "Thesepriceless artifacts were being stored temporarilyin the mayor's office," says Razzoqov. "We reallyneeded proper storage for them."

Funds were also used to produce pamphlets,a website and a short documentary on the history of Sarazm.

2928

At Shahritus, about 100 kilometers south ofDushanbe, the U.S. Ambassador's Fund forCultural Preservation is supporting a three-

phase project to restore the mausoleum andmosque that were once attached to the KhojaMashhad Madrassa, built about 1,200 years agoand among the oldest Islamic sites in Tajikistan.Little is now left of the madrassa, but a survivingportico and remnants of its walls show that it was alarge building. The mosque and mausoleum, twinstructures at the rear of the site, are mostly intact,with fine domes and intricate brickwork.

The initial grant was used to improve drainageand strengthen the foundations of the buildings.Under the next two phases, restorers will install anew damp course and restore the above-groundstructures. Work on the mosque is continuing asarcheologists excavate the mausoleum, removinggraves to an outside cemetery before renovatingthe walls and dome.

"We are not sure exactly when the complex wasbuilt, or who it was named after," says RahmatjonSalomov, the architect in charge of the restoration."But it was a very important site for the early spreadof Islam in this part of the world. The graves insidethe mausoleum may belong to early Muslim mis-sionaries in the region. The mausoleum dates tothe ninth century, and the mosque to the 11th."

The madrassa, which stood at an important sitestraddling the road between Iran and Afghanistan,was a center of education in the 10th century, andits students included Nosir Khusrau, a famous Tajikpoet and traveler who helped to spread Islamic cul-ture in the region. The site, which lies in a field out-side the town, has long been a pilgrimage center,attracting groups every Friday and Wednesday.

"We are trying to replicate the original brick-work as far as possible," says Salomov. "We arenot sure, but we think we have discovered the orig-inal technique for making the bricks." The modernversion of the technique consists of mixing a cer-tain clay with plant fiber, pressing it into bricks,sealing it in plastic for two days, then firing it for aweek with coal.

Ultimately the team hopes to rebuild themadrassa that was abandoned about 200 years ago.

Reconstruction atthe Khoja MashhadMadrassa andMausoleum,Shahritus

Support to the Sarazm archaeological site

There is a legend that Kone Urgench, sittingat the crossroads of the ancient Silk Road,was destroyed and rose again seven times.

It's a story that has some basis in fact. The trad-ing post was conquered by Arab invaders in 712,and rose to greatness as a cultural center afterbecoming the capital of the Khorezm civilizationin 995. The city survived a sacking by GenghisKhan's armies in 1221, only to be devastatedagain by Timur in 1388, its people sold into slav-ery and its master craftsmen shipped off toSamarkand. The last inhabitants departed whenthe Khivian khans moved the city to NewUrgench, now over the border in Uzbekistan, dur-ing the 17th century.

Yet somehow, a collection of extraordinarymonuments managed to survive the ravages oftime and conquest. Towering above them all is theKutlug Timur Minaret, at 62 meters the tallest suchtower in Central Asia, built by King Kutlug Timurwho reigned from 1321 to 1336. Adjacent to it,soaring 30 meters, with an unmistakable conicalblue tiled roof, is the mausoleum of Sultan Tekesh,who ruled Khorezm from 1172 to 1200 and great-ly expanded its reach as far as northern Iran. Alover of music and culture, Tekesh built a library,a mosque and a madrassa in the city, contributingto its fame as a cultural center as described by theArab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited in 1333.

With the minaret, several mausoleums and anumber of other monuments still standing, thearea was declared a Turkmenistan State Historicaland Cultural Park in 1985, and receives about100,000 visitors a year. The Sultan TekeshMausoleum is one of the most significant monu-ments at the site, and is an outstanding exampleof pre-Mongolian Central Asian architecture. Oneof its unusual features is its conical hipped roofrising above a coffered drum divided into 24bays. The roof is supported by an inner dome andwas originally surrounded by a frieze of inscrip-tions from the Quran. Only fragments survive.

Although the foundations and walls werereinforced in the early 1990s, the restoration ofthe dome presented particular problems. Theheight of the roof, the complex task of rebuilding

the dome and the recreation of decorative tilesmatching the originals presented conservatorswith problems that had not previously beenaddressed in Turkmenistan.

Between the ravages of time and an inexpert1928 restoration attempt, the dome was in a stateof near-total collapse. In such an extensive com-plex with many monuments requiring restoration,resources were not available to tackle the prob-lem. Through a grant from the U.S. Ambassador'sFund for Cultural Preservation to theTurkmenistan government's historical preserva-tion administration, the dome was rebuilt and

repairs were done to the walls of the mausoleum.In the process, conservation staff gained valuableexperience and knowledge to continue restorationprojects throughout the complex.

As part of the project, the internal arch struc-ture was rebuilt prior to reconstruction of theouter dome. Bricks were baked on site, but earlyexperiments to match the blue glaze failed toachieve a permanent color. Majolica importedfrom Russia has since been used to color thebricks. During the project, students from theTurkmenistan State Academy of Arts were trainedin restoration skills.

3130

The shrine of Seyit Jamal ad-Din, which lieseast of Ashgabat, has been a place of pil-grimage since the 15th century as the burial

site of a popular saint and teacher. Immediately behind the tomb once stood a

mosque whose portico contained a highly unusu-al feature--a mosaic over the entrance depictingtwo golden dragons, a surprising inclusion giventhe Islamic ban on the depiction of living crea-tures. Legend has it that the dragons appeared toprotect the site when it was under attack, cen-turies ago.

The mosque sustained calamitous damagewhen a severe earthquake hit the region in 1948,destroying the capital city. The mosque adjacent

to the shrine was devastated, with only somewalls left partly standing.

The tomb of Seyit Jamal ad-Din was buriedbeneath rubble, and the portico collapsed fromthe base of the arch. The mosaic was shattered, itspieces mixed with the rubble covering the tomb.The remnants of decorative patterns made ofinlaid blue tiles, still visible on the ruined walls,give a sense of the beauty that was lost.

One particularly interesting feature of thesite today is the way in which traditional beliefscontinue to be expressed alongside Islam. Forexample, one of the most ancient religions of

this region was Zoroastrianism, whose adherentsbuilt small triangular-shaped towers of stones.This practice has reemerged and in addition to asmall mosque behind the ruin, there are hun-dreds of such small structures in the area, someof which had morphed into more stable rectan-gles or symbolic structures. Other examples ofunconventional contemporary practices can beseen, such as shrines for parents praying for thebirth of children. The shrine is also used as aplace of remembrance by relatives of the morethan 100,000 people who lost their lives in theearthquake.

But the rubble around the shrine and on theportico made it difficult for visitors to pay their

respects. A grant to the Turkmenistan government'shistorical preservation administration from the U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation in2001, paid for the rubble to be cleared from theforecourt. Visitors can now be seen touching theirpalms and forehead to the tomb of Seyit Jamal ad-Din before circumambulating it.

At the same time, pieces of the mosaic wererescued from the rubble and the work of art waspartly reassembled. It is now on prominent dis-play in the National Fine Arts Museum, along withpaintings depicting the mosque as it stood beforethe earthquake.

Restoration workat the shrine of Seyit Jamalad-Din

Restoration of theSultan TekeshMausoleum at KoneUrgench

TURKMENISTAN

3332

Restoration of the Ak Saray Ding Tower

near Dashoguz

Restoration of the Ak Saray Ding Tower

near Dashoguz

The Ak Saray Ding Tower stands about 14meters high surrounded by graves and cot-ton fields in a remote part of northern

Turkmenistan, five kilometers from the Uzbekistanborder. The only archeological survey of the mon-ument, in the 1950s, dated the tower to the 11thor 12th century, and speculated that it might havebeen a watchtower for a vanished city.

According to Turkmen legend, the tower wasbuilt by a local rich man, whose daughter diedbefore she was able to marry. When the girl cameto him in a dream and asked him to build a kejebe,a saddle with a canopy traditionally placed on abride's camel during Turkmen wedding proces-sions, he built over her grave the Ak Saray DingTower, unique in its kejebe appearance.

Thus, the tower has long been revered by localsfor its associations with tragedy, a father's love forhis daughter and the purity traditionally associatedwith a young girl. A cemetery has sprung up aroundit, attracting pilgrims, particularly women who cometo pray for marriage or children.

At the beginning of the 12th century, a respect-ed religious leader noticed that the tower was closeto ruin and urged people to try to save it. Not know-ing what else to do, they piled mud around the bot-tom tier, which was in danger of collapse.

The building went into rapid decline againafter the 1980s, and the Institute of History underthe Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan inAshgabat received a grant from the U.S.Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation in2005 to restore the tower, excavate the site anddisseminate information about its history.

Excavation began in 2006, and the structurethat was uncovered led archeologists to believethat it may have been an entrance to a cara-vanserai, a traveler's rest stop, on the Silk Road,with the high tower serving as a guide for caravandrivers and a lookout post. But evidence of alter-ations also suggests that the function of thestructure might have changed over the centuries.

Conservation efforts began with completereconstruction of the bottom tier after careful removalof the mud buttress, as it was discovered that thetower had been built without a proper foundation.About 20,000 mud bricks matching the originalswere baked for the project and cut to size at the site,and a type of earth believed to have been used for theoriginal structure was used to make the mortar.

The middle tier of the tower will be left in itsoriginal condition as far as possible, while the dou-ble dome will be partly rebuilt. Ilyas Paltayev, a his-tory teacher from the area, says that local people arethrilled with the project. "I also bring my studentshere to teach them about their history, and to showthem how tradition can be preserved," he says.

We have a saying, 'Spread your carpet andI'll tell you what you have in your heart,'"says Tuvakbibi Durdieva, director of

Turkmenistan's National Carpet Museum. "All thewisdom and art of the Turkmen people is repre-sented in Turkmen carpets. Carpets are valued asmore than just floor coverings, but as expressionsof our history."

Turkmen carpets are considered to beamong the finest in the world, with a dense sym-bolism using over 2,000 motifs to convey con-cepts such as tribal history, geography and phi-losophy. Seven major colors are used, with red,the predominant color, appearing in more than200 shades.

With the desert country's population con-sisting largely of nomadic tribes until relativelyrecently, carpet production was a key aspect ofdomestic life, with carpets used for flooring,insulation and furnishing in traditional Turkmenhuts, as well as for saddle bags, prayer rugs andgifts on ceremonial occasions such as wed-dings. Different regions gave rise to individualschools, with the water-rich areas of the CaspianSea and Amu Dariya River making strong use ofgreens and blues.

The carpet museum, one of the few of its kindin the world, is housed in a converted shoppingcenter in Ashgabat, and is home to about 2,000carpets, including the oldest known Turkmen car-pet woven 400 years before the current era. Manyimportant old carpets damaged in a 1948 earth-quake were collected by the museum, but theexpertise and resources to restore them havebeen lacking.

A grant from the U.S. Ambassador's Fund forCultural Preservation in 2005 enabled the muse-um to research traditional techniques for carpetrestoration, to train in-house restorers and to builda facility to wash and dry the carpets.

Traditional expert weavers advised the restor-

ers to collect a desert herb called chogan and boilit in rainwater that had been allowed to stand forthree days. This produced a Ph-neutral detergentthat could be used to wash the carpets withoutcausing further damage. Laundry and drying areaswere constructed and several experts have beentrained in restoration, a painstaking process of re-weaving damaged rugs at a rate of about half asquare centimeter per day.

The museum has restored about 70 carpets,nearly half of them under the grant project. With500-600 carpets in need of restoration, the taskhas barely begun. Among the carpets so farrestored is one of the oldest pieces in the col-lection, a 13th century torba, or wall bag, from

the Ahal Teke tribe."We say carpet weaving is like digging a well

with a needle. So you can imagine, restoration ismuch harder," says Durdieva. "A small piece cantake four months."

Funds from the grant were also used to pro-duce a website and a book about the collection inTurkmen, Russian and English. The museum usedfunds to purchase a microscope to enableresearchers to document carpets according to thedensity of their weave; carpets in the museum'scollection average between 200,000 and 340,000knots per square meter.

Interest in carpet weaving is undergoing arevival, partly due to a resurgence of national pride

3534

Conservation andrestoration techniques at theNational CarpetMuseum, Ashgabat

since independence and partly becauseweaving is one of the few sources ofincome in rural areas. But carpet conser-vation techniques were little known, and indanger of being lost. Durdieva is confidentthat the restoration of carpets is now on amore solid footing, with a further 12 stu-dents having received basic training fromthe museum's experts. She also hopes tohold classes for the general public.

"I'm confident that these skills aresafe now," she says. "Our ancestors con-veyed this golden heritage to us, and itwould be a great shame for us to losesuch art."

UZBEKISTAN

36

Protecting adesert fortressat Kampir-Tepe

Not far from the banks of the Amu DaryaRiver near Termez are the remains ofKampir-Tepe, a vast complex dating from

the post-Alexandrian period to the Kushan era(400 to 200 years before the current era).Discovered some 35 years ago, nearly 15hectares of the site have been excavated byUzbek archaeologist Dr. Edvard VasilievichRtveladze. The work unearthed military fortifica-tions, a citadel, dwellings, a port and even a reli-gious complex thought to be dedicated toZoroastrian ceremonies. The excavations helpedshed light on the economic, cultural and politicalstructures of a significant Central Asian culture.

In 2005, Dr. Rtveladze received a grant fromthe U.S. Ambassador's Fund for CulturalPreservation to help preserve and protect theexcavated areas of this significant site. He alsoreceived funds to document the artifacts that heand his team discovered here. The work is gearedtoward eventually opening the site to tourists andscholars as a museum complex.

Sample ofrestored wall

and ceiling tilesat Bagh-e Babur

Pavilion,Afghanistan.

A Project of:Office of Press and Public Diplomacy

Bureau of South and Central Asian AffairsU.S. Department of StateWashington, D.C. 20520

Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural PreservationBureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

http://exchanges.state.gov/education/culprop/afcp

Photography: Angus McDonald

Printed: Rakesh Press, New Delhi, India

Front cover: View ofthe Ak Saray DingTower, TurkmenistanBack cover: Boyreciting prayers atthe Eid Mosque inMale', Maldives