The Mysterious Well
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Kak Kohzad
21 April 2011
In Afghanistan, there is a mysterious and ancient well. Nobody knew how deep it was, or what might be down there, but some locals thought it might contain bones of their ancestors. My friend Steve Shaulis came upon the well while working in Farah Province, and decided to launch a team to unravel its mysteries.
Green pin denotes Kak Kohzad aka Kafir Qala. Alexander’s Army marched through here.
Man comes and goes with his temples, forts and armies. One day here and then vanished. Cause unknown. Entire languages, arts and bloodlines seem to evaporate without a trace, while others leave scratches in the ground, or echo through generations in legends and tales, or syncretic mythologies from sources glowing with mystery. In some places, as in parts of Southeast Asia, a jungle can reclaim and "disappear" a fantastic construction such as Angkor Wat with the ease of a python swallowing a rabbit. At another extreme, in Afghanistan, archeological wonders such as the Citadel of Alexander the Great in Farah, are practically mummified.
The immensity of human space and time in Asia overloads the imagination.
The difficult marches of ancient Greek Emperor, Alexander the Great, are well documented by historians and archeologists, allowing us to trace them reasonably accurately. Alexander was one of the first of many august conquerers to blow across Afghanistan. Back when the known world was separated by vast expanses and cultures unknown to each other, his journey was like something out of Star Trek – discovering peoples and practices unknown in ancient Greece.
Alexander, like Captain Kirk, landed in one strange world after another. In each, he had to use quick judgement to decide whether to set his Army on stun or high power. Alexander could have been swallowed by the vastness of Asia as easily as the Starship Enterprise could be devoured by a blackhole. His explorations pushed into the unknown and he came home to tell about it. (In a twist of cosmic wit, 2,000 years later Canadian actor William Shatner played Alexander the Great, and then Captain Kirk.)
Along his journey, Alexander must have come across Kak Kohzad Citadel, only eight miles away from the Citadel Alexander would build in what is today Farah City. Both Citadels are about 75 miles distant from the current Iranian border. Today the United States and Italy share a base about three miles from the Alexander’s Citadel, and six miles from Kak Kohzad.
Kak Kohzad (Kafir Qala) is under the distant green pin.
If the hydro topography 2,300 years ago was similar to today’s, Alexander made camp closer to water, whereas Kak Kohzad is high and dry.
Our friendly police escort in front, and Kak Kohzad at the 11 o'clock.
On 10 March 2011, Kris LeBoutillier and I loaded up with some Afghan police to visit the ancient ruins. Kris already knew what was at the bottom of the well because he lowered a camera down there in November.
Who were the people in Kak Kohzad? References are vague, speculative, and to delve into available literature might involve great research in darkly lit rooms by scholars literate in various languages, who are familiar with the old words, place names, and history. The seemingly vast enterprise of the internet is in reality paper thin. It cannot deliver that which was never recorded, never uploaded, or rendered in a backwater or forgotten language. Much of recorded history is simply lost.
Alexander built his Citadel just eight miles away from here, so it’s possible that his scribes recorded much about the local people. But the Library of Alexandria which may have contained the descriptions, was burned. Some believe that Julius Caesar destroyed the library, but nobody knows. One thing is certain: whoever burned the library should have their bones scattered across the face of the moon.
Route to Kak Kohzad from Farah city. (Captured by Trackstick.)
Better to have backup
The day before publication of this dispatch, two outstanding and highly experienced war correspondents, Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington, were killed in Libya, and three other journalists were wounded. The price for such images and insights is severe. Risks can be mitigated but never eliminated, and often they are high. During our journey to Kafir Qala, the risks were moderate to low. Nevertheless, even a 1% chance is severe when you take it a thousand times.
As this dispatch goes to publication, my heart is sad for the loss of Chris and Tim.
It’s possible to travel through much of Afghanistan with little or no security, but it’s good to have a few guns around to keep opportunism at bay. Our security would be nearly hopeless against a serious attack, but they could keep the mosquitoes away. There is much organized crime in the area. In April 2011, it was reported that 15 people, including Iranian engineers, were kidnapped together in Farah, and the crime was apparently not conducted by the Taliban. Hours before this was published, it was reported that the Iranians were released. (Probably after ransom was satisfied.)including Iranian engineers, were kidnapped at once in Farah.
Comments
Ack! A cliffhanger.
This is like a Steven Spielberg screenplay, w/o the rampaging locals, thank goodness.
Great pics & history background. Can't wait for part 2
So too, our liberty.
Thank you, Michael, for your always informative, courageous & fascinating articles on places, people & events we can only imagine from the distance of our lap tops.
Godspeed to you & all our heroes!
MW
Beg forgiveness and we won't send camel fleas to your 10-20
I agree Mary, 100 percentile
I shall start using that on my political websites
Back to the future!! You can always get a job as screen play writer!
That said, I love this, on so many levels. Thank you!
Prayers are with you everywhere you go, but most especially during Holy Week, as you seem to epitomize the Matthew 7:7, verse..."Knock & the door shall be opened, Seek & ye shall find."...Well, Yon 'found it.'..Blessings on your journey!! Blessed Holy Week! Love wells.. Thank you. Can't wait to read the rest!!!
C-n-c,
Barb
Quoting Barb Mungovan Koch:
Love the stories and all the pictures. I am a US Marine stationed in Pax River Maryland, and i'm from a town neir you. Sebring! I preordered your book Iraq: Inside the Inferno. i have recieved orders to South Carolina to report in July and am interested in when we should be getting the books. Will i recieve it before i leave. Do you have a date when they will be distributed? Thanks and stay safe. Semper Fi!
IT could be a simple mistake as it would be normally foolish to put your business email address out there for all the spam bots to read and then send you joyous tidings of all the products and services you thought would never use or need, along with any malicious programs that tend to travel in such company
Mr Moderation pls take note :eek::
Perhaps as a highpoint in the region, it was like a tower in the middle of the desert. They could see movement for many miles all around, therefore serving as an early warning system against intruders entering the fertile lowlands, long before they could arrive.
Granted, more speculation, but the turrets appear to be watchtowers to me.
Is there water at the bottom of the well? Guess that remains to be found in part II…
Thanks for another great story and the *incredible* gigapan of the Citadel! I learn so much from your dispatches and have been following you since 2005.
I ran across this 2004 photo of a castle taken at the Citadel with US soldiers on wikipedia: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/The_castle_082.jpg
but I couldn't find the castle (Maybe Alexanders?) anywhere in the gigapan.
Anyway, I am sorry about the loss of your fellow war correspondents Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington. Even though I put you in a class way above the "mainstream" war correspondents, I suppose that respecting any and all journalists who endanger their lives to bring us the news is the right thing to do.
Godspeed to you and everyone around you!
-Roger in Northern Ca. (bay area)
Keep up the great work! Sharing your experiences is a privilege.
You are taking full advantage of such great capabilities. There is so much intrigue in searching in the details.Then your writing opens up a world that at first glance is other worldly desolate, the Google map makes that bareness like a gigantic swirl of rock,the way you identify each location gives me an appreciation for the distances and isolation. It may be Alexander's idea of great trip, but it was no weekend romp. Stay safe
NOTHING!!! in abundance.
MILLE MERCIS MICHAEL THE GREAT !
Thanks for sharing!
Leyla
Thank you for that. Actually, what I wrote is correct. (I took same math class.
Fantastic background and photos, too.
Thanks!
You wrote "...even a 1% chance is severe when you take it a thousand times.". It might be severe but no more so than the first time you took the chance. Severity of a chance doesn't grow with repetition!
A fortress like that is big investment of time and resources, and normally people build stuff like that :
A. to defend something ( block a pass , stop up a river crossing, for ex.)
B.Collect & store taxes - e.g. Rhine Castles, caravan "taxation"
C. Serve as a symbol of Authority ( castle in a city, local military base HQ, etc...)
None of which holds here, (your're miles from anything useful), so I'm left to conclude this is a "Patrol base" something you dragoon the hostile locals in to building while your army is around, before you leave a small contingent behind that's well protected that keeps up recon patrols and general order maintenance in "Hostile Country".
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