The Minaret of Jam stands in Shahrak District, Ghor Province, between the Jam and Hari rivers in a remote region of western Afghanistan. It was built around 1190, and a Kufic inscription gives the year 590 AH, which is 1193 to 1194. The architect is named as Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Naysaburi. Its height is given as 203 or 213 feet (62 or 65 m).
A circular shaft rises from an octagonal base, with two wooden balconies and a lantern on top. Baked brick is decorated with stucco, terracotta and turquoise glazed tiles, in alternating bands of Kufic and Naskhi calligraphy that include Surah Maryam. Inside, a central pillar carries double spiral staircases of 159 steps each.
UNESCO listed it in 2002 as Afghanistan's first World Heritage Site and put it on the danger list that year. Erosion, floods and earthquakes threaten it, and it is slowly tilting. The site is hard to reach.
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