Chehel Sotun, Bamiyan (Cave of the)

Various descriptions

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

The -Forty Pillars Cave- Chehel Sotun (note 1) is a man-made rock chamber (note 2) which was once used (by Buddhists?) for religious purposes (note 3). SITUATION: In a remote hillock in a very silent environment, less than a kilometre from the giant Buddha statue, and less than 2 km from Bamiyan (Bamian) village (N34°50': E067°50', AIMS sheet PI-42-06). CAVE DESCRIPTION: A succession of chambers apparently cut from very dry mud (…creusées dans de l'argile très sèche, apparemment de main d'homme). The floor is covered with soil and dust (LINDBERG1958: 120, 1961a: 11). A detailed description is found in ZESTOVSKI (1948: 39-62) who gives an engraving (opposite page 61) showing the face of the site. CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1949a: 38-39; 1958: 120; 1961a: 11) observed porcupine quills and (their?) excrements and the absence of any living organism in spite of numerous bones of goats and other large domestic animals. LINDBERG (1958: 120) reports to have collected Coleoptera (Ptinida).