Innermost Asia : vol.2 / 443 ページ（カラー画像）

0443	Innermost Asia : vol.2
極奥アジア : vol.2

archaeological explorations on the ground are likely to elucidate. The hurried examination I was
able to carry out of the ruined site has sufficed to show that its remains look back on a long history.
Not until they have been systematically cleared and studied—a matter of protracted labours, perhaps
of years—will it be possible to determine the original purpose of the main structures and the changed
uses to which they have probably been put down to late medieval times. Hence it would not be
safe to see in these mural paintings of Buddhist type more than a proof that the site established at
the ' hill of the Saint ' included a shrine devoted to Buddhist worship.¹² That the site must have
attracted Zoroastrians in still larger numbers, since theirs was probably by far the largest com-
munity in Sīstān throughout historical times before the advent of Islām, may be considered as
certain, particularly in view of the reference in the Avesta to be mentioned below. But that places
of popular pilgrimage in the East, especially if they are of the ' Svayaṁbhū-tīrtha ' type, are apt to
be provided with sacred establishments ministering to the needs of wholly different sects and creeds
is a fact abundantly illustrated from India to Turkestān and China.

Owing to the advanced state of decay of the central hall, v, whose dominating position and Remains of
size necessarily gave it special interest, my examination had failed to reveal the original purpose wall-paint-
for which it was intended. Could it be the principal apartment of a palace or possibly a place ings in
of Zoroastrian worship? The relievos found on the walls facing the terrace in front suggested that corridor
the building had a secular character, but could scarcely be considered to furnish a definite proof. Gha. iv.
Therefore the discovery of remains of mural painting beneath that terrace was particularly welcome.
They were found in a subterranean vaulted corridor, Gha. iv, which evidently once extended
along the whole length of the terrace facing the quadrangle and was meant to support it. In its
present ruined condition it can be traced for about 62 feet, from its broken opening seen in Fig. 461
near the porch of the central hall, running towards the SW. Its width between the side walls as
I found them is 6½ feet. The facing of the wall towards the quadrangle showed a small break in
one place, and here one of the men prospecting for more ' pictures ' noticed a piece of painted plaster
on the surface behind. Removal of a little of the coarse outer brickwork disclosed part of a painted
human figure and proved that here, too, later masonry was hiding an older wall and vaulting. This
later masonry consisted of sun-dried bricks, 24″×13″×3″ in size and carelessly set in mud plaster.
It had, no doubt, been inserted in order to strengthen the vaulting at some time when its condition
had caused misgivings.

The portion of the earlier wall surface laid bare showed the head and bust of a nude male Removal of
figure painted in terra-cotta colour and in unmistakably classical style. In order to follow up this later wall.
interesting discovery I decided to have as much as possible of the adjacent later masonry removed.
But in order to do this in safety it proved necessary to strengthen the vaulting, which had evidently
become insecure already in ancient times, and to lighten as far as possible the weight of the brick-
work and debris resting upon it. For the former purpose I had a wall built along the centre line
of the corridor right up to the top of the vaulting. This task and the removal of the heavy debris
from the terrace above was carried out under the supervision of the Public Works employee attached
to the Consulate, while the time needed for its execution was profitably utilized by me for a recon-
naissance in the desert to the south. When on my return the later wall facing was carefully removed
for a distance of about 15 feet on both inner and outer walls, it was seen that white ants, together
with the moist plaster with which the later masonry had been applied, had destroyed the original
decoration of the walls and vaulting almost entirely, with the exception of a space about 8 feet
long at the place of the first discovery.

6 B 2

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

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国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト 『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ