In a deep, remote valley in Ghor province, where the Jam River joins the Hari Rud at about 1,900 metres, a single brick tower rises 65 metres above the riverbank. The Minaret of Jam bears the name of the Ghurid sultan Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad (r. 1163–1203) and probably marks the site of Firuzkuh, the Ghurid summer capital. Its foundation text has been read as 1174–75 or 1193–94; recent research favours the earlier date.
The minaret rises from an octagonal base about 9 metres across in tapering cylindrical stages. Its surface is covered with geometric brick ornament and bands of Kufic inscription, including a passage of the Qur’an and the sultan’s titles; the letters of the central band are picked out in turquoise glaze.
Nearby are traces of Ghurid castles and towers and the tombstones of a 12th-century Jewish community. Brought to wide attention by archaeologists in the late 1950s, the site was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2002.