Axe Handle Cam
Events from Farah Province, Afghanistan
Published 24 April 2011
The previous dispatch ended with Kris LeBoutillier lowering his camera into the mysterious well at Kafir Qala, which is believed to be more than 2,000 years old.
The depth and contents of the ancient well were unknown – that was a big part of the mystery. So Kris brought 1,000 feet of steel fishing leader. He secured the camera and a flashlight to an axe handle using tape, thus making the Axe Handle Cam.
They wondered what surprises were in store. Snakes, bats, animal or people bones, maybe even treasures – consisting of anything from the helmets of Alexander’s men to Bactrian Gold – no one knew but there was much anticipation. Anything that could fit into the well might be there. If something of interest were found, the next step would be to send a man.
Matthew Goldthwaite, who accompanied Kris, would write to me:
“…the site is rife with folklore, among which, that the fort was under siege for 50 years and the large boulders at the base were thrown down at the invading army from the citadel. According to the legend, the well was dug during the siege as a combo source of water and escape route. Furthermore, the legend says that the king left his treasure, (this is why the Afghan Minister of Cultural Affairs and Antiquities sent a rep, just in case we found something). When you look at the well, if you look up to the top, you will see a level at the very top of the mountain. This was alleged to be where the kings lived...”
Photo by Kris LeBoutillier
As Matt unreeled the steel fishing leader, the Axe Handle Cam oscillated and twisted in the darkness, challenging the autofocus to keep pace. The video sensor captured clues to the construction. Ancient architects of the Citadel were highly skilled, and so nothing was random, including the shape and dimensions. This was not a haphazard hole shoveled without foresight, but a plan chiseled through stone.
From Axe Handle Cam: Ribbing inside the well
Around the walls there is ribbing, which could have been used to hold planks for working platforms, or merely for climbing. A series of single bamboo poles lodged diagonally from corner to corner, with the bottom of each pole lodged on a rib, could make for easy climbing and workspace. The ribbing may look small, but to a skilled climber, those ribs are huge. In a culture where a father’s, father’s, father probably was digging wells or karez, a skinny barefooted kid could climb up and down that shaft like a spider.
The deepest known hand-dug well in the world is nearly a quarter-mile deep. An account of the construction of the Woodingdean Well mentions tiny platforms cut into the side:
“Winchmen stood on tiny platforms cut into the side of the shaft, passing spoil up and bricks down as the shaft continued forever downwards. One winchman actually plunged to his death.”
And so lowered the Axe Handle Cam, twisting, swaying, trying to keep focus:
The camera reached bottom at about 200’
No bones or treasures on the surface of the bottom of the well.
The find was a little disappointing. But it’s not surprising that nothing noteworthy was found on the surface at the bottom. Afghanistan is rife with skilled tunnel and well diggers, and it’s possible that many people have ventured to the bottom to have a look, especially given the legend of treasures.
At the end of the day, the mystery remained. The legend of a king under siege, hiding his treasures down the well, remains a real possibility. A people who were smart and skilled enough to build Kak Kohzad would not just toss treasures down a well, knowing that they, themselves could enter and exit the shaft as if it were a staircase. No security is purchased by tossing a king’s treasures into an unlocked basement.
Had they intended to use the well for temporary security, they may have chosen to excavate side shafts, with tiny entrances. At least one shaft might be a decoy, containing sacrificial treasure, only a few hundred feet down. The real treasure cache would be secured closer to the bottom. Then you would refill the well to buy time and to avoid casual thievery.
It’s possible that buried down there, far below the 200’ reached by Axe Cam, are hidden tunnels and chambers. Legends of tunnels and underground cities -- and real tunnels and underground cities -- are in abundance around the world. Cappadocia, in Turkey, is a classic example.
Afghanistan is abundant with mystery, much of it staring you right in the face. Time, peace and prosperity – and trained scholars – are key to answering many questions that remain.
End of Part II of II
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Addendum with unused photos, and notes.
Men love to toss object into wells
Kris and Matt had lowered the camera in November 2010. In March 2011, as I set up the GigaPan robot on the tripod, Afghan Police who accompanied us occupied themselves throwing several large stones into the well. Each time they prepared to toss, they smiled broadly, made sure everyone was watching and listening, then tossed and acted like they had just swallowed happy pills. The only thing man likes to toss into wells more than stones, is other people.
Even if nobody intentionally filled the well to hide treasure, or to deny the enemy easy water, it would slowly fill. Over the past 2,000 years, one can only imagine how many people threw stones into the well. Between the elements, the settling dust of the plains, stone-tossers, or people tossing people…. if only a couple inches detritus per year accrued over a period of 2,000 years, that’s over 330’ of fill. The original well might be 500’ deep, or more. We still don’t know.
Stone tossing at Kafir Qala: Afghan base in the far distance
Afghan Army Base as seen from Kafir Qala
It’s noteworthy that at least four bases and forts are constructed within a short distance. Eight miles from Kafir Qala is the Citadel of Alexander the Great in Farah City. Closer still is the American and Italian base at Farah City, and yet closer is the ANA base captured in the above Gigapan. And so that’s four military installations within a two-hour walk, spanning more than 2,000 years.
Wide Gigapan facing generally west from Kafir Qala
Kafir Qala
The shadows were growing longer and it was time to head back to Farah City. Our retinue can be seen resting, but up on part of the fort is one of our Afghan interpreters who had taken a long route up, and now wanted to take a short route down. Don’t do it... I could sense that he was going to go for it, and so I yelled up to him, “Don’t do it! Go back the way you came!” Alas. People die all the time in my dispatches, but he didn’t know that. “I don’t want to have to bring your body to your mother and father!” He hollered down that he could do it. I hollered up again, “Don’t do it!”
That's Kris, the inventor of Axe Handle Cam, with hands on his knees. Kris was unaware that our interpreter was taunting death just around the corner.
Most of the men at the bottom could not see him, and thought I was yelling to them. They looked at me sort of crazy like, as you can see in the picture.
Instead of doing the smart thing and going back the long way, he did the man-thing, and decided to go for it. So what else is there to do? I hollered up again, “You are going to die! Go around!”
He kept coming.
He stopped several times, and at one point considered going back the way he came. Those white clothes were going to look very bad covered in bloody mud, embellished with pebbles.
One of the stone-tossing police watched the drama unfold. In America, the Park Rangers would come out now, and you’d be arrested and maybe get in the local paper, or you’d fall into the Grand Canyon and rescue helicopters would collect your parts at the bottom. In Afghanistan, we just watch.
He stopped several times, always smiling with fear, and nervously drank water before coming down a little more, and he finally made it, apparently oblivious to the fact that it’s very bad luck to do dangerous things around me.
And that was it. We drove back to Farah City, and on a different day boarded one of Steve’s airplanes, flew out of Kafir Qala to Kandahar. Then I flew to Japan where authorities were lying about radiation, and, people will surely die.
As the airplane departed Farah, the pilot allowed me to photograph from the cockpit. The following images are included on the chance that they will aid scholars, students, and the curious.
Image 1
Image 2
US military vehicles at the base. My guess is that they are US Navy stationed at Farah City.
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The images contain particular abberation from the cockpit window, airflow, airplane movement, and my movement.
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Image 12 of 12
Links:
Bottom GigaPan of Kafir Qala (image from west facing generally east)
Middle GigaPan at Kafir Qala (from lower area facing generally west)
GigaPan made by Well at Kafir Qala
GigalPan of ANA base near Kafir Qala
GigaPan Citadel of Alexander the Great in Farah City
Dispatch: Part I of II, The Mysterious Well
Dispatch: RED HORSE -- United States Air Force Drills for Water
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelyon-online/~3/xtyO_SY6qkg/the-mysterious-well-part-ii-of-ii.htm
Posted
Apr 23 2011, 09:35 PM
by
Michael Yon - Online Magazine