Mes Aynak: Tepe Kafiriat

Kafiriat Tepe is located at Mes Aynak, around 40 km away from Kabul, in Logar province, Afghanistan. The Kafiriat Tepe monastic complex is surrounded by a large rectangular enclosure wall (80 x 35 m) with the Buddhist monastery located in the northern part and a stupas' courtyard in the southern one. In each corner of the enclosure there are hollow towers, which are believed to be built in the earliest phase of the building. The eastern part of the enclosure is thought to have had a monumental entrance which lead through to the stupa yard to the monastery. The chronology of the buildings construction differs from the creation of the unbaked clay sculptures and wall paintings decorating it and suggest an earlier occupation, probably from 2nd to 3rd century. (Nicolas Engel/Omara Khan Massoudi 2011, p. 6-7, 10)