Afghanistan Project CMS

<p>This is the story of a treasure that was lost and found and lost again. And then, when nobody expected it, it was found.</p> <p>When you think of nomads, you probably think of people who live in harsh conditions, people whose lives are riddled with struggle and poverty. Most likely, you don&rsquo;t think of gold.</p> <p>But in the first century BCE, it was nomads from the northern steppe who invaded the Greco-Bactrian empire in what is today Afghanistan. These nomads were not the poor wanderers that we may think of.</p> <p>It&rsquo;s not exactly clear who they were. Some have suggested they were related to the Scythians or perhaps to the future Kushans. But what is clear is that they buried several of their dead with a stunning hoard of gold.</p> <p>In 1978, a team of Soviet-Afghan archaeologists began excavating the site known as Tillya Tepe, or Hill of Gold, in northern Afghanistan. They unearthed more than 20,000 gold objects which were sewn into the burial shrouds of the dead.</p> <p>The objects visually depicted the nomadic lifestlye. These bracelets, for example, are shaped like antelopes, with the ears of the animals flattened as if they are running against the wind.</p> <p>The objects also showed an exceptional syncretism, which suggested that the nomads were in contact with civilizations across the continent. These shoe buckles, for example, depict chariots like the ones seen in eastern motifs.</p> <p>Meanwhile this sheath appears to have a dragon on it like the kinds found in Chinese artifacts, and yet this style of sheath is similar to those found in Iran and Mongolia.</p> <p>This golden bowl is of special significance. It has Greek lettering which tells the weight of the object. When the bowl was discovered, it was found underneath the skull of one of the deceased, much like the wooden cushions found in other nomadic graves in the region.</p> <p>This clasp shows the Greek god Dionysus along with his lover Ariadne. The winged goddess Nike can also be seen at the right. But the couple may not just be Greek. They also suggest a connection to the male and female pairings found so commonly in Indian art. And lastly, the winged griffin upon which they are riding seems to suggest classic Central Asian motifs.</p> <p>And then there is this exquisite folding crown. Covered in delicate, lightweight flowers, the crown could be folded and easily moved when the nomads needed to travel. This object shares a remarkable similarity to the crowns found in 5th century Korea, which provides a fascinating clue into the expansiveness of silk road trade and cultural exchange.</p> <p>In 1978, the hoard at Tillya Tepe was placed in the Kabul Museum. But during the civil war of the 1990s, the Taliban looted the museum. It was believed that all of the gold was plundered.</p> <p>But in 2004, after the Taliban regime had toppled, the world learned that the staff at the museum had courageously hidden the most valuable treasures in crates beneath the museum floors.</p> <p>The golden treasures were surrounded with several other important ivory, stone, and stucco pieces from other sites that were believed lost or destroyed.</p> <p>&quot;This is a beautiful day for the museum. This is a beautiful day for me.&quot;</p> <p>After their re-discovery, the objects went on tour to museums around the world. At a time when the west only heard negative news reports coming out of Afghanistan, the exhibit offered a breathtaking rediscovery of the region.</p>