1. hidden treasures from the National Museum of Kabul are once again
on view thanks to dedicated efforts to preserve the country’s cultural heritage.
By susan Weissman | Photography by Cade Martin & thierry Ollivier
142
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2. 143

3. HiDDen aF gHanis Tan
M
Abundant riches
Left: gold collar inset
with turquoise, garnet
Museumgoers in Washington, D.C., stood three deep and pyrites. Bottom,
in front of exhibition cases gleaming with gold and jewels. What left to right: gold
floral hair ornaments;
they wanted was a chance to get a closer look at the priceless garment clasps fash-
artefacts that would travel the United States for 17 months in an ioned as cupids riding
exhibition titled “Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the on dolphins; heart-
National Museum, Kabul.” What they saw was a snapshot of a shaped earrings of
gold and turquoise.
culture thousands of years old. On view: a collapsible crown used Preceding pages:
by nomads, clasps for a robe wrought in the shape of cupids, ivory statue of a
bejewelled daggers and swords, urns of alabaster and fantastical woman atop mythical
creature, and viewer,
glassware blown in the shape of fish. What they would learn were
Washington, D.C.
the lengths to which modern-day Afghans would go to save these
remarkable treasures.
Centrally located along the Silk Road—a network of long-
distance trade routes over sea and land linking the Mediterranean
to China from roughly 300 BC to 1200 AD—Afghanistan is a
mosaic of cultural influences reflecting contact with ancient
Greece, Mesopotamia, India, China and Central Asia. But in
modern times, preserving the artistic legacy of this diverse
country has been tenuous.
For nearly three decades, the country has been ravaged by war,
beginning with the Soviet invasion in 1979, ongoing civil strife
and the rise of the Taliban to prominence in 1996. During this
protracted period of struggle, Afghanistan’s National Museum
fell prey to destruction. Between 1992 and 1995, it is estimated
that 35,000 gold coins were
Discoveries from tillya tepe stolen from the museum’s
The Russian-afghan excavation storerooms and nearly all the
of Tillya Tepe, “The Hill of gold,”
pre-Islamic glassware in its
in 1978, was led by the Russian
archaeologist Viktor sarianidi. six
collection destroyed. In 2001,
nomadic burial sites dating to the the world watched in horror as
first century aD were uncovered, the Taliban blew up the
revealing a cache of gold, silver magnificent Buddhas at
and other precious objects. Below:
Bamiyan and thereafter
a gold dagger is removed from
Tomb iV by an afghan excavator.
desecrated the museum,
looting nearly everything and
reducing this repository of
irreplaceable art to a mere set
of walls.
But all was not lost, and a
seeming miracle happened just
144 when the situation seemed
darkest. It was learned that in
1988 the museum’s archaeo-
logical treasures dating back
thousands of years and
national museum of afghanistan Photography © Thierry Ollivier, musée guimet
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4. thought gone forever were in the safekeeping
fact hidden in the Central
Bank of the Presidential
of Afghanistan’s
Palace, secreted away in crates most cherished
at great personal risk by the artefacts was
museum’s director, Omara a behind-the-
Khan Massoudi; the Deputy scenes effort
Minister of Information and whose planning
Culture, Omar Sultan; and
others who worked with them.
began in 1979,
The safekeeping of at the time of
Afghanistan’s most cherished the soviet inva-
artefacts was a behind-the- sion—curators
scenes effort whose planning and museum
began in 1979, at the time of workers hiding
the Soviet invasion—curators
and museum workers hiding
those items that
those items they could and they could and
recovering those damaged by recovering those
war. In 2003, the Ministry of damaged by war.
Information and Culture
unofficially confirmed that objects from the museum’s collections
were found intact in the vault of the Central Bank. But what
would be found once the vault was opened was a mystery.
In 2004, with the help of a National Geographic Society
contingent led by Dr. Fredrik Hiebert, a Society archaeology
Fellow and esteemed antiquities scholar, the vault was opened,
the crates unsealed and many of the museum’s long unaccounted-
for masterpieces revealed. Included in the discovery was the
famous Bactrian Gold, a cache of more than 20,000 gold and
precious stone–encrusted ornaments found originally in 1978 in
Tillya Tepe, the burial site of six nomads. Bactria, the northern
area of what is modern-day Afghanistan, was rich in natural
resources such as gold, copper, lapis, garnet and carnelian. Its
capital was Balkh, a city described by Marco Polo as “Balkh the
beautiful, Balkh, the mother of all cities.”
“When they started removing objects from the vault and it
was clear that many of the treasures were from the famous
Bactrian Gold, I was especially excited,” Hiebert says. “I was the
student of Viktor Sarianidi, the original excavator of the Bactrian
Gold, and to be able to return his find to the public eye and the 145
Afghan people, who have endured so much, is the fulfilment of a
personal quest.”
Also found in the inventory of objects overseen by Hiebert
were artefacts from three other important ancient archaeological
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5. Fragile Beauty
This page: Three glass
flasks shaped like fish;
a glass kantharos, or
drinking cup, etched
with grape-leaf motif.
Opposite page: glass
vases and drinking
vessels. artefacts on
these pages date from
the first century aD
and were discovered
at Begram.
146
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6. Afghan Ambassa-
dor said t. Jawad
emphasises that
the artefacts in
the exhibition are
a testament to the
tenacity and spirit
of the Afghan
people. they exist
because of the
bravery and
selflessness of
those who could
do no less than
preserve and
protect their
heritage.
147
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7. HiDDen aF gHanis Tan
sites: the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanum, founded by
followers of Alexander the Great, who conquered the area in the
fourth century; the trading city of Begram, where artefacts were
found from Egypt, India and China; and the Bronze Age site of
Tepe Fullol, with artistic ties to Mesopotamia and the Indus
Valley, or present-day Pakistan. Bactrian Wonders
“After 9-11, as a Central Asian specialist, I considered it my Left to right: golden
ornament rendered
duty to tell the world what I could about Central Asia and its
as the aphrodite of
great ancient cultures. In the exhibition, you see objects that Bactria; one of a pair
seem very familiar—they display Roman and Greek iconography, of pendants depicting
Indian iconography and Chinese iconography. It’s all here and it’s the Dragon master,
all part of Afghan art,” he says. gold with inlay of
precious stones;
Even though the artefacts in the exhibition may be thou-
diminutive golden
sands of years old, their relevance remains timely, connecting ram believed to be
contemporary Afghan society to its heritage and revealing to worn as an ornament
the world a complex history and a people’s ongoing respect for on a head covering
beauty and diversity.
“Most people have gotten their exposure to Afghanistan
through the Cold War, the Soviet invasion and then later, the
Taliban, but Afghanistan isn’t a country just about war,” says
its Ambassador to the United States, Said T. Jawad.
“This country has such a long history and rich heritage,”
he says. “It was at the crossroads of civilisations and a melting
pot of different cultures.” He emphasises that the artefacts
visitors will encounter in the
recovering Lost treasures exhibition are a testament to
Dr. Fredrik Hiebert, a Fellow of the the tenacity and spirit of the
national geographic society and
Afghan people. They exist
a student of archeologist Viktor
sarianidi, who first discovered the
because of the bravery and
Bactrian gold, played a leading selflessness of those who could
role in the recovery of the lost do no less than preserve and
artefacts. To be able to return his protect their heritage. Perhaps
mentor’s find to the public eye
that’s because many of the
and the afghan people was the
fulfilment of a personal quest.
objects actually belonged to
individuals.
He is quick to explain that
Afghanistan was not like
Egypt, where there were kings
with great wealth. In
Afghanistan, to the contrary,
148 there was significant local
wealth enjoyed by a thriving
merchant class.
The Ambassador recalls one
man, a caretaker at the
national museum of afghanistan Photography © Thierry Ollivier, musée guimet
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8. Presidential Palace, who would A caretaker
sometimes go for months
without pay, arriving one day
arrived with a
with a marble fish that he had marble fish that
been safeguarding wrapped in a he had been
towel. His devotion was so safeguarding
great that he gave the fish back wrapped in a
only when he was sure the towel. his devo-
museum would be restored,
telling the curators exactly
tion was so great
where it should be positioned that he gave the
in the collection. fish back when
“Any one of the custo- he was sure the
dians,” he says, “the key museum would
holders to the museum, could be restored, tell-
have sold any piece of this
collection and gotten their
ing the curators
passports and visas to a where it should be
European country and had a positioned in the
comfortable life . . . which is collection.
not such a bad idea when you
live under the tyranny of the Taliban, and it seems there is no
hope for the future and you have a family to feed. But they didn’t
do that. They chose to put their lives on the line and care for the
art because ultimately this choice is more noble than to live with
millions of dollars.”
Today, objects such as the marble fish and the spectacular
collapsible crown have a home again and Afghanistan is rebuilding
its national museum. With the aid of cultural organisations
worldwide, there is the hope that additional artefacts will find
their way home. Aptly, the museum embraces the motto: “A
nation stays alive when its culture stays alive,” a fitting tribute to
the renewal empowered by brave Afghans who would not allow
barbarism to strip them of their heritage. 4s
susan Weissman is the executive editor of Four Seasons Magazine.
A First-hAND LOOK
Afghanistan: hidden treasures from the National Museum,
Kabul was organised by the national geographic society and the
national gallery of art, Washington, D.C., with support by a grant
from the national endowment for the Humanities and corporate 149
support from national Construction & Logistics and Hamed
Wardak. Other U.s. stops: Asian Art Museum of san Francisco
October 24, 2008–January 25, 2009; the Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston, February 22–may 17, 2009; the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, new York, June 23–september 20, 2009
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