Posted on 09/04/2010 5:13:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists in Afghanistan, where Taliban Islamists are fighting the Western-backed government, have uncovered Buddhist-era remains in an area south of Kabul, an official said on Tuesday.
"There is a temple, stupas, beautiful rooms, big and small statues, two with the length of seven and nine meters, colorful frescos ornamented with gold and some coins," said Mohammad Nader Rasouli, head of the Afghan Archaeological Department... We need foreign assistance to preserve these and their expertise to help us with further excavations."
The excavation site extends over 12 km (7.5 miles) in the Aynak region of Logar province just south of Kabul, where China is mining copper ore as part of its multi-billion dollar investments in the Central Asian country.
Rasouli said the mining work had not harmed the sites -- which were known but had not been examined in detail -- but smugglers managed to loot and destroy some relics before the government excavation work began last year.
Government and foreign troops are battling an insurgency led by the radical Taliban movement which destroyed Buddhist statues at Bamyan during its five-year control of the mountainous country from 1996 to 2001, viewing the monuments as an affront to Islam.
Many antiquities and historical sites were destroyed or pillaged during decades of civil war and foreign interventions.
Now almost entirely Muslim, Afghanistan has seen eras in its long history when other faiths such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism were widely practiced.
Rasouli said the government did not have the resources to move the relics from the remote area, which has seen some clashes during the insurgency, but hoped to build a museum there instead.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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They better hide them so the Taliban doesn’t blow ‘em up!
Better yet, they need to destroy the Taliban by obliterating the entire population of any hellhole village where the adult male population supports the Taliban. Figuratively of course.
History shows just how well they "play" with others. Co-existence is NOT POSSIBLE.
What people should realize that Islamist’s say there is no history worth remembering prior to Islam. We all know about the ancient Buddhas blow up by the Taliban.
The Egyptian Islamic Brotherhood has stated that they will destroy the ancient Egyptian monuments and works because they are un-Islamic.
“where China is mining copper ore as part of its multi-billion dollar investments in the Central Asian country”
Let’s see, we are standing guard (losing American service men), while the lousy Red Communists are mining precious metals to bolster their economy? What is wrong with this picture? We are being played like fools.
taliban is like the fake pali’s in that they generally destroy anything past. Building a museum would merely be a quick target.
Thanks for the reading recommendation. The only things I have read about that time/location were from Marco Polo and some texts on Ghengis Khan.
Thanks ct.
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