Secrets' Worth Weight in Gold

LA Times ^ | Nov 18, 2004 | Thomas H. Maugh II

[Flying Circus]

Kabul Museum's riches, hidden by curators in the early 1980s, have emerged safe and sound.

Photos Poet's bust Poet's bust (Fredrik Hiebert / National Geographic) Bactrian gold Bactrian gold (Kenneth Garrett / National Geographic) Enlightened being Enlightened being (Fredrik Hiebert / National Geographic) Well preserved Well preserved (Fredrik Hiebert / National Geographic) Portrait gallery Portrait gallery (Fredrik Hiebert / National Geographic)

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AFGHANISTAN ARTIFACTS AFGHANISTAN ART ARTIFACTS ART

By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer

More than 22,000 treasures from the Kabul Museum in Afghanistan, long thought to have been lost in the war against the Soviet Union and the subsequent cultural purge by the Taliban, have been located in bank vaults and other safe places where they were hidden by museum officials.

The priceless Bactrian gold collection, precious ivories, bronze statues and other artifacts of 5,000 years of history on the Orient's Silk Road were preserved despite the devastation engulfing the country, archeologists said Wednesday.

The discovery of the Bactrian gold was announced this summer, but a just-completed inventory revealed that virtually all of the museum's most precious items are intact, Oxford University archeologist Fredrik T. Hiebert said.

[RippleFire]

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[konaice]

The team began opening them in August. The first set of boxes contained 2,000-year-old ivories from Begram, the Kushan capital, intricately carved and engraved with scenes of palace life.

Other boxes contained highly detailed glass goblets from Alexandria, Egypt, bronze statues and plaster busts of the elites from Rome and Begram, and early Buddhist sculptures.

"It was a very emotional experience watching these men [Afghan archeologists] as they saw their own heritage coming back to life," Hiebert said.

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Civilization loses SO MUCH everywhere the Muslims show up...

The only religion to sanction Crimes against Humanity.

[BykrBayb]

"The story you requested is available only to registered members."

Can you post the rest of the story?

[konaice]

Go to www.bugmenot.com and get a untraceable password.

or use:
violet_fury
privacy

[Flying Circus]

um no. LA Times and other sued FR to stop us doing that. Try www.bugmenot.com

[BykrBayb]

Thank you.

[Flying Circus]

True... war has distroyed so much of civilization's treasures and Islam is a religion of war. In this case, the Soviets didn't help either.

[Dr. Frank fan]

Wow, it's like in The Man Who Would Be King. Any of it date back to Alexander?

[BykrBayb]

Excavating a crude burial mound not far from the city of Sheberghan, Sarianidi found that the coffins, skeletons and clothes of the six occupants had rotted away, leaving behind a collection of near-pristine golden ornaments.

The collection included appliques from cloaks, figurines, clasps decorated with cupids riding dolphins, pendants depicting scenes of war, a statue of the goddess Aphrodite and an elaborate crown.

What's the difference between archeaology and grave robbing?

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Flying Circus]

Maybe arbitrary, but I would say it is a matter of where the treasures go and the purpose of collecting them. If the treasures fill the pockets of those picking through the bodies and no notes are taken that enrich our collective knowledge about our past, then thats grave robbery. If the treasures are put into museums, studied and shared with the world and records and studies are made that educate us about our past, then that is archeology. That of course leaves a big grey area in the middle.

[BykrBayb]

In the mean time, someone's grave has still been robbed. If they wanted those objects in a museum, why would they have them in their grave? A grave is not a time machine to be opened by future generations. It's a final resting place. I don't like the idea of someone digging up my grave and putting me and/or the other contents of my grave on display. It's sick.

[Flying Circus]

As they say, you can't take it with you, and I don't think I would notice they are gone. Key to me is the respect with which the body is treated. In the case of many of the Egyptian mummies, they fail that test.

In this case, the quote you pointed out said the bodies had rotten away to nothing. Nothing left means nothing to desecrate.