"Hi. I'm Al Gore. I hear you need help
counting your bullion, and I'm here
to lend a hand..."
Posted on 08/29/2003 1:11:47 PM PDT by blam
Afghanistan's legendary gold finally surfaces
August 29 2003 at 02:45PM
Kabul - Afghanistan's legendary 2 000-year-old Tillya Tepe Bactrian gold hoard is safe and sound after lying hidden in a bank vault for the past 14 years, President Hamid Karzai said on Friday.
The priceless collection of gold ornaments dating back about 2 000 years was safely stored in a presidential palace vault throughout the civil war and Taliban regime.
"Fortunately the gold exists. We opened one box and saw the gold," Karzai told reporters minutes after the vault was opened on Friday morning for the first time in more than a decade.
"Everything is safe and in its place... God may want our treasure to get even larger than it is now."
Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, central bank governor Anwar Ul-haq Ahady, Justice Minister Abdul Rahim Karimi and other experts were inspecting the hoard before resealing and locking the treasury, he said.
Much of Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage was destroyed or looted during the 1992-96 civil war and under the Taliban, who notoriously destroyed the ancient Buddha statues in central Afghanistan's Bamiyan valley.
"We need to take stock because there are some very valuable manuscripts and particularly our major collection of gold coins from Tillya Tepe, or the 'Golden Hill'," Ghani told reporters earlier this month when he revealed that the priceless antiquities were safe.
"This collection, after Egypt, is probably one of the most important collections of antiquities," he said.
Ghani said the vault had not been opened in more than 14 years despite efforts by the Taliban to force staff to reveal the code.
Tombs near Sheberghan held around 20 000 objects "Last time we had difficulties opening the inner vault because during the Taliban they tried to open this and the staff of the bank very courageously had blocked the code. They were beaten almost senseless... but resisted and did not reveal the code," he said.
The collection was unearthed in northern Afghanistan in 1978 during the excavation of ancient burial mounds by Greek-Russian archaeologist Victor Sariyannidis, just prior to the Soviet invasion.
The tombs near Sheberghan held around 20 000 objects, including gold coins and jewellery. Present-day northern Afghanistan was the former kingdom of Bactria, which was conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BC.
Alexander's Greco-Bactrian successors ruled the area for around 200 years. - Sapa-AFP
WHAT?!? Geraldo wasn't there?
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.
"...tombs and treasures linked to the ancient Greek kingdom of Bactria. Today nobody knows where those precious finds are, or even if they still exist. Uncovered during turbulent times in Afghanistan, the Soviet invasion came in 1979, the treasures were hurriedly handed over to the Museum of Kabul and kept in vaults at the National Bank of Afghanistan. "
"Hi. I'm Al Gore. I hear you need help
counting your bullion, and I'm here
to lend a hand..."
These staffers are lucky the Taliban thugs didn't do a lot worse than that to them. Their moral strength is inspiring.
;-)
Source: http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/ucd/
Was he on the search committee?
See more of the collection here
Cultural sense lies somewhere between Cortez, Attila the Hun, and Genghis Khan.
I'm glad it was preserved.
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