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Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
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Fragment of a bowl depicting bearded bulls, ca. 2200–1900 B.C.
Afghanistan, Tepe Fullol
Gold; H. 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm)
National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul, 04.29.5
Photo: © Thierry Ollivier / Musée Guimet
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The extraordinary importance of northern Afghanistan at the end of the 3rd millennium B.C. is demonstrated by the richness of the grave goods from Tepe Fullol. They attest to the existence of elites whose wealth was the result of the very active role that they played in the trade of precious material—such as carnelian, copper, gold, silver, wood, and, particularly, lapis lazuli—among Mesopotamia, Elam, and the Indus valley. The bull with bearded human faces is significant for its association to images of the divine in the arts of the contemporary Mesopotamian dynasties of Ur III and Isin Larsa (2200–1900 B.C.).
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