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Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
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Cover for a dagger sheath, 1st century A.D.
Afghanistan, Tillya Tepe, tomb IV
Gold and turquoise; 9 1/4 x 3 1/2 in. (23.5 x 9 cm)
National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul, 04.40.982
Photo: © Thierry Ollivier / Musée Guimet
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A winged, somewhat feline creature bites the haunch of a sinuous dragon in the center of this gold covering for a leather sheath. The combat between these two ferocious mythical beings derives from longstanding nomadic traditions that have been updated to include the dragon of Chinese mythology. The design continues on the handle of the dagger to which it belongs. This sheath is one of two found to either side of the male buried in tomb IV. Sheaths in this style—which is characterized by two side pieces at the bottom and an oval band at the top—have a long history. They can be traced back to the second century B.C. and to areas in the vicinity of the Altai Mountains. Examples have also been found in the region of Bukhara and in areas associated with Parthian rulers (247 B.C.–A.D. 224) of Iran.
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