Afghanistan: Forging Civilizations along the Silk Road

Aruz, Joan, and Elizabetta Valtz Fino (2012)

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Description

The symposium that was held in 2009 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, on the occasion of the exhibition "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul," brought together an exceptional group of scholars responsible for the excavation and interpretation of the magnificent works on view in the show. The title of the exhibition, "Hidden Treasures," alludes to the bravery of our Afghan colleagues, who—upon witnessing the destruction of the National Museum and the subsequent attacks by the Taliban—protected their artistic heritage for twenty-five years, only revealing in 2003 that these treasures were safely stored in a secure bank vault. The exhibition and the symposium celebrate their "rediscovery," one of the great triumphs for cultural preservation of the twentieth century and a story recounted here in an essay on the history of the National Museum by its heroic director, Omara Khan Massoudi.

Afghanistan, standing at the crossroads of major trade routes, has a long and complex history. Its rich cultural heritage bears the imprint of many traditions, from Greece and Iran to the nomadic world of the Eurasian steppes and China. The essays in this volume concentrate on periods of great artistic development: the Bactrian Bronze Age and the eras following the conquests of Alexander the Great, with a special focus on the sites of Aï Khanum, Begram, and Tillya Tepe. These contributions— in response to the reappearance of the magnificent hidden treasures from Afghanistan and their exhibition— have shed new light on the significance of these works and have reinvigorated the discussion of the arts and culture of Central Asia.

Table of contents

Map of the Silk Road
Acknowledgments

Introduction
Joan Aruz

At the Crossroads of Asia: A History of the National Museum of Afghanistan
Omara Khan Massoudi

The Bronze Age World of Afghanistan
Fredrik T. Hiebert

Chronology: Western, Central, and East Asia after Alexander

Coins: "The Great Guides of the Historian"
Frank L. Holt

Aï Khanum: A Greek Colony in Post-Alexandrian Central Asia, or How to Be Greek in an Oriental Milieu
Paul Bernard

The Glass from Begram
David Whitehouse

The Begram Carvings: Itinerancy and the Problem of Indian Art
Sanjyot Mehendale

Bactrian Gold: Jewelry Workshop Traditions at Tillya Tepe
Jane Hickman

Tillya Tepe and Its Connections with the Eurasian Steppes
Henri-Paul Francfort

Tillya Tepe: Echoes of Greece and China
John Boardman

Links, Missing and Otherwise: Tillya Tepe and East Asia
Denise Patry Leidy

Bibliography
Photograph and Illustration Credits

About the authors

Joan Aruz is Curator in Charge, Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Paul Bernard is a member of the French Institute, Paris; former Director of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan; member of the research team Hellénisme et Civilisations Orientales, EN SCNRS, Paris.

Sir John Boardman is Emeritus Lincoln Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology, Beazley Archive, University of Oxford.

Henri-Paul Francfort is Director of Research, Archéologie de lAsie Centrale, Maison René Ginouvès, Nanterre.

Jane Hickman is Editor of Expedition magazine; Special Assistant to the Director for Museum Programs, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Fredrik T. Hiebert is Fellow, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.

Frank L. Holt is Professor, Department of History, University of Houston.

Denise Patry Leidy is Curator, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Omara Khan Massoudi is Director General of Museums in Afghanistan; Director, National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul.

Sanjyot Mehendale is Lecturer, Department of Near Eastern Studies, and Vice Chair, Center for Buddhist Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

David Whitehouse is Senior Scholar, The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.

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Essays (8)

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Exhibition

Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul

Ancient Afghanistan—at the crossroads of major trade routes and the focus of invasions by great powers and nomadic migrations—was home to some of the most complex, rich, and original civilizations on the continent of Asia. This exhibition will celebrate the unique role of Afghanistan as a center for both the reception of diverse cultural elements and the creation of original styles of art that combine multiple stylistic materials—such as the Hellenized examples from the second-century B.C. city of Aï Khanum, the array of trade goods found in the first-century city of Begram, and the astonishing nomadic gold found in the hoard at Tillya Tepe, which also dates to the first century. It will also commemorate the heroic rescue of the heritage of one of the worlds great civilizations, whose precious treasures were thought to have been destroyed. Among the highlights of the exhibition will be gold vessels from the Tepe Fullol hoard; superb works and architectural elements from Aï Khanum; Indian-style sculptural masterpieces in ivory, plaster medallions, and Roman glass from Begram; and extraordinary turquoise-encrusted gold jewelry and ornaments from the tombs at Tillya Tepe.

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