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A Happy Ending for Afghanistan's Gold
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The mystery of the treasures' whereabouts began unraveling in 2003, when President Hamid Karzai announced that a few boxes from the National Museum had been found in a vault, along with hidden bank reserves of gold bars. Hiebert, the National Geographic Society archaeologist, was asked to inventory the pieces. He was in for a huge surprise.
The key holders had not only saved the Bactrian gold, but many of the National Museum's most valuable treasures as well, protecting them from the rocket-fire, looting and Taliban rampages that destroyed 70 percent of art in Afghanistan.
"We found glass, bronze, wonderful ivory," Hiebert said. "The boxes were not very well labeled, and every time we opened one nobody knew what was going to come out of it. There were gasps and sighs, and it was very emotional."
Visitors to the Guimet Museum's exhibit can see 220 Afghan treasures, including many pieces of Bactrian gold, which were discovered in 1978 by Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi at a first-century burial ground. There are countless bracelets and rings encrusted with turquoise, garnets and lapis lazuli. There is a dagger topped with fearsome beasts, a chain-link belt and even gold shoe soles.
The exhibit showcases Afghanistan's rich history and its place as a crossroads on the Silk Road, where it infused artistic influences from Greek to Chinese to Indian and Middle Eastern. It is expected to go on tour, and Hiebert said officials were in talks to bring it to the United States. Security is still not tight enough to take it to Kabul's museum.
The goal is to present another picture of Afghanistan than the one usually seen on the news _ war and violence, said Vincent Lefevre, a Guimet curator.
Getting ready for the exhibit, Lefevre helped Afghan museum officials pack the art to send it to Paris. They were happy to give the world a gift from Afghanistan and it was emotional, too, Lefevre said: "It was like parents watching their children leave home."
The exhibition runs until April 30, 2007.
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