Treasures of Afghantistan

The published catalog of the last year's blockbuster exhibit -- "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul" -- is a trove of wonders. This is the material that the curators of the National Museum hid when then Taliban came to Kabul and kept safe through the American invasion; it has been touring the world to raise money for restoration of the museum.

My favorite objects in the collection come from Tilya Tepe, a Russian rendering of an Uzbek name meaning "Hill of Gold."Here in 1978 Russian archaeologists excavated a group of seven tombs dating to the first or second century AD. These were the princes and princesses of some nomad tribe. The spectacular finds show that the art of these nomads was a mixture of classical western, Chinese, Indian, and central Asian styles, brilliant in its synchretism. These pictures show a pendant (above) that depicts the ancient "master of dragons" motif, interpreted in a classical style, and a gold-crowned woman emerging from the ground (below).