At the heart of the Silk Road, Afghanistan linked the great trading routes of ancient Iran, Central Asia, India, China and the more distant cultures of Greece and Rome. The country's unique location resulted in a legacy of extraordinarily rare objects, which reveal its rich and diverse past.
Nearly lost during the years of civil war and later Taliban rule, these precious objects were bravely hidden in 1989 by officials from the National Museum of Afghanistan to save them from destruction. The surviving treasures date from 2000 BC to the 1st century AD and include everything from opulent gold ornaments found at a burial site of a nomadic tribe to limestone sculptures of a Greek city set up by a commander of Alexander the Great.
Now, at the first exhibition of its kind to be seen in the UK in 40 years, these treasures are on show at the British Museum in the Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World exhibition.
Source: the Guardian newspaper
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