Gold of Bactria - the great treasure of Afghanistan

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In 1978, a sensational event took place, which received a huge resonance throughout the world. The Soviet-Afghan expedition, carrying out excavations in Afghanistan, unexpectedly discovered a treasure, one of the most expensive and largest on the planet, which was estimated at a huge amount!

But the outbreak of war, which plunged the country into chaos and confusion, with endless bombings and a change of power, interrupted the work of archaeologists and led to the fact that the found priceless treasures mysteriously disappeared …

Background to the sensational find

Rumors about the untold riches of Bactria, the once powerful state that was part of the empire of Alexander the Great, had been circulating for a long time, however, no one knew where to look for them.

In the 60s, Soviet engineers engaged in the development of a natural gas field in Afghanistan, while building a tunnel for a gas pipeline, discovered many shards from various vessels. Archaeologists, after conducting additional excavations, found that ancient and mysterious Bactria was once located on this territory, and after that active archaeological work began here under the leadership of Viktor Ivanovich Sarianidi, which lasted for about ten years. The ruins of an ancient city with powerful defensive walls emerged from under the sand …

Golden hill

In 1978, excavations began on the territory of one of the small hills, in many scattered around. The name of this hill turned out to be prophetic - Tillya-Tepe (Golden Hill).

Inside it, archaeologists discovered seven ancient burials, about 2000 years old, and which turned out to be completely intact, which was extremely rare at that time. When the first burial was opened, everyone was simply dumbfounded by the fantastic picture that appeared before their eyes - the remains of the buried were hidden under a huge heap of magnificent, skillfully executed, gold jewelry, the number of which reached 3000.

Archaeologists were able to investigate five more burials, and all of them were also filled to the brim with jewels, the total number of which reached 20,000, and the weight was more than six tons. The sensational find was called “The Gold of Bactria.” And although the structures of the graves themselves were rather primitive, their contents, as well as the crowns on the heads of the buried, clearly indicated that they were royal burials, and, most likely, secret.

Rumors of a sensational find instantly spread not only throughout the country, but also around the world.

A real pilgrimage began to the excavation site, the military were called in for protection, and the most severe control was established for all participants in the excavations. The members of the expedition were not ready for such a volume of work and responsibility. The work now had to be done in an atmosphere of general suspicion, under close supervision and at an accelerated rate. And it seemed that literally from behind every bush someone's eyes were following them. But, despite the measures taken, some of the jewelry still disappeared. But basically, almost all of them were counted, photographed, rewritten, folded into plastic bags, sealed and sent to Kabul. What was not there - golden crowns decorated with pearls and turquoise, bracelets, rings, rings, buttons, pendants, buckles … Many of them were decorated by unknown masters with skillfully carved figures of people, cupids, animals, plants, flowers, trees.

Viktor Ivanovich recalls: “One Turkmen came to excavations and just sat there. I ask: "Why aren't you working?" And he says: “My wife kicked out. This hill, Tillya Tepe, stands on my land. And my wife said: "Here we have been in poverty all our lives, and you had such wealth under your feet!"

The further fate of the treasures

The matter did not reach the seventh burial, the air already smelled of war, the expedition stopped working. And when the rains began, two more graves were exposed. Guards were assigned to them. But after the outbreak of hostilities in 1979, when our troops were brought into Afghanistan, the fate of these graves is unknown. Scientists, trying to save the treasures, offered to temporarily take them to the Soviet Union or another neutral country, but President Najibullah refused. After our troops left, the civil war continued in Afghanistan. The bombings severely damaged the National Museum of Kabul and the Presidential Palace, which housed the jewels, and eventually disappeared in this civil war country. Later it turned out that they were hidden in anticipation of impending destructive events, and were hidden so well that after years no one really knew where they were, although there were many assumptions about the location of the treasure. The Taliban, who came to power in 1992, have tried to find the treasure, but have also been unsuccessful. Viktor Ivanovich Sarianidi says: “When the Taliban came to power, they started looking for this gold. They were told that it was kept in the Kabul Bank. But the bank's security came up with a fairy tale for the Taliban: they say, there were five people and five keys, all these five people left the world, and the safes with gold can be opened only when all five come together …"

Accidental find

In the early 2000s, sensational news spread around the world - treasures were found! At that time, an attempt was made in Afghanistan to find the assets of a state bank hidden in the presidential residence. And in the process of these searches in special depositories in the basement of the palace, Bactrian treasures were unexpectedly found, which for a long time were considered irretrievably lost. During the opening of the vaults in 2004, Viktor Ivanovich Sarianidi was also present as an expert, who confirmed the authenticity of the treasures - he had in his hands the very plastic bags that he himself had once sealed. And finally, in the spring of 2004, a quarter of a century after the discovery, the jewelry was presented to the world. And since 2006, the "Gold of Bactria" exhibition has been successfully traveling to different countries and is shown in the largest museums. But it is not known whether they will ever be shown in Russia.