Afghanistan: Thousands Of Stolen Artifacts Returned (PHOTOS)

About 2,000 stolen artifacts were returned to Afghanistan and unveiled at the National Museum in Kabul on Tuesday, the New York Times reports. The artifacts had been stolen over the years of war in Afghanistan and smuggled into Britain.

British authorities confiscated them, identified where they came from and sent them back to Afghanistan in February.

Some of the artifacts date back as far as the 11th century, the AP reports.

See a slideshow of the returned artifacts below.

A statue is on display at a Kabul museum on October 6, 2009. A collection of 2,000 artifacts ranging from prehistoric stone carvings to intricately-designed copper jugs have been returned to Afghanistan four years after they were seized from illicit traders.

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From the Times:

Afghanistan founded the museum in the 1920s, shortly after the country gained full control over its affairs from Britain. Situated at the crossroads of four great civilizations -- Chinese, Central Asian, Indian and Persian -- Afghanistan is a treasure trove for archaeologists.
....

By the time the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, the museum owned about 100,000 items. But when the pro-Moscow government collapsed in the early 1990s and civil war convulsed the country, artifacts began to disappear.

The artifacts have been put on display at the museum just as the nation marks the 8th anniversary of the war. See a retrospective slideshow on the conflict here.

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Comments

[invirginia]

04:52 PM on 10/08/2009

They should have been left in Britain where they would be preserved, even if they were stolen.

[ataha]

04:24 PM on 10/08/2009

I'm all for returning artifacts to their countries, but am worried that the Taliban will destroy them all if/when it comes to power like they dynamited the the Buddhas of Bamyan.or the way China destroyed all vestiges of its past during the cultural revolution of the 1960s.

Most terrorist or fringe political organizations cannot be destroyed from without and they eventually end up being absorbed into the political process. As such I think it's only a matter of time before the Taliban will be 'elected' into power in Afghanistan.

[TinfoilLatte]

01:31 AM on 10/08/2009

I'm worried that the Taliban is going to try to smash all these artifacts.

[MJinCanada]

12:53 AM on 10/08/2009

A number of people have commented that these treasures would be better off in British hands, at least for a while longer. However, a lot of Afghan treasures that were hidden within Afghanistan from the Soviets and then from the Taliban have been brought out already. There are quite a few educated Afghanis who are dead set against the Taliban taking power again. These symbols of a more golden age might do a great deal for Afghan nationalism and help their recovery as a nation.

[carol]

09:22 PM on 10/07/2009

Did anyone else notice there are no women at this museum? I understand progressives wanting to get our troops out of Afghanistan...I protested again the Iraq war. However, every time I think about what women have endured under the Taliban, I'm glad we're still figthing them with real guns and bombs. This is a wicked, corrupt movement grounded in sheer hatred and oppression of women. And, yes, they will destroy the artifacts if they can but the bottom line is Afghanistan has a right to their cultural heritage even if they can't adequately protect it. The U.K. did the right thing.

[ETSpoon]

04:12 PM on 10/07/2009

How long does anyone suppose any of these artifacts will last, expecially the Buddah statues, when the Taliban comes marching back into downtown Kabul?

Remember what they did to the Buddahs of Bamyan?

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0301-04.htm

[dream9]

07:39 PM on 10/07/2009

Exactly. This was premature and naive.

[newsjunkie71]

03:49 PM on 10/07/2009

The people of Afghanistan were Hindus and Buddhists, before being forced to convert during the Islamic invasion of the sub-continent. Afghanistan's provinces such as Kambuja, Gandhara are mentioned in the Mahabharata, which shows how long it has been integrated , with Hindu/Buddhist culture. Afghanistan had some of the earliest republics in the world(Janapada). Gandhara was renowned for the largest university in the world..and the list goes on.... Sadly, most people know of it after the Muslim invasion, and the brutal attacks on its culture and people.

[Paulo1]

02:50 PM on 10/07/2009

What absolutely horrible news! Scholars and artists the world over should go into mourning.

Doesn't anyone remember the cultural disaster of the Taliban and their destruction of so much of Afghan history in the name of their warped theology? Thousands of years of art and primary source material was destroyed because it offended their ideas of some puritanical Islam. Now they are sending the surviving pieces back into a war zone with no guarantee for their safety and preservation. All for what? Some pie in the sky polite mouthings about national heritage? Well, the facts are the facts Afghans have proven to totally disapprove to the value of history and culture. Take these artifacts back to England, the US or the UN, and I don't care how. Rescue them from their own people before they are lost forever.

[KIVPossum]

01:53 PM on 10/07/2009

They should be returned. I have doubts this is the time. Seems better to house them in a safe spot until they will be safe in Afghanistan (if ever).

[ibsteve2u]

02:08 PM on 10/07/2009

On the other hand, a need to protect thousands of years of their cultural history from the Taliban provides Afghanistan's citizenry with a reason to assist in the Taliban's containment or elimination, which is what we want, I do believe...

[anitaj]

02:31 PM on 10/07/2009

I have mixed feelings on this one. The Afghan people should be the conservators of their own rich history. Yet the Taliban would like to destroy many of these treasures like they did the Buddhas of Bamyan.

I wonder how Afghani curators and authorities weighed in on this.

[sensiblegal]

01:19 PM on 10/07/2009

Some decent captions would be nice :-)

[LeeCalif]

01:16 PM on 10/07/2009

Gee. Did Obama make our soldiers return their ill-gotten gains ?

[ellenst]

02:28 PM on 10/07/2009

Another ignorant American among us.

[jamiso]

02:11 AM on 10/08/2009

They took them back in their time machine, I guess......seriously, do you guys think before you type

[davidwayneosedach]

12:49 PM on 10/07/2009

Two thousand artifcts were returned to Afghanistan. How many of hundred thousands are out there in private collections never to return?

[Paulo1]

02:51 PM on 10/07/2009

A lot I hope, otherwise history may soon be absent of all Afghan items due to destruction by idiots.

[Klimb]

03:04 PM on 10/07/2009

Including from the whole of Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Asia?

[Mollabaji]

12:48 PM on 10/07/2009

British Museum is full of STOLEN historic artifacts from the entire Middle East. Their diplomats, officials, and military personnel were all thievs stealing the national treasures of those countries and it continues to the present.
I found absolutely no report on Huffpo about the discovery and confiscation of 10 tons of Iranian historic artifacts and national antiques that the Argentine Consul was shipping out of Tehran when discovered. He had left the country prior to the discovery of the illegal shipment. I saw the thousands of items on display by Iranian customs. Why is there no reporting of THAT?

[Momklok]

01:55 PM on 10/08/2009

Let's not forget what the Nazis stole from all of Europe.

[blueskybigstar]

12:29 PM on 10/07/2009

It is hard to believe that the Afghan people were once Buddhists.

[ellenst]

02:30 PM on 10/07/2009

Try taking a course on Middle Eastern history and you'll find out.

[MJinCanada]

12:57 AM on 10/08/2009

They were once among the most civilized and wealthy peoples of the world too. The history of that whole area is complicated and fascinating.

[Momklok]

01:56 PM on 10/08/2009

It only takes a hand full of greedy, rabbid men to destroy a culture. (Oh boy, look out America, we have a big supply of those here)

[MosheDayanHero]

12:12 PM on 10/07/2009

Olnly a question of time before Taliban tried to blo.w up these infidel treasures.