Afghanistan at the British Museum

Open until 17th July 2011

Afghanistan has long been at the heart of trading routes linking ancient Iran, Central Asia, India, China and the Mediterranean.

This major exhibition at the British Museum highlights Afghanistan’s cultural heritage and its importance as a centre of international trade.

Most of the artefacts in the British Museum exhibition come from the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul.

Following the Soviet invasion in 1979, and the civil war that followed, the National Museum was rocketed. Figural displays were later destroyed by the Taliban.

However many precious objects survived after being hidden by Afghan officials. Now a selection of these is touring the world while the museum in Kabul is rebuilt.

There are hundreds of artefacts on show at the Afghanistan exhibition. The earliest were found at the site of Tepe Fullol, which dates to 2000BC.

Later finds come from three sites in Northern Afghanistan, dating from the third century BC to the first century AD, including Tillya Tepe (“Hill of Gold”), an elite nomadic cemetery.

Exhibition highlights include:

Delicate gold ornaments worn by the nomadic elite