Treasure Trove

In 2001, shocking footage emerged of the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan being dynamited. Measuring hundreds of feet in height and carved from the side of an Afghan cliff, the fact that they were World Heritage listed didn't deter the Taliban, who destroyed them as part of a purge on what they perceived as idolatrous imagery.

They were just the latest in a litany of priceless Afghan antiquities destroyed or believed to be lost forever in the decades since the Soviet invasion of 1979. But a change of fortune in 2003 saw a group of ex-employees from the National Museum in Kabul come forward to reveal that 14 years earlier they had risked their lives to hide thousands of the museum's most precious objects from destruction.

Ranging from 4000-year-old golden bowls and Greek statues to ornate jewellery worn by royal nomads, these artifacts are currently on show as part of a touring exhibition that has already wowed audiences across the US and Europe, and now comes to the Melbourne Museum before heading to Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Many of the exhibits are astoundingly opulent; one collection on display, called the Bactrian Hoard, even contains more gold items that Tutankhamun's tomb. Until now, however, few people were aware of these amazing finds. Museums Victoria CEO Patrick Greene admits that even he was amazed when he first came across them. “There is so much in this exhibition that people just don't know about. And that includes me! I'm somebody who works in a museum, I'm an archeologist, and yet so much of this was new to me, including the Bactrian Hoard. The explanation for that is that the National Geographic magazine did publish an article about the hoard, written by the person who excavated it. But he finished that article by saying: 'Look carefully at the objects in these photographs, because you will never see the originals.' It was thought that they were destroyed.” 

Greene is clearly moved by the bravery of the museum staff who risked their lives to save the trove. “It is a very remarkable story of courage and selflessness on behalf of the staff of the museum.” Would he have done the same? “I think all of us never know. However brave we like to think we would be, unless we are put in that position, you simply don't know... What I find very moving is the way that in conditions of extremity, museums have a very important part to play.”

The show reveals thousands of years of history, from a time when Afghanistan – then called Bactria – existed at the centre of four ancient empires and was a key player in the trade along the ancient Silk Road. In the midst of so much history, the last few decades of conflict in the region appear laughably short. But they have still been phenomenally destructive. When the exhibition's tour ends, its contents will be returned to the renewed Afghanistan National Museum, in a country that is still striving for stability. Does Greene fear for their safety once they return? He is circumspect. “I have hope for the people working in the museum... They are optimistic about the future of the museum and the future of Afghanistan, despite all the problems which the country has. And they are convinced that it is their heritage that will be one of the important factors in binding a very fractured country together.”