![]() One loss is particularly symbolic: the destruction of the remains of Ai-Khanoum – Uzbek for “lady of the moon” – discovered by a French archaeologist in 1926, although excavation did not begin until the 1960s. The arrival of Moscow’s troops plunged the country into a series of civil wars that has not yet ended, ruining most of the heritage unearthed during those decades of excavation. This scientific adventure was interrupted by the Soviet invasion of 1979. But King Amanullah Khan, presiding over a new country, also had a political motivation: he needed to formalize a past that could support the national aspirations of his government. But after World War I, the newly-created independent state of Afghanistan – long fought over by the Russians and the British – decided to entrust France with the creation of an archaeological mission aimed at unearthing all those lost vestiges.ĭAFA – the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan – had a cultural mission. The ancient remains of Afghanistan were entombed by centuries of oblivion, or plundered by the many empires that passed through the territory. Despite an international outcry, they were dynamited by the Taliban regime in 2001, shortly before the coalition invasion of the country. Majestic giant Buddhas were carved into the mountains of the Bamiyan valley, in the contemporary region of central Afghanistan. ![]() There, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom flourished for nearly 150 years, mixing Hellenic and Buddhist traditions. ![]() ![]() In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great founded the mythical city of Ai-Khanoum – the easternmost of the Hellenic cities. ![]() For centuries, the territory has been disputed by different empires and torn apart through endless wars. Afghanistan is a land where cultures and civilizations have always intersected. ![]()
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