Afghanistan : forging civilizations along the Silk Road
Afghanistan, standing at the crossroads of major trade routes, has a long and complex history. Its rich cultural heritage bears the imprint of many traditions, from Greece and Iran to the nomadic world of the Eurasian steppes and China. The essays in this volume concentrate on periods of great artistic development: the Bactrian Bronze Age and the eras following the conquests of Alexander the Great, with a special focus on the sites of Ai Khanum, Begram, and Tillya Tepe. These contributions -- in response to the reappearance of the magnificent hidden treasures from Afghanistan and their exhibition -- have shed new light on the significance of these works and have reinvigorated the discussion of the arts and culture of Central Asia. -- Publisher description
Print Book, English, ©2012
Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Distributed by Yale University Press, New York, New Haven, Conn., ©2012
Conference papers and proceedings
viii, 134 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 26 cm.
9781588394521, 9780300179545, 1588394522, 0300179545
775027913
Map of the Silk Road
Introduction / Joan Aruz
At the crossroads of Asia : a history of the National Museum of Afghanistan / Omara Khan Massoudi
The Bronze Age world of Afghanistan / Fredrik T. Hiebert
Chronology: western, central, and east Asia after Alexander
Coins : "The great guides of the historian" / Frank L. Holt
Aï Khanum : a Greek colony in post-Alexandrian Central Asia, or how to be Greek in an Oriental milieu / Paul Bernard
The glass from Begram / David Whitehouse
The Begram carvings : itinerancy and the problem of "Indian" art / Sanjyot Mehendale
Bactrian gold : jewelry workshop traditions at Tillya Tepe / Jane Hickman
Tillya Tepe and its connections with the Eurasian steppes / Henri-Paul Francfort
Tillya Tepe : echoes of Greece and China / John Boardman
Links, missing and otherwise : Tillya Tepe and East Asia / Denise Patry Leidy
"Most of the essays published in this volume were presented at the symposium, 'Afghanistan: hidden treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, ' held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on September 10, 2009"--Title page verso