Tillya Tepe, Archaeological site in Sheberghan, Afghanistan
Tillya Tepe is an archaeological site in Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan, where six burial mounds hold the graves of six individuals. The site contains over 20,000 items made from gold, silver, ivory, and other materials discovered within the tombs.
A Soviet-Afghan expedition led by Viktor Sarianidi opened the mounds in 1978 and found burials from the first century before the common era. The site was soon abandoned when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the excavation ended.
The burial goods show motifs from several ancient cultures, from Hellenistic figures to animal symbols from the East. This mix came from trade along the Silk Road, which passed through here and brought together craftspeople from different regions.
The site itself lies in a hard-to-reach area and is not normally open to visitors. Many of the recovered pieces are occasionally displayed in museums worldwide and offer a view of the finds there.
The entire collection disappeared during the wars and resurfaced only in 2003 in sealed vaults beneath the central bank in Kabul. Museum staff had secretly locked it there to protect it from looting.
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