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Treasures of the Golden Hill: The Bactrian Hoard of Afghanistan

The world mostly know of Afghanistan as a land that’s continually torn by warring factions. But Afghanistan is also the land that gave the world one of the greatest treasures ever found: a dizzying cache of finely crafted objects objects dating back to the Bronze age some 4,000 years ago. Known as the Bactrian Hoard, or Tillya tepe Treasure (after the archaeological site where the treasure was found), the find includes more than 20,000 artifacts, from exquisite golden crowns to figurines of limestone and soapstone to coins, seals and other finely wrought metal work in gold, silver and copper.

Tillya tepe literally means “Golden Hill” or “Golden Mound”. It is the main archaeological site in northern Afghanistan that yielded the Bactrian Treasure in a Soviet-led excavation in 1978. The discovery revealed that for thousands of years since the Late Bronze Age (circa 3300 BC to 1200 BC), Bactria had enjoyed close links with many ancient cultures, including the Sumerian culture of Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), as well as the Iranian, Central Asian and Chinese cultures via the fabled Silk Road, a 5,000 mile web of routes that linked Western China to the Mediterranean Sea. These routes brought a melting pot of traders, artisans, imperial envoys and devotees of various faiths to Afghanistan as they criss-crossed the Silk Road to fulfill their respective missions. The Bactrian Hoard is the material imprint left by these sojourners, one that provides a unique window into the rich cultural and religious ideas that traversed across northern Afghanistan four thousand years ago.

Excavations at Tillya tepe, an archaeological site in northern Afghanistan that yielded the Bactrian Hoard comprising over 20,000 ornaments, coins and other artifacts, made of limestone, soapstone, gold, silver, ivory etc. that were found in six burial mounds

Highlights of the Bactrian Hoard

Statuette of a seated woman, possibly a princess or goddess, wearing a flounced dress and a round cap, soapstone and limestone. Circa late 3rd to 1st millennium BC.

Statuette of a “snake man” with scarred face, soapstone and limestone. Late 3rd to 1st millennium BC. Anthropomorphic snakes are widespread in the mythology of central Asia, where they incarnated the hostile forces of the underworld. Their power was controlled not by killing them but by reducing them to silence by a slash across the right cheek as in this figure of a bearded man with the scaly skin of a snake.

A stamp seal made of gold leaf over soapstone featuring a lion and a snake in relief, late 3rd to 1st millennium BC.

A golden diadem made up of five groups of decorative elements in the form of stylized “Tree of Life” motif. Tillya Tepe, 1st century AD. The tree of life motif is common in the ancient art of Central Asian nomads such as the Scythians, who flourished from around 900 BC to 200 BC in many parts of Central Asian to the northern Black Sea.

A golden bowl featuring two bulls with curly beard hanging down the chest, a common motif in Mesopotamian art. 1st century AD.

A gold coin showing a naked deity (most probably Buddha Sakyamuni in a non-canonical representation) pushing the Wheel of Law. 1st century AD.

Pendant showing the “dragon master”. Found in the tomb of a nomad woman in her 30s or 40s. Gold, turquoise, garnet, carnelian and pearl. 1st century AD.
Part of a nomadic headdress from the first century A.D., this ram was in the fourth tomb, the only grave belonging to a man.

Safekeeping the Golden Hoard

The Bactrian Hoard was discovered in an excavation in 1978 by a Soviet-Afghan team led by the archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi, and then handed over to the National Museum of Afghanistan. 1988 the president of Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah, made a fateful decision to safeguard the Bactrian golden hoard. As the exhausted Soviet troops were making preparations to withdraw from the country, Najibullah was afraid that Afghanistan may again descend into chaos, and that the National Museum of Afghanistan would not be safe for the Bactrian gold. A select team moved the treasure to a secure hiding place, its members sworn to secrecy never to reveal its whereabouts until peace was restored. For more than a decade of war and chaos they kept their secret. In 1993 the National Museum was hit by a missile, and nearly three-quarters of its treasures were looted during the ensuing years. Although many Afghans assumed that the Tillya Tepe treasure was among the loot, the new Afghan government following the overthrow of the Taliban regime revealed that  the treasure was safe and had been hidden in a vault of the central bank. From 2016 to 2020, part of the treasure was exhibited around the world, beginning in Paris, via the United States, Germany and ending in Hong Kong under the banner “Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures From the National Museum, Kabul”. Unfortunately, with the overthrow of the Afghan government by the Taliban in 2021, the treasure’s current location is again a mystery. Perhaps, this secrecy is a blessing for the world, shielding it from the malevolent glare of the Taliban and all others who want it for their own agendas.

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