Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World at the British Museum

Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World at the British Museum

02 March, 2011
by: Jessjb

Jess Jones-Berney delights over Afghanistan's ancient treasures at the British Museum.

The British Museum's latest offering from the Middle East, Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World, is part of a travelling exhibition on loan from the National Museum in Kabul. By sharing their country's cultural wealth with an international audience, Kabul's objective is to remind us that Afghanistan is not simply a place of war, but a place imbued with culture.

And every one of these 200 archaeological recoveries are here thanks to a small faction of Afghan officials who bravely stashed them away in 1989, having survived Soviet invasion, the ensuing civil war and brutal Taliban regime. With the National Museum itself under siege, and others vandalised and pillaged by Taliban hands, the risk taken to preserve what's on display here is testament to Afghanistan's commitment to the survival of their ancient cultural heritage.

And aren't we lucky they did! There are 4000 year-old treasures on show, from raw lapis lazuli, a highly valued stone still possessing its pale blue tint, and a pretty dapper coin of Alexander to cabinets bearing golden goblets that'd put the holy grail in kindergarten.

One section acquaints visitors with the Greek frontier city of Ai Khanum. There's sundials from the local gym, ghoulish limestone waterspouts, a grumpy-faced bronze statue of Hercules and two Corinthian capitals, so massive that it's impossible to imagine how they were ever lugged up onto sky high columns. Oh, and just some inscribed remains of a funeral monument erected by one of Aristotle's disciples...how cool is that? There's even a TV (2010 AD), taking you on a digitally reconstructed tour of the city so you can fill in all the blanks. But I'm most impressed by an awesome inlaid shell disc, its glass and gold threaded detail still intact. It's one of the oldest examples of Indian figurative art.

One wall of the exhibition is devoted to a panorama of the country's mountainous terrain, drawing attention to the importance of landscape in defining separate regions and control of coveted trade routes. And as I wander from trinket to treasure, everything reinforces Afghanistan as the cultural crossroads between East and West – particularly excavations from the ancient site of Begram, where a room brimming with looted treasure traded along the Silk Road was discovered by French archaeologists in 1937. There's an eclectic mix from China, India and the Roman Empire: enamelled beakers, colourful shards of ancient vases, a brotherhood of Finding Nemo-like glass fishes, and elaborate ivory furniture inlays...it really is seriously impressive.

But nothing emphasises fragile beauty almost lost more than the exhibition's eye-candy centre-piece: a gold crown excavated from the 4000 year-old burial site, Tillya Tepe. The intricate floral detail is just stunning and I'm wider-eyed than Indy's bit of crumpet, Elsa Schneider, as I marvel at its jingling components. Impressively, it can collapse into five parts and I find myself discussing with some lady how they just don't make jewellery like they used to. Alongside this gem are troves taken from six nomad graves boasting over 20,000 serious cases of bling. I see a pair of gold shoe soles, clasps, containers, anklets, bracelets and a scabbard containing turquoise and gold daggers...it appears that all that glitters here is gold.

Serving as a rather apt endnote to the show is the National Museum of Afghanistan's motto, “A nation stays alive if it's culture stays alive,” which considering the effort to raise cultural awareness here today, I sincerely hope it's true.

Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World is at the British Museum until 3rd July 2011.

Click here to see all London exhibitions.
Click here for things to do in London.

Return to Spoonfed's London Art homepage.

Jessjb