Afghanistan…a nation rich in history, and in beautiful ancient artifacts…
But in the last three decades, war has devastated this country, and many of its treasures have been lost or destroyed.
Fred Hiebert :
“These objects were all leaving, leaving, leaving. Can you imagine the psychological scar, the mental fatigue that would happen just seeing your country plundered like that? It’s a terrible thing.”
(Super: Fredrik Hiebert, Archaeologist & National Geographic Fellow)
Narration:
Few treasures discovered on Afghan soil would be missed more terribly than the priceless Bactrian Horde.
It was unearthed in 1978 by Viktor Sarianidi, a Russian archaeologist who had come to look for Bronze Age pottery.
What he found instead was a royal nomad family’s hidden tombs, filled with gold.
“When we found the second and then the third tomb, I started asking myself how come it was me, a little boy from Tashkent who discovered the gold of the world? Could I be that lucky?”
(Super: Victor Sarianidi, Archaeologist)
Narration:
In all, Sarianidi unearthed more than 20,000 golden artifacts dating back 2000 years.
It was one of the most extraordinary archeological finds ever made.
But there was little time to savor the discovery.
The Soviet invasion was imminent, and three decades of invasions and armed conflict were about to erupt.
The excavation team rapidly recovered as many of the gold objects as they could, and delivered the gold to the National Museum in Kabul.
Soon after, Afghanistan dissolved into the chaos of war.
Rival factions took over Kabul, and the National Museum was subsequently bombed.
The Bactrian Horde disappeared in silence.
Over the years, rumors circulated…
…that rival groups melted the trove down…
…or that the Taliban gave it to Osama bin Laden as a gift.
For Victor Sarianidi, there was an even more heart-breaking rumor—that he stole the gold.
In 2003, Sarianidi got a chance to clear his name.
U.S. and allied forces had overthrown the Taliban.
Afghan life regained a sense of normalcy.
Newly installed leader Hamid Karzai learned of an intact vault in the presidential palace.
Were the boxes with the Bactrian gold in this vault?
National Geographic Archaeology Fellow Fred Hiebert was specially invited to go to Kabul to inventory the vault’s contents.
“I was just so anxious to know what was inside the boxes, so anxious to know, was this the Bactrian gold? Could I vindicate Victor, you know?
Here I had been living for all this time worried that Victor’s reputation had been ruined, you know, because there was no way to verify were this great treasure was. And now, we had that opportunity.”
(Super: Fredrik Hiebert, Archaeologist & National Geographic Fellow)
Narration:
Fred made sure his mentor, Victor Sarianidi, was there for the big event.
Source: Fred Hiebert interview “We had brought victor from his dig, interrupted the dig he was on in Turkmenistan. We had flown him in to see if he could confirm that these were definitely the real objects. Because we didn’t know how else. We had never seen these objects for so many years. We had thought he would be the best person.”
Fred Hiebert SOT:
“We got to the Presidential Palace, and they said, you have to wait. And we said, well, what are we waiting for? They said, there’s no keys to the boxes. We said, there are no keys to the boxes? They said, yes, the keys are with the key-holders and the key-holders are gone.”
Fred Hiebert SOT:
“The key-holders, they're called talwidars, are the keepers of the treasures of Afghanistan. And in this particular case, the key-holders were gone, and without the key-holders nobody in the country had the right to open the boxes.”
Narration:
Who the key-holders were, if indeed there was more than one, has never been revealed publicly.
So president Karzai had to issue a decree authorizing the attorney general to open the boxes.
Fred Hiebert :
"My heart was just trembling. I was worried about the gold. I was worried about the artifacts. I was worried about everything."
Man SOT:
"This is the first piece."
Narration:
…after being hidden for a generation, there it was…a golden floret hairpin Dr. Sarianidi pulled from the earth years ago.
"It’s like seeing an old friend again after 25 years. You didn’t even know if he is still alive. And now you realize he is right here waiting for you."
(Super: Victor Sarianidi, archaeologist)
Fred Hiebert SOT:
“And there it was, intact. It was as if the heart of Afghanistan had been given back. It was a really important moment.”
(Super: Fredrik Hiebert, Archaeologist & National Geographic Fellow
Narration:
Thanks to Victor Sarianidi and Fred Hiebert’s efforts, the treasure will go on tour in Spring of 2008 as part of a National Geographic exhibition.
And as for those who kept the gold’s secret, they remain the heroes of this treasure. Their quiet dedication to preserve their cultural heritage and history saved it from plunder.
