Afghanistan earthquake highlights need to invest in the country’s undiscovered heritage

As Afghanistan tries to comprehend the extent of the devastation caused by the country’s worst earthquake in the past two decades, cultural experts say it will be impossible to determine any damage to archaeological sites for the foreseeable future. To our knowledge, the recorded cultural sites were not affected by the earthquake. However, it is impossible to know for sure unless a team of experts assesses the area,” Abdullah, a prominent historical expert with close ties to the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture (who cannot be named as he is not authorized to speak to the press), says He adds, “It is not a priority at the moment.”

Another challenge, Abdullah says, is that due to the insecurity over the past two decades in the affected areas, no archaeological research or surveys have been conducted. “We have no idea what was there,” Abdullah says.

A week ago, at around 1.30 a.m. local time on June 22, a powerful 5.9-magnitude earthquake devastated countless villages in eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people and injuring at least 1,500 others.

The epicenter was 37 kilometers southwest of the city of Khost, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center. Rural Gayan and Barmal districts of Paktika province and parts of rural Khost province were among the worst affected areas. The tremors caused by the quake were felt 200 km away in the capital, Kabul, and in the neighboring countries of Pakistan and India.

The lack of reliable roads and communications infrastructure has delayed the initial aid response to the affected areas. Aid that arrived was delayed distribution while the Taliban tried to organize its return. We got there on Thursday and people had nothing: no electricity, no food, not even water. “The aid has arrived but it has not been distributed,” a resident of Charana, the capital of Paktika, who asked to be identified only as Navid, told The Art Newspaper.

Cultural sites in Paktika

Paktika is believed to be full of valuable historical sites; However, the insecurity in this region over the past two decades has made it impossible to conduct research by the Afghan government or foreign agencies.

Parts of Paktika and Khost were under Taliban control even before the government fell last year. Located near the Pakistani border, the locals have strong ties to the Haqqani Network, a Sunni Islamist militant group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US government in 2012.

On Monday, June 27, aid arrived and was distributed to residents affected by the 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Paktika state. Photography: Samarghul Samar

Many of Haqqani’s followers hold ministerial positions in the Taliban government. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister, who is still on the FBI’s most wanted list, made a rare public appearance when he visited Paktika in recent days. Paktika is one of the historical provinces of Afghanistan. It is believed that there are many archaeological sites here dating back at least to the Kushan Dynasty [first century BC to third century AD]says Zulfiqar Moqbel, former head of the Ministry of Information and Culture in Paktika.

Mokbel says that some of the sites identified are evidence of a deep history that deserves further research. Among these are Patana in Central Sharana, a pre-Islamic site (over 1,400 years old); Reshke, which is likely an archaeological ruin in Mata Khan; Hecht Rukh Fort, a fort presumably built between 424 AD to 566 AD in the Orgon region; and Gomol Tower, a 300 or 400 year old tower in Orgon as well. “Over the past 20 years, the previous government was unable to access these areas, so we know very little about them,” Mokbel says.

A former deputy minister in the Ministry of Information and Culture in exile, who asked not to be named, echoed Moqbel’s comments when they tried to visit areas where they were attacked by the rebels. He remembers traveling to Parmal in 2010 to meet with locals as he planned to spend a day with them only until those plans were halted when they were subjected to rocket attacks. “The situation was so unsafe that we could not stay there. Even when the Americans, who had a base nearby, visited, they could only stay for a few hours,” says the former official.

Patana in Sharana, Paktika

Moqbel eagerly shares what little information is known about some of the sites.

Patana, from the pre-Islamic era, is a mountain with fort-like features. Over the years, a communications tower was built on top of the historic site and used as a military site. “It’s possible that a large part of the site is underground. There was some evidence of a winery on the site, it’s very interesting,” he says.

Patana, located in Sharana, the capital of Paktika. The site is believed to date back to the pre-Islamic period but has not been studied by archaeologists and has been mostly neglected. A military post and communications tower were built on the site. Photo: © Art Newspaper

According to Moqbel, merely displacing the soil with a flick of the hand would reveal evidence of artifacts in the lands surrounding the site. Moqbel’s team identified a person who had discovered a statue of Patana and was in the process of claiming it from the individual to send it to the Kabul National Museum when the country fell to the Taliban.

The lack of access to the areas has also led to a lack of investigation of illegal excavations and evidence of valuable cultural sites. About two months before the fall of the government, Moqbel received reports of illegal excavations at Rishki, a site in the Mata Khan district, about 35 kilometers from Sharana.

“We were told they were discovering artifacts, gold and even statues. There was nothing we could do,” Moqbel says grimly. With the fighting between the army and Taliban forces intensifying at the time, no support could be spared to meet his plea for help.

The Jomal Tower, a tower in the Orgun region, is another building in Paktika that Mokbel hopes to look into. “I think the age of the Jum tower is at least 300-400 years, but we don’t know anything about it. Mokbel says.

The sites included in the Moqbel lists and the other recorded sites in Khost were not in earthquake-damaged areas, although he agrees with other experts that unless assessed by a qualified team there is no way to be certain.

The treasure of Merzaka in Paktia

Evidence of possible undiscovered sites of historical interest has been found not too far away in the neighboring Paktia province of Paktia. The Mirzaka Treasure is a famous tale in the archaeological circles of Afghanistan.

Research by Kitab Khan Faizi, director of the Academy of Sciences at the International Center for Kushan Studies in Kabul and respected author, indicates that in 1947, a group of women accidentally found some coins in Mirzaka, about 30 kilometers northeast of the country. Gardez, the capital of Paktia, which led to the discovery of small rooms in the area. Thousands of coins, mostly silver and copper, from periods spanning about 700 years, have been found stored there. Ten thousand coins were subsequently recorded and preserved in the Kabul National Museum, but it is believed that this was a fraction of what was found and that locals took about 50,000 coins.

The Mirzaka site is located 30 km northeast of the city of Gardez in the Paktia province. At least 10,000 coins were discovered in this area in 1947 by accident. Photo: © Art Newspaper

Between 1992 and 1993, during the country’s civil war after the collapse of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, another treasure was discovered in Mirzaka. During this time, it is estimated that more than four tons of coins, about 550,000 coins and 350 kilograms of gold were discovered and sold on the black market. No official records of the results have been kept, but it is believed that among the treasures are coins from the Achaemenid Empire (550 BC).

But this was not the end of the treasure. In 1997, when the Taliban took over the country, valuable artifacts were once again found in the area, including statues and gold ornaments. The results were sold on the black market, according to Vaese.

“In 2005 an initial survey was conducted that identified 5,000 sites in the country but no survey has been done since then,” Vaizi tells The Art Newspaper. Every inch of Afghanistan has its own history and archaeological remains. “There is a real need for a detailed survey and research of the whole country,” Fayzi says.

future

According to Abdullah now, travel around the country is now safer and the sites are more accessible, and there are plans to survey the entire country to create an inventory of Afghan heritage sites. For 40 years, Afghanistan was unsafe, and issues related to our historical cultural sites did not receive proper attention. We hope to start protecting our cultural sites.

To conduct the surveys and research identified by Abdullah requires funding that Afghanistan does not have. He admits that much-needed funding to revive archeology projects that can create jobs and protect historic sites will likely have to come from foreign investors, a complex political issue because the Taliban government has not been officially recognized by the West.

“Hopefully, one day security and politics will be such that tourists can be drawn to visit Afghanistan,” he says.

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