[CPProt.net] Japan and Afghanistan to study ancient temple

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

Japan and Afghanistan to study ancient temple
03/19/2005

By EIICHI MIYASHIRO,The Asahi Shimbun


Decades of warfare and civil strife have devastated Afghanistan's historical
heritage and cultural sites, including large statues of Buddha carved in a
mountainside of the Bamiyan Valley, which were destroyed by the Taliban in
2001. 

Now on the road to recovery, the country will launch a full-scale
archaeological excavation and research project with Kyoto's Ryukoku
University this September. 

According to an agreement recently signed in Japan by Mohammad Nader
Rassoli, head of Afghanistan's National Institute of Archaeology, and Abdul
Wassey Feroozi of the Ministry of Culture and Information, a joint research
team will study the ruins of a newly found Buddhist temple in Keligan, about
120 kilometers west of the Bamiyan ruins. 

Atsushi Naka, a photographer and graduate of Ryukoku University, discovered
the Keligan ruins in June 2003. In October 2003, Meiji Yamada, professor
emeritus at Ryukoku University and a scholar of Buddhism, also visited
Keligan and confirmed that the ruins were the remains of a Buddhist temple
built before the eighth century. 

Rassoli said: ``The remains are far off to the west, away from the route
people imagined Buddhism took in the region. The temple could prove a
world-class discovery that sheds light on the transmission of Buddhism.'' 

The research project will include another set of ruins, Chehel Burj,
possibly a fortress, located six kilometers west of the Keligan site. 

According to Rassoli: ``This year, we will do a preliminary investigation.
Using those findings, we hope to do a complete excavation starting next year
and preserve both sites.'' 

Not just cultural assets were destroyed during Afghanistan's more than two
decades of turbulence. The country also lost many archaeologists and
scholars. In prewar times, the National Institute of Archaeology had at
least 50 researchers. Now, there are 12, some with little excavation
experience. 

Feroozi said: ``Some researchers were killed, and others left the country.
It was impossible to do excavations during the civil war.'' 

Afghanistan was an ancient crossroads where East met West. Culture and
religion intermingled in a land that straddled trading routes in central
Asia. Before the war, the United States, France, Germany, England and other
countries sent excavation teams to Afghanistan. Supported by their findings,
archaeological studies flourished. 

Rassoli said he hoped the Japanese team would help train the institute's
archaeologists. The agreement for the project specifically states that
Ryukoku University will provide ``assistance in training young professionals
to become well versed in studies of Buddhist culture.'' 

According to Feroozi, the biggest problem facing archaeology in Afghanistan
is looting. 

Almost a historical museum in itself, the country is home to some 2,800
officially recognized archaeological sites. Another 1,500 have been
discovered ``through the efforts of looters,'' confessed Feroozi with a wry
smile. 

``Our country is poor. Theft of artifacts is a way to earn cash. Also,
professional thieves urge ordinary citizens to steal artifacts. We are
baffled as to how to stop illegal excavations.'' 

He added that protecting cultural assets is no easy task when the government
is struggling to exert control over the entire country. 

``The first step to stopping theft is to instill a sense of honor for our
cultural treasures. We have to make people realize that once invaluable
items are lost, they cannot be replaced. It is an uphill battle, but we have
to push on.''(IHT/Asahi: March 19,2005)