National Museum of Afghanistan

National Museum of Afghanistan
The National Museum of Afghanistan in 2005
Map
Established1922
LocationDistrict 6, Kabul, Afghanistan
Coordinates34°28′3″N 69°7′12″E / 34.46750°N 69.12000°E / 34.46750; 69.12000
Collection sizeOver 100,000 as of 1978; now about 50,000-80,000[1][2][3][4]
DirectorMohammad Zubair Abedi[1][5]
Websitewww.nationalmuseum.af

The National Museum of Afghanistan (Dari: موزیم ملی افغانستان, Mūzīyam-e mellī-ye Afghānestān; Pashto: د افغانستان ملی موزیم, Də Afghānistān Millī Mūzīyəm) is a two-story building located across the street from the Darul Aman Palace in the Darulaman area of Kabul, Afghanistan. It was once considered to be one of the world's finest museums.[6][7] There have been reports about expanding the museum or building a new larger one.[2]

The museum's collection had earlier been one of the most important in Central Asia,[8] with over 100,000 items dating back several millennia, including items from Persian, Buddhist, and Islamic dynasties.

With the start of the civil war in 1992, the museum was looted numerous times and destroyed by rockets, resulting in a loss of 70% of the 100,000 objects on display.[9][10]

Since 2007, a number of international organizations have helped to recover over 8,000 artifacts, the most recent being a limestone sculpture from Germany.[11]

Approximately 843 artifacts were returned by the United Kingdom in 2012, including the famous 1st Century Begram ivories.[12]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Over 50 instances of artifact smuggling prevented in last 18 months: officials was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Director Says National Museum Needs Larger Building for Major Exhibits". TOLOnews. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  3. ^ "The Taliban destroyed Afghanistan's ancient treasures. Will history repeat itself?". National Geographic Society. August 14, 2021. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  4. ^ "National Museum of Afghanistan express growing concerns for the safety of ancient artefacts in the region". Mashable. August 18, 2021. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference TOLO-182614 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ From Our Own Correspondent - a celebration of fifty years of the BBC Radio Programme by Tony Grant
  7. ^ Games without Rules: The Often-Interrupted History of Afghanistan by Tamim Ansary
  8. ^ Girardet, Edward; Jonathan Walter, eds. (1998). Afghanistan. Geneva: CROSSLINES Communications, Ltd. p. 291.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbcmarch2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Burns, John F. (30 November 1996). "Kabul's Museum: The Past Ruined by the Present". The New York Times.
  11. ^ (31 January 2012) Germany returns Afghan sculpture bbc.co.uk/news/
  12. ^ (19 July 2012) Looted art returned to Afghanistan, bbc.co.uk