5,000 ancient historical sites in Afghanistan

There are at least 5,000 ancient historical sites in Afghanistan according to a satellite study. The Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture (MOIC) said on 25 December 2016 that a satellite study has detected at least 5,000 ancient sites, with some in areas under the control of armed groups.

The ministry will map all of the ancient sites as part of their five-year plan, and will send archaeologists abroad to gain and develop their skills and knowledge of archaelogy in order to maintain the ancient sites.

The MOIC said they started identifying historical sites last year. With the completion of the satellite imagery, the ministry has just developed a five-year plan, which will commence when the mapping is finalized.

The archaelogy department of the MOIC said the satellite revealed 5,260 ancient sites in different provinces over the past ten years. The information is being compiled for mapping. The archaelogy department also needs a new building as they expand for this project, said the department head Abdul Qadir Temori. ‘The lack of space is a big problem for us,’ said Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, chair of the National Museum.

Meanwhile, acting minister of MOIC, Sayed Kamal Sadat, urged people to return antiquities and artefacts smuggled out of the country during the civil war as they commence to rebuild the archaelogical history of Afghanistan.

www.afghanistantimes.af

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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