Kabul

This statue is a painted clay Bodhisattva that was part of the Kabul Museum's 100,000 collection. The photograph is all that remains of the artifact, one of thousands destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001.

Fortunately many items such as 2000 year old Bactrian gold jewellry and ornaments, ivory statues of water goddesses and Buddhist terracotta statues were spirited away for safe keeping during Russian occupation and the Taliban regime. These are now reappearing around the globe and being returned to the Afghan government.

The travelling exhibition 'Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul ' is showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in 2009.

source: Pakistan Times and Kabul Museum and National Geographic