Tillya Tepe tombs (Bactrian hoard)
Tumbas de Tillya Tepe (tesoro de Bactriana)
- Date
- 1978 (necrópolis del century I a.C.-I d.C.) · confidence medium
- Place
- Tillya Tepe, Sheberghan, Jowzjan, Afghanistan
- Credited to
- Nomads of Bactria (found by Viktor Sarianidi, 1978)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Six nomad tombs with about 20,000 objects of gold, turquoise and lapis lazuli, with Greek, Persian, Indian and Chinese influences, excavated in 1978-79. They show the cultural crossroads of the Silk Road around the turn of the era.
They are attributed to nomadic peoples (Yuezhi or Saka) who settled in Bactria; the exact ethnic attribution and the date (1st century BC to 1st century AD) are approximate.
What it led to
- a model of artistic contacts between Eurasian worlds
- a hoard hidden in a Kabul palace vault during the war and rediscovered in 2003
- basis of the touring exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures