Another excursion with World Lit class- they/we had just finished reading KARA KUSH by Idries Shah- this wonderful novel contains a motherlode of Afghan history so I thought it would be interesting to see what we could see at the museum. One of my students works at Ministry of Culture- he arranged for us to meet Director who gave us a personal guide.
Black marble bowl from Kandahar 3rd Century, lotus blossoms at bottom indicate it was created by Buddhists, arabic inscription came later; Bodhisatva, 4th or 5th Century, found on mountain in Kabul, was pile of rubble after Taliban; female deity from Nuristan, note razor sharp teeth (hmm-dentata), male deities don't have them. Nuristan was only province not to accept Islam until forced to in 19th C, all others went to Islam in 8th C. Buddhism was religion of Afghanistan from 3rd C BC to 8th C AD. All Buddhas in this collection look Greek- this is bec of Alex the Great
Another excursion with World Lit class- they/we had just finished reading KARA KUSH by Idries Shah- this wonderful novel contains a motherlode of Afghan history so I thought it would be interesting to see what we could see at the museum. One of my students works at Ministry of Culture- he arranged for us to meet Director who gave us a personal guide.
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