The Impact of War upon Afghanistan?s cultural heritage

At the 105th annual meeting of the Archaological Institute of America in San Francisco, January 3, 2004, the directo of the National Institute of Archaeology gives on overview on the impact of war on a country's cultural heritage

At the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Archaological Institute of America (AIA), a plenary session was held focusing on "The Cultural Costs of Waging War." Presenters discussed the affects of recent military activities in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Although a lot of information is available on the looting of the Iraqi museum and archaeological sites, substantially less coverage has been given to the looting and destruction of Afghan cultural heritage. Mr. Abdul Wasey Feroozi, Director General of the National Institute of Archaeology, Ministry of Information and Culture, spoke at the plenary session on "The Impact of War upon Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage." He has allowed the AIA to reproduce the text of his address along with images of sites. Dr. Zemaryalai Tarzi, Director for the French Survey and Excavation Archaeological Mission and former Director of Archaeology and Conservation of Historical Monuments of Afghanistan, has graciously provided captions for all of the images and descriptions of the sites. The AIA would also like to thank Nadia Tarzi, Vice President of the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology (APAA), for her assistance in compiling and translating the document.

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