Small Part of Afghanistan’s Pilfered Cultural Heritage Returned

Investigators for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency tracked down the two stolen coins in the United States a few months ago, after they had surfaced earlier in Pakistan.

The Indo-Greek coins, dating to between 171 and 160 B.C. — soon after the time of Alexander the Great – had originally been discovered by a 1971 French-led archeological expedition near the Oxus River in northeastern Afghanistan.

Handing the coins over to Karzai after a brief signing ceremony, Michael Garcia, Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for immigration and customs enforcement, said the effort to help Afghans to recover their rich cultural heritage reflected “that great spirit of respect and cooperation that exists between our two countries.”

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About Kevin

Kevin Sudeith is an artist and the creator and curator of the war rug collection seen on warrug.com. Beginning as (and remaining) a collector, he began selling war rugs to learn as much as possible about the rugs. Later he sold what he calls "regular rugs" to better study rugs and their historical origins. Sudeith learned how war rugs related to traditional Afghan tribal and workshop rugs as well as the broader Turkmen and Persian rug traditions.