Tillya Tepe

Crown from Tomb VI (female owner)
Tillya Tepe Shown within Continental Asia Show map of Continental Asia Tillya Tepe Tillya Tepe (Bactria) Show map of Bactria Tillya Tepe Tillya Tepe (Afghanistan) Show map of Afghanistan
Alternative name	Tillya Tepe
Location	Afghanistan
Coordinates	36°41′40″N65°47′22″E / 36.69444°N 65.78944°E /36.69444; 65.78944
Type	Burial ground

Tillya tepe,Tillia tepe orTillā tapa (Persian:طلاتپه,romanized: Ṭalā-tappe, literally "Golden Hill" or "Golden Mound") is anarchaeological site in the northernAfghanistan province ofJowzjan nearSheberghan, excavated in 1978 by aSoviet-Afghan team led by theSoviet archaeologistViktor Sarianidi. The hoard found there is often known as theBactrian gold.

The hoard is a collection of about 20,600 ornaments, coins and other kinds of artifacts, made of gold, silver, ivory, etc., that were found in six burial mounds erected for five women and one man, with extremely rich jewelry, dated to around the 1st century BCE-1st century CE.^[1] The ornaments includenecklaces set with semi-precious stones,belts,medallions and acrown. After its discovery, the hoard went missing during the wars in Afghanistan, until it was "rediscovered" and first brought to public attention again in 2003. A new museum inKabul was being planned where the Bactrian gold would eventually be kept.

The heavily fortified town ofYemshi Tepe, just five kilometres to the northeast of modern Sheberghan on the road toAkcha, is only half a kilometre from the now-famous necropolis of Tillia-tepe.

Several coins dated up to the early 1st century CE, with none dated later, suggest a 1st-century CE date for the burial. The coins found in the excavations belonged toTiberius (16-21 CE),Mithradates II (123-88 BCE), the Yuezhi rulerSapadbizes (20 BCE - 20 CE) and Indian coin.^[2] The burial could correspond to Scythian or Parthian tribes dwelling in the area. More probably, they belonged to theYuezhis/ earlyKushans after the fall of theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom and before the rise of theKushan Empire.^[3] They correspond to a time when the Yuezhis had not yet encountered Buddhism.^[3]

A silver coin was found in one of the tombs from the reigns of theParthian kingMithridates II, who ruledc. 123–88 BCE. The coin was found in tomb III, and was apparently held in the hand of the buried woman.

An imitation gold coin of Parthian KingGotarzes I (95-90 BCE) was found in the left hand of the woman in tomb VI. The fact that this coin is in gold, and not silver or bronze as is usually the case for Parthian coinage, suggest that this imitation was made for prestige purposes. The coin is counterstamped with the frontal depiction of what might have been a local chieftain. The counterstamp was added so as to not damage the portrait of the Parthian king, perhaps indicating some degree of dependency on the Parthians.

A gold coin was also found in tomb III showing the bust in profile of the wreath-crowned Roman EmperorTiberius. On the reverse is an enthroned, sumptuously draped female figure holding a spray and scepter. Coins of this type were minted in the city ofLugdunum inGaul, between 16 and 21 CE.^[4]

A Buddhist gold coin from India was also found in tomb IV (the male warrior). On the reverse it depicts a lion with anandipada, with theKharoshthi legend "Sih[o] vigatabhay[o]" ("The lion who dispelled fear"). The obverse shows an almost naked man only wearing an Hellenisticchlamys and apetasus hat (an iconography similar to that ofHermes/Mercury) rolling a wheel. The legend in Kharoshthi reads "Dharmacakrapravata[ko]" ("The one who turned the Wheel of the Law"). It has been suggested that this may be an early representation of theBuddha.^[5][7]

Finally, a very worn coin has been identified as belonging to the Yuezhi chieftainHeraios, orSapadbizes (20 BCE - 20 CE).^[2]

It is thought that the site most likely belonged to theYuezhi (futureKushans).^[5][8] Alternatively, it could have belonged to theSakas (AsianScythians),^[9][10] who were later to migrate to India, known asIndo-Scythians, or to the EasternParthians. Several of the artifacts are highly consistent with a Scythian origin, such as the royal crown or the polylobed decorated daggers discovered in the tombs. Several of the bodies exhibited ritual deformation of the skull, a practice which is well documented among Central Asian nomads of the period.

These pieces have much in common with the famousScythian gold artifacts recovered thousands of kilometers west on the banks of theBosphorus and theChersonese.

A high culturalsyncretism pervades the findings, however.Hellenistic cultural and artistic influences can be found in many of the forms and human depictions (fromamorini to rings with the depiction ofAthena and her name inscribed inGreek), attributable to the existence of theSeleucid empire andGreco-Bactrian Kingdom in the same area until around 140 BCE, and the continued existence of theIndo-Greek Kingdom in the northwestern Indian sub-continent until the beginning of our era.

The artifacts were also intermixed with items coming from much farther, such as a fewChinese artifacts (especially Chinese bronze mirrors) as well as a fewIndian ones (decorated ivory plates). This seems to be a testimony to the richness of cultural influences in the area ofBactria at that time.

The hoard was thought to have been lost at some point in the 1990s, theNational Museum of Afghanistan having been looted numerous times resulting in a loss of 70% of the 100,000 objects on display.^[11] In 2003, however, it was found in secret vaults under the central bank building in Kabul.

In 1989 following a committee decision, the last Communist president of Afghanistan,Mohammad Najibullah had ordered the hoard moved from the museum to an underground vault at theCentral Bank of Afghanistan in Kabul. The doors of the vault were locked with keys which were distributed to five trusted individuals.^[11]

In 2003, after the Taliban was deposed, the new government wanted to open the vault, but the keyholders (called "tawadars") could not be summoned because their names were purposefully unknown.Hamid Karzai had to issue a decree authorizing the attorney general to go ahead with safecracking. But in time, the five key-holders were successfully assembled and the vault opened. Since then, the National Geographic Society has catalogued the collection, which appears to be complete – 22,000 objects. Also witnessing the re-opening were National Geographic Explorer and Archaeology FellowFredrik Hiebert and the archaeologist who originally found the hoard,Viktor Sarianidi.

Following an agreement between the Afghan government andFrance, the collection was evaluated and displayed internationally in an exhibition through the cooperation of several prominent museums and the National Geographic Society. Objects were on display from 2007-2009 variously at theMusée Guimet inParis, theNational Gallery of Art inWashington DC, theAsian Art Museum ofSan Francisco, theMuseum of Fine Arts inHouston, theMetropolitan Museum of Art inNew York.^[12]

Some of the most spectacular finds were a part of the traveling exhibition titled "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures From the National Museum, Kabul" or "Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World" which were first on display in December 2006 in France’sMusee Guimet in Paris. The exhibition supported by The National Geographic has also been to theNational Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. from May 25 to Sept. 7th, 2008; from Oct. 24th, 2008 to Jan. 25th, 2009 the collection was at theAsian Art Museum of San Francisco; from February 22 to May 17, 2009 it traveled toThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston then to theMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York from June 23 to Sept. 20th, 2009;Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau-Ottawa held the exhibition from October 23, 2009, to March 28, 2010;Bonn Museum in Germany from June 11, 2010 to January 2, 2011, from March 3, 2011 to July 3, 2011 theBritish Museum in London, and from November 2011 to March 2012,Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm.^[13][14] From 22 March to 28 July 2013, the exhibition was shown at theMelbourne Museum, followed by theQueensland Museum from 5 September 2013 - 27 January 2014, theArt Gallery of New South Wales from 6 March to 1 June 2014, and from July 5 to November 16, 2014 at theWestern Australian Museum in Perth and later toured at theTokyo National Museum from April 12 to June 19, 2016 and later from May 17 to June 17, 2017 at thePalace Museum in Beijing.^[15][16] The exhibition also has toured theMuseum of Oriental Art inTurin, Italy, andNieuwe Kerk inAmsterdam also saw displays.^[17] Later on, the travelling exhibition continued at theHong Kong Museum of History from November 16, 2019 to February 10, 2020.^[18]

By 2020, the displays brought in over 350 million Afs ($4.5 million) for Afghanistan. In 2021,Mohammad Tahir Zuhair announced that the gold will be sent abroad for display and safekeeping.^[19]

In August 2021, the Taliban took control of Kabul, and the treasure is apparently missing yet again.^[20]

• 
  Aphrodite andEros. Tomb II, Tillia tepe.
• 
  Statuette of winged figurine
• 
  Cloth decorations.
• 
  Bracelets.
• 
  Decorative stars. Tomb I.
• 
  Amorini riding on fish, Tillia tepe. Tomb II.
• 
  Rings from Tillia tepe; the left one represents a seatedAthena. Tomb II.
• 
  Necklace. Tomb II.
• 
  "Kings with dragons". Tomb II.
• 
  Men in armor, in Greek fighting gear. Tomb III.
• 
  "Akinakes" polylobed decorated daggers. Tomb IV.
• 
  Dyonisos andAriadne riding a lion. Tomb VI.

Saka kurgans[21]
Salbyk Arzhan Pazyryk Issyk Boralday Taksai Eleke Sazy Tasmola Ingala Tillya Tepe
Arzhan-1 c. 800 BCE Shilikty c. 700 BCE Arzhan-2 c. 650 BCE Bes Shatyr c. 550 BCE Taksai c. 500 BCE Ingala c. 500 BCE Tasmola 7th-5th centuries BCE Boralday c. 600-400 BCE Salbyk c. 600-400 BCE Eleke Sazy c. 600-400 BCE Berel-1 c. 350 BCE Pazyryk-1,2 c. 300 BCE Berel-11 c. 300 BCE Issyk c. 400-200 BCE Tillya Tepe 1st century BCE
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Wikimedia Commons has media related toTillya Tepe.

• Sarianidi, V. I. "The Treasure of Golden Hill."American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 84, No. 2 (Apr., 1980), pp. 125–131."The Treasure of Golden Hill", JSTOR
• Sarianidi, Victor. 1990–1992. "Tilya Tepe: The Burial of a Noble Warrior."PERSICA XIV, 1990–1992, pp. 103–130.
• "Afghanistan, les trésors retrouvés", Musée des arts asiatiques Guimet,ISBN 2-7118-5293-8
• Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul (2008). Eds., Friedrik Hiebert and Pierre Cambon. National Geographic, Washington, D.C.ISBN 978-1-4262-0374-9.
• "L'Or De La Bactriane Fouilles De La Necropole De Tillia-Tepe." EnAfghanistan Septentrional, Leningrad, Editions d'art Aurora, 1985

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• A photograph of the Tillya Tepe burial ground
• "An overview of the burials at Tillya tepe", Sara Peterson, 2018, fromAcademia.edu
• Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
• Website dedicated toAfghanistan's Treasures by Musée Guimet (Paris, France):Afghanistan, les trésors retrouvés
• "Afghanistan: Nation Protects Storied Bactrian Treasure", fromRadio Free Europe, June 9, 2006 – provides an overview.
• "Afghan golden treasure on display", fromBBC News South Asia, December 6, 2006
• "Lost Treasures of Afghanistan Revealed ", fromNational Geographic, November 17, 2004
• "Parthian Aspects of Objects from Grave IV, Tillya Tepe", Sara Peterson, 2011 - 2012, fromAcademia.edu

• Tells (archaeology)
• Archaeological artifacts
• Archaeological sites in Afghanistan
• Bactria
• History of Jowzjan Province
• Former populated places in Afghanistan
• Iranian archaeological sites
• Saka
• Afghanistan–Soviet Union relations
• 1978 archaeological discoveries

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