Advocacy News

September 19, 1992

AIA Resolution Regarding War and the Destruction of Antiquities


AIA Resolution Regarding War and the Destruction of Antiquities (PDF)

A view of the site of Balkh – Tepe Zargaran showing the many holes left by looters.

At the 2004 Annual Meeting of the 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.

The document is available in PDF format in both high and low resolution. Low resolution is adequate for on screen viewing, but printed images may appear unclear.

Download “The Impact of War upon Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage”:

Low resolution (433 Kb)

High resolution (8.8 Mb)

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The AIA is North America's largest and oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to archaeology. The Institute advances awareness, education, fieldwork, preservation, publication, and research of archaeological sites and cultural heritage throughout the world. Your contribution makes a difference.