Ebook: The Archaeology of Afghanistan: From Earliest Times to the Timurid Period: New Edition

An updated and revised edition of a classic text on the archaeology of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is at the cultural crossroads of Asia, where the great civilisations of Mesopotamia and Iran, South Asia and Central Asia overlapped and sometimes conflicted. Its landscape embraces environments from the high mountains of the Hindu Kush to the Oxus basin and the great deserts of Sistan; trade routes from China to the Mediterranean, and from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea cross the country. It has seen the development of early agriculture, the spread of Bronze Age civilisation of Central Asia, the conquests of the Persians and of Alexander of Macedon, the spread of Buddhism and then Islam, and the empires of the Kushans, Ghaznavids, Ghurids and Timurids centred there, with ramifications across southern Asia. All of which has resulted in some of the most important, diverse and spectacular historical remains in Asia.

First published in 1978, this was the first book in English to provide a complete survey of the immensely rich archaeological remains of Afghanistan. The contributors, all acknowledged scholars in their field, have worked in the country, on projects ranging from prehistoric surveys to the study of Islamic architecture. It has now been thoroughly revised and brought up to date to incorporate the latest discoveries and research.

About the editors:

Original edition edited by Raymond Allchin and Norman Hammond

Revised and updated edition edited by Warwick Ball with Norman Hammond

New to this edition:

• New interpretation of the Afghan Bronze Age within the broader context of the recently identified Oxus and Helmand Civilisations
• Reports on excavations completed after the first edition, such as Shortughaï and Kandahar
• Excavations revealing Achaemenid, Greek and Kushan discoveries at and near Balkh, Achaemenid levels at Herat, and spectacular Buddhist remains at Kabul and Mes Aynak
• Revised discussions of Graeco-Bactrian and Kushan coinage
• Major revisions of Kushan and later pre-Islamic history based on the recent discovery of the Rabatak Bactrian inscription and the Bactrian documents
• Other major discoveries such as the Greek Sophytos inscription from Kandahar, the Sasanian cave painting at Ghulbiyan, the Sasanian rock relief at Rag-i Bibi, and many others
• Important early Islamic urban remains revealed at the Minaret of Jam with extensive related fortifications systems extending over a vast area
• Extended bibliography with almost twice the number of new titles
• Nearly 500 illustrations, nearly all new and mostly in colour

Contributors

• Raymond Allchin (1923-2010), formerly University of Cambridge
• Warwick Ball, Near Eastern archaeologist
• Olivier Bordeaux, Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA)
• Sophia Bowlby, Loughborough University
• Richard S. Davies, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania
• Klaus Fischer (1919-1993) formerly University of Bonn
• Henri-Paul Francfort, Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique
• Simon Glenn, University of Oxford
• Norman Hammond, University of Cambridge and Boston University
• Bertille Lyonnet, Directrice de Recherche Emerita at the CNRS, Paris
• David W. Mac Dowall (FSA 1960) University College, Durham and University of North London
• Cameron A. Petrie, University of Cambridge
• Jim G. Shaffer, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland
• Nicholas Sims-Williams, SOAS, University of London
• Maurizio Taddei (1936-2000) formerly Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples
• Kevin White, University of Reading