Word: greeks
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...light not only on Afghan history, but that of Western civilization. Ai Khanoum, established by Alexander in 328 B.C., still bears remnants of columns that wouldn't look out of place in the Parthenon. Bamiyan was the seat of a vast Buddhist civilization whose artisans dressed their idols in Greek fashions, leading academics to wonder if Buddhist philosophy influenced Greek thought as much as Greek styles had an impact on local art. Excavation of the earth around Masjid-i-No Gumbad, a 9th century brick mosque thought to be the oldest still standing in the world, could illuminate many...
...20th century blossoming of archaeological research in Afghanistan uncovered treasures of unimaginable value: carved ivories, Greek statues and Buddhist icons that mesmerized the world. Those findings also ignited gold fever in the country, inspiring hundreds of freelance "archaeologists" to dig for treasures of their own, with a black-market value that far exceeded a farmer's annual earnings. Then, starting in 1979, war uprooted whatever fragile government protections had been put in place and thousands of priceless artifacts, some even looted from the national museum in Kabul, were spirited out of the country. But it was the fall...
...every legitimate excavation like Tepe Zargaran, there are many more ransacked in search of treasures destined for the living rooms of rich collectors. The vast plain of Ai Khanoum, once the easternmost center of ancient Greek culture, is pockmarked with thousands of looter pits, some still containing fragments of clay or shattered lumps of marble - remnants of statues that didn't survive the excavation process. There is little left of the Corinthian columns that once lined the city's main thoroughfare, though at least two of the elaborately carved pedestals can be found at a nearby restaurant, where they form...
...will not tolerate this embarrassment.' NIKOS DENDIAS, Greek Justice Minister, after two of the nation's most infamous criminals orchestrated a brazen prison break via helicopter for the second time in three years...
London: Sir John Soane's Museum John Soane, architect of the Bank of England when it was rebuilt in 1833, created this museum in his own house to showcase his massive collection of antiquities, artifacts and copies of Greek and Roman sculptures. Accessed via winding staircases, the narrow galleries are filled with plaster oddities: men fighting with griffins, single feet and knees, an acanthus leaf, a devil's face. Soane intended to create an Academy of Architecture, but ended up with a richly eccentric folly. For more information, go to www.soane.org. - by Lucy Fisher (See 10 things...