Surkh Kotal

Surkh Kotal is an ancient archaeological site located in the southern part of the region of Bactria, in today's northern Afghanistan, near the city of Pul-i Khumri, the capital of the province Baghlan.

It is the location of monumental constructions made during the rule of the Kushans. Huge temples, statues of Kushan rulers and the Surkh Kotal inscription, which revealed part of the chronology (another fragment of that chronology was found on the Rabatak inscription found nearby) of early Kushan emperors (also called Great Kushans) were all found there.

The site of Surkh Kotal, excavated between 1952 and 1966 by Prof. Schlumberger of the Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan, is the main site excavated of the Kushan Empire. Some of the site's sculptures were transferred to the Persian National Museum (also Afghanistani National Museum) or also known as the Kabul Museum, the rest of the site was completely looted during the Afghanistani civil war. The most famous artifacts of this site are the Surkh Kotal inscription, the statue of King Kanishka and the fire altar. The statue of the king was destroyed during the Taliban wave of iconoclasm in February-March 2001, but has been restored by French conservationists. The three artifacts are currently on display in the Afghanistani National Museum.

References

M. Le Berre, and G. Fussman, Surkh Kotal en Bactriane I. Les temples, MDAFA 25, Paris, 1983.
Vogelsang, Willem. 2002. The Afghans, pp. 148-150. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. ISBN 0631198415.

External Links

Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977): An Historical Guide to Afghanistan. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization. [1]
For recent photographs please see http://www.spach.info/ephotosbaghlan.htm