Edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven and Amber Dorrian, Wisdom Quarterly
Mes Aynak archaeological excavations
Michal Przedlacki (REPORTING)
LOCATION: Southern chapel, Kafiriat Tepe monastic complex, Logar Province, Afghanistan [ancient Gandhara, frontier India]
Gandhara-style Buddha (SF Asian Museum) |
In May 2012 I traveled to Afghanistan on an assignment for the Czech edition of National Geographic magazine. I photographed excavation and rescue efforts at the world’s largest archaeological excavation site, located in Mes Aynak (“copper well”) area, Logar Province, Afghanistan.
The Buddha's western face (buddhaskulptur.de) |
[According to maverick Indian archeologist Dr. Ranajit Pal, modern Bamiyan, Afghanistan, was ancient Kapilavastu, India, the Buddha's hometown. We at Wisdom Quarterly agree that the historical Buddhist sites were far west of modern Nepal.]
That is, however, unlikely to happen. At the end of December 2012, the first part of the ancient site will be destroyed [by corporate Chinese interests bent on extracting rare earth minerals, copper, and gold].
Policeman guards excavation (time.com) |
US strike team soldier drives bulldozer through infrastructure to help make country "safe" for capitalism during US war on and continued occupation of Afghanistan (defense.gov) |
Marks of a Great Man (en.wikipedia.org) |
Mes Aynak is also a home to a second-largest unworked cooper deposit in the world.
To give you a hint, this earth-covered ancient city -- yet to be excavated -- sprawls across a territory of approximately 1.5 by 1.5 kilometers [distance, perhaps a temple complex a square mile in size. Wisdom Quarterly does not refer to it as "the World's Greatest Buddhist Site" for nothing].
Gandharan (flickrhivemind.net) |
Gandhara-style Buddha (SF Asia Museum) |
Unfortunately, we will never learn about it. For underneath Mes Aynak City exists the second-largest known unworked copper deposit in the world. MCC (China Metallurgical Group Corporation, a government-owned giant) bought rights to it for about $3 billion. It plans to excavate copper and rare earths for the next 30 years, aiming to extract approximately $100 billion worth. As such, a massive open copper mine visible from outer space will completely destroy this ancient site.
Fitzgerald (InvisibleHistory.com) |
CIA-funded Afghan Muslims (uberhumor.com) |
So sites in Pakistan, Iran/Persia (where the Buddha's mother, Maya Devi, was likely born, according to Dr. Ranajit Pal, who posits that she was from Seistan-Baluchistan, which is a border area between Afghanistan-Iran-Pakistan), Kazakhstan, and elsewhere go largely unprotected in spite of the meager efforts of earnest archeologists].
- Buddhism in Iran (iranian.com)
- The REAL American history of Afghanistan
- Ancient Western Buddhist art (gandhara.com.au)
Kabul Bank bail out (Huff Po; NPR) |
Reporting (with text by Jiri Unger and Nicolas Engel) has been published exclusively in the September edition of the Czech version of National Geographic magazine.
(Nadia, Afghan Treasures) Fantastic news! We have blown past our original goal of 10,000 signatures for our petition to protect the Afghan Mes Aynak site from Chinese mining developers. Who can imagine these incredible archaeological treasures being destroyed for commercial profiteering? More than 10,000 signatories think that is a bad idea. As of today, we have collected 10,360 signatures and are stretching the goal to 20,000 [2011]. We will report our progress the April newsletter, which features an exclusive article on Mes Aynak by Prof. Tarzi. (We welcome comments and feedback). Here are three things to do right now:
- Subscribe to Afghan Treasures.
- Sign the Care2 petition.
- Subscribe to the newsletter.
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