Afghanistan's ancient Buddhist heritage (PBS)

Brent Huffman; PBS NewsHour; K Films; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Medhill University's Prof. Huffman, the director behind the new documentary “Saving Mes Aynak,” tells the story of one of Afghanistan’s greatest Buddhist archaeological treasures and the threats it faces from a Chinese mining company (NewsHour.PBS.org/art)

• FILM: “Saving Mes Aynak”
• RELEASE: Kartemquin.com/films/saving-mes-aynak
• CAMPAIGN: Saving Mes Aynak DOC campaign (Variety)
  

Experts: How to preserve ancient Mes Aynak ruins while mining

ARCH (Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage)

Mes Aynak near Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is one of the largest copper and gold deposits in the world, located 20 km south of Kabul in Logar Province. The huge site looms as a potential revenue source for Afghanistan, a country deeply in need of economic growth, hectored by years of war under U.S. occupation. But Mes Aynak is also a vast Buddhist temple complex with over 20 ruin locations, including numerous 5th-6th century Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, a fortress, and evidence of even older Bronze Age settlements buried beneath the rubble of ancient copper mines. Archeologists from around the world hold that Mes Aynak represents a cultural heritage site of immense importance. More

Where was the historical Buddha really born? (Kartemquin Films)

Central Asia: Kalmykia, Ukraine upper northwest of map, India, Nepal in lower south east.