Dozens of archaeological sites across Afghanistan have been bulldozed to facilitate looting, according to a report from the University of Chicago.
A little over two years since President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Taliban-controlled nation is apparently claiming another victim: human history. A series of reports and data from the University of Chicago, published in 2024, detailed patterns of systematic looting at a series of sites dating back as far as the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Most of the sites are located in Afghanistan’s Balkh region, which was one of the richest and most populated regions back in the sixth century B.C., BBC reported. By 327 B.C. Alexander the Great had conquered the region, making it one of the most pivotal sites of potential lost history in the western world.
University of Chicago’s Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation has identified thousands of archaeological sites throughout Afghanistan, but a new pattern emerged around those sites in late 2018 onward — specifically the kind of pattern made by bulldozer tracks. “Basically, the people were clearing out vast areas to make it easier to loot the site systematically,” Dr. Gil Stein, the center’s director, told BBC.
Looters continue to pillage Afghanistan’s rich archaeological heritage | Science https://t.co/nvf6lpNLf4
— Chris Stringer (@ChrisStringer65) November 4, 2023
In 1978, a 2,000-year-old hoard of Bactrian gold was uncovered at a site close to those being allegedly bulldozed. Further investigation revealed more than 20,000 rare and ancient artifacts called the “lost treasures of Afghanistan.”
“You can unearth layers of a civilization in each mound,” Cambridge University research fellow Reza Huseini told the outlet. Huseini was born in the Balkh region and spent his 20s volunteering at archaeological sites there. He said that news of the systematic looting made him feel like his “soul is dying.” (RELATED: Newsmax Host Carl Higbie Absolutely Shreds Biden Admin Over Destruction Of Women’s Rights)
Thanks to Biden’s botched withdrawal, there is likely nothing that can be done to stop these actions. There is something sick and terrifying about a regime so comfortable with destroying its own history.
Thank goodness we don’t live under a government or academic oligarchy that would hide the truth of our history from us … oh, wait … never mind. We do.