Thursday, January 18, 2007

"Archaeology of Afghanistan:
Its Past, Present and Future"

7:00pm
IPJ Theatre

Sponsored by:
Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice,
Bamiyan Archaelogical Mission, and
the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology

Following the horrendous 2001 destruction of the two giant Bamiyan Buddha statues by the Taliban, Zemaryalai Tarzi, Ph.D., former senior archaeologist of Afghanistan and a specialist on Bamiyan, is back in the valley to resume his work where he left it in 1979. With the ongoing support of the Afghan and French governments, the National Geographic Society, and the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology (APAA), since 2002 Dr. Tarzi has been conducting the first open air excavation ever in the Bamiyan valley. In this large excavation campaign what he has found has surpassed his expectations, and his discoveries are changing the chronology of the site as it was known, giving a better understanding of life on the ancient Silk Road and bringing a new meaning to the words hope and healing. This compelling talk discussed Dr. Tarzi’s latest findings and also addressed the devastation Afghanistan’s archaeological heritage has been facing for the past 25 years.

For more information about the APAA, log on to http://www.apaa.info. 

Zemaryalai Tarzi

Professor Zemaryalai Tarzi was born in Kabul and completed his studies under the supervision of Professor Daniel Schlumberger, obtaining three PhDs (two in archaeology and one in antiquity) from the University of Strasbourg.

From 1973 to 1979, he was Director General of Archaeology and Preservation of Historical Monuments of Afghanistan. He later directed the excavations in Bamiyan and Hadda on the sites of Tape Shotor and Tape Tope Kalan. As a result, the statue of Heracles in the niche V2 of Tape Shotor was dated by him from the 2nd century A.D., contemporary with the schist sculptures of Gandhara. Exiled in France in 1979, Professor Tarzi has been Professor of Eastern Archaeology at Marc Bloch University of Strasbourg, France (Strasbourg II: previously University of Human Sciences) ever since; he is the author of some sixty articles and books.

Through the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology, Professor Tarzi assists in training young Archaeologists into becoming professionals and efficient restorers, providing them with the necessary tools and equipment thus giving hope and education to a country left in the dark for a quarter of a century of war. Raising awareness in the Afghan and international communities about the unique and beautiful archeological and cultural contribution Afghanistan has given to the world and its protection is one of APAA’s goals—a goal which has been Professor Tarzi’s fervent mission for the past 40 years.

Professor Tarzi is presently Director for the French Archaeological Mission for the Surveys and Excavations of Bamiyan. The mission, which is co-funded by National Geographic Society, has been incorporated in the UNESCO master plan for the Safeguarding of the Bamiyan Site.