An updated and revised edition of a classic text on the archaeology of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is at the cultural crossroads of Asia, where the great civilisations of Mesopotamia and Iran, South Asia and Central Asia overlapped and sometimes conflicted. Its landscape embraces environments from the high mountains of the Hindu Kush to the Oxus basin and the great deserts of Sistan; trade routes from China to the Mediterranean, and from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea cross the country. It has seen the development of early agriculture, the spread of the Bronze Age civilisation of Central Asia, the conquests of the Persians and of Alexander of Macedon, the spread of Buddhism and then Islam, and the empires of the Kushans, Ghaznavids, Ghurids and Timurids centred there, with ramifications across Western, Central and Southern Asia. All of which has resulted in some of the most important, diverse and spectacular historical remains in Asia.

First published in 1978, this was the first book in English to provide a complete survey of the immensely rich archaeological remains of Afghanistan. The contributors, all acknowledged scholars in their field, have worked in the country, on projects ranging from prehistoric surveys to the study of Islamic architecture. It has now been thoroughly revised and brought up to date to incorporate the latest discoveries and research.

New to this edition:

. New interpretation of the Afghan Bronze Age within the broader context of the recently identified Oxus Civilisation
. Reports on excavations still in progress as the first edition went to press, such as Shortughaï and Kandahar
. Excavations revealing Achaemenid, Greek and Kushan discoveries at and near Balkh, Achaemenid levels at Herat, and spectacular Buddhist remains at Kabul and Mes Aynak
. Revised discussions of Graeco-Bactrian and Kushan coinage
. Major revisions of Kushan and later pre-Islamic history based on the recent discovery of the Rabatak Bactrian inscription and the Bactrian documents
. Other major discoveries such as the Greek Sophytos inscription from Kandahar, the Sasanian cave painting at Ghulbiyan, the Sasanian rock relief at Rag-i Bibi, and many others
. Important early Islamic urban remains revealed at the Minaret of Jam with extensive related fortifications systems extending over a vast area
. Extended bibliography with almost twice the number of new titles
. Nearly 500 illustrations, nearly all new and mostly in colour

F. R. Allchin (1923-2010) was one of the foremost British archaeologists in South Asian archaeology. A member of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge, since 1963, he retired in 1989 as Emeritus Reader in South Asian Archaeology at Cambridge.

Norman Hammond is a Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University. His fieldwork includes the first survey of the Helmand Valley in southern Afghanistan in 1966, as well as projects in North Africa, Central and South America.

Warwick Ball is a Near Eastern archaeologist who has carried out excavations, architectural studies and monumental restoration in Afghanistan (where he was Acting Director of the British Institute of Afghan Studies), Iran, Iraq (Director of Excavations of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq), Jordan, Libya and Ethiopia.

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ISBN [please add within the barcode box, at the top] 978-0-7486-9917-9
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