Afghan Treasures, Hidden for Years, Shine Anew in Paris Exhibition

PARIS, Dec. 13 — What is remarkable about the Afghan treasures on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris, however, is neither their creation nor their discovery. -- It is that they still exist at all. In a country that for 27 years has known seemingly endless warfare and turbulence, with art objects routinely looted or destroyed, these invaluable treasures, including a trove known as the Bactrian gold, were squirreled away in a bank vault under a former royal palace in Kabul — and somehow survived intact. -- Thanks to this foresight and courage, then, Afghans can still boast a record of their ancient civilizations back to the Bronze Age. And yet, because of continuing insecurity in Kabul, they cannot examine it — unless they visit “Afghanistan, Rediscovered Treasures: Collections of the National Museum of Kabul,” which runs at the Musée Guimet through April 30.