Ancient Treasures Of Afghanistan

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 1, 2006: A first century plaque decorated with a scene from Jataka with Ekacringa and Princess Nalini, measuring 5.9 x 11.3cm, from Begram, Afghanistan, provided by The Afghanistan National Museum, is pictured at the "Afghanistan, Rediscovered Treasures" exhibition at Mus?e Guimet on October 1, 2006 in Paris, France. The national museum in Kabul, which is currently being completely rebuilt after twenty years of war, is exhibiting its treasures at the Guimet museum in Paris. The museum is helping to restore a part of Afghanistan's cultural heritage, most of which has been destroyed forever by decades of war and looting. Before the wars the Kabul museum had built up the most opulent collection in Central Asia, spanning 50,000 years of Afghan cultural history. But during the years before the Taliban capture of Kabul in 1996, 80 percent of the treasures were looted. The exhibition opens in December 2006. (Photo by Thierry Ollivier/Mus?e Guimet/Getty Images)