Interview Seven
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Esfandiari, Aziz
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of Afghanistan Oral Histories
unitdate: label: Date
content: February 2, 2024
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: FSA.A2024.03, File 7
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This session focuses on the museum's path during the Taliban's initial rule from 1995 to 2001. Mr. Masoudi begins by describing the museum's situation when the Taliban assumed power, including a complete halt of professional activities and the building suffered damage and looting as the Taliban entered Kabul. He then discusses work slowly restarting under the Taliban, including the excavation of Mir Zaka; discussion of the Mir Zaka site, previous excavations, looting and smuggling; seizure of a European-style painting; conflict over the potential destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas; claims that the Tillya Tepe artifacts had been stolen; resuming museum inventory in 1998 through 2000, and the discovery that seventy percent of artifacts were lost to looting during the civil wars; United Nations Habitat Program and plans to reconstruct the museum; leaders approach to and valuation of museum artifacts; and risk and injury to museum employees. He concludes by discussing his resignation in October of 2000 and the discovery of the Rabatak Inscription in 1993 and transporting it to the museum.