Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan (Hellenistic Culture and Society, Band 53)

Lost World of the Golden King describes how a single bit of evidence"a Greek coin"launched a search that drew explorers to the region occupied by the tumultuous warring tribes of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Afghanistan. Coin by coin, king by king, the history of Bactria was reconstructed using the emerging methodologies of numismatics. In the twentieth century, extraordinary ancient texts added to the evidence. Finally, one of the "thousand cities" was discovered and excavated, revealing an opulent palace, treasury, temple, and other buildings. Though these great discoveries soon fell victim to the Afghan political crisis that continues today, this book provides a thrilling chronicle of the search for one of the world"s most enigmatic empires.