Fact is stranger than fiction, the saying goes. The instance of the «Oxus Treasure» part of which can be visited in the British Museum (London) illustrates the point.

May, 1880 : northern Afghanistan. Three merchants from central Asia laden with cash are making their way to India to buy tea and other merchandise. Having learned that a large quantity of gold and silver objects was for sale, they purchased the lot. Continuing south, they had to pass through the territory of a warlord who was levying heavy taxes on merchants passing through his domains. Not wanting to show their acquired treasure, the merchants made small cloth pouches in which they hid the precious objects. The strategem worked. They continued on to Kabul, crossed the Khyber Pass and reached Peshawar (Pakistan).

Rumours of their secret horde had preceded them, to their misfortune. They were kidnapped by bandits. A servant managed to escape. He made his way to the nearest British outpost and informed the commanding officer of the attack.

The officer set off with two of his men and located the lair of bandits who were quarelling over the partition of the treasure. Four of the bandits lay on the ground, unconscious. The British officer rounded them up and recuperated a large portion of the treasure. Another gang of thieves was ready to pounce upon the officer and his men, but the latter was forewarned of the ambush and escaped the thieves. The merchants complained about the missing portion of treasure. The British sent more men after the bandits who eventually surrendered most of the remaining loot. As a token of gratitude, the merchants sold the British officer a gold bracelet, then went on their way.

Having reached Rawalpindi, they put their treasure up for sale. A British General and a collector of antiques acquired as much as they could. The objects they purchased finally ended up in the British Museum.

The exact origin of the gold and silver pieces remains a mystery. The merchants told a tale of a ruined ancient city through which ran a branch of the Oxus River. A flood in 1877 apparently deposited several pieces in the sand. Inhabitants nearby saw them and discovered other pieces, no one knows how many. Some objects were lost, others broken up to be shared, the rest came to be known as the «Oxus Treasure» consisting of tableware, bowls, dishes, statuettes, bracelets, necklaces and other objects. One theory is that they were part of a temple treasure. What is certain is that they date from the fifth to fourth century B.C.

The Achaemenid period (ca. 550-331 B.C.) was notorious for its luxury. Legend has it that when Alexander the Great sacked the city of Susa, he made off with 40 000 talents of gold (approximately 1200 tons). Other cities of Persia possessed even greater wealth. The Oxus Treasure demonstrates not only the wealth but the skill of goldsmiths employed in the Achaemenid Empire.

Source : Alan R. Millard, Treasures From Bible Times, Lion Publishing, Oxford (UK), 1991. Photo credit : here.