 |
"HADDA
LOCATION:
Ningrahār
Province. 9km by road south-east of Jalālābād.
DATE:
Kushan-Sasanian,
1st-7th C. (Numismatic, stylistic).
DESCRIPTION:
An extensive area of stupas, monasteries and artificial
caves covering approximately 15 square km. All of the sites
are stupa-monastery complexes, often with more than one main
stupa and always with many votive stupas. Hadda produced an
immense artistic wealth of mud and stucco sculpture, many
gold, silver and steatite reliquaries, large numbers of coins
-many of them Roman- several Kharoshti inscriptions, and many
other articles of gold, silver and precious stone. The most
spectacular finds came from Tepe Kalān,
which produced a gold reliquary studded with emeralds and
saphires, and from Tepe Shutor, where reliefs includes the
well-known "fish proch" and the statue of Heracles.
Some of the caves are decorated. Near Tepe Zargarān there
is a series of domed caves, some of which have stucco decoration
and frescos, and containing many sculptural fragments. The
Tepe Shutor remains and museum were completely destroyed in
the fighting in 1980."
From Ball, W. Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan,
Paris, 1982, P. 116
CONDITION: war damaged;
|
