I
N NOVEMBER 2013, Nora von Achenbach, curator at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Hamburg, Germany, examined the catalogue for an upcoming auction by the Paris-based dealer Boisgirard-Antonini. The glossy pages offered a bevy of antiquities for sale: bronze figurines, jewellery and a statue from ancient Egypt estimated at more than â¬300,000. But von Achenbach was interested in a pale marble tablet, carved with arabesques, vines and Persian
script. Lot 104, an âimportant epigraphic panel with interlacings from the palace of Masâud IIIâ, was date to the 12th century, from the capital of the Ghaznavid Empire, in what is today Afghanistan.
How One Looted Artifact Tells the Story of Modern Afghanistan nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.