Ancient flask seized at Gatwick to be returned to Afghanistan
AN ANCIENT silver flask seized at Gatwick Airport has been unveiled, before its return to Afghanistan.
It is believed to be the first time it has been seen by the public in more than 4,000 years. The treasure is believed to have been dug up illicitly in Afghanistan and smuggled to Britain.
The British Museum realised its significance and has kept it safely in storage since its seizure. It is now planning a handover to the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul in the autumn.
Dr St John Simpson, a senior curator at the British Museum, told The Sunday Telegraph that it was a “spectacular” museum-quality object.
It dates from about 2300-2000BC, when Afghanistan was closely connected by trade with the neighbouring Bronze Age civilisations in the Indus valley (Pakistan), eastern Iran and southwest Central Asia.
Dr Simpson said: “Very few other vessels of precious metals survive from that date from Afghanistan or the surrounding countries. What normally happened in antiquity is that precious metal was recycled and melted down.”
Speculating on who might have owned it in 2000BC, he said: “Silver has always been the most desirable metal of antiquity. So you’re dealing with a member of the elite.”
The flask, possibly a drinking vessel, is 4.85in (12.3cm) high and could hold about two average glasses of wine. Had it been a legally obtained, provenanced piece, it may have fetched tens of thousands of pounds on the open market.
However, as it still has earth deposits and is unknown, Dr Simpson believes it is from a looted grave. He said: “The design and shape … are loosely related to designs you get on Indus and southeast Iranian objects of different media. So we think it’s probably coming out of a recently discovered cemetery in a southern part of Afghanistan.”
Asked about the illegal trade, he said: “The people on the ground get paid nothing, probably a dollar or five dollars a day to work the fields, in the hope that they find something. The middle men probably add 50 per cent each time it changes hands.
“Once it reaches a Western country, the prices asked vary depending on who they think the client is, because this is the black market.”
The flask was seized by the UK Border Force at Gatwick in 2016. Whether Britain was its ultimate destination is unclear, as smugglers use London’s airports as transit hubs.
The British Museum held on to the flask while security forces waited to see whether anyone tried to claim the piece. No arrests have been made.
About 75 per cent of the National Museum of Afghanistan’s antiquities have been destroyed or looted. The British Museum has helped to recover thousands of items looted from Afghanistan since 2003.
Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, the Kabul museum’s director, said: “We are very happy to recover this very important piece looted from Afghanistan. It is part of our great history.”