"For 15 centuries, before they were dynamited by the Taliban in April 2001 for being "idolatrous," two giant Buddha statues dominated the valley of Bamiyan, high in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. Now all that is left of the two 140-foot statues is empty niches carved into the mountainside and fragments of stone and clay spilling down the hillside. But though the two standing Buddhas have gone forever, an archeological detective story may revive Bamiyan. Teams of Japanese and French archeologists have launched a search for a third, lost Buddha statue that may be buried somewhere in the
Bamiyan Valley."
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:43 AM