 | The Bactrian Treasure is a gold treasure cache that lay under the "Hill of Gold" in Afghanistan, known as Bactria when Alexander the Great conquered the country 2100 years ago. It lay undisturbed until Soviet archeologists exposed it shortly before the 1979 invasion. Soon after the discovery, a guerrilla war against the Soviet occupation began, followed by civil war. During those years the treasure was kept in the Kabul Museum, which has since been looted. The day before the Russians fled Kabul in February 1989, the treasure was moved to the presidential compound, the safest place in the capital. |  |
   | The treasure remained safe largely due to the efforts of one man: Mr. Askerzai, a security guard of the central bank who has been guardian of the vaults for 30 years. He is one of the few people in history to have seen the 20,000 gold objects. "It's the best heritage of our country," he said. Mr Askerzai helped to seal the treasure in seven trunks and guarded it along with the assets of the central bank - gold bars the "size of your arm" worth about £50 million - also kept in the presidential palace. The real threat to the treasure came when the Taliban captured Kabul in 1996. A delegation of 10 mullahs arrived with a jeweller to inspect the vaults. A pistol held against his head, he opened the combination lock so they could inspect the gold bars. They had found the second prize, but did not realise the real treasure was in a vault above their heads. The Taliban asked if there was any other gold, but Mr Askerzai remained silent. He was imprisoned for three months and 17 days, during which he was beaten and tortured, but he did not reveal anything. "I wasn't scared," he said. "I didn't care for my life. They were foreigners. They were not Afghans." On the Taliban's last night in power, as coalition forces pounded the country with bombs, the Taliban stuffed the central bank's cash reserves into tin trunks and arrived at the vault for the gold bars. They spent four hours trying to open the vault. Mr Askerzai watched. Unknown to them, five years earlier he had broken the key and left it in the lock. The Taliban gave up and fled Kabul as Northern Alliance forces edged closer. That saved the treasure. In 2003 the vault was opened. Since then, the National Geographic Society has catalogued the collection, which appears to be complete. Also witnessing the re-opening was the archaeologist who originally found the hoard, Viktor Sarianidi. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1445815/Lone-security-guard-tells-how-he-saved-Bactrian-treasure.html |
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Grave robbers in the Apsheronsk District of the Krasnodar region missed the 2300 year old tomb of a warrior buried with a treasure.
 | The most spectacular object is a golden fibula-brooch which has an oval crystal set in its heart. The 5.8cm by 4.8cm object is finely carved and decorated. Among the gold artifacts is an agate-inlaid plaque which formed part of the sheath of the warrior's 91cm sword which was buried between his legs. |  |
 | Two bronze helmets are among the most significant finds. One is adorned with carvings of rams horns while the other is patterned with zig-zags. Also part of the treasure trove was a bronze mirror, an iron tripod, glass and pottery, a battle-axe and several spears and arrows. |  |
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/news/caucassus-tomb-reveals-warrors-golden-treasure/story-fn32891l-1226585583352
 | In January Iraqi archaeologists found 66 gold coins in the town of Aziziyah, which lies 70 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of Baghdad in Wasit province. The coins date back to the Sassanid era, a Persian dynasty that ruled Iraq from the third century until the coming of the Arabs in the seventh century, making them at least 1,400 years old. The coins bore drawings of a king or god and depicted flames. |  |
 | The Sassanid era that extended from 225 BC to 640 AD represented a territory that encompassed all of what is now Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, eastern parts of Turkey, and parts of Syria, Pakistan, Caucasia, Central Asia and Arabia. The Sassanids called their empire Eranshahr "Empire of the Aryans (Persians)". |  |
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