2,700 antiquities handed back to Swat Museum

Officials of Taxila Museum have handed over 2700 antiquities to the officials of the Department of Archaeology Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the rehabilitation of Swat Buddhist Museum. The Swat Museum was closed following a bomb blast in February 2008, and its unique archaeological treasure was shifted to reserve vault of Taxila Museum for safety and security.
A three-member team of the Department of Archaeology Khyber Pakhtunkhwa headed by Aman Ullah Khan, Assistant Curator Swat Buddhist Museum visited Taxila Museum and took over these over 2700 antiquities of Gandhara. Talking to newsmen on Sunday, Aman Ullah Khan said this treasurer includes 250 stone sculptures, 100 statues of lord Buddha, 1200 coins, 50 stucco sculptures, a large number of anthological material, pots, burial pottery and life stories of Buddha from birth to death. He said due to law and order situation in Khyber Pukthoonkhwa along with threats from militants, this archaeological treasurer of great Gandhara civilisation was shifted from Swat to the Taxila Museum. He said earlier both Taxila and Swat museums were under the administrative control of the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums, but under the 18th Amendment the department has now been devolved to the provinces respectively.