The war situation in which Afghanistan has been immersed since 1975 has not led to the disappearance of all cultural institutions. Until 2001, the date of the American intervention, their activity was slowed down or reduced to nothing, but some of the staff remained in place and their salaries were paid more or less regularly. As a result, the Afghan Institute of Archaeology was able to resume its activities, under very difficult conditions, from 2003, thanks also to the financial support of several foreign organizations, including the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan.
A first series of excavations was carried out in Cabul itself and in the immediate vicinity, in search of the remains of Buddhist monuments. This led to the discovery of a large monastery to the south of the city, the Tepe Narenj monastery. Zafar Païman, who directed the excavation, reported on it in a lecture given at the Collège de France on February 17, 2009. In 2013, he will publish the final report of his ten excavation campaigns (2004-2012) on this site in the publications of the Collège de France's Institute of Indian Studies.
Since 2009, all the forces of the Afghan Institute of Archaeology have been engaged in the rescue excavation of a huge site, Mes Aynak, located 30 km east of Caboul on a copper deposit considered to be one of the largest in the world. The concession for the future mine has been awarded to a Chinese company, which is due to start operations in 2013, involving the destruction of archaeological sites. The contract between the Chinese company and the Afghan government stipulated that the latter would finance the excavation. The sum was actually paid (the contract is secret, but there is talk of $25 million) and, after a few twists and turns, the World Bank was given responsibility for supervising the funds. The excavation is taking place under complex political, administrative and financial conditions. Afghan archaeologists (housed in rough conditions next to comfortable buildings reserved for foreigners) and workers often had to wait several months for their salaries to be paid. The French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan has ensured the on-site conservation of a few paintings, but the other discoveries, including colossal clay statues, are still awaiting minimal consolidation, as the products required for this have not been purchased for lack of funds. The lack of measures taken to enable scientific publication has been noted, but cannot really be explained: no excavation journals, no architectural surveys, no precise location of coins and shards, etc. In these difficult conditions, Afghan archaeologists did their best to unearth an impressive array of monuments and documents. Mr. Fussman and Mr. Ollivier, on a fact-finding mission to the site in 2011 and 2012 at the invitation of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan, were able to visit it in detail under the guidance of Mr. Khair Muhammad Khairzada, Director at the Afghan Institute of Archaeology in 2011 and director of the excavation until summer 2012. It was agreed that Mr. Khairzada would present the latest results of the excavation at its compulsory conclusion in November 2012. At the invitation of Professors Jean Kellens and Gérard Fussman (now Honorary Professor), Mr. Khair Muhammad Khairzada therefore gave a lecture on Thursday November 29, 2012 on "Mes Aynak, a major site for the history of Buddhism and economics in Afghanistan". The lecture was given in Dari (Afghan Persian), with French translation, to a full and very attentive audience. The name Mes Aynak is beginning to make a name for itself among archaeologists, and many scholars in Paris are interested in this type of site, the excavation of which provides important clues to the survival of Buddhism and its art in Afghanistan and Central Asia, and to the economic history of these regions.
