The Oxus Treasure

Cyrus the Great

The Oxus treasure is a collection of about 180 pieces of metalwork in gold and silver from the Achaemenid Persian period, found by the Oxus river about 1877-1880 in Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan. It is the most important surviving collection of gold and silver from the Achaemenid period. (6th-4th century BC)

The Achaemenid Dynasty built an empire (559–330 BC) which, at its peak, spanned three continents. In sheer land mass, the Achaemenid Empire was the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen until 331-330 BC, when Alexander the Great toppled the Persian regime on his eastward march from the Mediterranean through Afghanistan to India.

Ayaz Kala of Khwarezm (Chorasmia), today desert but in ancient times green and lush.
Kaakha fortress, overlooking the Panj river.
The formidable walls surrounding the ruins of Bactra, adjacent to modern-day Balkh.