Aziz Dheri
high-definition creative commons photographs from Aziz Dheri, Pakistan together with further information.
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Aziz Dheri is an important site in the Swabi District near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The site is about 33km east of Mardan. It was first rediscovered in 1976, but the first excavations took place only in 1993, and again in 2004 and 2007/8. Unfortunately in between time treasure hunters greatly disturbed the site and made off with some of the most valuable finds, and left it more difficult to properly excavate.
There are a number of Buddhist stūpas at the site, which though not large, are significant. A great deal of materials were recovered from this site including statues, coins – especially a hoard of Kushan coins – seals, pots and postherd, beads and cowry shells. There are also the remains of fresco paintings at the site, but they are still covered up, and not visible to the casual visitor.
The site appears to date from the post-Mauryan period, and was occupied up and till the Islamic period. Some of the work at the site, which shows some of its findings also can be found in a paper by M Nasim Khan, entitled Excavations at Aziz Dheri, A Stūpa Settlement Site in Ancient Gandhāra, Glimpses from Field campaigns 1993 and 2007/08.
Satellite View of the Site
Photographs by Leow Chai Yee
Edited and Described by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License