 The cultural explosion of human interests can never be underestimated. When a people are inspired or dramatically influenced, the human touch and mind creates extravagant works to show faith and appreciation, and this doesn't always pass from person to person as the great invisible divide keeps us in disagreement. Before Islam reached Afghanistan, Buddhism spread. This wasn't part because the religion was not location specific. Believers did not need to worship at a particular temple or at a particular site as part of their practice. Worship could take place anywhere and at any time. This freedom resulted in the emergence of Buddhist cave architecture throughout Asia, and indeed, if you visit Afghanistan's Buddhist statues today, you will see nearly a thousand Buddhist caves carved along 1300 meters of cliff face, and it is against this backdrop of carved caves that the two monumental Buddha images were carved. In March 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Omar ordered Taliban forces to demolish the Bamiyan Buddhas. The direction to destroy the Buddha image was motivated in part by the Taliban's extreme iconoclastic campaign as well as their disgust for Western interest and funding that had gone to protecting the images while there was an intense and growing need for humanitarian aid in the region. The Taliban's claim that destroying the Buddha sculptures was an Islamic act is belied by the fact that Bamiyan had become predominantly Muslim by the 10th century and that the sculptures had up until 2001 remained intact. The destruction of the Buddhas was a huge loss for our understanding of human history. However, even in darkness, light has a way of emerging. Wait, do you hear this? Since their destruction, several new discoveries have been made near the sites of the Bamiyan Buddhas including the discovery of fragments of a 62 foot long reclining Buddha. The whole area is now listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in danger and debates over how to restore the site connect to both national and international issues around what constitutes proper preservation, interpretation, and remembrance at former sites of violence. The two large Buddha images built in the 6th century reflected the international environment of the Bamiyan Valley and were influenced by the art and culture of India, Central Asia, and even ancient Greek culture. For example, both Buddhas wore flowing robes and have been described as having wavy curls of hair. This hairstyle and the flowing drapery are elements rooted in the early Gandaharan Buddhist imagery that combined Hellenistic Greek traditions of representation with Indian subject matter. Much of what we know about the monumental Buddha sculpture comes from the Chinese monk Xuanshang who traveled to Bamiyan in 643 and documented his travel in the text The Great Tang Records of the Western Regions. As the earliest text describing the Buddha images, these writings provide us with remarkable descriptions of the sculpture and the vibrant communities that inhabited the region, he wrote. When merchants coming and going happen to witness visions of heavenly deities, whether as good omens or as predictions of disaster, they worship the deities to pray for blessedness. There are several tens of monasteries with several thousand monks who follow the Hineyana teachings of the Loko Taravata school. To the northeast of the city there is at a corner of the mountain a rock statue of the Buddha standing, 140 or 50 feet in height, a dazzling golden color, and adorn with brilliant gems. To the east there is a missionary built by a previous king of the country. To the east of the monastery there is a copper statue of the Buddha standing, more than 100 feet tall. It was cast in separate pieces and then welded together into shape. Buddhism flourished for a thousand years before the rise of Islam and at this important place which is located on the Silk Road, the area had frequent contact with the Mediterranean, hence the Buddha's Hellenistic features. Nearly two decades after the destruction of the wonders, conservation experts are now working with the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, one of the world's foremost research centers on the civilization of the Middle East, to bring the collection back to life. Supported by cultural heritage preservation grants from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, O.I. researchers along with Afghan colleagues are painstakingly cleaning, sorting, and reassembling statues from the more than 7,500 fragments left behind, which museum employees swept up and saved in trunks in the basement. When they were broken we lost part of history, an important period of high artistic achievement which these objects represent, said the director of National Museum of Afghanistan. They are the only pieces remaining from the archaeological sites. Hada was burned and looted during the 1980s, so these pieces at the moment are all we have left. By reviving them we are reviving part of our history which is currently lost. The statues are beautiful by all accounts and first excavated by French archaeologists in the 1930s, and spanning 500 years of Afghanistan's history between the first and sixth centuries. They are an example of a rare art form unique to the region, often called the Gandaharan style. Some stand alone and others in tableaus, ranging from life-size to others that can fit in the palm of a hand, but the task of reconstructing them is more than a puzzle, it is monumental. The materials these ancient artisans used, such as limestone, tend to crumble and disintegrate under duress rather than simply crack. It's more like trying to assemble pieces from a thousand different jigsaw puzzles that have all been dumped together and without the pictures from the boxes, said Gil Stein, professor at the Oriental Institute. Stein heads the project which is part of the OI's ongoing work with the National Museum of Afghanistan's Cultural Preservation Partnership which began in 2012. The partnership has helped restore the museum's infrastructure, including developing a bilingual database to document the first full inventory of the museum's collections as well as training conservators in the latest techniques for preserving and restoring objects. Each piece is photographed and then carefully treated with the latest preservation techniques by Fabio Colombo, the OI's head conservator in Kabul. Next they're sorted by color, texture and mortar, then starts the big puzzle. Some of the objects have inventory numbers from the 1960s and 70s written on them, so they can try to match them with remaining records but most of the museum records were lost during a fire in Afghan's civil war but earlier this year they discovered a trove of overlooked records hidden in an old office which contained photos and numbers of artifacts and by a stroke of luck the surviving cards happened to focus on the Hada collection. So far, Gallego Lopez said they've been able to reassemble about 50 statues. He hopes they will have almost 150 in the end. It's really exciting work, especially when you get a few different pieces together. It's very rewarding to bring them back to life, he said. Once the work is complete the museum will exhibit them. He is excited to show the history of Afghanistan to younger generations who may not be aware of it and also to older generations who may remember the art. I see a lot of reactions from people when they see the statues. The cultural interest in the ancient masterpieces is a key part to understanding the development and movement of people in the past and the tremendous effort to construct these enigmatic monuments that was undertaken in the 6th century may be retraced through conservation efforts in the 21st century. Today, Afghanistan projects a hologram into the setting that Buddha was served, a reminder to the world that culture will prevail over the hatred that some would have a spread. But what do you guys think about this anyway? Comments below and as always, thank you for watching.