The Oxus Treasure is a group of about one hundred and eighty gold and silver objects and many coins, mostly of the Achaemenid Persian period from the fifth to the fourth centuries BCE. It was found between 1877 and 1880 near the Oxus river, now known as the Amu Darya, in the region of Takht-i Kuwad in modern Tajikistan. The pieces, which include small gold figures of worshippers, a model chariot, armbands and plaques, were sold to merchants in India and then bought by British officers and collectors. Augustus Wollaston Franks acquired many for the British Museum, to which he left them in 1897. The hoard shows the artistic styles of Persian court and Central Asian culture and was possibly a temple deposit.
Before and after
- 22 October 1879Edison's carbon-filament lamp burns for 13 hours
- 26 October 1879Birth of Leon Trotsky
- 5 November 1879Death of James Clerk Maxwell
- from 17 November 1879 to 29 May 1885International Association of the Congo
- 1880Discovery of Oxus Treasure
- 1880Publication of The Brothers Karamazov
- 1880Discovery of gadolinium
- 1880Construction of St James’ Park
- 1880Publication of Heidi
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from 11 August 1804 to 8 June 1867Austrian Empire
- 1831Discovery of Lewis chessmen
- from 1858 to 1947British Raj
- October 1871Schliemann begins digging at Hisarlik
- 1879Altamira cave paintings are discovered
- 1899Oracle bones reveal early Chinese writing
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.