Dear Mark, dear list members,

Thanks for updating on this very significant development.

Two small questions: your message, and the press release, say that this donation "sets a precedent for the reversal of the common scenario whereby such materials are taken out of their region of origin as part of the antiquities trade, resulting in a significant loss of cultural heritage." There are two issues here, buying antiquities on the market (or not), and returning them to their place of origin (or not). As far as I can understand, the objects in question must have been bought from antiquities dealers and subsequently donated to the museum. Right? In that case, it's laudable that the objects are "returned" to Pakistan (if that is where they are from), but the "common scenario" of acquiring such objects through the antiquities trade, and the moral and legal hazards that involves, is not really reversed, is it? The buyer and the donor are of course left unnamed in the press release, probably for this reason.

Second: I assume that the meaning of the sentence "The conservation, photography, study, and publication of the manuscripts in the collection will be undertaken by the Gandhari Manuscript Project" is that, notwithstanding the donation of the physical manuscripts to the Islamabad Museum, nobody outside of your group will have access to them until you publish them first? If I wanted to see texts in this collection, could I see them in Islamabad? Or could I ask the Islamabad Museum for high-resolution photographs?

I of course don't mean to sound accusatory. It's just that the issues in this case are very complex.

Andrew

On Tue, Mar 14, 2023 at 8:28 AM Mark Allon via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:

Dear List members,

With the support of the Khyentse Foundation, a large collection of Gandhari birch bark manuscripts was donated to the Islamabad Museum, Pakistan, on 26 December 2022. The conservation, photographing, study, and publication of these manuscripts by the Gandhari Manuscript Project (GMP) will be carried out under the terms of an agreement between the (Federal) Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM), Islamabad, Pakistan, and the University of Sydney, Australia, that was signed on 20 December 2022. Both the Australian High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, and the Pakistan High Commission in Canberra, Australia, assisted its passage.

     Although the collection is yet to be fully conserved, a rough estimate is that it consists of at least 50 to 60 scrolls or scroll fragments, which constitutes the largest collection of Gandhari manuscripts known to date. These manuscripts are thought to have originated from northern Pakistan and to date to between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE, although some manuscripts in the collection may well fall outside this range.

     The housing of these Gandhari manuscripts in Pakistan at the Islamabad Museum and their conservation there sets a precedent for the reversal of the common scenario whereby such materials are taken out of their region of origin as part of the antiquities trade, resulting in a significant loss of cultural heritage. In addition, this initiative will form the basis for collaboration with Pakistani scholars and for training Pakistani students in order to promote the conservation and study of such materials and the documentation of Pakistan’s rich Buddhist heritage.

     A more comprehensive account of the texts in the collection, their date and their significance, and of the collection as a whole, will be possible once all scrolls and scroll fragments have been conserved and an initial survey has been undertaken.

     For further details on the collection and the Gandhari Manuscript Project, see https://gandhari-texts.sydney.edu.au/gandhari-manuscripts/.

     The Khyentse Foundation recently posted notification on their website.

Best wishes

Gandhari Manuscript Project Management Committee

Mark Allon, Stephanie Majcher, Ian McCrabb, Jason Neelis

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