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Afghan Archaeological Authority finds transcript of Buddhist Scriptures in Mes Aynak
Summary: The Afghan Archaeological Authority has revealed that somecopies of Buddhist scriptures that may have been written aroundthe 7th century have been found at the site of Mes Aynak in centralAfghanistan.The discovery of transcripts from ancient sites was rar
The Afghan Archaeological Authority has revealed that some
copies of Buddhist scriptures that may have been written around
the 7th century have been found at the site of Mes Aynak in central
Afghanistan.
The discovery of transcripts from ancient sites was rare, confirming
that the region was once a thriving Buddhist city , Japan's
Kyodo news agency r eported. Located about 40 kilometers
southeast of the capital Kabul, the site was believed to be a city
from the 3rd to 7th centuries AD.
In 2009, the Afghan government began a comprehensive excavation.
Pagodas, statues and murals had been unearthed one
after another, thus identifying it as a large- scale site. The transcript
was found on a hillside in the center of the site in 2017 and
2018. The Archaeological Bureau speculated that "there may
have been facilities for the custody of the classics." According to
Kazunobu Matuda, a professor from Japanese Buddhist University,
who interpreted the transcript, the transcript was written in
Sanskrit on the bark of Mahayana Buddhism "The Heart Of
Prajna Paramita Sutra” and "The Buddhist Scriptures under Maitreya."
It was widely believed that Xuanzang brought back many
of the classics of Mahayana Buddhism from the W estern
Regions and translated them into Chinese. Maeda Kosaku,
(History of Asian Culture), a visiting professor at Tokyo University
of Fine Arts, who assisted in the conservation and restoration of
Mes Aynak site, said: "the early discovery of Buddhist scripture
was relatively rare." This was also consistent with the general
position of the Kingdom of Surbana, which was recorded in “the
Book of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty” , and Xuanzang
may have passed through here at that time. "
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Key words：Buddhist,Scripture,Mes,Aynak