Tillya Tepe

Tillya Tepe

Crown from Tomb VI (female owner)
Shown within Continental Asia Show map of Continental Asia Tillya Tepe (Bactria) Show map of Bactria Tillya Tepe (Afghanistan) Show map of Afghanistan
Alternative name	Tillya Tepe
Location	Afghanistan
Coordinates	36°41′40″N 65°47′22″E / 36.69444°N 65.78944°E / 36.69444; 65.78944
Type	Burial ground

Tillya tepe, Tillia tepe or Tillā tapa (Persian: طلاتپه, romanized: Ṭalā-tappe, literally "Golden Hill" or "Golden Mound") is an archaeological site in the northern Afghanistan province of Jowzjan near Sheberghan, excavated in 1978 by a Soviet-Afghan team led by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi. The hoard found there is often known as the Bactrian gold.

The hoard is a collection of about 20,600 ornaments, coins and other kinds of artifacts, made of gold, silver, ivory, etc., that were found in six burial mounds erected for five women and one man, with extremely rich jewelry, dated to around the 1st century BCE-1st century CE.^[1] The ornaments include necklaces set with semi-precious stones, belts, medallions and a crown. After its discovery, the hoard went missing during the wars in Afghanistan, until it was "rediscovered" and first brought to public attention again in 2003. A new museum in Kabul is being planned where the Bactrian gold will eventually be kept.

The heavily fortified town of Yemshi Tepe, just five kilometres to the northeast of modern Sheberghan on the road to Akcha, is only half a kilometre from the now-famous necropolis of Tillia-tepe.