Besides the human suffering in war-ravaged Afghanistan, art took a beating. Antiquities were looted or lost, and the national museum was virtually destroyed.

Remarkably, many valuable objects survived and are showcased in the ongoing National Gallery of Art exhibit "Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul."

Afghan museum curators put their lives at risk by hiding these objects from the time of the Soviet invasion in 1979 through the more recent Taliban regime. These precious items finally came out of their hiding place in a presidential palace vault in 2004.

This exhibit amounts to an archaeological dig on both literal and metaphorical levels. The literal digging at four sites in Afghanistan unearthed objects that were displayed in the museum before being hidden by its curators; and the more metaphoric digging involves secrecy so extreme that even art-world experts did not know these treasures still existed.

That dramatic story makes the gold glitter even more brightly in this exhibit.

The 228 objects here are glittering proof that multiculturalism is not just a modern phenomenon. Produced between 2200 BC and the second century AD, these objects stylistically reflect Afghanistan's central location along the so-called Silk Road that linked Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The trading partners included Greece, India, China, Roman Egypt, Persia and Siberia, so you'll see imagery ranging from a Greek goddess to a Chinese dragon. Some of the exhibited items originated in those distant cultures, while others reflect the extent to which Afghan artisans were able to meld other cultures into their own.

The great distances involved in traveling the Silk Road encouraged traders to carry small precious objects. Aside from a few architectural fragments salvaged from ancient Afghan buildings, most of the exhibited jewels, domestic vessels, coins, statues and other objects are compact. Materials are as rich as gold and ivory, but the scale tends to be petite.

This point is brought home most ingeniously by a stunning gold crown excavated from the tomb of a wealthy nomadic woman. The construction of the crown enables it to be taken apart and basically folded up for easier transport.

Incidentally, the crown was part of the "Bactrian Hoard," an impressive archaeological find in 1978. The six nomadic graves at this site contained 100 gold ornaments, and this exhibit displays many of them in such a way that you get a real sense of how the ornaments once were attached to clothing that has long since disappeared.

A separate site in Begram contained such rare items as a miniature ivory statue from the first or second century AD depicting what's believed to be the Indian river goddess Ganga. This statue was once attached to a piece of wooden furniture that is long gone.

Another fascinating object dating from around the same period in Begram is a painted glass drinking vessel depicting men and women harvesting dates. This goblet was made in Roman Egypt, indicating the extent to which Afghans shopped internationally.

If the exhibited gold and jewels are the expected draw, it's often the glassware that makes you pause. Exquisite craftsmanship and also a whimsical sense of humor characterize several fish-shaped glass flasks used in Begram in this same period. Those glass fish will make you smile, and Afghanistan needs all the smiles it can get.

"Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul" remains through Sept. 7 at the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, D.C. Call 202-737-4215 or go to www.nga.gov.

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