Tajikistan demands return of museum treasure

The treasure is the most important surviving collection of Achaemenid Persian metalwork and consists of around 170 objects, dating mainly from the fifth and fourth centuries BC.

A spokesman for president Emomali Rakhmon called for the collection, known as the Oxus treasure, to be returned, but the British Museum said it has never received an official request for the return of the treasure and added it was unclear where it came from.

It is thought the material was found on the banks of the River Oxus, now known as Amu Darya, probably at the site of Takht-i Kuwad, a ferry station on the north bank of the river which marks the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border.

In a statement, the president's office said: "The president has given orders to take the necessary steps to return the most valuable artifacts of the Amu Darya treasure."

But a spokeswoman for the British Museum said: "The British Museum has never received an official request for the return of the Oxus treasure."

"The treasure is one of our most popular exhibits. It recently starred in the museum's blockbuster exhibition on the Persian Empire and will shortly go on display in a brand new gallery space dedicated to Ancient Iran.

"Here at the museum the Oxus treasure can be seen as part of the story of human cultural achievement, available free to some five million visitors a year."

The treasure is thought to come from the time of the Achaemenid empire, created by Cyrus the Great (approximately 559-530 BC), when Persian control stretched from Egypt and the Aegean to Afghanistan and the Indus valley.

It is thought the treasure was gathered together over a long period, perhaps in a temple, according to the British Museum website.

It includes vessels, a gold scabbard, model chariots and figures, armlets, seals, rings, miscellaneous personal objects, dedicatory plaques and coins.