The National Museum of Afghanistan (Dari: موزیم ملی افغانستان, Mūzīyam-e mellī-ye Afghānestān; , Də Afghānistān Millī Mūzīyəm), also known as the Kabul Museum, is a two-story building located 9 km southwest of the center of Kabul in Afghanistan. As of 2014, the museum is under major expansion according to international standards, with a larger size adjoining garden for visitors to relax and walk around. The museum was once considered to be one of the world's finest. The museum's collection had earlier been one of the most important in Central Asia, with over 100,000 items dating back several millennia, including items from Persian, Buddhist, and Islamic dynasties. With the start of the civil war in 1992, the museum was looted numerous times and destroyed by rockets, resulting in a loss of 70% of the 100,000 objects on display. Since 2007, a number of international organizations have helped to recover over 8,000 artifacts, the most recent being a limestone sculpture from Germany. Approximately 843 artifacts were returned by the United Kingdom in 2012, including the famous 1st Century Begram ivories. History The Afghan National Museum was opened in 1919 during the reign of Emir Amanullah Khan (he became King of Afghanistan in 1926). The collection was originally inside the Bagh-e Bala Palace, but was moved in 1922 and began as a 'Cabinet of Curiosities'. It was moved to its present location in 1931. Historian Nancy Dupree co-authored A Guide to the Kabul Museum in 1964. In 1973, a Danish architect was hired to design a new building for the museum, but the plans were never carried out. In 1989, the Bactrian Gold had been moved to an underground vault at the Central Bank of Afghanistan. After the collapse of President Najibullah's government and the start of a brutal civil war in the early 1990s, the museum was looted numerous times, resulting in the loss of 70% of the 100,000 objects which were then on display. A rocket attack in May 1993 buried ancient potteries under debris. In March 1994, the museum, which had been used as a military base, was struck by rocket fire and largely destroyed. The Ministry of Information and Culture of President Rabbani's government ordered that the 71 museum staff begin moving the inventory to Kabul Hotel (now Serena Hotel) in order to rescue them from further rocketing and shelling. In September 1996, staff at the museum completed the