cataloging of the remaining materials. In February and March 2001, the Taliban destroyed countless pieces of art. It was reported in November 2001 that the Taliban had destroyed at least 2,750 ancient works of art during the year. Between 2003 and 2006, about $350,000 was spent to refurbish the building. Many of the most precious objects had been sealed in metal boxes and removed for safety and were recovered and inventoried in 2004. Some archeological objects were found in vaults in Kabul, while a collection was also discovered in Switzerland. Since 2007, UNESCO and Interpol have helped to recover over 8,000 artefacts, the most recent being a limestone sculpture from Germany and 843 artefacts returned by the British Museum in July 2012, including the famous 1st Century Begram Ivories. In 2012, the Spanish architecture firm AV 62 Arquitectos won a competition for the new design of the Afghan National Museum. Work began in 2013 to expand the museum according to international standards, with a large adjoining garden for visitors to relax and walk around. The project was completed in June 2021. In 2013, the Mobile Museum Project was started by the museum in cooperation with the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago which brought 3D replicas of artefacts from the Kabul museum to schools across Afghanistan from 2013 to 2016. After the 2021 Taliban offensive and Fall of Kabul, Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, the Director of the museum since 2016, vowed to stay on as director and preserve its collection, as concern grew about a possible repeat of the destruction of a fraction of the collection by the Taliban in the 1990s. Collections Many treasures of ivory are stored there, as are antiquities from Kushan, early Buddhism, and early Islam. One of the most famous pieces in the museum, and known to have survived the turbulent period in the 1990s is the Rabatak Inscription of King Kanishka. Archaeological Materials As the National Museum Kabul has been the repository for many of the most spectacular archaeological finds in the country. These include the painted frescos from Dilberjin; inscriptions, fragments of architecture, sculpture, metal objects, and coins rescued from the French excavations at Ai-Khanoum and Surkh Kotal; the spectacular collection of objects found at a merchants warehouse in the city of Bagram, which include ivories from India, mirrors from China, and glassware from the Roman Empire; the stucco heads of Hadda; Buddhist