Germany | Berlin | Dahlem | Indian Art Museum

As I mentioned, most of the surviving art work from the Bezeklik Grottos Near Turpan is now scattered in museums around the world. Curious to see some examples I caught a bus from Turpan back to Urumqi and hopped a plane to Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, on the Persian Gulf.

Skyscapers in Dubai

Crossing the Creek on a water taxi from Old Dubai to New Dubai

From Dubai I winged on to Berlin, Germany. From the airport I took a bus down to Potsdamer Platz.

The new Bahnhof at Potsdamer Platz

I was of course anxious to see the Bezeklik artwork, but I thought it might be downright churlish not to stop in first at the Gemäldgalerie, just a stone’s throw from Potsdamer Platz, and see Botticelli’s famous painting of Venus.

Botticelli’s Venus (or perhaps Eve?)

Then I took the metro out to the Indian Art Museum (somewhat of a misnomer, since it covers Central Asia, among other Asian locales) in Dahlem, on the outskirts of Berlin. Here were the wall paintings “stolen” by Le Coq from Bezeklik.

Three Uighur Noblemen
Closeup of the Uighur Noblemen

Two Uighur Ladies

The museum also has a fabulous collection of Gandharan Buddhist Art plundered from what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan, plus a smattering of work from other Asian countries.

Gandharan Buddha

Cambodian Woman

See more photos of the Indian Art Museum. While in Berlin I also popped by the Museum of Egypt in Charlottenberg to see, among other items, the jaw-dropping statue of Nefertiti.

Nefertiti, often cited as one of the World’s Great Beauties, was born circa 1400 B.C. She later became the wife or consort of Amenhotep IV, famous for his worship of the god Aten. Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten, as he is sometimes called, was one of the heroes of the notorious Savitri Devi (1905-1982), also known as Hitler's Priestess. Also see The Saffron Swastika.