Tom Hyde generously presents Gujrat Museum with a newly acquired cabinet adorned with antiquities

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Tom Hyde, the outgoing Deputy Head of Communication for the British High Commission, over the weekend generously presented the Gujrat Museum with a newly acquired cabinet adorned with antiquities sourced from ancient mounds along the river Jhelum.

Financed privately by Mr Hyde, the cabinet was bestowed upon the Gujrat museum and the Archaeological Department, with Director Yahya Sikander and Mobeenur Rehman assuming ownership.

Crafted by a local Pakistani architect, the cabinet showcases significant artifacts, ranging from ancient coins to votive terracotta animal figurines dating back to the Indo-Scythian and Kushan eras (100 BCE – 350 CE).

These items were uncovered through surface collection efforts led by Mr Hyde and his archaeological companions, including Muhammad Nadeem Akhtar, Usman Ali, and others, salvaging treasures from mounds threatened by agricultural expansion.

On presenting the artefacts back to the people of Pakistan, Mr Hyde said: “My time in Pakistan is now coming to a close and this cabinet is my gift back to the people to whom these antiquities rightly belong. I will miss my trips across Punjab, I will miss working with Pakistan’s excellent archaeologists, but most of all I will miss waking up every Sunday morning not quite knowing what wonderful adventure is coming my way next.”