Written in French. Tajikistan's strategic location on the routes of passage and conquest between the Middle East, the ancient steppe world, the Indian subcontinent and the oases of Chinese Central Asia has placed it at the heart of trade networks since ancient times. Its many natural resources, particularly minerals, no doubt explain the importance of the cultural centres that developed there. Organised into major chronological periods, from prehistory to the arrival of Islam, the exhibition and this accompanying catalogue endeavour to show this cultural richness by drawing on the remains of