The short epitaph engraved on his grave in the Christian cemetery in Kabul conveys the essential details on his oeuvre and character:

 

Mark Aurel Stein
Of the Indian Archaeological Survey
Scholar explorer author
By his arduous journeys in
India Chinese Turkestan
Persia and Iraq
He enlarged the bounds of knowledge
Born at Budapest 26 November 1862
He became an English citizen in 1904
He died at Kabul 26 October 1943
A man greatly beloved

At the age of almost eighty-one, and still vigorously active, Stein’s greatest wish was finally granted when he was allowed to explore ancient Bactria in Afghanistan. He arrived at the US Legation on the 19th October 1943.

Three days later he caught a cold, had a stroke and died on the 26th October. His last words were: “I had a wonderful life, and it could not be concluded more happily than in Afghanistan, which I have wanted to visit for sixty years.”