GREEK COLONIES IN THE EAST

The Black Sea littoral, initially called by the Greeks "inhospitable," was colonized intensively by them. Ancient written sources number these colonies between 75 and 90. According to the ancient Greek geographer Strabo, Miletus, the most prosperous city of Ionia (ancient East Greece, the western part of modern-day turkey), was known to many. Its fame was due mainly to the large number of its colonies, since the whole of Pontus Euxinus (the Black Sea), Propontis (Sea of Marmara), and many other places had been settled by Milesians.

The reasons for Ionian colonization have been argued for many decades as one aspect of the general debate about why the Greeks established so many colonies. Nowadays, most scholars agree that colonization was enforced migration. Ionian cities were situated in favorable geographical locations and possessed large tracts of fertile land. Miletus, called "the pearl of Ionia," was, the center of Greek culture during the Archaic period. At the end of the 8th century, Ionians began advancing deeply into the hinterland: Miletus, for example, pushed its frontiers twenty to thirty miles up the river valley. This expansion led to conflict between Lydians and Ionians, with Lydian kings seeking to push the Ionians back toward the coast. The principal outcome was to diminish the amount of cultivable land available to the Ionians. This was the chief reason why from the mid-7th century, Miletus, which had never undertaken colonization, became the last Greek city to do so.

The struggles between Lydia and Ionia came to an end at the beginning of the 6th century, when Miletus was obliged to accept a treaty reducing its territorial possessions. This, in turn, provoked an internal crisis in Miletus, whose resolution prompted large-scale migration and the establishment of new colonies on the Black Sea. New and hitherto unparalleled difficulties arose in the middle of the 6th century, as the expanding Persian empire conquered Ionian cities. Ancient written sources state directly that the Ionians faced a stark choice: death and enslavement or flight. In these circumstances migration was the obvious course, leading to the foundation of more new colonies. This did not mark the end of forced migration: in 499 B.C.E. an Ionian uprising against Persian rule was crushed, and in 494 BCE Miletus was sacked and burned. In consequence, a final wave of Ionian colonies was established on the Black Sea at the beginning of the 5th century B.C.E.

Archaeology provides the principal evidence for Greek colonies on the Black Sea. There are a few written sources on the establishment of Pontic Greek cities, but they are contradictory, giving different dates of foundation and mixing myths with other explanations of the colonization process. The first colonies appeared in the last third of the 7th century, and by the end of it Berezan, Histria, Sinope, possibly Amisus and Trapezus, Apollonia Pontica, and the Taganrog settlement on the Sea of Azov had been founded. All were very small, situated on peninsulas. The next wave of colonization dates to the beginning of the 6th century and witnessed the establishment of Olbia, Panticapaeum, Nymphaeum, Theodosia, Myrmekion, Kepoi, Patraeus, Tomis, and others. Hermonassa, on the Taman Peninsula (South Russia), was a joint foundation of Miletus and Mytilene in the second quarter of the 6th century B.C.E.

From the middle of the 6th century, other Ionian Greek cities were in the business of establishing colonies: Teos founded Phanagoria (Taman Peninsula), and the (non-Ionian) Megarians and Boeotians founded Heraclea, on the southern shores of the Pontus circa 556 B.C.E. The latter colony developed as a major trading center for the whole Pontus and, in turn, established its own colonies: Chersonesus in the Crimea was founded in the last quarter of the 5th century (where a small Ionian settlement had existed from the end of the 6th century) and, later, Callatis on the Western coast. Also, during the mid-6th century  Miletus established three colonies on the eastern Black Sea (in the ancient country of Colchis)—Phasis, Gyenos, and Dioscurias. The final Ionian colonizers arrived at the end of the 6th/beginning of the 5th century B.C.E., establishing new colonies (Mesambria, Kerkinitis, and others) and settling in existing ones. In newly established colonies, Apollo was the major deity, as He was in Miletus.

During  their first 60 to 80 years of existence, the colonies were very simple in terms of architecture and urban planning.  There was virtually no stone architecture; instead there were pit houses. Nor was there regular town planning. The only colony with fortification walls was Histria. A complete change of appearance took place at the end of the 6th/first half of the 5h century. Pit houses gave way to typical Greek stone dwellings. It is possible to identify clearly standard features of Greek urbanization, such as the agora, temenos, acropolis, and craftsmen's quarter, among others. Temples were built in the Ionic and Doric orders. As the result of a change in the local political situation, cities began to construct stone fortification walls. The exception is the region of the eastern Black Sea, where, thanks to natural conditions (wetlands and marshes, for example), temples and fortification walls as well as dwellings were constructed of wood.

Every Greek city became a center of craft production. In Histria and Nymphaeum pottery kilns were found dating from the mid-6th centuryB.C.E..; in Panticapaeum from the end of the century; and in Chersonesus, Gorgippia, Histria, Phanagoria, and Sinope from the 5th to the2nd centuries. They produced such things as terra-cotta figurines, lamps, loom weights, and tableware; in Heraclea, Sinope, and Chersonesus, amphorae were made as well. Through the migration of Sinopean potters, the Greek cities of Colchis began to produce their own amphorae from the second half of the 4th century B.C.E. From the 4th century, tiles and architectural terra-cotta were manufactured in Apollonia Pontica, Chersonesus, Olbia, Tyras, and the Bosporan cities (on the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas). The Bosporan cities and Histria produced simple painted pottery, which imitated the shapes of East Greek and Attic pottery.

Nearly every Greek city has left traces of metalworking. In Panticapaeum, for example, workshops were found in two areas. The workshops, which produced iron, bronze, and lead objects (including weapons), contained numerous moulds, iron ore, and slags in the remains of furnaces. In Phanagoria, pottery and metal workshops were situated at the edge of the city. One produced life-size bronze statues. Metalworking in the Pontic Greek cities was based mainly on the use of ingots specially produced for them, for example, in wooden-steppe Scythia for the northern Black Sea cities. The same situation most probably obtained in the other parts of the Black Sea.

Agriculture was the main economic activity. Greek cities established their agricultural territories, called chorai, almost immediately. Their size varied over time; initially they were small but grew larger with the appearance of new colonists and the expansion of the cities. In the 4th century B.C.E., the chorai of Olbia and Chersonesus and of the cities of the Bosporan Kingdom each covered an area of about 150,000 hectares and contained several hundred settlements. These rural settlements were sources of agricultural produce for the inhabitants of the cities. There were several settlements specializing entirely in craft production. The wonderfully preserved chora of Chersonesus in the Crimea is unique, as is Metapontum in Italy. Chersonesus was situated in the Heraclean Peninsula, approximately 11,000 hectares of which was divided c. 350 B.C.E. into four hundred lots, each with six subdivisions, to make 2,400 small allotments. They were used mainly for viticulture and growing fruit trees. About 4,000 hectares along the north coast were the basis of the earliest allotments. There was a second chora of Chersonesus in the northwestern Crimea, entirely for grain production.

Trade was one of the principal economic activities of Greek cities. The main sources for the study of trade relations are pottery and amphorae. In the 7th and early 6th centuries B.C.E., pottery from southern Ionia was common throughout the Pontic region; later it was displaced by pottery from northern Ionia. Goods transported in amphorae came from Chios, Lesbos, and Clazomenae. The small quantities of Corinthian and Naucratite goods probably were brought by Ionian merchants, who also were responsible, with Aeginetans, for the appearance of the first Archaic Athenian pottery in the region. In the Classical period Athenian pottery predominates, as evidence discoverd  from the excavation of the Pontic Greek cities demonstrates. This pottery probably reflects direct links between them and Athens.

Trade between the Pontic Greek cities and the local peoples is an extremely important but complex question. All discussion is based on the finds of Greek pottery made in local settlements, some as far as 500–600 kilometers inland from the Black Sea. Overall, about 10 percent of known and excavated local sites, especially for the Classical period, yield examples, but usually they are few in number (as is the case, for example, in both the Thracian and Colchian hinterlands). At the same time, local elite tombs each provide several examples of Athenian painted pottery. Thus, a simple explanation of the very close trade relationship between Greeks and locals is no longer tenable.

There are other ways in which pottery could have reached local settlements, and the small quantity cannot support the argument that the more examples, the closer and more intense the links. Painted pottery from elite tombs cannot be viewed only from the perspective of trade relationships: it is not known how the locals interpreted the scenes depicted on the painted pottery, which could have been a gift from the Greeks and not traded. Furthermore, the tombs contained jewelry and metal vessels, on which the local elite was much keener, in far greater quantities than pottery.

Over time the composition of imports and exports changed. The best account is found in the Histories of the Greek historian Polybius (book 4):

'As regards necessities, it is an undisputed fact that the most plentiful supplies and best qualities of cattle and slaves reach us from the countries lying around the Pontus, while among luxuries, the same countries furnish us with an abundance of honey, wax and preserved fish; from the surplus of our countries they take olive-oil and every kind of wine. As for grain, there is give and take—with them sometimes supplying us when we require it and sometimes importing it from us.'

From the start, the history of the colonies is inseparable from that of the local population. Many ethnic groups lived around the Black Sea, among whom the most prominent were the Thracians, Getae, Scythians, Tauri, Maeotians, Colchians, Mariandyni, and Chalybes. From the earliest days of the colonies, locals formed part of their population. For the Archaic period not much is known about the relationship between Greeks and local peoples, although it was most probably peaceful until the end of the 6th century/beginning of the 5th century B.C.E. Thereafter, local kingdoms grew up, such as the Thracian (Odrysian), Colchian, and Scythian. Relations between these kingdoms and the Greek colonies were at times peaceful and at others hostile. In about 480 B.C.E. a phenomenon unique for the whole Greek world in the Classical period took place: the Greek cities situated on the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas united, to withstand Scythian pressure, in a single state, known as the Bosporan Kingdom (whose capital was Panticapaeum). The rulers of this state were tyrants. Its final consolidation was completed by the middle of the 4th century B.C.E. In character it was akin to the kingdoms that mushroomed in the Hellenistic period.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/greek-colonies-east

A STUDY OF HELLENISTIC INFLUENCE IN ANCIENT SRI LANKAN ARCHITECTURE ~ FREE PDF

    This PDF is the MA Dissertation of Weerasinghe, Savin P. It was done in the National  and Kapodistrian University of Athens and it gives us a very interesting aspect on the topic of Greek influence in ancient Sri Lankan architecture.

The PDF is available here https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/2972403/file.pdf

All credit goes to the author.

 

HELIOPOLIS ~ BAALBEK ~ LEBANON

Baalbek or Heliopolis (Greek: Ἡλιούπολις, "Sun city")  is a town in the northern Bekaa valley,

As a site of human occupation, Baalbek is extremely old. Archaeological soundings in the Great Court of the temple of Zeus revealed ceramics from a settlement from the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (i.e., the 4th and 3rd millenniums BCE), as well as architectural remains from the Middle Bronze Age (about 1950-1600 BCE). This first settlement had been on the hilltop, and it is likely that this place remained the focus of some kind of worship, because even after many centuries, the builders of the temple of Zeus took great care to build the small altar on the Great Court exactly on the summit, while a large terrace was built to make sure that the sanctuary was at the same level as the ancient hilltop.

The name Baalbek may offer a clue about the nature of the original cult: the word probably is a shortening of Semitic Ba'al Nebeq, "lord of the source". We should be careful, though: the name is not attested prior to the 5th century CE. Nevertheless, there is, indeed, a well some 800 meters southeast of the sanctuary, nowadays called Ras al-Ain ("head of the source"). The Greek topographer Strabo  refers to an Aramaean myth about a dragon named Typhon who had been struck by a bolt of lightning and fled underground, cutting the earth, forming a river bed, and finally causing a fountain to break forth to the surface.

Strabo quotes this story in his account of the Orontes, which has its source 15 kilometers north of Baalbek. The river passes along ancient towns like Kadesh, Emesa (mod. Homs), Hama, Apamea, Qarqar, and Antioch, until it reaches the sea near Seleucia. To the west of Baalbek are the sources of the Litani (ancient Leontes), which flows south through the Bekaa valley, along Chalkis (mod. Anjar), and empties itself into the Mediterranean near Tyre. The Orontes-Litani valley has always been an important trade route, and Baalbek must have been a nice place to stay, with abundant sources and lots of cereals and fruits for sale.

Hardly anything is known about the cult in the Late Bronze Age (if there was a cult), although we know that in this age, Ba'al became identified with the Syrian Hadad, a fertility god who was also responsible for rain, thunder, and lightning, and had his main sanctuary in Halab (Aleppo). The syncretism of the two deities is attested in the tablets from Ugarit. In Aramaic texts from the Iron Age, this god is the supreme ruler of the other divine beings. So Hadad is attested as head of several local triads.

It must be pointed out, however, that although these religious developments took place, and although they do help to explain the nature of the cults in Baalbek at a later date, there is almost no evidence from the site in the Late Bronze and Iron Age. We only know that the place was occupied.

The Hellenistic Age

Baalbek is conspicuously absent from Bronze Age texts, although Egypt was interested in Canaan and the army of Ramesses II passed along the place during the Kadesh campaign (1274 BCE). The town is not mentioned in the texts from ancient Assyria; the Bible does not refer to it. Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks : they all passed through the Bekaa valley, but none of them recorded a sanctuary at the sources of the Orontes and Litani. However, the site is possibly identical to the town called Triparadisus, where in 320 BCE the generals of Alexander the Great divided his empire.

It is certain that the site became part of the empire that Ptolemy I Soter created after the death of Alexander. Maybe, it was in these days that the town was renamed Heliopolis, "Sun city". From a local perspective, this name comes unexpectedly, because Ba'al-Hadad was not a sun god. However, in Egypt, the supreme god Ra was also a sun god, and he was worshipped in a town that the Greeks called Heliopolis. The idea to combine Ba'al-Hadad with the sun god, and rename the town, becomes explicable if we assume Egyptian influence.

It may be relevant that the cult statue of the god of Baalbek contained Egyptian elements and was believed to be taken from Egyptian Heliopolis. On the other hand, there may have been an unrecorded local tradition that the Ba'al of the sources was also a solar deity.

After the Fifth Syrian War (202-195), the Bekaa valley became part of the Seleucid Empire. When this state disintegrated at the beginning of the first century BCE, Heliopolis - if it was already called like this - became part of the small princedom of Chalkis, which in turn became part of the Roman sphere of influence when general Pompey the Great annexed Syria . By now, the construction of the sanctuary of Ba'al-Hadad-Zeus-Jupiter had started. Later, in 38 BCE, Mark Antony awarded Chalkis and the sanctuary to the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, making it a Ptolemaic possession again. Not for long, however. Civil war broke out in the Roman Empire, general Octavian was victorious, and annexed Cleopatra's possessions.

The name Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Heliopolitana has caused some debate. The second and third words may be evidence that the site was a settlement of Roman legionary veterans (a colonia) in the age of the emperor Augustus. However, the Roman jurist Ulpian states that Heliopolis became a colonia during the reign of Septimius Severus, after the civil war against Pecennius Niger in 193/194.note He is probably right, and references to coloniae prior to this date must refer to Berytus.

However this may be, from all over the Roman world, pilgrims came to the sanctuary of the God that was now called Jupiter Optimus Maximus Heliopolitanus, "the best and greatest Zeus of Heliopolis", a title that meant that the Romans identified the deity with their own supreme God, venerated on the Capitol. The God, who was already a supreme God, lord of the sources, responsible for rain and lightning, had in the meantime also accepted responsibility as an oracular God.

Temple of Bacchus, cella

The sanctuary itself was more or less completed during the reign of the emperor Nero (r.54-68). The construction of the temple of Bacchus started at more or less the same moment. Building lasted until the reign of Antoninus Pius (r.138-161), who also completed the Great Court of the temple of Zeus. The celebrations must have been quite impressive: writing several centuries later, the Antiochene chronicler John Malalas believed Antoninus to have been the builder of all of Heliopolis.

The temple, the largest in the Roman world, served as an oracle. The Latin author Macrobius has recorded that Zeus of Heliopolis announced that the emperor Trajan would not return from his expedition against the Parthian Empire. Macrobius also tells that during a session of the oracle, the statue was placed in a litter; the bearers sort of sensed the divine will and carried it in certain directions, which could be "decoded" by the priests.

The city flourished; the splendid third-century mosaics from the Suweydie villa are among the evidence. 

The Suweydie mosaic

Conquered in 634 by the Arab general Abu 'Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Baalbek received its original name again; on seventh-century coins, it is called Ba'labakk. The Umayyad mosque in the town, built on the former forum, is one of the oldest places of worship of the Islamic world.

Excavation started after the visit of the German emperor Wilhelm II in 1898, who sent Robert Koldewey to investigate the site. His name has been cut into one of the walls of the temple of Bacchus. Like the emperors before him, he added something to the monument: the stairs to the Propylaea.

 Edited from https://www.livius.org/articles/place/heliopolis-baalbek/

GREEK INFLUENCE ON THE CHINESE COINAGE

 

AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF ALEXANDER IN ASIA AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GREEK KINGDOMS, THE CHINESE CHANGED THE SHAPE OF THEIR COINS INTO THE GREEK STANDARD COIN, WHICH WAS THE INTERNATIONAL CURRENCY OF THAT ERA

NURISTANIS ~ THE DESCENDANTS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT ~ VIDEO

 

The Nuristani people, residing in the Hindu Kush mountains of northeastern Afghanistan, have a unique cultural and historical heritage that has been influenced by various civilizations, including Greek elements introduced during the time of Alexander the Great.

Geography and Demography: The Nuristani inhabit the rugged mountainous region of Nuristan (formerly Kafiristan) in northeastern Afghanistan. This area is known for its isolated and inaccessible terrain, which has contributed to the preservation of their distinct culture.

Language and Ethnicity: The Nuristani languages form a distinct branch of the Indo-Iranian language family. The people are ethnically unique, with a rich oral tradition and a deep sense of community identity.

Pre-Islamic Religion: Prior to their conversion to Islam in the late 19th century, the Nuristani practiced a form of ancient polytheism. Their religious practices included rituals, festivals, and deities that were distinct from those of their neighboring Muslim and Hindu communities.

Alexander the Great and Hellenism

Alexander's Conquests: During his campaigns (334-323 BCE), Alexander the Great conquered vast territories, including parts of what is now Afghanistan. His presence in the region led to the establishment of several Greek-influenced cities and settlements.

Bactria and the Hellenistic Influence: The region of Bactria, located in modern-day northern Afghanistan, became a significant center of Hellenistic culture after Alexander's conquest. Greek settlers, art, architecture, and cultural practices took root in Bactria, influencing the surrounding regions.

Cultural Synthesis: The blending of Greek and local cultures, known as Hellenism, was evident in the art, architecture, and religious practices of the time. This cultural synthesis was particularly strong in areas like Bactria, where Greek and local traditions merged.

 Hellenistic Influence on the Nuristani

Geographical Proximity: Nuristan is geographically close to the regions influenced by Greek culture during the Hellenistic period, particularly Bactria.  The Nuristani were certainly part of the populations influenced by the Greek presence, as they say so themselves.

Art and Iconography: Some scholars suggest that certain aspects of Nuristani art and religious iconography reflect Hellenistic influences, such as the depiction of deities and mythological scenes that bear a resemblance to Greek styles.

Conversion and Cultural Changes

Islamic Conversion: In the late 19th century, the Nuristani were forcibly converted to Islam by the Emir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan. This conversion led to significant changes in their religious and cultural practices, although some pre-Islamic traditions persisted. Despite the conversion to Islam, the Nuristani have managed to preserve many aspects of their pre-Islamic culture, language, and identity, maintaining a distinct cultural heritage within Afghanistan.

DIODOTUS III PLATO

Diodotus III Plato (Greek: Πλάτων; Platon "broad-shouldered") was a Greco-Bactrian king, also known simply by the regnal name Diodotus III, who for a short time ruled in southern Bactria during the mid 2nd century BCE. The style of Plato's coins suggests that he was a relative. most likely a son of Eucratides the Great, whose rise to power is dated to around 170–165 BCE.

Some of Plato's coins have inscriptions which may possibly be interpreted as dates using the Indo-Greek era which started around 186 BCE. In that case Plato ruled around 140 BCE. This matches the dating given by numismatician Bopearachchi, who places Plato between 145–140 BCE, since his coins are not found in the ruins of Ai Khanoum, a Bactrian city which was destroyed during the reign of Eucratides.

Source Wikipedia

TYLOS ~THE GREEK ERA OF BAHRAIN

Modern- day Bahrain has a very rich history. It was home to Dilmun, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Bahrain was later ruled by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

From the 6th to 3rd century BCE, Bahrain was part of the Achaemenid Empire. By about 250 BCE, Parthia brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman. The Parthians established garrisons along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf to control trade routes.

During the classical era, Bahrain was referred to by the ancient Greeks as Tylos, the centre of pearl trading, when the Greek admiral Nearchus serving under Alexander the Great landed on Bahrain.

 Nearchus is believed to have been the first of Alexander's commanders to visit the island, and he found a verdant land that was part of a wide trading network; he recorded: "That on the island of Tylos, situated in the Persian Gulf, are large plantations of cotton trees, from which are manufactured clothes called sindones, of strongly differing degrees of value, some being costly, others less expensive. The use of these is not confined to India, but extends to Arabia." The Greek historian Theophrastus states that much of Bahrain was covered by these cotton trees and that it was famous for exporting walking canes engraved with emblems that were customarily carried in Babylon. Alexander had planned to settle Greek colonists in Bahrain, and although it is not clear that this happened on the scale he envisaged, Bahrain became very much part of the Hellenised world: the language of the upper classes was Greek (although Aramaic was in everyday use). Local coinage shows a seated Zeus, who may have been worshipped there as a syncretised form of the Arabian sun-god Shams. Tylos was also the site of Greek athletic contests.

The Greek historian Strabo believed the Phoenicians originated from Bahrain  and Herodotus also held the same belief. This theory was accepted by the 19th-century German classicist Arnold Heeren who said that: "In the Greek geographers, for instance, we read of two islands, named Tyrus or Tylos, and Aradus, which boasted that they were the mother country of the Phoenicians, and exhibited relics of Phoenician temples." The people of Tyre, in particular, have long maintained Persian Gulf origins, and the similarity in the words "Tylos" and "Tyre" has been commented upon. However, there is little evidence of any human settlement at all on Bahrain during the time when such migration had supposedly taken place.

The name Tylos is thought to be a Hellenisation of the Semitic Tilmun (from Dilmun). The term Tylos was commonly used for the islands until Ptolemy's Geographia when the inhabitants are referred to as Thilouanoi. Some place names in Bahrain go back to the Tylos era; for instance the name of Arad, a residential suburb of Muharraq, is believed to originate from "Arados", the ancient Greek name for Muharraq.

In the 3rd century, Ardashir I, the first ruler of the Sassanid dynasty, marched on Oman and Bahrain, where he defeated Sanatruq, the ruler of Bahrain.

Bahrain was also the site of worship of an ox deity called Awal (Arabic: اوال) Worshipers built a large statue to Awal in Muharraq, which has now been lost. For many centuries after Tylos, Bahrain was known as Awal. By the 5th century, Bahrain became a centre for Nestorian Christianity. In 410, according to the Oriental Syriac Church synodal records, a bishop named Batai was excommunicated from the church in Bahrain. As a sect, the Nestorians were often persecuted as heretics by the Byzantine Empire, but Bahrain was outside the Empire's control, offering some safety. The names of several Muharraq villages today reflect Bahrain's Christian legacy, with Al Dair meaning "the monastery".

Edited  from HAL open  science 

THE GREEK PAST OF BAHRAIN

 A Pottery jar which  contains 310 imitation silver tetradrachms was excavated in 1970 close to the North rampart of the fort, in the Qal'at Al-Bahrain Site Museum, near Manama in Bahrain. The hoard dates from the Tylos Period of the region. The coins were minted in the 2nd century BCE and are imitations of the official coinage of Alexander the Great used in the Seleucid Empire, with Alexander as Heracles on one side and, unusually, Shamash, an Eastern Arabian divinity, on the other. The Qal'at Al-Bahrain Site Museum  was opened in 2008, displaying artefacts of the history and archaeology of the Qal'at al-Bahrain, or Bahrain Fort or Portuguese Fort, built 6th century CE, once the capital of the Dilmun Civilisation. Qal'at al-Bahrain is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

MANETHO ~ AEGYPTIAKA ~ FREE PDF

Manetho  ~ Greek: Μανέθων is believed to have been an Egyptian priest from Sebennytos (Coptic: Ϫⲉⲙⲛⲟⲩϯ) who lived in the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the early third century BCE, during the Hellenistic period.

He authored the Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt) in Greek, a major chronological source for the reigns of the kings of ancient Egypt. It is unclear whether he wrote his history and king list during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter or Ptolemy II Philadelphos, but it was completed no later than that of Ptolemy III Euergetes.

A very interesting book about the history of Egypt in free PDF.

https://ia800408.us.archive.org/14/items/Manetho/Manetho.pdf

ALEXANDER THE GREAT COMMEMORATIVE COLUMN ~ HUND MUSEUM ~ PAKISTAN

 Hund is the oldest city in the Swabi district, located on the right bank of the Indus River. It has a rich history and has experienced different eras such as the Gandhara civilization, the Hindu Shahi dynasty, and the Muslim period. Alexander the Great passed by this place in 327 BCE and spent a night in the village before entering the Indian plains. 

Arrian, the second century CE military historian, records in Anabasis that Alexander and his conquering army of 50,000 men and all their animals crossed the Indus at Hund on a bridge of boats specially built for them by Alexander's commander, Hephaestion, in 326 BCE. When he arrived at the river, Alexander made animal sacrifices and held athletic games and a horse show. The omens proved favourable, so the army crossed. More sacrifices of thanksgiving were made on the other side, where King Ambhi of Taxila was waiting to surrender to Alexander. And so Alexander entered India. A Corinthian column, an example of Greek architecture, was recently added to the Hund museum to symbolize the presence of Alexander the Great.

Today Hund is a humble, run-down village, beautifully situated on the bank of the Indus and the passage of Alexander the Great has never been forgotten there.

THE HELLENISTIC GULF ~ GREEK NAVAL PRESENCE IN MESOPOTAMIA AND THE GULF ~ FREE BOOK PDF

A book on the history of  Greeks  in the Gulf

For those who wish to read it, it's available here in pdf form for free.

 Click on this link  https://www.academia.edu/28384661/The_Hellenistic_Gulf

THE GOLD ZEUS OF CHINA ~VIDEO

 

History of the contacts between the Greco-Bactrians and the Chinese

by Lucas Christopoulos

ASIA A CONTINENT NAMED AFTER A GREEK DEITY

 

The word Asia originated from the Ancient Greek word Ἀσία, first attributed to Herodotus (about 440 BCE) in reference to Anatolia or to the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt.

It originally was just a name for the east bank of the Aegean Sea, an area known to the Hittites as Assuwa. In early Classical times, the Greeks started using the term "Asia" to refer to the whole region known today as Anatolia (the peninsula which forms the Asian portion of present-day turkey). The Roman Empire referred to the entire Lydian region of what is now northwestern turkey as the province of Asia. Eventually, however, the name had been stretched progressively further east, until it came to encompass the much larger land area with which we associate it today, while the Anatolian Peninsula started being called "Asia Minor" or "The Lesser Asia" instead.

The deeper root of the etymology can only be guessed at. The following two possibilities have been suggested:

It could have originated from the Aegean root "Asis" which means "muddy and silty" as a description of the eastern shores of the Aegean Sea.

It could derive from the borrowed Semitic root "Asu", which means varyingly "rising" or "light", of course a directional referring to the sunrise, Asia thus meaning 'Eastern Land'.

However, since the Greek name Asia is in all likelihood related to Hittite Assuwa, the etymology of one has to account for the other as well.

In Greek Tradition, Asia is a name that belongs to  these deities:

1. Asia, one of the 3,000 Oceanides, daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Asia is an Oceanid-nymph of Lydia in Anatolia (West Asia) and the wife of the Titan Prometheus. What is interesting is that,as we mentioned above, the term 'Asia' was first applied by the ancient Greeks to the region of Anatolia (modern Turkey) and it  was used to describe the ancient empire of the Lydians and its royal family (the Asiad clan)--a region often associated with the Titan Prometheus .Asia was frequently confounded with Klymene-Asia, wife of Iapetos and mother of Prometheus, and was probably the same as Pronoia, an Okeanis also named as the wife of Prometheus.

2. Asia, one of the 50 Nereids, the sea-Nymph daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. She was counted in the train of Cyrene and may be the same to the above Asia.

3. Asia, a surname of Athena in Colchis. Her worship was believed to have been brought from thence by Castor and Polydeuces to Laconia, where a temple was built to Her at Las.

We do have references in literature about the possible divine origin of the name.

Hesiod, Theogony 346 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th BCE):

"Tethys bore to Okeanos (Oceanus) the swirling Potamoi (Rivers) . . . She [Tethys] brought forth also a race apart of daughters [the Okeanides], who with Lord Apollo and the Rivers have the young in their keeping all over the earth, since this right from Zeus is given to them. robed in saffron, Khryseis (Chryseis), and Asia, and alluring Kalypso (Calypso).

Now these are the eldest of the daughters who were born to Tethys and Okeanos, but there are many others beside these, for there are three thousand light-stepping daughters of Okeanos scattered far and wide, bright children among the goddesses, and all alike look after the earth and the depths of the standing water."

Herodotus, Histories 4. 45. 1 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian, 5th c. BCE):

"Asia [was named] after the wife of Prometheus; yet the Lydians claim a share in the latter name, saying that Asia was not named after Prometheus' wife Asia, but after Asias, the son of Kotys (Cotys), who was the son of Manes, and that from him the Asiad clan at Sardis also takes its name."

Edited from Wikipedia and Theoi.com

TAXILA - SIRKAP ~ THE GREEK METROPOLIS IN PUNJAB

 Taxila (Old Indian Takshaçila, Greek Ταξίλα): the ancient capital of the eastern Punjab, the country between the rivers Indus and Hydaspes. The site consists of several parts, which belong to the Achaemenid, Greek, and Kushan periods.

The second city at Taxila is called Sirkap, which means "severed head" and is the name of a mythological demon that is said to have lived on this site. It devoured human flesh and was killed by the hero Rasalu. Sirkap was founded by the Greek king Demetrius, who conquered this region in the 180s BCE. The city was rebuilt by king Menander.

The excavation of the old city was carried out under the supervision of Sir John Marshall by Hergrew from 1912–1930. In 1944 and 1945 further parts were excavated by Mortimer Wheeler and his colleagues. Most of the discoveries at Sirkap related to the Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian periods (1st-2nd century CE). Overall excavations to the Greek levels have been very limited, and probably much remains hidden underground: in Sirkap, only about one eighth of the excavations were made down to the Indo-Greek and early Indo-Scythian levels, and this only in an area far removed from the center of the ancient city, where few discoveries could be expected.

Greek city 

The site of Sirkap was built according to the "Hippodamian" grid-plan, characteristic of Greek cities. It is organized around one main avenue and fifteen perpendicular streets, covering a surface of around 1,200 by 400 meters (3,900 ft × 1,300 ft), with a surrounding wall 5–7 meters (16–23 ft) wide and 4.8 kilometers (3.0 mi) long. The ruins are Greek in character, similar to those of Olynthus in Macedonia.

Numerous Hellenistic artifacts have been found, in particular coins of Greco-Bactrian kings and stone palettes representing Greek mythological scenes. Some of them are purely Hellenistic, others indicate an evolution of the Greco-Bactrian styles found at Ai-Khanoum towards more indianized styles. For example, accessories such as Indian ankle bracelets can be found on some representations of Greek mythological figures such as Artemis.

Following its construction by the Greeks, the city was further rebuilt during the incursions of the Indo-Scythians, and later by the Indo-Parthians after an earthquake in 30 CE. Gondophares, the first king of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, built parts of the city including the double -headed eagle stupa and the temple of the sun god. The city was overtaken by the Kushan kings who abandoned it and built a new city at Sirsukh, about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) to the north-east.

Religious buildings

Buddhist stupas with strong Hellenistic decorative elements can be found throughout the Sirkap site (Stupa of the two eagles  indicating a close interaction of religious cultures. A Greek religious temple of the Ionic order is also visible at the nearby site of Jandial (650 meters (2,130 ft) from Sirkap), but there is a possibility that it may have been dedicated to a Zoroastrian cult. A temple of Buddhist goddess Hariti with Hellenistic decoration was also found.

The site of Sirkap bears witness to the city-building activity of the Indo-Greeks during their occupation of the Indian territory for close to two centuries, as well as their integration of other faiths, especially Buddhism.

Round stupa

One round Stupa is present at Sirkap. It is one of the oldest Stupas in the Indian Subcontinent. It is assumed that this Stupa was uprooted and thrown to its present location by a strong earthquake in the 1st century CE. When the new city was built later, the Stupa was kept by building a protecting wall around it.

Apsidal Temple

The building that is known as the Apsidal Temple is the largest sanctuary of Sirkap, measuring about 70 by 40 meters (230 by 130 ft) (by contrast: the Parthenon in Athens is 70 by 31 meters (230 by 102 ft)). The Apsidal Temple consists of a square nave with several rooms, used by the Buddhist monks, and a circular room, which gives the building its apsidal shape. After the earthquake that destroyed the city in c. 30 CE, the Buddhist shrine was built in a spacious courtyard. The round part was probably in use for a small stupa, but no traces of it remain. Some carvings were probably done by an artist from Greece.

Double-Headed Eagle Stupa

A special Stupa at Sirkap is the so-called 'Double-Headed Eagle Stupa'. The pilasters here are of a Greek design, "Corinthian columns". In the middle arch, a Greek temple is shown; in the outer, a shrine of a Hindu design can be seen. On top of these sanctuaries, a Double-headed eagle is seated from which the name of the Stupa has been derived. This motif is rather odd, to say the least, as it is originally Babylonian. It seems to have spread to Scythia, and introduced in the Punjab by the Scythian rulers.

Dharmarajika Stupa

The nearby Dharmarajika Stupa, is a large stupa that dates from the 2nd century CE. The stupa was built to house relics of the Buddha, while several monastic buildings were built around the stupa.

Visit by Apollonius of Tyana

The Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana  visited ancient India, and specifically the city of Taxila in the 1st century CE. He describes constructions of the Greek type,  referring to Sirkap:

"Taxila, they tell us, is about as big as Nineveh, and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities".

"I have already described the way in which the city is walled, but they say that it was divided up into narrow streets in the same irregular manner as in Athens, and that the houses were built in such a way that if you look at them from outside they had only one story, while if you went into one of them, you at once found subterranean chambers extending as far below the level of the earth as did the chambers above."

DEPICTIONS OF PEGASUS ~ GREEK INFLUENCE IN INNER MONGOLIA

 A pair of plaques of galloping horses with wings, bronze, 10 × 6.5 cm, excavated from Jalainur Cemetery, Inner Mongolia. From first to third century CE.