THE GOLD ALEXANDER MEDALLIONS IN ABUKIR OF EGYPT

In 1902, rumors started to circulate in Egypt about a hoard of Roman gold that had been uncovered by peasants. Later that year some Syrian antiquities dealers arrived in Paris, accompanied by an "Oriental woman" not named in any source I can find. They offered an impressive collection for sale: more than 600 Roman aurei (gold coins), 18 gold bars and 20 gold medallions, which they said came from the Delta town of Abu Qir ( Abukir ). 

Based on the dates of the coins, the hoard was buried in the second half of the third century CE. Because of the dubious character of the sellers and the unusual nature of the finds, Parisian dealers decided the medallions were fake, and would not buy them. 

However, a German scholar, Heinrich Dressel, recognized them as genuine and bought four for the museum of Berlin, where they remain. The rest went back to Egypt and were then dispersed through various deals. Eleven are in Portugal,in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, and three ended up at the Walters Museum in Baltimore.

The medallion images are all on the theme of Alexander the Great, and one bears an inscription relating it to the Olympic Games. Museum guides say that these medals were given to Olympic victors, but classical scholars disagree for technical reasons.
So the medallions represent a mystery. Made by the best craftsmen, probably for the imperial household, they no doubt represent an attempt to associate the imperial family with Alexander.

http://benedante.blogspot.com/

DIOMEDES SOTER ~ INDOGREEK KING

Diomedes Soter (Greek: Διομήδης ὁ Σωτήρ; epithet means "the Saviour") was an Indo-Greek king. The places where his coins have been found seem to indicate that his rule was based in the area of the Paropamisadae, possibly with temporary dominions further east. Judging from their similar portraits and many overlapping monograms, the young Diomedes seems to have been the heir (and probably a relative) of Philoxenus, the last king to rule before the kingdom of Menander I finally fragmented.
Diomedes depicted the Dioscuri on his coins, either on horseback or standing; both types were previously used by Eucratides I. It is however uncertain how the two were related, since Eucratides I died long before Diomedes.

Diomedes minted both Attic-type coins (Greco-Bactrian style, with Greek legend only), and bilingual coins (with Greek and Kharoshthi), indicating that he was ruling in the western part of the Indo-Greek territory.

One overstrike is known, of a coin of Strato and Agathokleia over a coin of Diomedes.This overstrike could indicate that Diomedes fought over the central areas of the Indo-Greek territories with Strato and Agathokleia.
Bopearachchi dates Diomedes to c. 95–90 BCE and R. C. Senior dates him to c. 115–105 BCE.

Source :Wikipedia

DEMETRIUS III ANIKETOS ~ INDO-GREEK KING

Demetrius III Aniketos (Greek: Δημήτριος Γ΄ ο Ανίκητος; epithet means "the Invincible") is an Indo-Greek Κing who reigned in the area of Gandhara and Punjab.
Τhe coins of Demetrius III are few and rather crude. He copies some of his imagery from the renowned Bactrian king Demetrius I (c. 200–180 BCE). The two namesakes share the war-like epithet "The Invincible" and wear elephant-crowns, the symbol that Alexander the Great used to celebrate his conquest of the Indus Valley.

The historical sources of the Indo-Greek kingdom are very few, and the separation of kings with the same name is not an easy process. Numismatician Osmund Bopearachchi identifies three kings named Demetrius, placing the third around 100 BCE due to mintmarks and style of the coins (see discussion under Demetrius II). R. C. Senior agrees with this reconstruction, even though their dates are somewhat different: according to Bopearachchi he ruled around 100 BCE, whereas R. C. Senior places him circa 70 BCE, in both cases as successor of Heliokles II.

However, Demetrius III is the only Demetrius to strike bilingual Greek/Indian (Kharoshti) coins, and is therefore a likely candidate to be identified with the "Demetrius, king of the Indians" mentioned by Roman historian Justin. This Demetrius is said to have fought with the Bactrian king Eucratides (170–145 BCE) during the latter part of Eucratides' rule. Bopearachchi nevertheless identifies Justin's Demetrius with the king Demetrius II even though he only struck Greek coins and reigned c. 175–170 BCE, even before Eucratides. In addition, Bopearachchi's early dating of Demetrius II has been challenged.

Yet other authors have identified Justin's Demetrius with Demetrius I of Bactria, ignoring both Bopearachchi's chronology as well as modifying Justin's text.

Earlier authors such as Tarn and Narain thought that the Demetrius who struck the coins now identified with Demetrius III was the king who fought Eucratides, and saw him as a son of Demetrius I.

The absence of absolute proof of dating Demetrius III -such as counter-marked coins- and the remaining problems of all current reconstructions, means that the issue is not definitely solved, and the alternative chronology would be to place Demetrius III around 150 BCE in compliance with Tarn's and Narain's ideas about his identity as a Euthydemid prince who fought against Eucratides.
If Demetrius III ruled around 100 or 70 BCE, he seems to have been a relative of Heliokles II, though his title and use of the elephant-crown of Demetrius I also associates him with the king Lysias.

The actual coins of Demetrius III are very few and struck with a single, unique monogram. This suggests a short and insignificant reign. On his silver, Demetrius III appears in the kausia hat (on the unique known tetradrachm) or diademed, with a reverse of Zeus holding thunderbolt. His bronzes feature a king in elephant's crown, either Demetrius III or Demetrius I, with a thunderbolt on the reverse.

Edited from : Wikipedia

CLEOPATRA MAKING OFFERINGS TO ISIS ~ GREEK-INSCRIBED STELE

This limestone stele was dedicated to Cleopatra VII Philopator on 2 July 51 BCE by Onnophris, the Greek "president of the association of Isis Snonais." This association of temples was placed under the protection of a form of the goddess Isis worshiped in Faiyum (Al-Fayyum). 

The stele follows the usual conventions: a winged disk surmounts a ritual scene in the upper section, in which the sovereign faces the goddess across an offering table; a dedication is inscribed in the lower section. Cleopatra is represented as a traditional male pharaoh, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, and a triangular loincloth. Two vases are offered to the goddess Isis, who nurses her baby, Horus. The Egyptians had continued to depict their Greek Kings and Queens according to the prescribed Pharaonic models. The relief's composition and iconography are purely Egyptian, but the text is written in Greek, the language of the conquerors.

On close observation, it appears that the stele has been re-engraved. The thin, straight lines around the edge, drawn to facilitate the correct alignment of the signs, do not coincide with those in the recessed areas containing the inscription. In addition, partially erased signs are still visible on the right edge.

The stele is dated year 1, the first day of the month "epiphi," which Greek scholars translate as 2 July 51 BCE. It was initially erected in honor of one of the Ptolemies, in all likelihood Cleopatra's father, and was re-worked following her accession.

The Greek text is as follows :

ὑπὲρ βασιλίσσης

Κλεοπάτρας θε-

ᾶς Φιλοπάτωρ τό-

πος Σνοναιτια-

κῆς συνόδου

ὧν συναγογὸς

Ὀννῶφρις λεσώνης

(ἔτους) αʹ, Ἐπὶφ αʹ.

Source: The Louvre Museum

ENCELADUS ~ THE GREEK GIANT WHO CAUSES EARTHQUAKES

In Greek Religion, Enceladus ( Greek: Εγκέλαδος ) is one of the Giants, the children of Gaia (Earth), and Uranus (Sky). Enceladus is the most well-known opponent of Goddess Athena during the Gigantomachy, and ended up being buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.( for more on the Gigantomachy, click here.  Goddess Athena hurled the massive rock which was to become Sicily on Enceladus,as he was fleeing away from Her. Forever trapped underneath, Enceladus still demonstrates his powers everytime he tries to shake off the burden of the rock on top of him. Thus, he is the cause of earthquakes in the entire Mediterranean area.

In literature, references to this Giant occur as early as the plays of the fifth century BCE Greek tragedian Euripides. Although traditionally opposed by Athena, Virgil and others have Enceladus being struck down by Zeus. 

 The second century CE geographer Pausanias reports that a Tegean statue of Athena was called "Horse Goddess" because according to a local account Athena "drove the chariot and horses against Enceladus".

The battle between Athena and Enceladus was a popular theme in Greek vase paintings, with examples from as early as the middle of the sixth century BCE. We know, from the description given in Euripides' Ion, that the battle was depicted on the late sixth century BCE Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

The east pediment of the Old Temple of Athena on the Acropolis of Athens, dating from the late sixth century, prominently displayed Athena standing over a fallen giant, possibly Enceladus. The battle was probably also depicted on the new peplos (robe) presented to Athena on the Acropolis of Athens as part of the Panathenaic festival.

Edited from : Wikipedia 

OCEANUS ~THE TITAN GOD OF THE OCEANS

Oceanus is  one of the Titans, eldest son of Ouranos and Gaia. He is married to His sister, Tethys. From their union came the ocean Nymphs, known as the 3,000 Oceanids. The river Gods are His children as well.This is the God of the backward-flowing river Ocean, which bounds the earth and from which all rivers flow and every sea, and all the springs and wells. 

When the Titans overthrew their father Ouranos, and Cronos castrated Him , Oceanus did not participate in the rebellion. He also kept His distance from His siblings during the Titanomachy. In fact, His wife Tethys nursed and protected Hera in Their palace, during the Titanomachy. In the Iliad, Hera mentions that She is going to visit Her foster parents:

 'For I am faring to visit the limits of the all-nurturing earth,
and Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys,
even them that lovingly nursed and cherished me in their halls,
when they had taken me from Rhea...' 

We also see Oceanus showing his compassion for Prometheus, and went to see him when he was chained in Caucasus. He generally seems to keep a distance from the affairs of the Gods as He as he does not—and unlike all the other river Gods, His sons—take part in the convention of Gods on Mount Olympus.



At first, Oceanus ruled over the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Later, when the Greeks learned of the Atlantic Ocean and other bodies of salt water his role expanded. When the Olympians took over, Poseidon became the ruler of the Mediterranean Sea.


In Hellenistic and Roman mosaics, this Titan was often depicted as having the upper body of a muscular man with a long beard and horns (often represented as the claws of a crab) and the lower body of a serpent. On a fragmentary archaic vessel of circa 580 BCE, among the Gods arriving at the wedding of Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis, we see a fish-tailed Oceanus, with a fish in one hand and a serpent in the other; gifts of bounty and prophecy.

According to Homer, Oceanus is the ocean-stream at the margin of the habitable world, the father of everything, limiting it from the underworld and flowing around the Elysium.

Oceanus is also mentioned in the Odyssey, as Circe instructs Odysseus on how to reach the Underworld. 

"… when in your ship you have now crossed the stream of Oceanus, where is a level shore and the groves of Persephone…beach your boat there by Ocean's swirling streams and march on into Hades' dark house." 

ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND PLATO IN MUGHAL MANUSCRIPT

The Mughal Empire, or Mogul Empire, was an early-modern empire in South Asia .For about two centuries, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus basin in the West, Northern Afghanistan in the Northwest, and Kashmir in the North, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the East, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India. The legacy of this Empire has greatly influenced the history of India and the monuments of these kings are among the most famous sights of the subcontinent.

The Khamsa of the Indian poet Amir Khusrau includes a section on the Greek King Alexander the Great, who in Khusrau’s telling of his life led expeditions to China, Russia, and the Western Isles, and also undertook quests of a spiritual dimension. Here, Alexander depicted as a turbaned king is seated on the right, listening to the sage Plato, who offers advice on rulership but also warns of Alexander’s impending death.

This image is essentially symbolic, since Plato lived before Alexander and the two of them never met in real life. However, Plato's Cave is a theme mentioned in the Koran; and so is Alexander the Great. These two major personalities of Ancient Greece, who had a tremendous impact in world History, appear together in this picture of a scholarly work created by Amir Khusrau, one of the most iconic Indian Sufi artists and scholars.

Sources: Wikipedia, The MET Museum , Oumar Sankhare: Le Coran et la Culture Grecque

CHARON ~ THE FERRYMAN OF HADES

In Greek Religion, Charon (Greek : Χάρων) is the ferryman of Hades. He receives the souls of the dead from God Hermes, who gathers them from the upper world and guides them to the shores of River Acheron. This river is the dividing line between the world of the living and the Underworld; and Charon provides passage with his boat.

Charon is the son of Erebus and Nyx. Some of his siblings incude Hypnos ( the God of Sleep ) and Thanatos (Death).Charon is depicted frequently in the art of ancient Greece. Attic funerary vases of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE are often decorated with scenes of the dead boarding Charon's boat.

 On the earlier such vases, he looks like a rough, unkempt Athenian seaman dressed in reddish-brown, holding his ferryman's pole in his right hand and using his left hand to receive the deceased.On later artistic depictions vases, Charon is given a more "kindly and refined" demeanor. Sometimes he is seen holding a double-headed hammer. Even though he looks elderly, Charon is extremely strong. Heracles wrestled with him when he descended into the Underworld and managed to subdue the Ferryman and make him  transport Him to the other side.

Paying a fee to the Ferryman

 A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was placed in or on the mouth of a dead person. These coins had little value; yet, they were an indication that the deceased had been given proper burial and could make the trip. Those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores of the Underworld for one hundred years as ghosts. If a soul tried to board the boat without paying, Charon used his pole to fight it away. The idea of roaming the shores of Acheron as a ghost was not desirable, of course- and Ancient Greeks buried their dead with the fee. This custom still exists in many parts of modern Greece.

Living people who want to visit Hades must also pay the ferryman.
Given the fact that they need two trips, Charon charges significantly more. Gods and Heroes such as Dionysos, Orpheus and Odysseus, travelled to the Underworld and returned, conveyed by the boat of Charon. 

Sources : Wikipedia , Ancient Greece Reloaded  

GANDHARA ART ~ TERRACOTTA STATUE OF HERACLES

A monumental Heracles terracotta statue. Ancient region of  Gandhara, 4th- 5th c. CE. Its height is 91cm, without the base.

This almost life-size Kushan period Gandharan statue depicts Heracles seated in royal ease. He shows an expressive, dominating face with bulging eyes, vividly curled hair and long beard. During the Kushan period, this type of bearded head was used for several male deities or heroes. such as Atlas or Dionysos and rarely, as in our example, for Heracles. Apart from a loincloth Heracles is naked, as is the small female human figure next to him, who is holding a loincloth up to cover her lower body.

The Kingdom of Gandhara stretched across parts of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Gandhara is noted for its distinctive style in Buddhist art,which  flourished and achieved its peak during the Kushan period, from the 1st to the 5th century. In the first century CE, Gandhara was the birthplace of  the earliest Buddhist images.

 Fired clay was an expensive material in the area, because the wood needed for the firing process was scarce. Therefore, such an expensive sculpture would have been a highly meritorious Buddhist offering. Only very few terracotta statues from this period and size have ever been recorded.

Source: Gallery Zacke 

DIONYSIACA OF NONNUS ~ THE TRIUMPH OF DIONYSOS IN INDIA ( FREE BOOK ) PDF

The Dionysiaca (Greek: Διονυσιακά ) is an ancient Greek epic poem and the principal work of Nonnus. It is an epic in 48 books, the longest surviving poem from antiquity at 20,426 lines, divided in 48 books-as many as the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. Dionysiaca was composed in Homeric dialect and dactylic hexameters and its main subject is the life of Greek God Dionysos, His expedition to India, and His triumphant return to the West.

 Below there are 3 links to the books of the epic poem. The text is in both English and Ancient Greek.



"Dionysos was, in my opinion . . . the first to invade India, and the first to bridge the river Euphrates. Zeugma (Bridge) was the name given to that part of the country where the Euphrates was bridged, and at the present day the cable is still preserved with which he spanned the river; it is plaited with branches of the vine and ivy. Both the Greeks and the Egyptians have many legends about Dionysos."

Pausanias, Description of Greece


Books  1-15 : https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft

Books 16-35 :  https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca02nonnuoft

Books 36- 48 : https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca03nonnuoft/page/n1

Source : https://catalog.perseus.org/catalog/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2045.tlg001.opp-eng1dio

POLYXENOS EPIPHANES SOTER ~ INDOGREEK KING

Polyxenos Epiphanes Soter (Greek: Πολύξενος ο Ἐπιφανής, ὁ Σωτήρ; epithets mean respectively, "the Illustrious", "the Saviour") was an Indo-Greek king who ruled briefly in western Punjab or Gandhara.

Bopearachchi places Polyxenos c. 100 BCE  and R.C. Senior c. 85–80 BCE.

Polyxenos, whose portraits depict a diademed young man, struck silver coins which closely resemble those of Strato I. Both kings used the epithets Soter Epiphanes and the reverse of Athena Alkidemos (fighting Pallas Athene), the emblem of the dynasty of Menander I. Polyxenos also struck bronzes with Athena on the obverse and Her aegis on the reverse. He issued no Attic silver.

His bronzes depict the head of Athena with a reverse of Her aegis.

Polyxenos' coins are few and feature only three monograms: these he shares with Straton I, as well as the kings Heliokles II and Archebios, according to Bopearachchi and R.C.Senior.

He was therefore likely to have been a brief contestant for power in the central Indo-Greek kingdom after the presumably violent death of Straton I, who was possibly his father.

Source: Wikipedia

THE KANDAHAR SOPHYTOS INSCRIPTION

The Kandahar Sophytos Inscription is an inscription in Greek, made by Sophytos (Greek: Σώφυτος), son of Naratos, in the 2nd century BCE, in the city of Kandahar. The inscription is written on a square limestone plaque, which was probably part of a wall.The inscription, although bought on a market, is thought to have come from Old Kandahar, the supposed ancient Alexandria in Arachosia.

The text is written in a very high level Greek language, displaying a real refinement of Greek culture so far east in Kandahar. The verses are in the sophisticated acrostich form. The name "Sophytos" is known from a 4th-3rd century Greek coins of the Arachosian satrap Sophytos, who is otherwise unknown. There is a possibility that the Sophytos of the inscription may have been a descendant of the eponymous Satrap Sophytos.

According to the inscription, Sophytos was ruined in early life, but later rebuilt his fortune through fortitude. Some authors consider that his ruin may be due to the invasion of Arachosia by the Greco-Bactrians in the 2nd century BCE. The usage of Greek and Aramaic is attested in the area from the 3rd century BCE due to the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription of Emperor Ashoka. However, French scholars place the dating of the inscription during the Common Era, since the use of the letter C instead of the Greek Σ took place during the Common Era times.

The inscription highlights the fact that some Indians lived in the Hellenistic city of Alexandria Arachosia, and had reached a very high level of Greek culture (only one mistake in prosody has been identified in the whole text).

Greek text

Σωφύτου στήλη

Δ Δηρὸν ἐμῶγ κοκυῶν ἐριθηλέα δώματ᾽ ἐόντα
Ι ἲς ἄμαχος Μοιρῶν ἐξόλεσεν τριάδος·
Α αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ, τυννὸς κομιδῆι βιότοιό τε πατρῶν
Σ Σώφυτος εὖνις ἐὼν οἰκτρὰ Ναρατιάδης,
Ω ὡς ἀρετὴν Ἑκάτου Μουσέων τ᾽ ἤσχηκα σὺν ἐσθλῆι
Φ φυρτὴν σωφροσύνηι, θήμος ἐπεφρασάμην
Υ ὑψώσαιμί κε πῶς μέγαρον πατρώϊον αὔθις·
Τ τεκνοφόρον δὲ λαβὼν ἄλλοθεν ἀργύριον,
Ο οἴκοθεν ἐξέμολον μεμαὼς οὐ πρόσθ᾽ ἐπανελθεῖν
Υ ὕψιστον κτᾶσθαι πρὶμ μ᾽ άγαθῶν ἄφενος·
Τ τοὔνεκ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐμπορίηισιν ἰῶν εἰς ἄστεα πολλὰ
Ο ὄλβον ἀλωβήτος εὐρὺν ἐληισάμην
Υ ὑμνητὸς δὲ πέλων πάτρην ἐτέεσσιν ἐσῖγμαι
Ν νηρίθμοις τερπνός τ᾽ εὐμενέταις ἐφάνην·
Α ἀμφοτέρους δ᾽ οἶκόν τε σεσηπότα πάτριον εἶθαρ
Ρ ῥέξας ἐκ καινῆς κρέσσονα συντέλεσα
Α αἶάν τ᾽ ἔς τύμβου πεπτωκότος ἄλλον ἔτευξα,
Τ τὴν καὶ ζῶν στήλην ἐν ὁδῶι ἐπέθηκα λάλον.
Ο οὕτως οὖν ζηλωτὰ τάδ᾽ ἔργματα συντελέσαντος
Υ υἱέες υἱωνοί τ᾽ οἶκον ἔχοιεν ἐμοὖ.

English translation

Stele of Sophytos

For a long time the house of my ancestors had been thriving
when the unbeatable violence of the triple Fates destroyed it.
But I, Sophytos of the stock of Naratos, all together so small
and pitiably bereft of the support of my parents,
practiced the excellence of the Muses and The Shooter
mixed with noble prudence
and devised a way to build up my ancestral home again:
with fruit-bearing money taken from elsewhere,
I went away from home determined not to come back
until I acquired the greatest abundance of good things.
For this reason I went on merchant ships into many a city
and acquired sound and far-reaching wealth.
Surrounded by praise, I came back to my homeland after innumerable years,
and a delight I proved to be to my well-wishers.
And both the paternal house that was rotten
I made at once stronger out of new means
and, with the tomb having fallen to the ground, I built another one;
and while still alive I set up by the road this telling stele.
Would that my sons and grandchildren keep this house of mine so,
for I have accomplished these enviable deeds!

The left vertical line, formed by repeating the first letter of each sentence (acrostich) reads ΔΙΑ ΣΩΦΥΤΟΥ ΤΟΥΝΑΡΑΤΟΥ "By Sophitos, son of Naratos".

Source: Wikipedia

THE HELLENISTIC KUSHAN EMPIRE

The Kushan empire was a syncretic empire formed by Yuezhi, a confederation of nomadic pastoralists, who migrated from the arid grassland area in the northwestern part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu and settled in the territories of ancient Bactria. The Yuezhi reached Bactria (northwest Afghanistan and Tajikistan) around 135 BCE and gradually wresting control of the area from the Scythians and the Parthians, they progressively moved south into the northwest Indian region, traditionally known as Gandhara (present-day regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan) and established their capital near modern-day Kabul. 

The rule of Kanishka, the third Kushan emperor, who flourished from the late 1st to the early/mid- 2nd century CE was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar) and Mathura in northern India. Under Kanishka’s rule, at the height of the dynasty, the Kushans controlled a large territory ranging from the Aral Sea through areas that include present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, having infiltrated into northern parts of the Indian subcontinent as far east as Benares and as far south as Sanchi. It was also a period of great wealth, marked by extensive mercantile activities and a flourishing of urban life, Buddhist thought and the arts. Under the rule of the Kushans, northwest India and adjoining regions participated both in seagoing trade and in the commerce along the Silk Road to China.

 Initially the Kushans used the ancient Greek alphabet and language for administrative purposes, but soon afterwards they switched to use the Bactrian language, whose alphabet was basically the Greek one, apart from minor differences. Kujula, founder of the Kushan empire, was the first ruler to strike gold coins which were used as official coinage and exchanged along the caravan routes. Most of Kujula’s coins were Hellenic in inspiration. 

Some coins used the portrait, name and title of the Indo-Greek king Hermaeus on the obverse, indicating Kujula’s wish to relate himself to the Indo-Greek king.

 Since the Kushans and their predecessors, the Yuezhi, were conversant with the Greek language and Greek coinage, the adoption of Hermaeus could not have been accidental: it either expressed an affiliation of Kujula to Hermaeus by alliance, or simply a wish to show himself as heir to the Indo-Greek tradition and prestige, possibly wanting also to accommodate Greek populations. 

These coins bear the name of Kujula with representations of the Greek demi-god Heracles on the back, and titles presenting Kujula as a “ruler” (not an actual king), and Buddhist (“Dharmathidasa”, follower of the Dharma). 

Later coins, possibly posthumous, did describe Kujula as “Maharajasa”, or “Great King”. Centuries later, the emperor Kanishka became a great patron of Buddhism and as the Kushan empire expanded southward toward the Indian subcontinent, the deities of their later coinage came to reflect its new Hindu majority. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Karakoram and facilitating the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China. 

The term 'Kushan art' refers to a variety of artistic expressions that developed under the rule of the Kushan dynasty during the first three centuries of the Common Era, on a territory spreading broadly between north of the Oxus River and the Gangetic plain in North India. Artistic productions fall mainly into two branches: works in the service of the dynasty and works in the service of religion, principally Buddhism, but also Brahmanism and Jainism. Certain scholars might find the expression “art of the Kushan period” more adequate than that of “Kushan art.” Nevertheless, these heterogeneous artistic expressions reflect a common pattern in that they all result from the assimilation and re-elaboration of an eclectic cultural and artistic repertoire.

 The Gandhara region at the core of the Kushan empire was home to a multiethnic society tolerant of religious differences. Desirable for its strategic location, with direct access to the overland silk routes and links to the ports on the Arabian Sea, Gandhara had suffered many conquests and had been ruled by the Achaemenids, Alexander the Great, his Indo-Greek successors (3rd-2nd centuries BCE), and a combination of Scythians and Parthians (2nd–1st centuries BCE). The fusion of populations, traditions and religious beliefs produced an eclectic culture, vividly expressed in the visual arts produced during the Kushan period. Initially themes deriving from the Greek Religion were very common, while later, the Buddhist imagery became dominant, with some of the first representations of the Buddha in human form dating to the Kushan era, as do the earliest depictions of bodhisattvas. 

SOURCE : Barakat Gallery