AEGINA TURTLE ~ THE FIRST GREEK INTERNATIONAL COIN

Aegina is a rocky and mountainous island in the Saronic Gulf located about 25 miles southeast of Athens. It was settled by the Dorians around 900 BCE and was named after the daughter of the Greek river God Asopos.

Island of Aegina, Greece. Circa 550-530/25 BCE. Silver Stater . Sea turtle, head in profile, with thick collar and row of dots down its back / Deep incuse square of proto-“Union Jack” pattern with eight incuse segments.


Because of its limited availability of cultivable land, the inhabitants needed to leverage the sea for their livelihood. They became expert merchants and tradesmen, dominating the shipping industry early in the 6th century BCE. Their success and near-monopoly brought the island great wealth and power. They built a lavish temple to their local goddess, Aphaia, decorating it with numerous sculptures of beautiful artistic quality.

During their travels, the merchants encountered the developing early electrum ancient coins in Ionia and Lydia. They recognized the potential to not only store their considerable wealth in the form of portable ancient coins, but also to optimize trade through a global currency. Aegina therefore became the first of the Greek city-states to issue coined money, starting in the mid-6th century BCE.

In addition to the silver they received in trade, Aegina worked the mines of the silver-rich island of Siphnos, which were at the height of their production as Aegina was flourishing.

The emissions from Aegina were substantial, resulting in their weight standard becoming dominant throughout much of Greece in the sixth and fifth centuries. The Athenians called the Aeginetan drachm the “thick drachm” as it was heavier than that of Athens, with their common didrachm “stater” coinage weighing about 12.6 grams.

Their status as the first international trade currency was aided by the consistency of their designs, and their coins spread far throughout the known world. The earliest types, like this coin, depict a sea turtle engraved in high relief with an incuse pattern on the reverse. The reverse punch changed over time, starting with eight triangles and progressing to a “mill sail”, then a “skew” pattern, to increase the usable duration of the die.

The choice of a turtle is likely due to their influence as a sea power but perhaps also because the pre-coinage ingots in use in the region were convex in shape and may have been colloquially known as “turtles”.

Source : Coinweek 

THE GREEK ORIGINS OF SOUTH ARABIAN AND YEMENI COINAGE

The ancient coinage of Southern Arabia is one of the most obscure branches of numismatics. Its origin is Greek and its development  is local.

Arabia, like Egypt, had no silver mines; therefore, silver was an exotic import. The earliest coins in the region were Athenian tetradrachms of the 5th century BCE. Produced in vast numbers, these “owls” became widely accepted in trade across much of the ancient world, because the silver they contained was relatively pure. Rulers of Saba in central Yemen, with its capital at Marib, soon realized that they could enhance their prestige and wealth by producing their own imitations of this coinage. The 17.2 gram tetradrachm was inconveniently large, so for centuries, South Arabian silver coins were based on a local unit of about 5.5 grams, with fractional denominations of a half, a quarter, an 8th and even a tiny 16th. As generations of die engravers made copies of copies, the designs deteriorated, so that the obverse head of Athena and the reverse owl become increasingly scraggly and schematic. A feature of this coinage is a prominent South Arabian letter on Athena’s cheek as a mark of denomination: “N” for the unit or drachm, “K” for rare double units (didrachm), “G” for the half (hemidrachm), “T” for the quarter, and “S” for the eighth.
Below there are samples of these coins which imitated the famous Athenian tetradrachm.

The kingdom of Qataban  ~ Goddess Athena and owl

The kingdom of Himyar emerged in the southwestern corner of Yemen in the 2nd century BCE and eventually absorbed the other states of the region, extending its power over much of Arabia.

Hadhramawt

The remote kingdom of Hadhramawt (or Hadramaut) in Yemen’s Eastern desert had rich deposits of copper and issued crude bronze “owls” as early as the third century BCE. From the 1st century BCE until it was eventually absorbed by Himyar.

SOURCE : Coinweek 

ORPHIC HYMN TO GREEK GOD HERMES

The following video presents the Orphic Hymn to Hermes, the Greek God of communication, travelling and commerce ( for more information on Hermes, click HERE ) . Hermes is a God who constantly travels between the human and the Divine realms, delivering messages of the Gods and assisting mortals in various ways. Below the video there are the lyrics of the Hymn in both English and Ancient Greek.

Video created by : Sitalkas Vasilis 

Lyrics in English 

Hear me, Hermes, Messenger of Zeus, Son of Maia!   1

Your heart is invincible! ...Master of competitions, Ruler of mortals,

Oh Joyful, Wily One, Guide, Slayer of Árgos.

You with the winged sandals, Friend of mankind, Divine Revealer of the language of mortals;

You rejoice in gymnastic training, and in skillful deceit, oh Priestly one.   

Interpreter of everything, Conductor of trade, You drive our troubles away;

You hold in Your hands the means to obtain perfect peace;

Kohrykian, Happy one, Luck-Bringing, Skilled Rhetorician,

You are an aide in our labors, a Friend of mortals in need;

Brandishing the terrible weapon of speech, awesome to mankind;   

Hear our prayers, bestow upon us a life which concludes well,

With adequate means of livelihood, favorable words, and long memory.

Lyrics in Ancient Greek

Κλῦθί μευ, Ἑρμεία, Διὸς ἄγγελε, Μαιάδος υἱέ,   

παγκρατὲς ἦτορ ἔχων, ἐναγώνιε, κοίρανε θνητῶν,

εὔφρων, ποικιλόβουλε, διάκτορος, Ἀργειφόντα,

πτηνοπέδιλε, φίλανδρε, λόγου θνητοῖσι προφῆτα·

γυμνάσιν ὃς χαίρεις, δολίαις τ’ ἀπάταις, (στρ)οφιοῦχε*·   

ἑρμηνεῦ πάντων, κερδέμπορε, λυσιμέριμνε·

ὃς χείρεσσιν ἔχεις εἰρήνης ὅπλον ἀμεμφές·

Κωρυκιῶτα, μάκαρ, ἐριούνιε, ποικιλόμυθε,

ἐργασίαις ἐπαρωγέ, φίλε θνητοῖς ἐν ἀνάγκαις·

γλώσσης δεινὸν ὅπλον, τὸ σεβάσμιον ἀνθρώποισιν·   

κλῦθί μευ εὐχομένου, βιότου τέλος ἐσθλὸν ὀπάζων,

ἐργασίῃσι, λόγου χάρισιν, καὶ μνημοσύνῃσιν.

Sources : Youtube, HellenicGods 

ZOILOS II ~ INDOGREEK KING

Zoilos II Soter (Greek: Ζωΐλος Β΄ ὁ Σωτήρ; epithet means "the Saviour") was an Indo-Greek king who ruled in eastern Punjab. Bopearachchi dates his reign to c. 55–35 BCE, a date approximately supported by R. C. Senior. 

The name is often Latinized as Zoilus. It is possible that some of his coins were issued by a separate king, Zoilos III.Zoilos seems to have been one of the rulers who succeeded the last important Indo-Greek king Apollodotus II the Great in the eastern parts of his former kingdom. All these kings use the same symbol as Apollodotus II, the fighting Pallas Athene introduced by Menander I, and usually also the same epithet Soter (Saviour). It is therefore possible that they belonged to the same dynasty, and Zoilus II could also have been related to the earlier king Zoilus I, but the lack of written sources make all such conjections uncertain.

 He may have been the Bactrian ally of Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) and Cleopatra VII referred to by Virgil in his vision of the Battle of Actium in The Aeneid, Bk.VIII, 688: Hinc ope barbarica variisque Antonius armis, victor ab Aurorae populis et litore rubro, Aegyptum viresque Orientis et ultima secum Bactra vehit. (Antony, with barbarous wealth and strange weapons, conqueror of eastern peoples and the Indian shores, bringing Egypt, and the might of the Orient, with him, and furthest Bactria).

Zoilos II issued silver drachms with diademed portrait and Pallas Athene in rather crude style, and two sorts of bronzes in various denominations: "Apollo, with tripod and small elephant", and "Elephant and tripod".

Zoilos II issued silver drachms with diademed portrait and Pallas Athene in rather crude style, and two sorts of bronzes in various denominations: "Apollo, with tripod and small elephant", and "Elephant and tripod".
The coins of Zoilos II have been found in the Sutlej and Sialkot II hoards, and in Punjab hoards east in the Jhelum.

Also, 25 coins of Zoilos II were found under the foundations of a 1st-century BCE rectangular chapel in the monastery of Dharmarajika, near Taxila.

Two coins of Zoilos II were also found in the Bara hoard near Peshawar, together with coins of the Indo-Scythian kings Azes I, Azilises, Azes II.

Edited from :Wikipedia 

THE POWER OF HERACLES IN GANDHARA ART AND BUDDHISM

Long before the 21st century adage that “the world is flat,” ancient empires and trade routes enabled cultural globalization of a kind quite familiar to us today. Modern buzzwords like ‘syncretism’ and
‘alterity/otherness’ apply to these ancient cultures as
much as they do to modern ones. The art of Gandhara in the 1st to 5th century CE Indian subcontinent offers many examples: coins, sculpture, and architecture depicting scenes from Indic mythologies, but sharing an iconographic vocabulary with Graeco-Roman and Iranian Zoroastrian arts and religions. This article examines Herakles’ iconographic journey to India and his transformation into Vajrapani, the bodyguard of the Buddha. In Gandharan sculptural reliefs depicting events from the life of the Buddha, the Heraklean Vajrapani serves as a sacred icon embodying the Buddhist community’s aspirations to royal patronage under the Kushan dynasty.

Royal Power and Luxury: The Image of Herakles in

Gandhara

The most striking fact about Gandharan art, both Buddhist and courtly, is its inclusion of Graeco-Roman and Iranian mythological figures and artistic styles. Gandharan Buddhist art also incorporates Hindu deities such as Shiva (Quagliotti 2011). The fusion of
such varied elements makes the study of Gandharan Art a vibrant field involving many cultures, but also can make it difficult to determine the provenance of particular iconographic motifs.
Graeco-Roman artistic culture first spread into Gandhara through the conquests of Alexander the Great (335–323 BCE) and the settlers he left behind in Bactria. The Hellenistic successor states declined, to be replaced in Bactria and Gandhara (territories encompassing northeastern Afghanistan and northern
Pakistan and India) by the Kushan empire. In the Kushan period, Classical artistic influence continued. The elite of Rome,in the beginning of the 1st century CE, developed a taste for Eastern luxuries—perfumes, spices and silks. Roman consumption of aromatics and spices became widespread; the volume of Rome’s eastern trade was substantial.
This trade has been documented by abundant archaeological evidence—e.g., Roman coin hoards and amphorae found in India—and from the Periplus Maris Eurythraei, a 1st-century CE trading manual for Greek-speaking merchants traveling the route from the Red Sea to northwestern India along the Indian Ocean.The Periplus mentions Gandhar and, fleetingly, the trade connections to China (Casson 1989, p. 47). 
Legends of Roman citizens who travelled to India, such as the apostle Thomas and Apollonius of Tyana, as well as donative inscriptions in Buddhist monasteries crediting Yavanas (Greeks) and Raumakas (Romans) indicate that the exchange between Rome and India may have been cultural as well as mercantile (McLaughlin, 2010, p. 40).

Herakles’ most important attribute for the Classical world was his strength, which enabled him to slay many of the monsters who threatened human civilization. Naturally, Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman rulers adopted his imagery as part of their propaganda
of power (Vollkommer 1988, pp. 87–93). A striking,
if perhaps extreme, example is Antiochus I of Commagene (r. 70 BCE – 38 BCE), who placed himself in a pantheon that included Herakles at his burial site on Mount Nemrut in Anatolia and at nearby Arsameia,he erected a large relief showing him shaking
hands with Herakles . The coins of Bactrian and Kushan kings show that this visual lexicon of power spread into the South Asian world.

Heraklean iconography first made its way into Gandhara by way of Alexander the Great’s coinage. Alexander styled himself as both the descendent and brother of Herakles. In his campaign through Greece, Egypt, and Persia, he even re-enacted many of the

deeds of Herakles (Amitay). Fittingly, the obverse of Alexander's coinage depicts Herakles with lion skin on his head, an image one must assume was to be understood as Alexander himself . Coins from Alexander’s successors in Bactria also depict Herakles.

One coin of Euthydemus I (230–200 BCE) portrays Herakles reclining on his lion skin, while another issued by Bactrian king Agathocles (190–180 BCE) depicts Herakles standing in contrapposto with his club in the air .
In addition to these coins, we also have several small bronze figurines from Bactria depicting Herakles, perhaps used as votives
or decorative statues (Allchin et al. 1992, pp. 99-103).

As Cribb and Bopearachchi write (Ibid., p. 50):
The Gods chosen by the Greek kings of the Crossroads of Asia tended to be those who could also be used as symbols of royal power. So Zeus, King of the Gods; Herakles, the mortal hero who achieved divinity; and a martial representation of Athena,
daughter of Zeus, were the ones most frequently portrayed on these coins.
These portrayals of powerful Greek Gods made their way into Kushan coinage and other royal symbols. While most Kushan coins depicted Iranian deities, some coins of the
early Kushan kings Kujula Kadphises (r. 30 – ? CE) and Huvishka
(r. ca. 150 – ca. 190 CE) depict Herakles on the reverse , identifiable by his characteristic club.These coins represent the earliest and most easily tracked movement of Heraklean iconography into the Gandharan region. They convey Herakles’ embodiment of power, and his iconography of the club
and lion skin. Another image of Herakles in royal iconography is on a Kushan seal depicting him wrestling with one of the human-eating horses of Diomedes (Rosenfield 1967, pp. 78, 102). Herakles killed these horses as part of his Labors, protecting human civilization from dangerous monsters. So, it is not hard to see why a king would choose this iconography to represent his power. This seal suggests that Kushan artisans had a greater knowledge of Greek myths about Herakles than could be derived from the coinage of Alexander and Bactrian kings alone.

There is also a comedic Herakles, a libidinous figure whose
gluttony, drunkenness and sexual prowess were humorously exaggerated (Stafford 2010, pp. 105–17). In Aristophanes’comedy  Frogs, Dionysus dressed as Herakles is accosted by a landlady who asks for payment for sixteen loaves of bread, twenty portions of meat, and generous portions of garlic, fish, cheese, and sausages —
all evidence of Herakles’ enormous gluttony (Stafford
2012, p. 108). Herakles’ gargantuan appetite extended not only to food, but to sex. Apollodorus records  one legend that Herakles slept with all 50 daughters of King Thespios in the course of 50 nights, in the king’s hopes that the hero would impregnate all of
them (Apollodorus 1997, 2.4.10).
In Gandharan art, Herakles is similarly shown as a libidinous figure, someone often overpowered by his urges for women and drink. He is one of several figures from Greek Religion—among them Apollo and Daphne, Aphrodite and Eros, and various other mythical beings such as marine monsters—who appear on
shallow dishes used in Gandharan courts. Behrendt (2007, pp. 9–11) argues that these dishes “may have been used for ritual offerings of wine, perhaps to ensure a blissful afterlife for the dead” in Dionysiac rituals adopted by Gandharans. Galli (2011, p. 300) speculates that another possible use was to hold toiletries for
wealthy women. One dish portrays Herakles accompanied by both alcohol and women . Here Herakles leans in close and embraces the two women next to him. A tame lion, as on the wrestling weight, sits to the side. This dish portrays a comedic, light-hearted Herakles, enjoying wine and women — the luxuries of the courtly life — as he does in Greek Tradition. Whether
these dishes belong in the womens’ sphere of bathing or the transgressive femininity of Dionysiac cult, they connote the intimacy, privacy, and eroticism of the women’s sphere. In a woman’s private space of her own bath, she could admire (and perhaps be titillated by) the images of seduction and eroticism on these toilet-trays.

How can we best understand Gandharan depictions
of the drunken Herakles? Brancaccio and Liu (2009) argue for a Dionysian strand in Gandharan courtly culture. Not only was viticulture introduced into India at this time, but Dionysian art forms, such as Sanskrit drama and theatrical masks, developed under the Kushans as well. That Greek drama was popular earlier in Bactria can be seen at Ai Khanoum, which had a full Greek theater. Dionysian themes of drink and drama were one aspect of Bactrian cosmopolitan style, but also appear in Buddhist art, such as on a stair risers leading up to the entrance of a stupa. Brancaccio
and Liu (2011, p. 230) surmise that the bacchanalian

scenes of drunken revelry on these stair risers represent the life before embracing the dharma. Herakles, associated with drink in the Graeco-Roman world, was likely a part of the culture of wine in the Gandharan world. Herakles connects the powerful image of kingship with the drinking and revelry that can take place because of the peace won with Heraklean strength and protection. 

Vajrapani’s enigmatic iconography

The depictions of Vajrapani analyzed here come from narrative reliefs on the sides of stupas depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha (Brown 1997 Behrendt 2009; Stoye 2011). According to Kurt Behrendt (2007, p. 32), this type of relief dates mainly to
the 2nd century CE. The production of these reliefs was part of a broader cultural renaissance of Buddhism in the Gandharan region, which took place under the Kushan dynasty from roughly the 1st to 5th centuries CE (Neelis 2014). Kushan Gandhara prospered and
urbanized thanks to the cross-Asian trade, which also provided the means to fund major Buddhist architectural and sculptural monuments. In return for large donations, wealthy lay donors earned positive karma in a sacred economy of money for merit (Schopen 2004; Liu 1994, pp. 103–23). The Buddhist community
also benefited from donations by pilgrims, who came to worship at stupas believed to contain relics of the Buddha. The sangha’s new wealth brought it social respectability and pushed it to expand roles for lay practitioners (Thapar 2002, p. 271).

The royal coinage and Buddhist art of Gandhara displays a syncretism of iconography from Hindu gods, Iranian deities, and

indigenous folk cults centered around chthonic deities (spirits of the underworld) such as yakshas and nagas. Vajrapani, the bodyguard of the Buddha, appears in the earliest Pali literature as a manifestation of Sakra/Indra, but in the early Common Era becomes an important and independent figure in post-Pali Buddhist
literature, such as the Mahavastu, Lalitavistara, the Mulasarvastivada Vinaya, and the avadanas (Lamotte 2003,pp. 7–9). He accompanies the Buddha and acts as an intimidating figure when the Buddha encounters anyone who is opposed to his mission. In Buddhist literature he is described as a yaksha, a chthonic deity tamed by the Buddha and his dharma (DeCaroli 2004, pp. 9-54; Lamotte 2003). Vajrapani wields his weapon, the vajra, to threaten those who attack the Buddha, or just those who refuse to hear his message. His vajra (Sanskrit: “diamond” or “thunderbolt”), originally an implement of the Vedic storm god Indra/Sakra, is made of the densest matter possible, and is imbued
with the power to shoot thunderbolts at enemies (Doniger 1975, pp. 75, 85; Zin 2009, pp. 81–84; Giuliano 2008). In the Ambattha Sutta, Vajrapani uses a “huge iron club” to threaten a student of a rival teacher who is trying to refute the Buddha’s teachings. Vajrapani’s intimidation makes Ambattha take refuge in the Buddha (Walshe 1995, p. 116; Lamotte 2003, p. 5). Vajrapani plays a similar role in opposing the heretics who try to stop Mendhaka from receiving the Buddha’s teachings in the first-century CE “Chapter on the Great Fortune of the Householder Mendhaka” (Rotman, 2008, p. 233).

Vajrapani also aids the Buddha in converting harmful chthonic deities. Many of these spirits are yakshas,tree-spirits, like Vajrapani, and others are nagas, spirits associated with rivers. Vajrapani used his strength and his vajra to intimidate and subdue these creatures. For example, the naga Apalala flooded a nearby town, prompting the Buddha to come rescue the townspeople from their distress. Using his vajra, Vajrapani frightened Apalala into converting to the dharma and discontinuing his malevolent flooding (Lamotte 2003,p. 21–22) . In the center of this image is a relatively large Buddha; close by him on his right is Vajrapani, always wielding his weapon with a tight fist, ready for attack. Apalala kneels in front of Shakyamuni Buddha in submission. This image
typifies the pattern of how the Buddha subdued malevolent spirits not by killing them, but rather by converting them so that they would act virtuously and no longer harm humans. These myths reinforced a social practice whereby the sangha acted as a broker
between humans and the spirit world, subduing spir its to protect humans from their harm (DeCaroli 2004, p. 38-53). In performing this social function, Vajrapani’s force complements the persuasive power of the Buddha’s dharma.

Vajrapani appears rarely in extant literature from the 1st to 5th centuries CE, but frequently in Gandharan art depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha (Zin2009, p. 81). Chronologically, he first appears in the Buddha’s life in reliefs of the Great Departure from Kapilavastu, and frequently is present in the scene
of Shakyamuni’s mahaparinibbana. In addition to reliefs such as that depicting the conversion of Apalala, he appears in depictions of the Dipankara Jataka, and Devadatta and Srigupta’s assassination attempts on Shakyamuni Buddha. Devadatta was a cousin of
the Buddha who became his disciple. Jealous of the popularity and fame of his teacher, he tried to kill the Buddha several times in different ways (Zwalf 1996,v. 2, p. 192). Only in the Gandharan-era Mulasarvastivada Vinaya does Vajrapani appear in the Devadatta
stories (Lamotte 2003, pp. 16–18). Fig. 11 depicts the first assassination attempt, in which Devadatta sent assassins to push a wall onto the Buddha. On the left the assassins push against the wall, and on the right the Buddha pushes back. A bearded and curly-haired Vajrapani stands next to the Buddha, helping keep
the wall standing. In the third assassination attempt, Devadatta sends a wild elephant to trample the Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha does not use force to defend himself against the giant attacker, but calms the elephant with his tranquility and power over nature. Vajrapani again appears over the Buddha’s shoulder. What his action is supposed to be in this relief is unclear, but his mere presence is a powerful indicator of his protective power.
Scholars of Gandharan art have long known of the connection between Herakles and Vajrapani. The connection is based on a strong similarity between the bearded, muscular images of Vajrapani and similar images of Herakles conveyed into India numismatically, such as the Lysippan Weary Herakles. In the
transformation of Herakles into Vajrapani, Herakles’club becomes Vajrapani’s vajra. One image clearly  connecting the two is a relief found in the British Museum. The figure in the lower left is Vajrapani, holding his diamond-shaped vajra and wearing a lion skin. We do not know the original context of this piece, though Zwalf speculates (1996, v. 2, pp. 230-31)that it is part of a larger relief depicting a scene from the life of the Buddha. The lion skin, ubiquitous in Graeco-Roman iconography of Herakles and coins of
Alexander, substantiates the connection between Herakles and Vajrapani. The lion skin was also favored in the iconography of rulers who adopted Herakles as ancestor or patron deity, including Antiochus I of Commagene, Commodus, and Caracalla (Hekster
2001; Hekster 2005; Vermeule 1975; Marvin 1983).

This unique relief reminds us that where we cannot correlate text with image, it sometimes is difficult to know what Vajrapani is doing in these contexts, or more generally what his importance is in Gandharan Buddhist art. Several scholars have analyzed the use of Heraklean iconography for Vajrapani in terms of parallels between these two figures. This research on the Herakles-Vajrapani connection has focused mainly on their shared roles as protectors and bodyguards (Zin 2009;Schwab 1998; Flood 1989; Tanabe 2005). Filigenzi (2006, p. 275) has noted that Herakles, like Vajrapani, is a “suffering hero who through his labors transfigures himself, taming his own nature and thus elevating and civilizing the entire sphere of human nature.”

Just as Herakles redeems his homicide of his wife and children through his great labors protecting Greek civilization, so Vajrapani reforms his capricious, amoral yaksha nature through following the Dharma and redeems himself by serving Shakyamuni Buddha
so closely. Tanabe (2005, pp. 372–79) notes a further parallel in the roles of Herakles and Vajrapani:Herakles as a guide for the souls of the dead and guide to and from the underworld for figures like Alcestis, and Vajrapani as mythological guide of the Buddha throughout his travels. However, these scholars overlook one crucial connection: the implications of Vajrapani, and his Heraklean iconography, for the construction of royalty and royal patronage in Gandhara.
Even though the Buddha renounces his kingship, depictions of him often emphasize it (Liu 1994, p.92–102). Kings and other nobles have bodyguards and attendants; for the Buddha, Vajrapani is one of these.The iconography of Vajrapani adds another dimension: the display of wealth. Vajrapani’s implement, the vajra, with the dual meaning in Sanskrit of “diamond” and “thunderbolt,” might be used as a thunderbolt but would also connote wealth and luxury
(Zin 2009, p. 83–84). This association with royalty is underscored by the fact that Indra, the Vedic god who first carried a vajra, was king of the Vedic gods (Doniger 1975, p. 71).

The Legend of the Buddhist Kanishka: Propaganda

for Patronage of the Sangha

At first glance, one might think that the artistic interchange between the courtly and religious spheres of Gandharan visual cultures indicates that the Kushan kings were fervent patrons of the sangha. Certainly by the time of Xuanzang, long after the Kushan empire had fallen, Buddhists in Gandhara made this claim.
Yet this claim appears to be more an invention of Buddhist legend than documentable fact. Xuanzang, a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, went on a pilgrimage to India to gather Buddhist texts.
His travelogue, composed after his return, contains several anecdotes about Kanishka (r. ca. 127–?149 CE), the Kushan king who conquered the Gandharan region. These stories, told to Xuanzang by the Buddhist communities he encountered, depict Kanishka as another Ashoka (r. ca. 269–232 BCE), the Mauryan ruler renowned for his role in spreading Buddhism. The
Buddha himself prophesies Kanishka as a great Buddhist king, who will erect a stupa that contains that remains of Shakyamuni Buddha himself (Xuanzang 1996, p. 71). A similar story is told in the Mulasarvastivadin Vinaya, in which the Buddha also adds that “after my Parinirvana, he will do Buddha deeds” (Lamotte 2003, pp. 26-27). Xuanzang reports that Kanishka sponsored the compilation of Buddhist scriptures and convened the Fourth Buddhist Council (Xuanzang 1996, pp. 102–04; Thapar 2002, pp. 222–73). Like the Buddha, Kanishka used the power of the dharma to win malevolent spirits over to Buddhism, protecting his people from the effects of capricious yakshas and nagas (Χuanzang 1996, pp. 44, 82; DeCaroli 2004, p. 61). Even though such claims that Kanishka was a Buddhist king were recorded long after the end of the Kushan era, it is plausible that that they originated in Kushan times, when Vajrapani was part of the visual lexicon of royalty and wealth. By adopting the royal iconography of Herakles into Buddhist iconography, the sculptors of the sangha asserted that their religion was a religion of royalty. Just as Vajrapani protects the Buddha, so the Kushan kings protect the Buddha’s sangha, and endow it with great wealth for stupas, monasteries, and the art carved into their walls. Indeed, Kushan patronage is attested in inscriptions on reliquaries.
For a religion dependent on patronage, projecting an image of being sponsored by the king would have been advantageous. However, questions remain as to whether Buddhism occupied as important a place for the Kushan rulers as the later narratives suggest. The Buddha seldom appears on Kushan coins, apart from
some issued by Kanishka. In contrast, there are numerous images of Iranian deities (Jongeward 2003, pp. 24–26). If they were projecting an image of themselves as a dynasty of Buddhist kings à la Ashoka, would they not have put the Buddha on their coins more
frequently? Even if the Kushana kings were donating money to the Buddhist sangha, their coins suggest that they may not have favored the Buddhist community over any other, wanting to ensure support from the several religious communities which they ruled

Conclusion

We have traced how the image of Herakles traveled east thanks to cultural contact between the Classical world and ancient India. His image conveyed not just strength and protection, but also the wealth and luxury of the royal court. The Kushans, invading nomads, included Herakles in the cosmopolitan imagery they
developed as they incorporated urban centers into their empire. The Buddhist sangha responded to this royal usage of Herakles by inserting him into their artistic lexicon, both as a figure of protection for the Buddha and as a subtle claim of royal patronage of the sangha. The Herakles-Vajrapani connection, then, tells a tale not only of interchange between East and West, but of a dialogue in art between sacred and secular cultural realms. As with many other aspects of Silk Road exchange, the example of Gandharan art
demonstrates the human capacity creatively to reinterpret others’ symbols and myths in the process of shaping one’s own identity.

Acknowledgements

This paper derives from an undergraduate thesis written at
Santa Clara University under John Heath and David Gray,
and owes much to the feedback from them, April Flowers,
Pia Brancaccio, and several members of the Santa Clara University Department of Classics. I also benefitted from comments on my presentation of the material at the American
Academy of Religion, Pacific Northwest Region (especially
from Kristin Schieble), and the San Jose State Art History
Symposium. Finally, the biggest thanks of all goes to Michelle Runyon for her endless patience.

About the author: 
Jonathan Homrighausen graduated from Santa Clara University with a double major in Religious Studies and Classics. He is now pursuing Biblical Studies as an MA student at
the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley. His article, “Spiritually Bilingual: Buddhist-Christians and the Process of Dual
Religious Belonging,” is forthcoming in Buddhist-Christian
Studies. E-mail: <jdhomrighausen@gmail.com>.
http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol13/Homrighausen_SR13_2015_pp26_35.pdf

NIYA : THE ANCIENT GREEK CITY OF WESTERN CHINA

The Greco-Bactrians the Greco-Bactrians have led expeditions as far as Kashgar and Ürümqi in Xinjiang, leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BCE. The Greek historian Strabo too writes that: "they extended their empire even as far as the Seres (Chinese) and the Phryni". 

Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of the Tien Shan, on the doorstep to China, and are today on display in the Xinjiang museum at Urumqi (Boardman). Greek influences on Chinese art have also been suggested. Designs with rosette flowers, geometric lines, and glass inlays, suggestive of Hellenistic influences, can be found on some early Han dynasty bronze mirrors. Excavations at the burial site of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, dating back to the 3rd century BCE, also indicate Greek influence in the artworks found there, including in the creation of the famous Terracotta army. It has also been suggested that Greek artists may have come to China at that time to train local artisans in making sculptures. 

Numismatics also show that some technology exchanges may have occurred on these occasions: the Greco-Bactrians were the first in the world to issue cupro-nickel coins, an alloy technology only known by the Chinese at the time under the name "White copper". A number of Chinese envoys were then sent to Central Asia, triggering the development of the Silk Road from the end of the 2nd century BCE.

 The Greco-Bactrians were known for their high level of Hellenistic sophistication, and kept regular contact with both the Mediterranean and neighbouring India . They were on friendly terms with India and exchanged ambassadors. The ruins of Niya is an archaeological site located about 115 km (71 mi) north of modern Minfeng Town (Niya) on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in modern-day Xinjiang, China. The ancient site was known in its native language as Caḍ́ota, and in Chinese during the Han Dynasty as Jingjue. Numerous ancient archaeological artifacts have been uncovered at the site. Niya was once a major commercial center on an oasis on the southern branch of the Silk Road in the southern Taklamakan Desert. During ancient times camel caravans would cut through, carrying goods from China to Central Asia. In Hanshu , an independent oasis state called Jingjue, generally thought to be Niya, is mentioned: The seat of the king's government is the town of Jingjue, and it is distant by 8,820 li [probably 3,667 km/2,279 miles] from Ch'ang-an. There are 480 households, 3,350 individuals with 500 persons able to bear arm. [There are the following officials] the commandant of Jingjue, the leaders of the left and the right and an interpreter-in-chief. Hanshu, chapter 96a, translation from Hulsewé 1979.

 Niya became part of Loulan Kingdom by the third century. Towards the end of the 4th century it was under Chinese suzerainty, later it was conquered by Tibet. In 1900, Aurel Stein set out on an expedition to western China and the Taklamakan Desert. In Niya he excavated several groups of dwellings, and found 100 wooden tablets written in 105 CE. These tablets bore clay seals, official orders and letters written in Kharoshthi, an early Indic script, dating them to the Kushan empire. Other finds include coins and documents dating from the Han dynasty, Roman coins, an ancient mouse trap, a walking stick, part of a guitar, a bow in working order, a carved stool, an elaborately-designed rug and other textile fragments, as well as many other household objects such as wooden furniture with elaborate carving, pottery, Chinese basketry and lacquer ware. Aurel Stein visited Niya four times between 1901 and 1931. Official approval for joint Sino-Japanese archaeological excavations at the site was given in 1994. Researchers have now found remains of human habitation including approximately 100 dwellings, burial areas, sheds for animals, orchards, gardens, and agricultural fields. They have also found in the dwellings well-preserved tools such as iron axes and sickles, wooden clubs, pottery urns and jars of preserved crops. The human remains found there have led to speculation on the origins of these peoples. 
 Niya was a small , landlocked yet cosmopolitan city - state where ancient Chinese peoples and cultures blended with those of India, Persia and Macedonia. The urban center was a major stop on the Silk Road , the long, overland trading route that linked the two great civilizations of Han China and the Roman Empire. Camel caravans carried Chinese silk, tea and porcelain west and brought European gold, glassware and silver east. Ideas and cultural traditions also flowed both ways. According to scholars , Niya' s population included soldiers of Macedonia' s Alexander the Great, known to have spread Hellenistic culture throughout much of the ancient world and to have reached the Pamir Mountains just west of Niya during the 4 th century BCE. Legend says that one of Alexander' s expeditionary forces disappeared in the region. If Alexander' s troops reached Niya, that might account for the Hellenistic style of furniture found there by British explorer Aurel Stein in 1901. Led by a local Uyghur camel driver, the Stein expedition was the first from modern Europe to find the place and reveal the multicultural nature of Niya. In a town centered on the Buddhist shrine, or stupa a legacy of the spread of Buddhism from India to the southeast in the 1st century C.E. Stein pillaged Greek - style furniture from the houses. He found documents written on wooden tablets in the long - dead Kharoshthi language. On clay seals on the wooden covering of the tablets,

 Stein saw depictions of Greek Gods, including Eros, Athena and Hercules. Since Stein 's expedition, Niya's past has intrigued archaeologists worldwide. European and Japanese adventurers followed in his footsteps, gambling with their lives by braving torrid heat and sandstorms in the hope of unearthing more relics from the ancient kingdom. But not until a 1993 expedition, equipped with various high tech gadgets, including Global Positioning System instruments for determining Niya' s location precisely, were further major discoveries made. After 57 miles, the expedition found the Niya River ending near Kabake- Arsihan, a dusty village of 110 Uyghur-speaking households that rely on water from wells dug in the dried riverbed. The residents looked more European than Asian, with deep- set eyes, long noses and long heads. Old men grew full beards. The villagers all knew about Niya, and claimed that their families originated from the people of that city.If that is true, those villagers may be carrying Macedonian blood inherited from Alexander' s soldiers. Caucasians in ancient Niya are thought to have entered the desert by crossing the Pamir Mountains, a huge range that had halted the armies of ancient Rome and of Alexander the Great. Thanks to the flourishing trade route that traversed the region , these city states, which included Loulan, Hotan, Milan and Jing - jue (now called Niya), had been the meeting places of Western and Chinese cultures, religions and arts. Niya was said to be the most prosperous from the 2nd century BCE to the 6th century CE. The presence of a European artistic style in a Chinese temple astonished researchers.

Source:Author : Isidoros Skliros- Economist, Historian,Researcher . Email: greek.history.and.prehistory99@gmail.com

LIST OF THE ANCIENT CITIES CALLED 'ALEXANDRIA '

In a span of just 13 years, from 336 BCE to 323 BCE, Alexander the Great pushed the boundaries of his Macedonian Kingdom as far south as Egypt and as far east as India. Along with conquering region after region, people after people, he founded a series of cities which he named for himself.  These cities would generally serve as places to settle the many thousands of veteran soldiers who had followed him across the Middle East and into South Asia.  Many of these Alexandrias persist today: some with different names; some retaining versions of their original name.  Other Alexandrias have long since passed, and still others have been lost to history.  According to the great biographer/philosopher Plutarch, Alexander founded at least 70 cities, although this number probably include pre-existing settlements renamed and/or repopulated by Alexander.   The actual number of cities directly founded by Alexander regardless is known to be at least twenty, and most of those took his name. Below, a summary of the various Alexandrias (and other such derivative toponyms) in chronological order.

Alexandroupolis

Founded in 340 BCE, while Alexander was still a crown prince under his father Philip II. Little else is known about this presumably short-lived settlement other than its location was likely near the modern Bulgarian city of Sandanski in the extreme southwest of the country.

Alexandria Troas

 Originally founded in 334 BCE, this city on the east Aegean coast did not receive the name 'Alexandria' until 301 BCE, after being renamed by Lysimachus, Alexander’s successor in the region.  The suffix ‘Troas’ refers to the Troad, the historical name of the Biga Peninsula in Turkey at the southwest end of the Sea of Marmara, not far from Troy. A prominent city in its time- its population reached possibly 100,000 people- Alexandria Troas was refounded as a major Roman administration centre in 12 BCE and was even a possible candidate for becoming the new capital of the Roman Empire under Constantine (he, of course, would choose Byzantium).  The city remains a titular see of the Catholic Church but fell into decline in the medieval era.  Much of the city’s ruins were plundered for building material.  Among the ruins still visible there today are an old bath/gymnasium complex and an ancient stadium discovered in the 1970s but not unearthed until 2009.

Alexandria by the Latmus: This is likely the ancient fortress city of Alinda, in the modern-day Aydın Province of Turkey, which dated back hundreds of years before Alexander. Apparently refounded as a military settlement in 333 BCE, the city was returned to its previous name sometime before 81 BCE.  Coins were still being minted here into the 3rd century CE. 

Alexandria ad Issum/Alexandretta

Now known by its Turkish endonym İskenderun -although the modern city may just preserve the name of the ancient city rather than being a direct continuation-the city was founded on the Mediterranean coast in 333 BCE at the north entrance to Syria.  Alexandretta prospered until the 3rd century CE, when it was surpassed by neighbouring Antioch (Antakya).

Alexandria, Egypt:

 Easily the most famous of all Alexandrias and one that remains a major metropolis today of well over 4 million people, Alexandria, Egypt was founded in 331 BCE by Alexander to be the new centre of Hellenism in Egypt.

 The new city was built on the site of the pre-existing city of Rhacotis; within a century, it was the largest city in the world.  Despite the various rulers that have come and gone throughout the millennia (the Ptolemies, the Romans, the Sassanids, the Ottomans, the British, and the current republic of Egypt), Alexandria has maintained its prominence as the second city of Egypt after Cairo.

Alexandria Ariana

The first of many Alexandrias in the far east of the Macedonian Empire, this Alexandria is better known today as Herat, the main city of western Afghanistan. Prior to Alexander’s conquering of the region in 330 BCΕ, this city was very likely Artacoana, the capital of Aria.

Conquered by the Parthians in 167 CE, the name Heratwas derived over time from Aria.

Alexandria Prophthasia: Modern-day Farah, Afghanistan.  

Prophthasia was the capital of the Drangiana satrap of the Achaemenid Empire.  The ‘Alexandria’ prefix was added to the city’s name when Alexander came through in October of 330 BCE.  The name Phra for the city was first recorded in the 1st century CE.

Alexandria Arachosia

This is Kandahar, the second-largest city in Afghanistan.   Prior to Alexander’s arrival at the end of 330 BCE, this was likely the Achaemenid city of Kapisakaniš. Arachosia was another satrap roughly equivalent to today’s Kandahar and Helmand provinces.  The name ‘Kandahar’ itself derives from ‘Alexandria’ (Iskandariya).  Despite its location near the edge of the empire, the city remained culturally Greek for some time after Alexander’s death.  Today, Kandahar is known primarily as one of the major battlegrounds of the War in Afghanistan.

Alexandria Caucasiana

Not to be confused with the Caucasus region on the Europe/Asia border, Caucasus Indicus was an ancient exonym for the Hindu Kush.  This Alexandria was a 329 BCE refounding of the Achaemenid city of Kapisa to serve as Alexander’s base in the Hindu Kush (the location is 65 km north of modern Kabul).  The city would eventually be traded to the Indian king Chandragupta Maurya in 303 BCE by Alexander’s successors in exchange for 500 elephants.

Alexandria Eschate

‘Eschate’ translates to ‘farthest’, signifying this city’s position on the Jaxartes (Syr Darya) river that marked the northern edge of Alexander’s empire (reached in 329 BCE) where his troops would do battle against the Scythian tribes to the north and the Sogdian peoples that surrounded them.  Formerly the site of Cyropolis, the northeasternmost city of the Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great, Alexandria Eschate lay at the western end of the Fergana Valley, making it a major location on the Silk Road trading route connecting Europe and Asia.  Today, the city is called Khujand, the second-largest city and northernmost major city of Tajikistan.

Alexandria Oxiana

Moving to the south across the region of Sogdiana, Alexander refounded a Persian city on the Oxus (Amu Darya) river in 329 BCE.  For two centuries the city served as an outpost of Greek culture until its sacking by nomadic tribes in 145 BCE lead to its abandonment.  Today, it is known under the Uzbek name Ai-Khanoum (‘lady moon’ or ‘face in the moon’) on the Afghan side of the Oxus across from Tajikistan.  Between 1964 and 1978, Ai-Khanoum was excavated by French archaeologists, uncovering large amounts of Greek and Indian artefacts, as well as the ruins of a 5,000-seat theatre, numerous temples, and colonnaded courts.  Sadly, three-plus decades of warfare have devastated the archaeological site.

The ruins of Alexandria on the Oxus.

Alexandria Margiana

This city on the Murghab River in the middle of the Karakum Desert is most famous as the major Silk Road port of Merv/Marv and is the site of where the current city of Mary was developed in 1884, as a Russian military post after Russia’s conquering of the Emirate of Bukhara.  Later it would become a major centre of Turkmenistan’s cotton and natural gas industries.  Human settlement on this site dates back to prehistoric times and is mentioned in ancient Persian texts as Mouru and Margu.

  Whether or not it was Alexander himself who refounded the city in 328/327 BCE or his general Craterus, the city was temporarily renamed for him regardless.  A major cultural and religious crossroads, Merv is reputed to have been the largest city in the world in the mid-12th century with a population of 200,000, about twice that of modern-day Mary.  The only time the site was not settled occurred in the 19th century after the Bukharans razed Merv in 1794, deported the population, and environmentally wasted the city via dam breakages.

Alexandria Bucephalus

Founded in 326 BCE on the Hydaspes (Jhelum River) and named for Alexander’s beloved horse Bucephalus.  This site was located somewhere in the Punjab, perhaps near the modern Pakistani city of Jhelum.  The large dockyards described indicate that it was intended as a centre of commerce.  The city was renowned enough to appear eight centuries later as one of the easternmost places listed on the Tabula Peutingeriana.

Alexandria Nicaea

Located across the river from Alexandria Bucephalus and founded at the same time, evidently serving the same function (this is believed to be the modern town of Mong, which would place the city 34 km/21 mi downstream from Jhelum).  Nicaea translates to ‘victory’, as the Hydaspes River was the scene of Alexander’s last great victory in India over the king Porus, in May 326 BCE.  Alexander was impressed enough by Porus’ skill and bravery to let Porus rule in his name upon his departure. 

Alexandria on the Hyphasis

The furthest eastern outpost of the Macedonian Empire, this is ultimately where Alexander would begin his long turn back west after his troops mutinied upon his attempt to invade the kingdom of Magadha, having been pushed too far from home for too long to tolerate any further.  The Hyphasis is today’s Beas River in India’s Punjab state.

Alexandria en Indo Potamo (Alexandria on the Indus): Now heading south along the Indus River, Alexander founded this settlement in 325 BCE at the confluence of the Indus and Chenab River with 10 000 veterans and natives. Under its modern name of Uch Sharif, it would become a major centre of Islamic study and architecture.  The ruins of Alexander’s city are believed to lie underneath Uch’s citadel, much of which was washed away by a change in the course of the Chenab.

Alexandria Rhambacia

 Modern-day Bela, Pakistan near the mouth of the Indus, founded in the autumn of 325 BCE.

Alexandria Carmania

Assuming this was founded by Alexander and not by the later Seleucids, it would have to have been founded at the beginning of 324 BCE in Carmania (analogous to Iran’s Kerman Province).  Equated possibly with the modern locale of Golashkerd near the border with Kerman in Hormozgān.

Alexandria Susiana: 

One of the last cities founded before Alexander’s 323 BCE death upstream in Babylon, Alexander founded this city on an artificial hill above the Tigris River estuary in the spring of 324 BCE atop the older Persian settlement of Durine.  This city would go on to be better known under the name Charax Spasinu or simply Charax, an Ancient Greek reference to its palisaded fort.  Originally a bustling port with its centre located less than 2 km from the mouth of the river, the location is now 150 km (93 mi) from the Persian Gulf thank to the continual deposition of material in the Tigris-Eurphates delta, not far from modern Basra, Iraq.  The site of the old city has been identified but no excavations have taken place.

By K. KuschSource: Brewminate