THE BACTRIAN LANGUAGE AND ITS GREEK SCRIPT

Bactrian was a language which was spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria (in present-day Afghanistan,Pakistan and Tajikistan) and used as the official language of the Kushan and the Hephthalite empires.


Bactrian was written predominantly in an alphabet which is essentially the Greek Alphabet, apart from some minor changes. The script was known natively  as Greco-Bactrian, Kushan or Kushano-Bactrian.The Bactrian language and its script are known from inscriptions, coins, seals, manuscripts, and other documents.

The Bactrian alphabet was a lightly modified version of the Greek alphabet used for the  Bactrian language. It seems that this writing system was in use from about 120-900 AD.

The Bactrian alphabet was very similar to Greek, containing 22 Greek-based letters and one additional letter. It was written left to right. I was considering not giving this script a post and lumping it in with the Greek scripts, but I had such a hard time recognizing it on the following coins that I think it's different enough to be called its own writing system.

Following the conquest of Bactria by Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, Greek was the administrative language of his Hellenistic successors for about two centuries- meaning the Seleucid and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms. Eastern Scythian tribes (the Saka, or Sacaraucae of Greek sources) invaded the territory around 140 BCE, and at some time after 124 BCE, Bactria was overrun by a confederation of tribes belonging to the Great Yuezhi and Tokhari. In the 1st century CE, the Kushana – one of the Yuezhi tribes – founded the ruling dynasty of the Kushan Empire.Under Kushan rule, Bactria became known as Tukhara or Tokhara, and later as Tokharistan. 

The Kushan Empire initially retained the Greek language for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian. The Bactrian Rabatak inscription (discovered in 1993 and deciphered in 2000) records that the Kushan king Kanishka (c. 127 CE)
discarded Greek (Ionian) as the language of administration and adopted Bactrian .

 The Greek language accordingly vanished from official use and only Bactrian was later attested. The Greek script, however, remained and was used to write Bactrian.The Bactrian language and its Greek Alphabet was also used by the Xionites, a Chinese tribe, who transmitted it to China.

The Rabatak Inscription

The territorial expansion of the Kushans helped propagate Bactrian in other parts of Central Asia and North India.

In the 3rd century, the Kushan territories west of the Indus river fell to the Sasanians, and Bactrian began to be influenced by Middle Persian. Next to Pahlavi script and (occasionally) Brahmi script, some coinage of this period is still in Greco-Bactrian script. Beginning in the mid-4th century, Bactria and northwestern India yielded to the Hephthalite tribes. The Hephthalite period is marked by linguistic diversity. The Hephthalites ruled their territories until the 7th century when they were overrun by the Arabs, after which the official use of Bactrian ceased. Although Bactrian briefly survived in other usage, that too eventually ceased, and the latest known examples of the Bactrian script, found in the Tochi Valley in Pakistan, date to the end of the 9th century.

Letter (ink on leather) in the Bactrian language from "Meyam, King of the people of Kadag, the governor of the famous and prosperous King of Kings Peroz". (© Nicolas Sims-Williams)The letter is dated to the year 461/62 CE and comes from the archive of the kingdom of Rob in Bactria (North Afghanistan). Meyam calls himself the King of Kadagstan (located in Bactria, northeast of Rob, in the region Baghlan) and is subordinate to the Sasanian king Peroz (457–484 CE).

 The use of the Greek script is unique to Bactrian. Although ambiguities remain, some of the disadvantages were overcome by using heta (Ͱ, ͱ) for /h/ and by introducing sho (Ϸ, ϸ) to represent /ʃ/. Xi (Ξ, ξ) and psi (Ψ, ψ) were not used for writing Bactrian as the ks and ps sequences do not occur in Bactrian. They were however probably used to represent numbers (just as other Greek letters were).

 Bactrian document,which relates to Mir son of Bek (Mir ibn Bek) and his brother Bab, both of whom are mentioned in a number of the Arabic documents from Khurasan in the Khalili Collection.

Sites at which Bactrian language inscriptions have been found are (in North-South order) Afrasiyab in Uzbekistan; Kara-Tepe, Airtam, Delbarjin, Balkh, Kunduz, Baglan, Ratabak/Surkh Kotal, Oruzgan, Kabul, Dasht-e Navur, Ghazni, Jagatu in Afghanistan; and Islamabad, Shatial Bridge and Tochi Valley in Pakistan.  Of eight known manuscript fragments in Greco-Bactrian script, one is from Lou-lan and seven from Toyoq, where they were discovered by the second and third Turpan expeditions under Albert von Le Coq. One of these may be a Buddhist text. One other manuscript, in Manichaean script, was found at Qočo by Mary Boyce in 1958.

Sources: Wikipedia, The Schoyen Collection ,The Countenance of the Other , The Khalili Collections 

GREEK NEREIDS IN GANDHARA ART

In Greek Religion, the Nereids (Greek: Νηρηΐδες) are sea Nymphs;  the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon, the God of the sea, and can be friendly and helpful to sailors. Nereids are particularly associated with the Aegean Sea, where they dwell with their father Nereus.They symbolize everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. 

These beautiful sea Deities are often seen in  Gandharan Art and especially in stone palettes. Nereids were a popular artistic theme and we encounter them in palettes and trays that come from the Gandhara area- a lot of stone palettes with Nereids were produced in Taxila. The artifacts found are dated from the 2nd century BCE up until the 1st century CE. Nereids are often seen riding sea monsters, along with Eros or with male companions.

Source: Wikipedia

FIRST GREEK HELMET DISCOVERED NORTH OF THE BLACK SEA IN RUSSIA

 Bronze Corinthian helmet found in 5th  century BCE burial mound in Taman Peninsula, Russia. Source: Institute of Archaeology of Russian Academy of Sciences.

The Russian RIA news agency has reported a remarkable find of an ancient Greek Corinthian helmet. The discovery was made in the Taman Peninsula in the southwest of Russia. The helmet was unearthed during the excavation of a Greek necropolis in the area by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IA RAS). The helmet is one of the most remarkable discoveries yet made at this site. The helmet now raises questions as to the nature of Greek society in the ancient Black Sea area and its contacts with the wider Greek world.

Greeks in the Black Sea

Russian archaeologists have been excavating a necropolis of 600 burial mounds in the Taman area for over two years. The burial mounds are related to Greek colonies in the locality and especially that of Phanagoria. The helmet, which has been dated to the 5th century BCE, comes from an era when the Greeks were establishing a kingdom in the area. This was known as the Bosphoran Kingdom which had Panticapaeum as its capital and it lasted for over a thousand years. The kingdom was rich and powerful because of trade with nomadic tribes such as the Sarmatians and the Scythians and developed a culture which was influenced by both Greek civilization and the cultures of the Steppes.

 Corinthian Helmet

The Russian-team led by Roman Mimohod discovered the Corinthian helmet when excavating one of the burial mounds. These first appeared in Greece around the 6th century BCE. They were widely used by Greek hoplites (heavily armed foot-soldiers) and were in use for many centuries.When Hoplites fought in Phalanxes, they would wear this helmet, which was considered to offer excellent protection. It was the custom of the time that a warrior was buried with his helmet and they were prized objects which conferred social prestige on those who possessed one.

Corinthian helmet from the tomb of Denda. The name of the warrior (Denda) is engraved on the left greave. From a Greek workshop in South Italy, 500–490 BC.

They are frequently depicted in art of that era. According to the Greek Reporter , ‘the helmet was of  “Corinthian Hermione-type and would date back to the first quarter of the 5th century BCE.”  This finding is based on the design of the object and on comparisons with some of the numerous other Corinthian helmets that have been unearthed all over the Greek world.

The helmet found in Taman is made of bronze; it covered the warriors’ head and also offered protection for the nape of the neck.  These helmets had cheek guards that were known in Greek as paragnathides,  they originally had a padded interior to cushion the warrior from blows to the helmet. 

Overall view of the burial of the Greek soldier in Taman with the helmet visible to the right of the photo. Image: Institute of Archaeology of Russian Academy of Sciences.

Importance of the Discovery

The helmet, despite its relatively poor state, is considered as a highly important discovery. It is the only helmet of this type that has been found north of the Black Sea and is therefore of great historical significance, notes the Greek Reporter .
The find of a Corinthian helmet shows that the Greeks who lived in South West Russia likely adopted hoplite warfare. The discovery also shows that the Greek settlements were still influenced by the culture and societies of the Greek homeland. This would confirm what we know from other sources and discoveries and that they retained a strong sense of Greek identity, despite the fact that these settlements  ‘were in close contact with the Scythian inhabitants of the steppe’’,according to Tornos News.  The necropolis where the helmet was found will hopefully reveal more discoveries that will allow us to better understand the culture and civilization of Greeks who lived on the north shore of the Black Sea.

By Ed Whelan

SOURCE: Ancient Origins

GREEK PRESENCE IN INDIA ~ THE TRUTH CAN'T BE HIDDEN

A few days ago, Indian nationalists launched an attack to close the page Greek Asia Blog on Facebook. They shared our page to their native groups and pages by suggesting their members to make a negative review on our the page and then report  it to Facebook in order for it to be shut down.

This is our answer to them.

We have asked you to show us the culture you had during the same time when Alexander the Great lived. We asked to see Indian temples and statues from 350 BCE- you kept showing us temples from 800 CE and even 1200 CE. You kept sending us animal seals from Harappa presenting them as statues.
Things are very simple. If there was an Indian temple built in 500 BCE, your government wouldn't have put Sanchi stupa- which is influenced by Greek art- on your banknotes. They would have put something from the Hindu religion.

You showed us a bronze statuette, saying that it is 25,000 years old, saying that Shiva gave it to Tibetan Buddhists, and when we asked in which museum we can see it, you said that it had been stolen by the CIA( !!!! ) This could have been an excellent movie script, especially since it took place 22,500 years before Buddha himself was born...

You showed us Taxila university ,claiming it's yours , but you failed to mention that it was built by the Persians ,during their occupation of that area.
You desperately tried to pass off a statue of Chandragupta from 1930 as 'ancient'. You also showed us a a coin which depicts king porus, claiming that it is indian. Too bad this coin was made by Alexander the Great, and it is therefore Greek.

You keep trying to distort History by saying that Porus defeated Alexander the Great.  
You started tagging on our Facebook post various people to tell us off, and even your prime minister himself! What would they do? Chastise us for telling the truth? 

Did you panic? Are you so afraid of your own History and the truth? You keep saying that you will 'rewrite' indian History. At least write it correctly. 

You claim that your land had never been conquered in antiquity, and yet:
You fail to mention that when Alexander campaigned to Persia, half your land had been under Persian rule, without any resistance whatsoever against the conquerors.
Take a look at the last 2,500 years and see how many conquerors took over your country. This is part of your History. 

Are you afraid of the fact that Greeks influenced your country so much ? Is it such a fearful thing to you ?
History is recorded in books, and carved on marble, stone, and coins such as the ones pictured above. And History needs to be known and appreciated. 

TITANOMACHY ~ THE OLYMPIAN GODS FIGHT AGAINST THE TITANS

The Titanomachy is one of the pivotal moments of Greek Religion. It was the point in time when one generation of Gods, the Titans, were replaced with another, the Olympians.

The word Titanomachy effectively means the War of the Titans and it was a 10-year war fought through a number of battles between the two enemies. Unfortunately details of the war do not survive into the modern day, and the only reference point today comes from the Theogony of Hesiod.

Background of the Titanomachy

Prior to the Titans, the cosmos was ruled by Ouranos (Sky), one of the Protogenoi. Yet, Ouranos did not feel safe in his position of power, so he  imprisoned his own children, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes.This angered Gaia, his wife, who then plotted with another group of Ouranos’ children, the Titans.They did overthrow him, but the new ruler, Cronos, abstained from restoring justice, and shut his brethren up in the same dark depth again. Revolt breeds revolt in ever swifter succession, and that may be the reason why both Gaia and Uranus foretold Cronos that in turn he would be dethroned by his own son.

Cronos would then seek to circumvent the prophecy by swallowing his children, born to Rhea,and imprisoning them into his stomach; and in this way Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon were swallowed. A sixth child of Cronus, Zeus, would have followed but Rhea and Gaia managed to hide Him to a cave on Mount Ida on Crete.She had  given Cronos a stone wrapped in clothes to swallow,tricking him into thinking that he had eaten young Zeus. 

 When the young Zeus  grew up, He asked Metis to help Him against His father; and She gave Cronos a drug that forced him to disgorge first the stone, and then the children he had previously swallowed. After all of Zeus's siblings had been rescued, it was time for Them to wage war against Cronos and the Titans. So Styx came first to Olympus, and together with Her children rallied to His side. This is why Zeus granted Her special honours, and appointed her to be the great oath of the Gods, and her children Nike, Zelos, Cratos, and Bia, to live near Him always.

The Titans fought from Mount Othrys, and the Gods from Mount Olympus, but after ten years of continuous fight, the issue of the war hung evenly balanced. It was then that Gaia prophesied that Zeus would win the war, if He took as allies all those who had been locked up to Tartarus- namely, the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires. Cronos had imprisoned the Hecatoncheires because he was jealous of their manhood and comeliness, as they say. He made them live beneath the earth, being set to dwell under the ground for a long time and with great suffering. But Zeus and His brothers decided to bring them up again at Gaia's advising and freed them. Zeus then provided the Hecantoncheires with nectar and ambrosia, and their spirit revived. Then he addresed them:

"Hear me, bright children of Earth and Heaven, that I may say what my heart within me bids. A long while now have we, who are sprung from Cronos and the Titan gods, fought with each other every day to get victory and to prevail. But show your great might and unconquerable strength, and face the Titans in bitter strife; for remember our friendly kindness, and from what sufferings you are come back to the light from your cruel bondage under misty gloom through our counsels." (Zeus to the Hecatoncheires. Hesiod, Theogony 645).

The Cyclopes gave Zeus His emblematic weapons- the thunderbolt  and the lightning , with which the God struck the Titan Menoetius,who was the brother of Atlas and Prometheus. The Cyclopes also gave Hades a helmet which made Him invisible, and Poseidon received His famous Trident from them.

The war

It is told that during this great war the sea rang terribly, the earth crashed loudly, heaven was shaken, and Olympus reeled from its foundation: The Hecatoncheires held huge rocks with their hundred arms, and Zeus hurled His lightning, while the earth burned and the woods crakled with fire. The streams of Ocean seethed, and the vapor lapped round the Titans. A huge flame rose to the upper air, and that the glare of thunderstone and lightining blinded the eyes of Zeus' enemies. And it is said that heat seized Chaos, and that it seemed as if earth and heaven came together in a mighty crash, amid earthquakes and dust storms. The Hecantoncheires overshadowed the Titans with the many rocks that their hundred arms hurled at them, and having defeated them, they chained them into the depths of Tartarus, deep within the ground. greatest depths of the earth- the distance between the prison of the Titans and the surface of the Earth is equal to the distance between the earth and the sky. Around Tartarus, there is a bronze fence that even the Gods abhor.

Two TITANS who sided with Zeus

The Titaness Themis sided with Zeus because She knew that intelligence would prevail in this battle and not brute force. Prometheus followed Her example. However, after the war, when Zeus had Prometheus chained for having given fire to mortals, He lamented his choice:

"Thus I helped the tyrant of the gods and with this foul payment he has responded; for it is a disease that is somehow inherent in tyranny to have no faith in friends." (Prometheus 1. Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 225).

The victors divide the spoil

Zeus appointed the Hecantoncheires to guard the imprisoned Titans , and in time Poseidon gave to the Hecantoncheir Briareus His daughter Cymopolea as a wife. Having won , the Gods cast lots for the sovereignty;  to Zeus the dominion of the sky was alloted, Poseidon got the dominion of the sea, and  Hades took the dominion of the Underworld. It is also told that, as time went by, Zeus issued an amnesty and set the Titans free, except for Atlas, who still holds the sky. There is also a tradition which says that  the Titans, encouraged by Hera who was jealous on account of Io, once tried to climb to Olympus and restore Cronos back on the throne; however,  Zeus aided by Athena, Apollo, and Artemis, cast them back to Tartarus. Since Atlas was the leader of this action, Zeus punished him ,by making him hold the sky. 

Source

HELLENISTIC ASTROLOGY ~ THE FOUNDATION OF INDIAN ASTROLOGY

Over the course of the 20th century, researchers have discovered that Hellenistic astrology was transmitted to India sometime around the 2nd century CE. Inklings of this transmission were noted in the late 19th century, for example by the historian August Bouché-Leclercq in his 1899 work L’Astrologie Grec, although it was not until the middle part of the 20th century that the source of this transmission was confirmed and identified in a work known as the Yavanajātaka.

This was not a simple matter of one tradition lightly influencing another though; the text that was transmitted to India in the 2nd century actually formed the basis of virtually all later traditions of horoscopic astrology on the Indian subcontinent.

The pioneer of this discovery was a scholar named David Pingree. Pingree, who sadly passed away in 2005, was a historian of science that was fluent in a number of ancient languages, including Sanskrit, Greek, Arabic, Pahlavi, Latin, and Akkadian, as well as a several other modern European languages. Although Pingree did not believe in astrology as a legitimate phenomenon, he did acknowledge its place as a legitimate science in the ancient world that is deserving of serious academic study, and he dedicated his career to studying the history and transmission of the subject.

For his doctoral dissertation Pingree edited, translated and wrote a commentary on the Yavanajātaka.The main purpose of his dissertation was to compare the astrological doctrines contained in the Yavanajātaka with those of various astrologers from the Hellenistic tradition, in order to demonstrate that the Indian tradition of horoscopic astrology was largely derived from Hellenistic astrology, and that the Yavanajātaka was in fact the principle source of this transmission.

Pingree accomplished this by showing that the Yavanajātaka was the earliest Indian text on horoscopic astrology, and that it formed the basis of virtually all later traditions of astrology in India.  He pointed out that the Yavanajātaka, which actually means ‘Horoscopy of the Greeks‘, was actually a Sanskrit translation of a Greek astrological text, and that the vast majority of doctrines contained in the text could be traced back either directly or indirectly to Hellenistic sources.

The Origins of the Yavanajātaka

According to Pingree, the original Greek text of the Yavanajātaka was probably composed in Egypt sometime in the 1st century CE, likely in Alexandria. In the early 2nd century it was transported on a trading ship to the western coast of India, where a number of Greek trading colonies were set up, some of which were still left over from the earlier conquests of Alexander the Great.


The Greek original was then translated into Sanskrit in 149/150 CE by a Greek in the Indian city of Ujjain known as Yavaneśvara, who had adopted Indian customs and apparently converted to Hinduism. This text was then versified in the mid-3rd century by another Indianized Greek known as Sphujidhvaja. This text was subsequently drawn on in one way or another by virtually every other major Indian astrologer, as was demonstrated by Pingree in his commentary through comparisons with the later Indian texts.

Linguistic Evidence of the Transmission

The strongest evidence that Indian astrology is of Greek origin is, as Pingree pointed out, the fact that many of the technical terms in the early Indian tradition, and even today, are simply transliterations of Greek terms into Sanskrit.

In Greek, these words have a range of concrete and abstract meanings, but in Sanskrit the words just become technical terms that have little or no meaning outside of their astrological application. That is to say, most of these transliterated terms don’t actually mean anything in Sanskrit outside of their technical usage, but in Greek the terms have actual semantic connections with other words, thus showing their origin in the Greek language.

For example, in the Yavanajātaka the Greek word for an angular sign, kentron, becomes kendra in Sanskrit. The Greek term for a succedent house, epanaphora, becomes panaphara.  The Greek term for a cadent house, apoklima, simply becomes apoklima.
In other instances, the Greek term for a void of course Moon, kenodromia, becomes kemadruma. The term for an application, sunaphe, becomes sunapha.  The 10° segments of the ecliptic known as decans or dekanos become drekanas. The Greek word for a “trine” or “triplicity,” trigonon, simply becomes trikona. And so on.


In the vast majority of the cases the actual technical application of the astrological concepts that are described by these transliterated Sanskrit terms are still very similar, if not identical, to the Hellenistic application of the same concepts. While many technical modifications and adaptations had already been made to the Indian system by the time of the composition of the extant version of the Yavanajātaka, the overwhelming emphasis of this early Indian astrological tradition is still remarkably similar to what was being practiced in the Hellenistic tradition of astrology.

Synthesis of the Hellenistic and Indian Astrological Traditions

The astrology that was imported into India from Egypt was merged with the indigenous form of lunar astrology known as the nakshatras. There were also probably some other earlier forms of astrology already in India prior to the Yavanajātaka that were derived from Mesopotamian sources. The Indians subsequently made this form of astrology their own though, and it has flourished there for nearly 2,000 years now, with many new developments and innovations that are quite unique to the Indian tradition. For example, horary astrology may have originally been developed by Indian astrologers.

Even by the time the Yavanajātaka was rewritten in verse in the 3rd century by Sphujidhvaja, considerable changes had been made to the text, and while the overall nature and feel of the text is still clearly Hellenistic, it already makes significant departures in some places from the Hellenistic astrological tradition. For example, the unique aspect doctrine that is employed by Indian astrologers is already in place in the versified form of the Yavanajātaka, and there is no precedence for it in the Hellenistic tradition. Other peculiar deviations from the Hellenistic system abound.

Indian Astrology Today

An interesting result of this transmission is that Indian astrology today, in the 21st century, is much more similar to the original form of Hellenistic astrology than modern western astrology is to Hellenistic astrology. One prominent example of this is the fact that Indian astrologers still use whole sign houses as the primary form of house division, just as the Hellenistic astrologers did 2,000 years ago.

The reason for this is that the astrological tradition in India has been relatively continuous for the past 2,000 years, and they have had a relatively long and unbroken transmission since the 2nd century, with only a moderate amount of change due to the influx of other traditions and the development of new doctrines.

On the other hand, in the west there have been several major transmissions of astrology from language to language and culture to culture, as well as a long period between the 17th and 19th centuries when the practice of astrology nearly died out all together.  Each time western astrology was transmitted to another language or a new culture it was transformed in some way.

As a result of this, western astrologers actually have much to gain from the study of Indian astrology. Because of the continuity of their tradition, and their connection with some of the earliest astrological doctrines, Indian astrologers can provide their western counterparts with an unprecedented view into a living tradition of ancient astrology.

Their astrology does not date back to the Vedas, which is why I have not used the misnomer “Vedic astrology” in this article, but they do in fact have a much closer connection with the earlier traditions of horoscopic astrology than many astrologers do today. They have much to share on the application of certain techniques that we have only recently begun to recover, such as the time-lord or dasha systems for example.


In looking to the Indian tradition today in order to see how they practice astrology in modern times, we may in fact be able to reconstruct a better working practice of our own tradition of ancient astrology in the future.

SOURCE : The Horoscopic Astrology Blog

ANTIMACHUS II NIKEPHOROS ~ KING OF BACTRIA

Antimachus II Nikephoros (Greek: Ἀντίμαχος Β΄ ὁ Νικηφόρος- "the Victorious") was an Indo-Greek king. He ruled a vast territory from the Hindu-Kush to the Punjab around 170 BCE. He was almost certainly the eponymous son of Antimachus I, who is known from a unique preserved tax receipt. Bopearachchi dated Antimachus II to 160–155 BCE on numismatical grounds, but changed this to 174–165 BCE after the tax receipt was revealed to synchronise his reign with that of Antimachus I. R. C. Senior has not dated Antimachus II but thinks that his coins were possibly Indian issues of Antimachus I, despite their different epithets and coin types.

In both of Boperachchi's reconstructions, Antimachus II was succeeded by Menander I who inherited three of his four monograms. Antimachus II probably fought against the Bactrian king Eucratides I, who had dethroned his father in Bactria.
Antimachus II did not strike a portrait on his coins, likely since this was not custom in India. Neither did the early kings strike tetradrachms. Antimachus II struck a large number of bilingual drachms on the same lighter Indian standard as Apollodotus I, though round in shape. On the obverse is Nike, and on the reverse a king on horseback.

He also issued bilingual bronzes with aegis / laurel wreath and palm. Both these and the Greek Goddess Nike seem to allude to his epithet "the Victorious".

Source : Wikipedia, coinindia.com

THE SANCTUARY OF GOD APOLLO AT AMYCLAE OF SPARTA

'The district of Amyclae is one of the most richly timbered and fertile in Laconia, lies about twenty stades from Sparta, and contains a temple of Apollo which is about the most famous of all the Laconian holy places.’
- Polybius 5.19


The Sanctuary of Apollo Amyklaios lies on the hill of Agia Kyriaki in Amyclae, Sparta. Amyclae was founded by Amyclas of Sparta, son of the mythical king Lacedaemon.Amyclae is also said to have been the home of Castor and Pullox, who were so given the name 'Amyclaei Fratres'.

The site was first excavated in 1980. The archaeological evidence includes the retaining walls, circuit walls, evidence of foundations dating to various periods, and a circular altar.
The retaining walls around the Sanctuary were made of local conglomerate stone, and are architecturally designed to work with the steep slopes of the hill. The precinct indicates that there have been extensions and repairs made to it, as well as general measures of maintenance carried out during the Roman and Byzantine periods.

There is also archaeological evidence of the Throne of Apollo Amyklaios by Archaic artist Bathykles from Asia Minor. A stoa-like building enclosed a colossal statue of Apollo on three sides and was decorated with reliefs. The tomb of Hyacinthus is used as a statue base, combining the two local deities together. The statue is thought to have been erected around the 7th or early 6th century BCE, with the throne/temple complex being created around it in the later 6th century.
The only remaining part of the throne is the foundation, four metres long and one metre high.

According to Pausanias (the only real description of the throne complex that we have) the colossal statue was approximately 14 metres high and made of wood lined with bronze plates. A votive bas-relief from the Classical period found in Amyclae and a few coin depictions give us a general image of the statue.Pausanias has given us a detailed description of what the Throne of Apollo looked like, and indeed it was a work of art:

'In front of it and behind it rise two Graces and two Seasons; on the left stand Echidna and Typhoeus, while on the right there are Tritons. It would weary my readers if I went through all the workmanship in detail; but, to summarize (since most of it is familiar anyway), Poseidon and Zeus are carrying Taygete, the daughter of Atlas, and her sister Alkyone. Atlas is also carved on it, and the fight of Heracles and Cyknos, and the battle of the Centaurs in the Cave of Pholos. I do not understand why Bathykles carved the Minotaur, bound and taken alive by Theseus. There is a Phaeacean dance on the Throne, and Demodokos is singing. There is Perseus, triumphing over Medusa. There is the carrying off the daughters of Leukippos, the fight between Heracles and the giant Thourios, and the fight between Tyndareus and the giant Eurytos. Hermes is carrying the infant Dionysos to Olympus, and Athena is bringing Heracles to live with the Gods forever. Peleus is handing over Achilles to be brought up by Cheiron, since Achilles is said to have been one of his pupils. Kephalos is being carried off by Eos because of his beauty. The Gods are bringing gifts to the wedding of Harmonia. There are images of the combat of Achilles with Memnon, and Heracles punishing Diomedes the Thracian, and Nessos in the River Euenos. Hermes is taking the Goddesses to be judged by Paris. Adrastos and Tydeus break up the fight between Amphiaraos and Lykourgos, son of Pronax. Hera is looking at Io, daughter of Inachos, who has been turned into a heifer. Athena is escaping from Hephaestus, who is pursuing Her. Then there is the series of the great deeds of Heracles: Heracles and the Hydra, and Heracles bringing back the Hound of Hades. Anaxias and Mnasinous are each on horseback, but Megapenthes, the son of Menelaus and Nikostratos share a horse. Bellerophon is destroying the Lycian monster; Herakles is driving off the cattle of Geryon.

At the upper limits of the Throne are the sons of Tyndareus on horseback, one on either side; here are sphinxes under the horses and wild beasts with their heads raised, a lioness under Polydeukes and a leopard on the other side. On the very top of the throne is the dance of the Magnesians, who worked on the Throne with Bathykles. Underneath the throne, behind the Tritons, there is the Calydonian Boar Hunt, Heracles killing the sons of Aktor, Kalais and Zetes driving off the Harpies from Phineus, Perithoos and Theseus carrying off Helen, Heracles with the lion by the throat, and Apollo and Artemis shooting Tityos. There are carvings of Heracles fighting the Centaur Oreios and Theseus fighting the Minotaur, the wrestling match of Heracles and Acheloos, the story of Hera bound by Hephaestus, the games given by Akastos for his father, the story of Menelaus and Proteus the Egyptian . Finally, Admetus is harnessing his chariot with a boar and a lion, and the Trojans are bringing jars to offer them to Hektor.'

Pausanias, Periegesis Hellados, III. 6.


The circular altar is dated to the second monumental phase of the sanctuary. During a restoration project in 2009 part of the altar was reconstructed, indicating its size to be about 8 metres wide and 4 metres high.


Within the Sanctuary of Apollo Amyklaios, the tomb of Hyacinthus, the youngest son of Amyclas and local God of vegetation, stands as a pedestal for the colossal statue of Apollo.

Ritual Activity

At the Sanctuary of Amyclae, the cults of Hyacinthus and Apollo are combined and celebrated in the most important annual Spartan festival that took place at the Sanctuary; the Hyacinthia.

 As Apollo and Hyacinthus were honoured together, they represented respectively Doric Sparta and the population of Amyclae and the political reconciliation between them.

The Hyacinthia was celebrated for three days every year - the first day was a designated day of bereavement and sacrifice to Hyacinthus. On the second day, a procession was lead from Sparta to Amyclae, where the people partaking in the festival would stay temporarily at the Sanctuary in tents. This procession seems to represent the common aspect of festivals; initiation, in which the interests of Apollo focused upon the younger generation and their prosperous passage into adult life and society.

'at the Hyacinthia, before the sacrifice to Apollo, they devote offerings to Hyacinthus as to a hero into this altar through a bronze door, which is on the left of the altar'
- Pausanias, 3.19.3


The retaining walls of the sanctuary marked out a large area around the throne and statue that meant it could facilitate the cult celebrations.

Other Activities

Pausanias notes that there is a statue of a victor of the Pentathlon, Aenetus, as well as a number of bronze tripods, of which the older ones are said to be a tithe of Messenian War. Under some of the tripods stand images of Goddesses such as Aphrodite and Artemis.
According to Pausanias, on the completion of the throne Bathykles dedicated Graces and an image of Artemis Leucophryene.
Foundations of buildings from the 4th and 5th centuries CE have also been found at the Sanctuary. It is also speculated that later on during the Byzantine period chamber tombs and pit graves were included in parts of the hill.

Historical Significance

Shortly before the first Messenian War in the 8th century BCE, the town was conquered by the Spartans. In Maurius Servius Honoratus' Commentary on Virgil from around the 4th and 5th centuries, a story is told that the people of Amyclae had become so paranoid by frequent false reports of invasions, that it was forbidden for anyone to mention it again. This meant that when the Spartan's did eventually invade, no one dared to announce the attack and so 'Amyclae perished through silence'. 
The Spartans destroyed the fortifications and moved the majority of the inhabitants to settle instead in the plains below, turning Amyclae into a small village as opposed to moving the conquered inhabitants elsewhere. It was following this that the city placed religion as a particularly important part of their identity, and the Sanctuary of Apollo and the Hyacinthia Festival became its most distinguishing features.

SOURCES : CSUN , Warwick University