Bactrian fortress after Alexander

After Alexander’s death, Seleucos came to rule over the eastern part of his Empire, which included Bactria in Central Asia.

[View of the Uzundara citadel from above [Credit: Nigora Dvurechenskaya]. 

Picture from TANN]

It is pretty exciting to hear that Russian and Uzbek archaeologists have uncovered one of the Seleucid fortresses meant to defend the northern border of Bactria near Uzundar. It has been dated to the 3^rd century BC when Antiochus I Soter, the son of Seleucos I, was king.

Excavations revealed the fort was built in a diamond shape with a triangular citadel, surrounded by double walls with a nine meters gap between them. The walls were fortified with 13 rectangular towers. Apparently, the pattern was not too distant from the forts Alexander may have encountered (see: Discovering Forts Alexander might have known). It was established that this fortress functioned for about 150 years, i.e., till the end of the Bactrian Empire in the 2^nd century BC.

Based on a number of shooting arrows, remains of breastplates and helmets, the archaeologists determined that the fort was attacked on the east side. In addition to weapons, they also collected a large number of ceramics and many coins ranging from silver drachmas to smaller copper coins. The entire Seleucos dynasty has been stamped on the head side, from Antiochus I to Diodotus and Heliocles. This Heliocles may well have been the last ruler of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom that ended with the invasion of the nomadic Yuadzhi around 130 BC.

Further study by Russian and Uzbek scholars will shed more light on daily life in those border forts and their ultimate downfall.