Where did Bucephalus die?

The question whether Alexander’s dear mount died on the Battle of the Hydaspes or at another location around that time has been discussed at length and obviously without any conclusive result.

Today, I have been wondering where Bucephalus actually died. It so happened that a friend of mine forwarded me an article about Bufliaz, a town on the foothill of the Peer Rattan Range in India that claims to be the place where Alexander’s horse died.

Bufliaz, according to the locals is named after Bucephalus (Bunifales) to commemorate the death. The town is located 39 kilometers east of Poonch or Punch, roughly some 120 km northeast of Taxila. This sounds pretty odd because it is generally accepted that from Taxila, Alexander marched to the southeast to the banks of the Hydaspes where his famous battle against Porus was fought.

Although Bucephalus may have died at Bufliaz that does not exclude that a city in his honor could have been built on the banks of the Hydaspes near modern Mong (see: Locating Alexandria Nicaea and Alexandria Bucephala).

Opinions about the burial site of Alexander’s prized horse vary widely. Jona Lendering cites Jhelum and G. Huntingford identifies a mound west of Jhelum as Alexandria Bucephala. Sir Aurel Stein tends to believe that Alexander went south from Taxila and crossed the Hydaspes near modern Behra. This town is close to Mong and could be the very site where the Battle of the Hydaspes took place. Michael Wood, although he agrees with Stein to identify Mong as ancient Alexandria Nicaea, suggests Garjak as Alexandria Bucephala. Garjak is said to have its own legend of a magical horse. Last but not least, Mansoor Behzad, a local historian supports the idea that Bucephalus was buried in Jalalpur Sharif, which lies 75 km northeast of Bhera.

Clearly, the possibilities are endless and in the end, we could only establish that Bucephalus died and was buried in that general area.

A few words about Alexander’s mints and coins

Coins with the image of Alexander were widespread and accepted throughout his empire and kept circulating in large numbers long after his death.

Research has revealed that the coins with Alexander's effigy started circulating much later than initially accepted. Until then, the currencies of Philip and Darius were familiar together with those minted by individual cities. We had to wait until after Alexander's victory at Issus in 333 BC to find the first mints to be established in Macedonia, Cilicia, and Phoenicia.

[Map of Alexander's mints (from Meadows 2014, map 1)] 

Frank Holt has made an excellent analysis of the Alexander coins in his book, The Treasures of Alexander the Great. The first coins were silver ones minted in Sidon and Tarsus between October 333 and September 332 BC. Gold coins emerged after his conquest of Tyre in July 332 BC. New mints were established in Asia Minor later on, apparently after his return from India.

During Alexander's lifetime, the known mints striking his coins were spread over 25 different locations such as:

Pella and Amphipolis in Macedonia

Lampsacus and Abydos on the Hellespont

Colophon, Magnesia, Miletus, Teos and Sardes in Asia Minor

Side and Tarsus in Pamphylia
Salamis, Citium, Amathus, Paphos on the island of Cyprus 

Myriandrus, Aradus, Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre on the eastern Mediterranean coast

Alexandria in Egypt

Damascus and Babylon further inland

Each of these mints had its own assigned type. Some produced only one kind of currency, while others could generate a wide scale ranging from small coins to drachms and tetradrachms. It is important to realize that the Alexander coins were minted according to the standard Attic drachma of 4.3 grams and that his tetradrachms weighed 17.2 grams. They helped to spread his image throughout the length and breadth of his empire, from the Eastern Mediterranean to Central Asia.

The silver collected from the Royal Persian treasuries contributed widely to the production of the tetradrachms. It has been estimated that between 333 and 290 BC (which is well after Alexander's death in 323 BC), approximately 60 million tetradrachms were produced, together with 66 million drachms and 12 million gold staters! Just imagine the vast amount of money's impact on the economy!

After the king's death, his successors kept the same currency system in place, although they gradually replaced Alexander's image with their own – still in Alexander-style.

The Numismatic Museum of Athens has a wide range of coins on display to pick our choice from. This trio of tetradrachms, for instance, displays the figures of Philip II on top and underneath in Alexander-style Lysimachos (left) and Ptolemy (right).

In comparison, Seleucos I, here depicted on a coin from the Antalya Museum, carries a more pronounced lion skin still entirely in the Alexander tradition.

Once the Diadochi became king in their own right over their newly delimited territories, their own effigy replaced the Alexander-inspired image, and the reverse of the coins rightfully carried the inscription, Basileus.

For a long time, coins carrying Alexander's image kept circulating because his veteran soldiers were used to receiving their payment in tetradrachms! 

Oenoanda in the heartland of Lycia

Oenoanda or Oinoanda lies only some 60 kilometers from Fethiye, right next to the modern village of İncealiler. It is one of those untouched sites, clearly off the beaten path of which there are many in Turkey. Such places are always very rewarding to be discovered and to be explored. It is so remote that even a seasoned archaeologist like Cevdet Bayburtluoǧlu strongly recommends not to venture there by yourself but to take a caretaker or a villager with you to be safe from sheepdogs. These dogs are fiercely defending and protecting the flock of sheep and goats they are supposed to guard and they readily attack any intruder. No kidding!

The climb up from İncealiler to Oenoanda takes about an hour over rough terrain. It seems that, apart from a few days in 1997, the Turkish authorities never allowed the city to be excavated. Yet, that does not make the site less exciting because one can discover it as we walk on.

[Picture: Ansgar Bovet, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons]

The most striking feature in the landscape is, as always, the theater that sits higher up the hill overlooking the valley below and offers a dramatic view of the Taurus Mountains. It has been cut out of the rock and its plan closely resembles that of Myra or Phaselis, for instance.

Inside the city walls, of which many stretches are easily spotted, we find the remains of the ancient city. Unfortunately, these have not been properly documented and only the most striking features catch the eye.

A well recognizable avenue leads from the theater to the Agora. It has been compared to Harbor Street at Phaselis as it is bordered with two steps on either side. The Agora, which is entirely paved with marble, is another prominent feature. The surrounding buildings have not been identified although we may presume based on the broken columns and stones that there was at least one temple erected alongside as is customary. A series of three distinct arches has been identified as belonging to a Library.

Otherwise, bits of columns, capitals, architraves, cornices, pedestals and stones of all sizes with or without inscriptions are scattered around in great numbers. Another recognizable element in the rubble is the broken pipes and remains of an aqueduct that must have run all the way to the Baths in the northeastern corner of Oenoanda.

The origins of Oenoanda are rather obscure but based on its name that contains the letters “-nd” the foundation could go back as far as the 2^nd millennium BC. In any case, it has been documented that Oenoanda was part of a tetrapolis annexed to Lycia. Together with Kibyra, Oenoanda became part of the Lycian League which was formed in the early 2^nd century BC and they acquired two votes each. The six main cities: Xanthos, Pinara, Tlos, Patara, Myra and Olympos were the administrative, judicial, military, financial and religious centers and each received three votes in the meetings of the League.

Pending serious excavations, no evidence has been found about the pre-Hellenistic Era of Oenoanda.

The city gained importance it seems, after the severe earthquake of 144 AD, when they received 10,000 denarii from Opramoas of Rhodiapolis (see: Opramoas of Rhodiapolis) to construct a Bath. It may sound strange because its own citizen, Licinius Langus of Oenoanda donated 10,000 denarii to Myra in order to rebuild their theater and its portico. He could have invested in the reconstruction of his home tome in the first place, no?

Another famous citizen of Oenoanda was the wealthy philosopher Diogenes, who spent his entire fortune on an Epicurean inscription. He had found peace of mind in the teachings of Epicurus and in order to show the people in Oenoanda the road to happiness, he commissioned an inscription 80 meters long and more than 3 meters high which set out Epicurean doctrines in about 25,000 words.  The huge inscription was placed in the agora and its large inscribed letters were painted - nobody could miss seeing them. At that time, in 120 AD, it would have been the largest ancient inscription ever found. The text included a number of instructions, letters and epitomes defining the basic principles of Epicuraeism. In other words, a guide to happiness.

Unfortunately, the wall disappeared. It may have been deliberately destroyed or hit by an earthquake, but the scattered blocks were mostly reused as building material elsewhere. The wall with whatever remained of Oenoanda fell into oblivion, probably during the 9^th century AD.

During the 19^th and 20^th centuries, many fragments of this precious inscription were found, analyzed and partially put back together like a giant puzzle. That is a gigantic task that is still ongoing.

Oenoanda is surrounded by necropolises on all sides. Rock graves typically appear on both the east and west sides of the city and from the road between İncealiler and Oenoanda many sarcophagi, mostly of the Lycian type, are easily spotted in the landscape.

Revelations from Kibyra in Turkey

It appears that I left my disclosure of Kibyra with the news that the site would open to the public in 2017 (see: The tempting site of Kibyra).

Last year's excavations yielded two important artifacts: an Asclepius statue and a Zeus-Serapis bust.

The 38-centimeter-high statuette of the Greek god of Health, Asclepius, was uncovered inside the so-called Caesarian, the Cult Temple of the Emperor. Kibyra was famous for its knowledge of medicine; thus, this discovery didn't come as a surprise. The figurine has been dated to the 2^nd century AD and was found in a layer of soil that showed traces of fire. It was broken into six pieces but could be restored and pieced back together.

[Picture from The Greek City Times]

The other object unearthed this time in the Roman Baths was the head of a bearded man. To the greatest joy of the archaeologists, the head fitted a bust made of Afyon marble discovered in these baths in 2019. The bust represents Serapis, an Egyptian god who was worshiped in combination with Zeus at the time. Zeus-Serapis was the god of the Underworld and Fertility, the main god of Alexandria.

Both artifacts have been moved to the Archaeological Museum of Burdur, where they will be exhibited very soon. 

Kibyra sat at the crossroads of important trade routes connected to Caria, Phrygia, and Pisidia. It was famous for its metallurgy, and as a result, the city minted its own coins from the mid-first century BC until the middle of the 3rd century AD.

Today's buildings are mainly constructions from Roman times and, more precisely, from after 23 AD, i.e., when the city was destroyed by a major earthquake. It was Emperor Tiberius who financed its reconstruction and renamed it Caesarea Kibyra.

Pompeii’s Antiquarium reopens at last

Very few people are aware that Pompeii has a museum of its own, generally known as the Antiquarium. This is not surprising because the premises have been closed since 1980 when they were damaged by a severe earthquake. From 2016 onward, some rooms were occasionally open for temporary exhibitions but the Antiquarium’s own collection was entirely out of sight.

Today, after forty years the Antiquarium has finally fully reopened. It is offering an introduction to what Pompeii has to offer through its display of artifacts going back to the 4^th century BC.

[Silver table set known as the Moregine Treasure (Courtesy of Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities / Archaeological Park of Pompeii) Smithonian Mag]

Visitors will be treated to objects of daily use, including tableware among which a rare silver dining set. Also exhibited are more decorative items like frescos and mosaics, as well as an array of marble and bronze statues. The casts of people who fell victim to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD are also on display.

At the time of the disaster, it is estimated that Pompeii counted some 12,000 inhabitants. Although the majority of the population was able to escape the catastrophe, the total death toll in Pompeii and Herculaneum combined is estimated at minimum 2,000 people.

The first excavations in Pompeii started in 1738 but the museum was created only around 1873. Archaeology was still in its infancy and excavations at the site were interrupted and restarted repeatedly depending mainly upon the money that was made available. Work has intensified since 2012 when scholars and specialists would deploy all the modern technology that is available nowadays. Among the most recent discoveries is, for instance, a charcoal inscription suggesting that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius occurred in late October 79 AD and not in August as assumed till now.

[The goddess Venus stands on a quadriga drawn by elephants in this first-century A.D. fresco (Courtesy of Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities / Archaeological Park of Pompeii)  Smithsonian Mag]

We only have a vague idea of the museum’s content and the bombing that occurred during World War II destroyed hundreds of artifacts. By 1948, however, the museum reopened but was forced to close once again in 1980 after being hit by a severe earthquake.  Since 2016, the museum received several temporary exhibitions but it is only now, in 2021, that all the rooms and all the treasures are accessible for all to admire!

The presence of Alexander in Byzantine times

It amazes me how time and again Alexander appears or reappears throughout history.

[Picture from the Archaeology News Network (Credit: Cyprus Dept. of Antiquities)]

Take for instance the latest excavations carried out on the site of Katalymmata ton Plakoton on the island of Cyprus, where a monumental ecclesiastical complex has been excavated. It has been established that this place is related to St John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, who also is the patron saint of Limassol, Cyprus.

Archaeologists have been working here since 2007 when a first basilica was unearthed. This turned out to be a burial monument measuring 36 meters in width by 29 meters in length. More recently, a second basilica was uncovered which was 47 meters long and 20 meters wide. Both sites have been dated to the second half of the 7^th century AD, probably around 616-617 AD.

The most important find at this second basilica is, as far as I’m concerned, a marble stele that shows a bust of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius – yet personified as Alexander the Great!

[Picture from the Archaeology News Network (Credit: Cyprus Dept. of Antiquities)]

It is noteworthy that this Heraclius became emperor in 610 AD and spent most of his life fighting the Persian Sassanids and the thread of the rising Muslim Empire.

At last, the Domus Tiberiana is made accessible

It is not always about discovering and excavating a site, it is also about making that site available to the public. It is very nice to see the pictures or short videos, but there is nothing like experiencing the visit of an archaeological site by yourself.

Domus Tiberiana - View from the Regia area

[Credit: Parco archeologico del Colosseo]

The good news these days is that after being closed for 40 years, the Domus Tiberiana, the Villa of Emperor Tiberius will be made accessible to the public by the end of this year. This edifice is part of the Palatine Hill and is located inside the perimeter of the archaeological park of the Coliseum in Rome.

Excavations carried out occasionally in the 1800s and in the 1900s had exposed sections of Tiberius' Villa and currently a new room is being unearthed that surely will expose the splendor of his days.

The Villa site has been scrutinized and excavated since the 1600s when it was used as a dump. In the next underlying layer, the remains of an entire family were exposed. They counted seven people that could have been killed during epidemic or another traumatic event that occurred in the 1200s. Digging deeper, coins from the 7^th century were found and below that layer the remains of a wall with a lamp still standing intact inside a niche were unearthed and belonged to the 4^th century AD.

The plan is to organize the visit of the Domus Tiberiana in such a way that the visitor can access several rooms that will include showcases displaying the luxuries of daily life.