First contacts with China

It is generally not mentioned that in the wake of Alexander's expansion, an opening towards China, or Seres as Strabo called the country, was created to the east of Central Asia. After all, in 329 BC, the king founded the city of Alexandria Eschate (very appropriately being Alexandria the Furthest), the later Khojend in modern Tajikistan, where he stopped his march eastwards. 

His Greek settlers in Central Asia were there to stay for the next three hundred years as Seleucos established his Empire, which later became the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom. Over time, their kings steadily expanded their power further to the east, and the main force appeared to be King Euthydemus (230-200 BC). This Euthydemus was born in Magnesia, Asia Minor as the son of the Greek general Apollodotus. By 209 BC, as Graeco-Bactria king, he withstood the three-year-long siege of Bactra led by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III. In the end, Antiochus offered one of his daughters in marriage to Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, in exchange for which he received several Indian war elephants. 

Once well settled, Euthydemus went to the lands beyond Alexandria Eschate. As reported by Strabo, he even reached Kashgar in the region of Xinjiang. This may date the first Western and China exchanges to around 200 BC. 

How China looked at the West is a much lesser-known story. Not unlike the Greeks, the Chinese held that they were the center of world civilization and that all other countries were tributaries of China. This implies that the campaign of Euthydemus may have been a significant turning point (see also: Alexander's influence reached all the way to China?)

Around 130 BC, embassies of the Han Dynasty traveled to Central Asia as the Chinese emperor Wudi was interested in the sophisticated civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and Parthia, respectively known to the Chinese as Dayuan, Daxia, and Anxi. Since then, numerous embassies left every year to these countries, where they found people living in fixed homes and interested in the rich produce of China. Chinese records reveal that more than ten such missions were dispatched into Parthia, Seleucid Syria (known as Lijian), Chaldea (Tiaozhi), and north-western India (Tianzhu). Allegedly, they even visited Emperor Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), and it seems hard to imagine Chinese envoys walking in the streets of Rome! 

Roman soldiers also made their way east, although not out of their free will. It has been documented that soldiers captured by the Parthians were dispatched to defend their eastern borders. In 54 BC, Pliny mentioned that after the battle of Carrhae in 53 BC (see: Harran, better known under its Roman name Carrhae), the Parthians sent some 10,000 prisoners to Margiana to man the frontier. Chinese sources report that these soldiers had blond hair and blue eyes. Eventually, these troops were captured by the Chinese to founding the city of Liqian or Li-Chien – a transliteration of Alexandria - it seems, in the region of Gansu in western China. Several inscriptions discovered in the Kara-Kamar caves on the border between eastern Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were written in Bactrian, Greek, Arabic, and Latin. The latter was composed of three lines and was left by the Roman soldiers of the Pannonian Legio XV Apollinaris around the 2^nd century AD. Notably, this cave complex showed remarkable similarities with temples dedicated to the god Mithras, who was featured in killing the bull. This secret male cult started about the 1^st century AD and soon spread with the legionnaires over the entire Roman Empire. 

By the first century BC, Rome started showing serious interest in the precious silk it received through trade with the Parthians. Wearing silk soon exploded, but it was not met with overall approval. Seneca (3 BC-65 AD) complained that silk did not hide the body, not "even one's decency." This led the Senate to issue an edict prohibiting silk-wearing, which the wealthy Roman elite liked to ignore. Besides the moral ground, this edict also had an economic reason, as importing silk caused a massive outflow of gold. 

Yet, business is business, and the trade prospered. Over land, using the Silk Road was a tedious and expensive operation, which was soon to be supplanted by a newly found maritime route. The ships would sail from China, stopping at ports in modern Vietnam, India, and Sri Lanka controlled by the Chinese emperors. The western end of this business route, with stopovers in Egypt and the Nabataean territories, was controlled by Rome. Their merchants traveled on Roman, Indian, and even Chinese ships. 

Best known from this period is the campaign led by the Chinese general Ban Chao, who in 97 AD crossed the Pamir Mountains with an army of 70,000 men to fight the Xiongnu, generally the people living in Central Asia. He even reached the Caspian Sea and the lands occupied by the Parthians. From here, the general sent an envoy to Dagin (Rome). Ultimately, this was Gan Ying, who stopped in Mesopotamia although he intended to sail to Rome via the Black Sea. The Parthian merchants wishing to safeguard their profitable position as the middleman between Rome and China, told Gan Ying that his planned trip would take him two years. In reality, this was two months. This is why the envoy decided to abandon his mission and return home. His merit, to a certain extent at least, was his account of Rome and Emperor Nerva, which he obviously based on second-hand information. However, he correctly reported that Rome was the leading economic power at the western end of Eurasia. The Chinese army settled for an alliance with the Parthians. 

The earliest documented Roman embassy to arrive in China dates to 166 AD. Chinese sources mention that it came from Antun (Antoninus Pius), king of Dagin (Rome). This information must be clarified since Antoninus Pius died five years before, in 161 AD. It is suggested that they meant Marcus Aurelius, who added the name of his predecessor to his own; he came to power in 166 AD. 

This Roman delegation probably arrived by sea and carried presents of rhinoceros horns, ivory, and tortoise shells originating from Southern Asia. More important, however, is that the Chinese acquired a treatise on astronomy. Roman cartographers knew of the existence of China since the country was mentioned on the map by Claudius Ptolemy in about 150 AD. The booming trade across the Indian Ocean in the 2^nd century AD enabled the identification of Roman outposts in India and Sri Lanka. 

After a lacuna about further exchanges, the next documented account emerged in the 3^rd century AD when the Roman Emperor (possibly Alexander Severus) sent presents of colored glass to Emperor Taitsu of the Kingdom of Wei (reigned 227-239 AD) in Northern China. The last record about an embassy from Rome dates from 284 AD when the envoys of presumably Emperor Carus (282-283 AD) brought "tribute" to the Chinese Empire. 

To summarize, contact between our western world and China lasted at least six hundred years after Alexander opened access to Central Asia. In all its aspects, the Silk Road sank into oblivion until Marco Polo revived this part of history in the 13^th century, i.e., one thousand years later!

The secret behind the Astragal game

During my last visit to the National Archaeology Museum in Naples, I was fascinated by a simple sepia drawing representing girls involved in a knuckle-bone or Astragal game. It was displayed with other smaller colorful frescos and this picture obviously stood out because of its fine lines. 

It was a plain tuf slab painted with delicate black and brown strokes dating from the 3^rd century BC and recovered from Egnazia in southern Italy. 

Initially, the knuckle-bones were designed for children and used just like dice having four sides rather than the usual six. 

It doesn’t look like a boy’s game but I am sure that it would have been familiar to Alexander. However, the secret is that these bones could also play a role to transmit secret messages as explained by Aeneas Tacticus.  This Greek writer, who Alexander must have been aware of, made headlines as being the first author to pen down a complete guide to securing military communications, including the best tactics to defend a fortified city. Also, the earliest hydraulic semaphore system is attributed to Aeneas Tacticus by Polybius. 

This means that this rather innocent toy could play an important role to send encoded messages. 

Earlier this year, Karawansaray Publishers shared an article on the subject and kindly quoted Aeneas Tacticus describing how to encode a message using these sheep bones. 

The most secret method of all for sending messages, but the most difficult, namely, that without writing, I shall now make clear. It is this. In a sufficiently large astragal bore twenty-four holes, six on each side. Let the holes stand for letters, and note clearly on which side begins Alpha and the following letters that have been written on each particular side. Then whenever you wish to communicate any word by them, draw a thread through them, as for instance, if you wish to express Aineian by the drawing through of a thread, begin from the side of the astragal on which Alpha is found, pass the thread through, and omitting the characters placed next to Alpha, draw through again when you come to the side where Iota belongs; and disregarding the characters following this, again pass the thread through where Nu happens to be. And again passing by the succeeding letters draw the thread through where Ei [the original name for Epsilon] is found. Now continuing in this way to write the rest of the communication, pass the thread into the holes in such a manner as that in which we just now wrote the name. Accordingly, there will be a ball of thread wound around the astragal, and it will be necessary for the one who is to read the information to write down upon a tablet the characters revealed by the holes. ... [to decipher the message (in reverse)] A piece of wood about 20 centimetres long perforated as many times as the letters of the alphabet, and the thread were then in the same way drawn into the holes. 

The marvelous drawing exhibited in Naples is a far cry from secret messaging as the ladies clearly enjoy their play. I was especially admiring the details of the lady at the bottom right in this picture. Not only are the folds of her dress standing out, but also the delicate line for her sandals and most of all her splendid long wavy hair!

Lawlessness is damaging ancient Cyrene

It seems that nowadays, only a handful of tourists wander around the imposing ruins of Cyrene in eastern Libya. I honestly envy them, having the site all to themselves. However, when I visited this landmark before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, I was not bothered by many visitors either (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks). 

However, these were still the days of Muammar Gadaffi, and the country knew at least some structure and form of control. Soon after the Revolution, everybody made his own laws, and even today, there is no firm government in place to reinforce law and order. This was and is the case all over Libya, with its rich Roman heritage in western Tripolitania with cities like Sabratha, Oea (Tripoli), and Leptis Magna, and in eastern Cyrenaica, where the main town is Cyrene. 

Basically, Libya still has laws in place to protect its ancient heritage, but in today’s political situation, they have little or no effect. Besides, the fines and prison sentences are minimal and don’t refrain anyone from trying. 

The heart of ancient Cyrene, excavated mainly by the Italians under Mussolini, is fenced off to mark the protected area. However, as always, the old town spreads further outside these borders where it is complicated, even under the best of circumstances, to protect the ruins. 

The residents of nearby modern Shahat are taking matters into their own hands and have decided to take possession of these border lands that the state holds in trust. Some areas are being invaded by treasure and fortune-seekers who intend to sell the looted artifacts abroad. They don’t hesitate to use bulldozers to dig up whatever they can and divide the booty among them. Other parcels are simply seized and sold to the property developers who build their housing blocks right on top of these priceless remains. It is estimated that at least 30% of the ancient city has been built upon! 

Nobody has any idea of the extent of damage and of the number of artifacts that disappeared forever. In this unstable war and peace situation, it is understandable that people have more important worries than protecting their heritage. They feel this is their land and are free to exploit it in any way they wish. As an example, Shahat with its 50,000 inhabitants, experiences a pressing need for housing, which takes priority over everything else. 

Besides the unofficial digs and to make the situation worse, there is a severe disfiguration of the ancient buildings with graffiti. The problem is the same everywhere (see: Still hope, though scant, for Libya’s cultural heritage). Museums can somehow protect their treasures, but not the many archaeological sites still holding so many hidden gems.

Dilemma at Pakistan’s National Museum: save it or trash it?

One example of many is the looting of some 395 rare artifacts that had been seized in 2012 as they were underway to Faisalabad, Pakistan. The experts claim that they belong to the Gandhara Civilization (see: Old Buddhist complex discovered in Pakistan) and may have originated from Taxila and Mehrgarh both in modern Pakistan. 

Looting and smuggling is of all times and happens everywhere – unfortunately! We praise ourselves when the police track down the culprits and their precious cargo in order to return it either to its initial finding place or to the nearby museum where, we assume, the unique artifacts will be taken care of. 

[Picture from Archaeology News Network]

Sadly, in the present case, such a straightforward assumption is far from reality as it involves the National Museum of Karachi. It has transpired recently that hundreds of artifacts and dozens of archaeological sites have been seriously neglected by the country’s authorities responsible for the preservation of antiquities. Among these objects are five sculptures of Buddha heads, three of them standing four feet tall and two about three feet. Instead of being carefully studied, cataloged and stored away, they have been found on top of a pile of garbage at said Museum of Karachi. 

This clearly illustrates the incompetence and carelessness of the government officials in place. Lying there in plain sight for many months, exposed to wind and weather, there is no excuse for such negligence! Antiquity robbers and looters are pointed with the finger and highly condemned, whereas government officials are able to get away with such a crime – because it is a crime! 

It has been reported by museum employees who want to remain anonymous that rare treasures from the Indus Valley and similar civilizations have also found their way to the museum’s dump site. The director, however, claims that a total 100,000 objects in stone, wood, metal and even paper are carefully checked and stored; adding that every single piece inside and outside the museum building has been carefully recorded. The museum’s most valuable piece is the statue of the King Priest from Mohenjo-daro, and which the Director says is safely stored away. It is rarely on display, although copies may be shown. 

Whatever is happening in Karachi remains obscure, to say the least, but there is no smoke without a fire and I find it extremely upsetting when our heritage is mistreated in such a manner!

Antakya’s rich collection of mosaics

Antakya in Turkey is the modern name for Laudetia, which Seleucos Nicator named after his mother. It was later renamed Antioch-on-the Orontes. Today, the city is most famous for its rich collection of mosaics that are displayed in the local Hatay Archaeology Museum and worth a visit by itself. 

Unsurprisingly, a mosaic from the 2^nd century AD was discovered during the construction works to build a new hotel. It is described as a hand-woven carpet and, with its 1050 square meters, the largest single-piece mosaic in the world – although this may be exaggerated. 

Because of its size and shape, the mosaic will remain in place. It has been wracked by repeated earthquakes in the area (see: Eyewitnesses of an earthquake in Antioch-on-the-Orontes). 

Luckily, the hotel owner sees the archaeological find as an extra opportunity to lure clients and visitors alike and turn his project into a museum-hotel which he’ll name Necmi Asfuroǧlu Archaeology Museum. Besides the mosaic, some 200 artifacts from Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Ottoman times have been unearthed and will find a place in this future museum. 

Indeed another reason to visit Antakya soon!

[Pictures from onedio]

The fertile valleys of the Hindu Kush

Atlas Obscura is a newly created site (2021) aiming “to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share”. In fact, it was an article about the preservation of grapes in the foothills of the Hindu Kush that caught my attention. 

The location is the village of Aqa Saray at about half an hour drive north of Kabul – Alexander land, as far as I’m concerned. The place is described as being surrounded by vineyards and fruit trees. 

When Alexander arrived in the area in late 330 BC, he realized that it was too late in the year to march across the Hindu Kush (see: From Afghanistan into Bactria across the Hindu Kush). For that reason, he settled his army near Begram (later being renamed as Alexandria-in-the-Caucasus) at the junction of the Cophen (Kabul) River and the Panshir River overlooking a broad plain framed with snowy peaks. The army got a breather of several months in this valley where they found food and fodder in abundance. 

The fertile soil and dry-warm climate are ideal for apple, apricot and cherry trees to grow, as well as for vineyards. Presently, the production of grapes is officially estimated at 1.5 million tons. Further south, it is mainly pomegranates and melons. In winter, however, the snow falls heavily over the Hindu Kush and the mountains are covered with some twenty meters of snow. 

The climate has not changed much since Alexander’s days, so it is easy to imagine that the local people still live the same way as they did then. 

Here in Aqa Saray, there seems to be a living proof of that old heritage being kept alive. They actually are using containers made of mud-straw which they call kangina to preserve their grapes. The containers actually seal off the contents and keep out air and moisture – not unlike our modern plastic containers. The result is truly astonishing, particularly for the preservation of their grapes as they look perfect and remain fresh for at least five or six months, i.e., all through the winter! 

The above article mentions that this technique existed for centuries in these parts of Afghanistan and I can’t help wondering for how many centuries. Maybe all the way back to the days Alexander and his Macedonians occupied the land? 

The making of these containers has no secret. The villagers use the available clay and mix it with water and straw to obtain the desired consistency to create the bowls. They then are left to dry in the sun for approximately five hours. Once the recipients are ready, the grapes are put inside and the containers are sealed with more mud. The Taifi grape is preferred since it has a thicker skin and is better adapted for this kind of conservation technique. These preserved grapes are one of the favorite dishes served during the Nowruz or New Year meals to the many guests who come together for the occasion. 

It would be interesting to be able to turn back the clock of time, wouldn’t it?

[Pictures are from the Atlas Obscura]

The complex site of Taxila

Until now, I pictured Taxila as one big city as it is in modern times. What threw me off was that ancient sources talked about the three ancient cities of Bhir, Sirkap as well as Sirsukh instead of Taxila. Meanwhile, modern archaeology has established that Taxila is composed of 18 separate sites of great cultural value. This demanded a closer and more in-depth study of the matter. 

From the 6^th century BC onward, the city of Taxila was known by the Persian Achaemenid kings, who turned it into an important hub on their Royal Road from Persepolis to Central Asia. For Alexander, Taxila was the first major city he encountered on this way into India. It also was the residence of King Taxiles, who came to meet him while he was still in Sogdiana. He had promised to join his forces to those of Alexander but he died before they could meet. True to his father’s word, Omphis (also called Mophis or Ambhi) received Alexander in Taxila (see: Alexander crossing the Indus at Ohind). 

We will recall that Omphis had provided supplies to Hephaistion and the Macedonians as they were bridging the Indus River. When both kings met outside the city, Omphis  handed his fifty-six elephants over to Alexander, together with an impressive herd of livestock including 3,000 bulls dressed up for sacrifices. 

The site of Bhir is actually the place where this meeting took place in 326 BC since Omphis’ palace stood on top of a mound that carried that name. This same location was later occupied by Chandragupta Maurya (see: Was Chandragupta inspired by Alexander?) and his grandson, Asoka. As the latter introduced Buddhism in the Gandhara region, the first Buddhist monastery was erected at this very spot at some time in the 3^rd century BC. By the 2^nd century AD, this construction was replaced by the Dharmarajika Stupa, remains of which still are visible. 

With Alexander, Greek knowledge and science reached Taxila. Here, philosophers and the like met and developed science, mathematics and astronomy. 

Sirkap emerged at a later date. After Alexander’s conquest, the eastern part of his empire was ruled by the Seleucid kings till about 250 BC. By then, power was taken over by the self-proclaimed King Diodotus I of Bactria, who laid the foundations of what became the Greco-Bactrian Empire. These Bactrian Greeks advanced into the Gandhara region and erected their well-planned city of Sirkap as part of Taxila. For the next five hundred years, Greek remained the lingua franca and the influence of Greek art and beliefs lived on (see: Unique Hellenistic heritage in Pakistan). 

This link is confirmed by the Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana (15-100 AD) who described Taxila as being rich with Greek type of constructions. This happened in the 1^st century AD and it is generally accepted that he was talking about Sirkap.

As a result of the heavy traffic on the Silk Road that connected Central Asia to China, business flourished while the population mingled with the Scythians, the Parthians and later the Kushans. Besides silk and other precious goods, Buddhism also spread steadily in the wake of Buddhist monks travelling to China, Korea and Japan. It was under the Kushan emperors that a new form of art blossomed blending classical Greek expression with local art forms. This became known as the Gandhara Art, which produced the most remarkable statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas (see: Indo-Greek art or the influence of Hellenism on Buddhist art). 

One of the oldest Stupas is the so-called Round Stupa from the 1^st century AD. The largest sanctuary is the Apsidal Temple; measuring 70x40m with a square nave and several rooms used by the Buddhist monks. It also presented a building in an apsidal shape – hence its name. It may have been decorated by a Greek artist but the earthquake of 30 AD destroyed most of the building. 

Of particular interest in the Double-Headed Eagle Stupa which displayed pilasters of Greek design with Corinthian columns. It has a strange combination of a Greek temple and a Hindu shrine. The ensemble is crowned with a double-headed eagle as originally found in Babylon. The theory is that the idea spread to Scythia and was introduced to the Punjab by the Saka rulers. 

The large Dharmarajika Stupa already mentioned in Bhir, was situated not far from Sirkap. It was built with the sole purpose of housing relics of the Buddha and was surrounded by several monastic buildings. 

The most recent city is Sirsukh, which was founded by the Kushans after 80 AD. King Kanishka had decided to abandon Sirkap and to build his own new city in a typical Central Asian style. The city was surrounded by a strong fortification wall that was almost five kilometers long and more than six meters thick. Its particularity was that the face of these walls was covered with diaper or diamond shaped masonry. Until now, the city proper could not be investigated properly because today it is buried deep underneath the low richly irrigated land. Sirsukh was completely destroyed by the Huns who invaded the Punjab around 500 AD.