The beauty of ancient glassware

I always loved Roman glassware. It is such a fragile material and it is amazing to see such a variety of shapes and models on display in so many museums. 

Glass was first produced around 1600 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. To that effect, sand was mixed with salt, preferably natron as found in dry lake beds in Egypt. This mixture in the right proportions was heated in a kiln until it turned into glass. 

These rough glass chunks were acquired by craftsmen who melted them down and pressed them into molds, letting them cool off and harden to obtain the desired object. 

One of the earliest finds of glass ingots is known from the shipwreck of Uluburun. This ship went down in a storm in 1350 BC, i.e., shortly after 1600 BC when glass was first made. It yielded a precious cargo of all kinds including glass ingots colored with copper and cobalt (see: The flooded remains of Kekova Island and Uluburun). It must have been an extremely valuable part of the ship’s cargo. 

The oldest artifacts apparently were beads made of glass paste, generally by Phoenician artists going back to the 7^th-3^rd century BC found in Egypt. More recent Phoenician examples date from the 4^th-3^rd century BC exhibited at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. Typically, each bead shows a human head with big eyes and well-drawn facial details including a hairdo. 

At the small Airport Museum of Athens, there are glass beads from a necklace of the 5^th century BC decorated with the evil eye, retrieved from the local Twin Sanctuary. 

A Persian glass bowl was unearthed in Cuma, Italy, dating from 400-350 BC displayed at the British Museum in London. This means that the Persians understood the art of glass making, probably from Mesopotamian sources. 

Blown glass was a Roman invention from the 1^st century BC. This technique made it much easier to create objects as it required less time and less material. Where glassware initially was a product reserved for Egypt’s high society, it now become readily available to lower social classes. The items were more affordable and soon accessible to everyone all over the empire. As a result, archaeologists readily unearthed them in Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, Italy, Libya, Tunisia, etc. The Römisch-Germanishes Museum in Cologne holds a rich and select assortment of artifacts, but many other museums also offer rare examples. 

The shapes and forms of the objects are endless: vases, jars, flasks, drinking glasses, pitchers, wine jugs, pyxides, perfume bottles, and even cinerary urns. A big cinerary glass urn from the 1^st-2^nd century AD is on display at the Bardo Museum, but the largest glass amphora was found in Olbia, dated to 150-80 BC, and is exhibited at the Altes Museum in Berlin. 

The most striking of all glassware and my personal favorites are the delicate blown glass vessels in the shape of a fish or galley. Also blue enameled vases, translucent and transparent ones, and bottles with fishnet decorations – all from the 1^st century AD discovered in Begram, Afghanistan. Of outstanding quality are the enameled and painted glass beakers made in Alexandria, Egypt, also found in Begram. The scenes are familiar as they represent Fighting Hoplites, an African hunt, and surprisingly, even the Rape of Europe, Ganymede and the Eagle. This impressive collection can be admired at the Musée Guimet in Paris.

Sadly, glassware rarely receives the attention it deserves because our eyes are mostly drawn towards larger works of art, such as statues and reliefs of people and gods we are familiar with. However, it certainly is rewarding to pay attention to these fine and fragile objects next time around.

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]

Le trésor perdu des rois d’Afghanistan by Philippe Flandrin

Le trésor perdu des rois d’Afghanistan (ISBN 2-268-03977-3) translates into The Lost Treasure of the Kings of Afghanistan and is written by Philippe Flandrin, journalist and war correspondent.

This book is the best work about the history of Afghanistan. In a most pleasant and comprehensive way, the auteur manages to mix Afghanistan’s recent history with that of antiquity. After an introduction to the times of Cyrus the Great and Alexander the Great, he seeks and finds the transition to the days of Graeco-Buddhist art.

The catalyst agent in opening up the country of Afghanistan in recent times was, in fact, its last king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, who ruled for forty years. Unhappy about the British interference in the 19th and early 20th centuries, he turned to France for archaeological expertise. He had studied in France, and this created a natural bond. The king was deposed in a coup in 1973, and soon afterward, the Soviets invaded the now Republic of Afghanistan. Political changes always prevail in the way of life in any country. The archaeological teams soon withdrew from Afghanistan because tribal powers were still powerful. We all remember how the Taliban “liberated” the country from the Soviets and then imposed their own religious ideas.

Philippe Flandrin takes us by the hand and leads us through the mazes of Afghanistan’s stirring history as it has been forged over the centuries. People like Cyrus, Alexander, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane have left their marks, followed by Buddhist and Chinese travelers on the Silk Road.

He starts his book with the first discoveries of sites like Ai-Khanoum, Tillya Tepe, and Hadda, including the hardships the archaeologists encountered and the opposition from the local people – generally strong Islamic believers who smashed and destroyed many of the human statues as soon as they were unearthed. Tribal elderly had their say, as even the king could not overrule or control them. Many wondrous finds have thus disappeared before reaching Kabul. Half of the artifacts that made it were entered into the newly built Museum of Kabul, and the other half were shipped off to France, finding a home at the Musée Guimet in Paris. And luckily so, because soon after the Soviet occupation, the Museum of Kabul was plundered. The gorgeous statues from the Gandhara era were destroyed, and the smaller pieces slowly but surely found their way to the illegal markets, mainly through Peshawar in Pakistan. This procedure is detailed in the second part of this book - an unfortunate episode indeed.

This exciting book's third and last part discusses the world of legal and illegal art trading worldwide. The conclusion is that most of Afghanistan's precious finds have vanished from Ai-Khanoum, Begram, Tillya Tepe, Hadda, and other key excavation sites. The sites proper have been trampled or bulldozed, and all that remains of the Museum of Kabul is a skeleton building; people are still determining what became of its rich collection. The gold, jewels, and coins from the excavations had been locked up safely in the vaults of the Central Bank in Kabul. It was a miracle to find these pieces intact when a team of local and international experts and archaeologists laid eyes on them in 2004. This treasure was luckily saved and is now part of an exhibition traveling around the world as it would not be safe in its homeland  (see: Bactrian Gold, The Hidden Treasures from the Museum of Kabul).

It is a sad story that clearly illustrates how the Afghans have been nearly entirely stripped of their history – a story much less known than the destructive path the IS has left behind in neighboring Iraq and Syria. Still, the drama in Afghanistan is at least as devastating and radical.

Alexander crosses the Hindu Kush a second time

After two years of intense guerrilla fights throughout Sogdiana, Alexander had finally caught Bessus, eliminated Spitamenes, and restored a relative peace in Bactria by marrying Roxane. The time had come for him to head for India.

Until now, I was convinced that Alexander returned from Bactria via the Khyber Pass, but when I tried to trace where the idea came from, I was in for a surprise. There is no excuse; I should have taken a closer look at the map to realize that the Khyber Pass lies, in fact, on the way from Kabul to Peshawar and not between Bactria and Afghanistan.

With that question solved, I needed to find out which pass Alexander had used leaving Bactria. The antique authors are disappointingly scant in reporting this part of his campaign. Plutarch, Justin, and Diodorus do not mention the crossing of the Hindu Kush – a formidable barrier under all circumstances - on Alexander’s return, and Curtius simply states that Alexander set out for India in order not to foster idleness. Arrian seems to be the only one to be more specific, telling us that by the end of spring, Alexander began his march for India, that he crossed the Indian Caucasus, and ten days later reached Alexandria(-in-the-Caucasus), the city he had founded during his first expedition into Bactria. Strabo merely tells us that Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush and settled his veterans and mercenaries together with natives at Alexandria-in-the Caucasus.

This meant that I had to rely on modern historians and their research on the matter. Unfortunately, they do not agree among themselves about Alexander’s route, and it seems that they all have a theory of their own.

Frank Holt (Into the Land of Bones) has come to the conclusion that Alexander marched his army over the Shibar Pass. With the winter snows gone, the trek went smoothly and without great logistical problems.

Robin Lane Fox (Alexander the Great) says that Alexander used the same pass as earlier, meaning the Khawak Pass (see: From Afghanistan into Bactria across the Hindu Kush). This time in June, the march was at a leisurely pace and took only ten days. The snows had melted, and Alexander could rely on food stored in the Sogdian fortresses on the way and on the high grazing grounds for the animals. The army spent a pleasant summer at Alexandria-in-the-Caucasus (Begram), thus avoiding an invasion of India in appalling heat.

A.B. Bosworth (Conquest and Empire) simply mentions that Alexander crossed the passes of the Hindu Kush into the Paropamisadae in ten days and reinforced the city of Alexandria-in-the-Caucasus.

Michael Wood has concluded that Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush via Bamyan, which implies that he took the Shibar Pass.

Donald Engels (Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army), in turn, sticks to the Salang Pass since this pass is shorter and has often been used by armies in a hurry. Engels states that the army re-crossed the Hindu Kush in late spring but could not forage for grain along the route because harvest at these high altitudes does not occur until July or August. They had to rely on supplies collected by Hephaistion throughout Bactra before departing.

In a footnote, the author refers to the optional Kushan Pass, just east of the Salang Pass, that has been put forward by other historians, but then this Kushan Pass is seldom used because it is precipitous and treacherous – not exactly recommendable for an army. The Salang Pass, on the other hand, although as fast as the Kushan, is much safer. He rules out the Shibar Pass, which is longer than the Khawak. Given the ten days it took Alexander to cross the Hindu Kush, Engels’ choice is narrowed down to either the Salang Pass or the Kushan Pass.

All these theories take me back to the map of Afghanistan and of the Hindu Kush in particular. Based on the above, it comes down to choosing between the 3,878-meter-high Salang Pass and the Kushan Pass rising at 4,370 meters, located due west of the Salang Pass. Interestingly, this pass is less than one kilometer away from the modern Salang Tunnel, built in 1964 with the financial and technological support of the Soviet Union. This meant that traveling time is cut down drastically, although repeated avalanches tend to trap the vehicles inside the tunnel, making the voyage still a dangerous one.

Glancing at Google maps provides another quite impressive image of the landscape the Macedonian army crossed. Even with enough food and fodder, we have to admire these sturdy men trudging over narrow paths, through deep ravines, across icy rivers, and over rocks of all sizes and shapes. Nobody, not even Hannibal, comes close to Alexander’s exploits in the Hindu Kush. In the end, I have to agree with David Engels and agree on the Salang Pass.

We should remember that Alexander’s Asian campaign is much and much more than a series of battles and sieges. Marching often through forbidding landscapes, coping with extreme heat, thunderstorms, crosswinds, dust, rain, sleet, and ice, the Macedonians have seen it all, but the king set the example by leading his troops over each and every obstacle. The Hindu Kush is just one of these obstacles, although a major one that cannot be stressed enough.

[First picture shows the Shibar Pass by František Řiháček -original prints, CC BY-SA 3.0, - The two other pictures show the Salang Pass by Scott L.Sorensen - My Personal Picture, CC BY 3.0 and by Spc. Michael Vanpool (U.S. Armed Forces) respectively.]

From Afghanistan into Bactria across the Hindu Kush

Before winter made the high passes of the Hindu Kush impassable, Bessus crossed the mountains north into Bactria, applying the policy of scorched earth in an attempt to make it impossible for Alexander to follow him. But evidently, he underestimated Alexander's determination and stubbornness! The ancients thought the Hindu Kush Mountain Range was a continuation of the Caucasus Mountains and alternatively used that name. They also called it the Paropamisadae, derived from the Persian word meaning as much as "peak over which the eagle cannot fly." The Hindu Kush is a nearly 1,000 km long barrier of high mountains running from Afghanistan to India, with the highest peak reaching 7,708 meters. This range, in fact, separates Central Asia from South Asia or India. In other words, it is a colossal barrier that cannot be underestimated.

It is late November 330 BC when Alexander marches through a series of narrow ravines that run from Kandahar, situated at 1100m via Ghazni, to Kabul at 1791 m. The modern road, which certainly takes shortcuts compared to Alexander's advance, tells us that the distance is slightly less than 500 km. Climbing in altitude to 3000 meters at times, the thin air and deep snow make progress very difficult. Under these circumstances, camp is made above the clouds where the nights are ungodly cold, and the land is covered with snow. The army suffers from snow blindness and frostbite. In the murky light, many lose their way and get stuck in snowdrifts as the wind howls through the narrows. Food, especially during the last leg of this journey, becomes a daily preoccupation, and the meager contribution of the natives hardly supports the Macedonian forces.

Alexander realizes that it is too late in the year to march across the Hindu Kush and settles his army near Begram at the junction of two rivers, the Cophen (Kabul) and the Panshir overlooking a broad plain framed by snowy peaks. Eventually, this city will become one of the many Alexandrias that patch the world map and will be called, very appropriately Alexandria-in-Caucasus. The army gets a breather for several months with abundant food and fodder available. Meanwhile, the snow falls heavily over the Hindu Kush, and in the heart of winter, the mountains are covered with a layer of twenty meters of snow.

Once again, one can only marvel at Alexander's highly skilled preparations and logistics. Of course, these lands were part of the Achaemenid Empire, and as such, they were well-documented and organized, but we must recognize Alexander's own intelligence and scouting parties. He had a choice of passes to pursue Bessus into Bactria, and it is generally agreed that he opted for the Khawak Pass. Although this road was the longest (75 kilometers), it also was the lowest (3,550m) and provided the best chances for forage. Here, he outsmarted Bessus, who had expected his enemy to take the shortest route, where he burnt all the local winter provisions behind him.

Despite careful planning, Alexander and his army approaching the Hindu Kush from the south had a strenuous journey. The column is divided into four sections, and the vanguard – the army engineers - had the most demanding job of clearing the way. They set out in early spring (sources vary from March to June), marching up the Panshir Valley, some 150 km north of Kabul, suffering from cold and lack of food. As soon as they entered the sheer walls of this gorge, they were confronted with thick crusts of frost as the sun hardly touched the bottom for a mere few minutes this time of year. They had to hack through the ice for many parts of this one-hundred-kilometer-long valley. With the first snow melting, rivers turning into torrents thunder down the gorges, making treacherous crossings. On top of that, scores of tributary valleys filled with debris and icy waters descend with deafening fury into the Panshir Valley.

It is said that the Macedonians carried a ten-day ration for an expedition that should take four days. Instead, it took Alexander and his army a full week to reach the summit and another ten days to descend into the fertile plains of Central Asia on the other side, i.e., seventeen grueling days in all.

It was not so much the distance that commanded the army's progress but the terrain itself. The mountain path varied considerably in width. At its narrowest parts, only three men could walk abreast: two infantrymen or one cavalry horse could pass at one time as the baggage train and pack animals formed a file alongside, as that was the best – and probably the only – way for the men in accessing supplies in such a confined space. These were actual bottlenecks that held up the entire marching line. The cavalrymen would most probably dismount their horses to lead their mounts, especially on the ascent.

What is not recounted in our history books but has been reported by British troops who invaded Afghanistan in 1838 and 1878 are the extreme weather conditions in these parts. In his book The Afghan Campaign, Steven Pressfield paints vivid pictures of the Macedonian's fight with the elements, which comes very close to reality.

There is an intensity in the sunrise and sunset in these mountains that is quite unique. The light throws patches of blue and violet on the melting snow, described as a purple veil as misty as a breeze. Worse are the sudden storms that strike, alternating hail and snow. Hailstones rattle the soldiers' shields and helmets. The men seek shelter against the elements, but soon the trail turns into ice, making each step slippery and treacherous. The drenched army must have felt the frigid wind cutting right through their bones. They have to sleep where they are on the trail, sheltering against each other and their pack animals as best they can.

When finally the sun breaks through, men and mountains are shrouded in vapor and sweat. The danger of avalanches is very real. Rills and runnels turn into torrents plunging to the depth of the valley. At times, the sun blazes so fiercely that the men take off their cloaks. Yet, one hour later, the mild temperatures suddenly plummet as a new load of sleet and hail thunders down on them. Their path is then covered with scree and shingle, making each step precarious. Nearer to the top of the pass, they are confronted with glaciers strewn with fissures, crevasses, and cracks between the ice upheavals. Whatever part of their upwards trek, the underfoot is unstable and dangerous. On top of that, mountain sickness hits the men, who are disoriented and unable to keep any scarce food down. Every movement demands a monumental effort, and many go snow-blind. The companies start falling apart while the winds howl relentlessly and the icy cold hits the men to the core of their souls.

The Macedonians did not realize that the Panshir Valley is a beautiful valley that provides the locals with rich harvests of rice, barley, and beans. But all that is now hidden under the thick coat of snow, burying even the orchards of pistachios, apricots, pears, and mulberries. There is no wood to light a fire, and the men must settle for cold goat meat, frozen onions, and iced curd. 

Halfway up in the mountains, a rock, half a mile high, became identified with Prometheus, a hero from the most remarkable Greek legends that had always been placed in the Caucasus. Here, the tale was conveniently assimilated into the ancient Persian myth in which the eagle Sena had saved the hero Dastan. The story was a good incentive for the army to feel more at home instead of plowing along through these god-forbidden frozen mountains.

Alexander's army has been estimated at 64,000 troops and 10,000 cavalry horses with an additional number of followers of approximately 36,000, making it a total of 100,000 men to meander over these snowy paths. In his Logistics of the Macedonian Army, Donald Engels gives detailed calculations of the space occupied by each soldier, horseman, and camp follower, enabling him to match the marching time of seventeen days as mentioned by ancient authors. This is a fascinating and trustworthy analysis.

According to Aristotle, one could see from the summit of the Caucasus all the way to the eastern edge of the world. Alexander and his Companions, who had shared his teaching, knew this story very well, but what they witnessed instead was not the end of the world but ridge after ridge of endless high mountains. How did this influence their opinion or esteem of Aristotle?

If the ascent was steep and challenging, the sufferings of the army reached intolerable heights during its descent. On the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush, the snow still filled the crags and masked all the features. Finding and following a trail was a nightmare. The horses had been fitted with snow boots to cope with the deep snow and slippery drifts. The men's clothing and footwear were unsuitable for these harsh winter conditions. They trudged on with empty bellies, chewing on wood and wax as they struggled with chronic fatigue. The well-drilled and disciplined Macedonian army falters as avalanches break their column formations into many separate sections.

Famine spread throughout the army, and the few remaining amphorae of wine – a mere drop in the ocean – were sold at exorbitant prices, as was the honey. In the lower valleys, the soldiers could supplement their diet with brown trout from the rivers and some herbs, but there was no fodder for the animals, and orders were issued to slaughter them. However, since the scant scrub bushes were still buried deep under the snow, no firewood was available, and the meat had to be eaten raw.

Descending from the foothills in early June, Alexander made it without trouble to Kunduz and from there to the local capital of Bactra (Balkh in Afghanistan). Here, he allowed his troops to refresh in this relatively generous oasis. The army's spirits must have revived when terraced fields of rice and barley unfolded in front of them, and they could relish the sight of pear and plum trees. Here, the days were warm and pleasant, and they found plenty of provisions stored within the city walls as ordered by Bessus to fit his scorched earth policy and now serving Alexander. This evidently was a real bonus as the city opened its gates to the new conqueror!

[Pictures are from Mountains of our Mind and from Place and See, except the first one, which is clearly from Oliver Stone's film Alexander]

Bactrian Gold, the Hidden Treasures from the Museum of Kabul

Bactria, to me, is Alexander-country, the lands of Central Asia where he spent two years of his life in 228 and 227 BC. The exceptional exhibition “Afghanistan, hidden treasures from the National Museum, Kabul” covers this period and is presently traveling worldwide. It centers on four excavation sites covering roughly 2,500 years, i.e., from two thousand BC to the third century AD.

[Map from National Geographic showing Alexander's Route]

I knew French and Russian archaeologists had been working in the area for years, entrusting their treasures to the National Museum in Kabul. That is till 1979 when the troops of the USSR invaded Afghanistan. Archaeological diggings by Frenchman Paul Bernard at Ai-Khanoum, for instance, had to be interrupted abruptly, and when he returned to the site recently, it was thoroughly plundered and destroyed. Most damage was, however, done a few years later when the Taliban considered it their duty to obliterate every image of people wherever they found it: on frescoes, mosaics, paintings, reliefs, or statues. We all have witnessed what happened to the giant Buddha statues in Bamyan. Still, not many people know that the Museum of Kabul was one heap of rubble after the Taliban had thoroughly ravaged it – a frightening experience! A precious heritage that survived for centuries is being totally destroyed with just one single blow!

To use the old name, Bactria is located in Central Asia, right on the crossroads of old caravan routes, later the Silk Road, the meeting point of all trade routes between East and West. It is not surprising that Alexander the Great put so much time and effort into the conquest of this area, for it meant not only a way to secure his back while heading for India but also an economic asset precisely because of the geographic location of Bactria. His marriage to Roxana, the local chief's daughter, was, after all, a high political move rather than real or impulsive love, as some suggest. Who knows?

The first objects I encounter as I enter the exhibition are three statues from the Musée Guimet in Paris, dating from Buddhist times but showing a definite Hellenistic influence. You can’t miss them; the way they are presented in the floodlights against a black background instantly gives you a taste of what to expect. This magnificent high relief of a Genius with Flowers from the 4th-5th century AD was found in the Buddhist monastery of Hadda in remote northern Afghanistan, yet still magnificently Hellenistic.

At a right angle, right in front of me, stands a showcase filled with one hundred Buddhist heads, sorted by size, i.e., the smaller ones on the lower steps and the bigger ones at the top. It is a fascinating group, for all the heads are different, and as I take a closer look at each and every one of them, either at eye level or from the side, I see how they stare back at me or ignore me, looking away in an absent glance. I take my time to inspect and admire each face, some more Hellenistic than others, with a more elongated or rounder face, longer ears, closed eyelids, or just peeping at us visitors. All in all, an amazing group!

From here, the way leads to the movie theater, where this French documentary is shown about their exploration and excavations in the magnificent Afghan landscape. It is well documented with clear maps and a captivating view behind the scenes – absolutely worth watching. 

The oldest finds (2,000 BC) come from Tepe Fullol. There are only a handful of gold bowls and beakers made of thinly beaten gold that somehow remind me of old Mycenae and the death mask of Agamemnon. Archaeologists disagree about the origins of this form of art, and the link to other cultures remains obscure. To complicate things, most of the treasures had disappeared, first because the gold was split up between the local tribal chiefs of Northern Afghanistan when it was discovered, and secondly, because the entire collection at the Museum of Kabul fell apart. These pieces are a little out of the way. That is unfortunate, for they deserve better after being hidden for four thousand years, don’t they?

The section about Ai-Khanoum is the most important one, at least in my eyes, for it is the reason for my visit, as this city was built in the wake of Alexander the Great’s conquest of the area in 328-327 BC. I am very much impressed by the idea of discovering this Hellenistic city at the banks of the Amu Daria River (modern Oxus River), complete with a Gymnasium, a Citadel, a Theater, and temples. It is not as evident as it would seem! The Greeks even built a Palace here. It is unlike anything else, for they never had a king to build it for. This one is based on the Persian model but decorated in Greek style with monumental Corinthian capitals on top of the columns and flat roofs with the so-called antefix decorations at the edge. A capital and several antefixes are on display here, together with objects like a water jet in the shape of a theatrical mask, a couple of sundials (which I didn’t expect to find here at all), a Hellenistic Hermes pillar of high quality from the Gymnasium, a face of either a man or a woman, bronze decorative elements, etc.

Eye-catcher is the Disk of Cybele from the 3rd century BC, made of gilded silver, picturing the goddess Cybele on a chariot in Greek style mixed with several eastern influences, featuring the fire altar and Helios.

What excites me is the stone pedestal bearing the Delphic precepts. This wisdom comes from Delphi in the 5th century BC, and teaches us something along the lines of “As a child, learn good manners. As a young man, learn to control your passions. In middle age, be just. In old age, give good advice. When you die, do so without regret.” Can you imagine the impact of this old text, this old wisdom that traveled from Greece to resurface unexpectedly 2,500 years later at the very edge of the desert steppes? That leaves me utterly speechless for a while!

Next comes the collection from Begram, a small town north of Kabul. In the years before WWII, two sealed chambers were uncovered, still containing their treasures of ivory furniture from India, plaster medallions, and, most strikingly, an extensive collection of glasswork of Hellenistic origin. Here too, each archaeologist seems to have their own theory of whether these chambers were set up as storage areas (since all the ivory was put together, and so was all the bronze and all the glass), as religious offerings, or maybe this is a hidden treasure. 

In any case, the glasswork alone is absolutely fabulous and unique in shape, color, and decoration. There are, for instance, these three goblets (they look more like vases to me, so tall). The countless pieces have been glued back together, but just by looking at the colors of these fishing and hunting scenes, you would swear they were painted only yesterday – so vivid and lively! Now try to imagine the impact of such a find, for these drinking beakers were produced in Alexandria in the first century AD and traveled all the way from Egypt to Kabul.

You have to admit that you are looking at something very exceptional. We all know there was an active exchange of goods in antiquity, and it comes to us like a simple statement from a history book, but here you are faced with the very product of such trade! I keep staring at this glasswork with wide-open eyes. Wow! Next to these painted glasses are a couple of glass drinking goblets or vases in the shape of fish, blue and off-white, with shiny eyes and sharp fins. I’ve never seen anything like this. There are glass-blown vases with honeycomb motives or wrapped in a net of glass lace; an elegant black glass vase with a high handle next to a translucent one covered with designs applied with gold leaf; for me, an unprecedented variety of delicate, colored, and painted glass that makes the cut-crystal bowl look rather primitive and dull. Amazing!

In another showcase, all the ivory artifacts have been brought together.

These objects from the first century AD originally all came from India, but again are drenched in a Hellenistic sauce. Unique is the ivory River Goddesses, approximately 45 cm high, clearly from a Buddhist background, among the exquisite openwork ivory panels showing Indian ladies in exotic gardens with fountains and temple-like buildings, a few monster figures, etc. Strange is the odd-shaped earthenware jar with blue-green glaze representing a bird-woman, for I cannot tie this style or shape to anything I have seen before.

The bronze artifacts somehow don’t add anything new. I only remember the cute figurine of Amor carrying a lamp and the young rider who seems to refer to Alexander the Great because of the way he is sitting on the horse that is lost from underneath him.

I stop to admire the row of plaster medallions, each about 15 cm in diameter, also dating from the first century AD. They look like oversized molds for the production of coins, but were used to create the bottom motives for silver plates and goblets as the silver was poured and hammered around these molds. There are a few striking designs, like the Winged Amor or the high relief of a youth. Just imagine these portraits staring back at you from the bottom of your silver goblet filled with water or wine. I certainly would love to give this a try, wouldn’t you?

Finally, there is the gold treasure from Tillya Tepe, a tomb hill just outside the Greek Bactrian city of Emshi-Tepe in the oasis of Sherberghan. The content of these six tombs was barely rescued when the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan in 1979, and it was safely transferred to the Museum in Kabul. There was a seventh tomb on that hill at the Turkmenistan border, but Viktor Sarianidi, the Russian archaeologist who had led these excavations together with his Afghan colleagues, ran out of time, and when he recently returned, the tomb had been thoroughly plundered. Such a shame! Luckily for us, Sarianidi managed to travel to the Museum of Kabul in the 1980s in order to take pictures of all 20,000 excavated objects, and he published an impressive book. So at least we know exactly what was found at Tillya Tepe.

What followed were uncertain times for the art world, and we owe it to a handful of brave Afghans that this treasure was rescued, safely locked away in the vaults of the Presidential Palace. They managed to keep the place a secret. The Museum itself has suffered a great deal from the civil wars, as it was repeatedly plundered and artifacts were stolen, and in 1994 it was hit by a rocket, setting it on fire. How dreadful! The worst, however, was still to come when in 2001, the Taliban decided not only to destroy the huge Buddha statues at Bamyan but also to annihilate the 2,500 statues and reliefs of the Museum. We had to wait till 2004 when the government of Afghanistan decided that the situation was safe enough to bring the gold treasures out in the open again, but as the Museum in Kabul could not shelter this precious collection yet, they contacted the Musée Guimet in Paris. Together, they agreed to send these rich finds on a traveling tour. After Paris and Turin (Italy), the collection can presently be seen in Amsterdam, moved on to the United States, and is now touring Australia.

  

The tombs are beautifully presented in high rectangular boxes covered with a glass plate showing the contours of the deceased with underneath each piece of jewelry in its original place. They unearthed one warrior and five women, the man lying at the top of the hill between the two most beautifully dressed women, the other three women being found on the hillside, which should have looked like a kurgan according to the nomads’ rituals.

This part of the exhibition clearly states that Northern Afghanistan was the melting pot of different cultures, where the influence of China and Greece is interwoven with the lifestyle of the steppe people. Each tomb is an exploration by itself, where all kinds of artifacts of different origins keep each other company in breathtaking harmony.

Of course, they all have gold bracelets and anklets inlaid or not with semi-precious stones, but I notice how some women hold a Chinese mirror, from the Han Dynasty apparently; gold pins with on top a gold flower with open petals and vibrant pistils; hairpins as I know them from Japanese geishas but executed in thin flaky gold and tiny pearls; a ring engraved with an Athena figure and Greek inscription, and rings inlaid with precious stones; ornaments for the neck of the robe laid out as a necklace made of gold, turquoise, garnet, carnelian, and pyrite; gold earrings preferably inlaid with turquoise; pendants like those of the Dragon Master with turquoise, garnet, lapis-lazuli, carnelian and pearls in a rare symbiosis of Greek, Indian and Chinese elements; a set of gold clasps showing Amor riding a dolphin with turquoise and mother of pearl; even gold foot soles! 

The warrior, supposedly a prince, carries an iron dagger with a gold-covered handle depicting animals and inlaid with turquoise. His belt, made of braided gold-thread strings connecting nine gold medallions showing a warrior riding a lion, is an exceptional masterpiece. His head rested on a phial, a plate used for offerings, made of pure gold and measuring nothing less than 23 cm in diameter!

       

The list seems endless, for besides the most striking objects, the collection contains numerous coins, pendants, and various decorative items. As the most recent coin found in these tombs is that of Emperor Tiberius (who ruled from 14 to 37 AD), they could be dated with certainty to the first century AD. We see a true amalgamation of art from the steppes (I would personally call this Scythian art), Greek, Indian, and Chinese art.

I am terribly excited to finally catch up with the Aphrodite of Bactria, a five-centimeter-high gold appliqué inlaid with turquoise. I know the piece from pictures and references, but here she is. I go down on my knees to look closer; for an instant, she is mine alone. The piece de resistance, however, seems to be the gold crown with gold spangles and flowers. It is, in fact, a travel crown that can be taken apart as it consists of five separate pieces mounted around a tiny stem holding flattened branches that fit into the band of the crown itself. The spangles gently shake as people walk by, so imagine this crown in the open steppe where the wind can play freely with every tiny detail! A true gem!

It is still unclear to which nomad tribes the tombs of Tillya Tepe belong and how far this melting pot of civilizations reached out. Generally, these steppe people came from northwestern China or Parthia (now part of Iran and Turkmenistan), but who knows? Further investigations will tell us. For now, we have to accept that this territory is vast, for we have jade from China, garnets from India, turquoise from eastern Iran, and lapis lazuli from the mines of Badakhshan (today’s Afghanistan), all found together in this area. And yet we have not mentioned the traders and artists who were constantly moving between China, India, and the Roman Empire to produce these beautiful artifacts. It’s a small world – or is it not so small after all?

Anyway, I am convinced that this wide exchange of art and knowledge would not have been possible without Alexander the Great conquering these territories and organizing his Empire as he did.

[Pictures from The Australian by Ollivier Thierry]