Dating Kampyr-Tepe, Alexandria-on-the-Oxus

Kampyr-Tepe, ancient Alexandria-on-the-Oxus, whose foundations go back to the 4th and 3rd century BC, has been continuously excavated by Edvard V. Rtveladze and Alexei N. Gorin. They have concentrated on the citadel and the city proper with its striking Hellenistic entrance gate (see: Alexandria on the Oxus is at Kampyr-Tepe).

Alexander copper coins

By now, the citadel has yielded several Hellenistic coins that shed light on daily life in the city. Altogether, 30 coins of interest have been retrieved, mostly small-denomination copper coins. Two of them belong to King Antiochus I and 28 to the Graeco-Bactrian kings. Among them were rulers like: 

Antiochus I (281-261 BC)

Only two Seleucid coins were found in Kampyr-Tepe, and both were chalki (χαλκι, meaning copper) of Antiochus I, one minted in Babylonia (Seleucia-on-the-Tigris) and another one in Bactria.

Other examples came to light north of the Oxus River in places such as Afrasiab/Maracanda (see: Afrasiab, ancient Samarkand), Termez, and Bukhara.
 
Diodotus (c. 250-230 BC)
Scholars cannot agree whether Diodotus I or Diodotus II issued the coins. There are four copper coins: two dichalki, one chalkous, and one hemichalkous (half a chalkous). The chalkous was the smallest fraction of a Greek coin; in Athens, one needed eight χαλκι to make one obol. Based on their graphic design, these coins could have been issued by the mint of Bactra or Ai-Khanoum.

Tetradrachm of Euthydemus I

Euthydemus I (c. 230-200 BC)
Ten copper coins of Euthydemus I were found in Kampyr-Tepe, among which seven dichalki and one chalkous. Some of these coins have been extremely useful for dating the city’s buildings. Euthydemus I coins are the most common type found in northern Bactria, and six χαλκι are known from the Oxus Treasure (see: The Oxus Treasure, pieces Alexander must have known).
 
Euthydemus II (c. 190-185 BC)
Coins with the effigy of Euthydemus II are scarce. Some χαλκι, dichalki, and trichalki cuprum-nickel coins were found in Kampyr-Tepe, together with copper dichalki and trichalki.

Demetrius I (c. 200-185 BC)
Kampyr-Tepe has yielded one Demetrius obol and several copper χαλκι, dichalki, hemichalki, and trichalki.
 
Eucratides I (c.171-150 BC)
Eucratides is very much present in Kampyr-Tepe with seven coins, i.e., one drachm, one octuplus (a copper obol), and five obols. The obols belonged to the beginning of Eucratides’ reign when he started using his new title Megas, Great. One of these obols has been important to date when the fortified walls of the acropolis were last used as it was found in its top layer. It is noteworthy that Eucratides’ obols have also been recovered from Afrasiab/Maracanda, Bukhara (see: Alexander in Bactria and Sogdiana), and Ai-Khanoum.

Tetradrachm of Eucratides I

A bonus from Kampyr-Tepe was the find of two hitherto unknown coins of Heliocles and imitations of Demetrius I and Eucratides. Counterfeit is of all times!
 
Heliocles I (c. 139-129 BC) drachm imitation
The exact dates of Heliocles’ reign are not known. This drachm raises questions because of the mistakes in the inscriptions and the sloppy engraving of the letters. It may well be one of the first imitations.
Another drachm of Heliocles has surfaced in Takhti-Sangin, which may have been the source of the Oxus Treasure (see: The Oxus Treasure, pieces Alexander must have known).
 
Heliocles III (1st century BC) imitation
This king is so far unknown among the Seleucid or Graeco-Bactrian coins. Two coins with his bust were made according to Hellenistic traditions, but the shape of the letters on the coin’s inscription is problematic, especially the square omicron. The square version of the omicron first appears on Indo-Greek coins circulating at the end of the 2nd /beginning of the 1st century BC. The tradition continued until the last Indo-Greek King Hippostratus, who ruled over western Punjab.
It is quite possible that these coins were issued locally for Heliocles III, who shortly ruled over (northern) Bactria.
 
Demetrius drachms - imitation
Besides the abovementioned copper coins, two rare imitations of a Demetrius drachm have been unearthed. They were minted using a different die and showed distortion of the prototype. It has been possible to establish that they were issued in Bactria.
 
Eucratides obol - imitation
Among the Eucratides’ coins found at Kampyr-Tepe, one obol is an obvious imitation. The inscription on the obol is distorted and illegible, and the depiction of the ruler’s head is stylized compared to the real thing.
 
It is noteworthy that all the above finds and considerations treat coins from surface finds in Kampyr-Tepe, not from archaeological diggings. As in other Bactrian and Sogdian cities, the problem is that their remains are buried under thick layers of deposits hampering excavations.
 
Hellenistic coins unearthed from the banks of the Oxus River may suggest that the river played a significant role in the transportation and exchange of goods.

[For the above illustrations, I used my own pictures taken at the Numismatic Museum of Athens, because I lost the link to the reference photographs. We always stare at gold and silver coins, and I had no idea that copper Alexander coins ever existed. My pictures of Euthydemus and Eucratides are both tetradrachms, i.e., made of silver in Bactria].

About Alexandria-on-the-Oxus

It is not always easy and often even impossible to match antique cities with modern names and locations and Alexandria-on-the-Oxus or Alexandria Oxiana is one such an example. The city was, as the name says founded by Alexander the Great on the banks of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) in 329 BC.

Since the discovery of Ai-Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan by Paul Bernard and the French archaeologists in 1964, many scholars believed they had found Alexandria-on-the-Oxus on the confluence of the Kokcha and the Oxus Rivers. At the time of the excavations, France had reached an agreement with the Afghan government, according to which the French were allowed to keep half their finds which were eventually moved to the Musée Guimet in Paris whereas the other half had to remain in Afghanistan together with all the jewelry and the objects made of silver and gold (see: De Kaboul à Samarcande (From Kabul to Samarkand)).

Unfortunately, these archaeological diggings had to be interrupted abruptly when the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The Taliban who arrived shortly afterwards, thoroughly plundered and destroyed the precious work done by the DAFA (French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan), both on the site and eventually also at the Museum of Kabul where the treasures had been kept “safe” (see: Putting archaeological sites on the Map of Afghanistan). It seems that all we have left today are the artifacts that were entrusted to the Musée Guimet in Paris but this is the subject for another blog since we are focusing at present on Alexandria-on-the-Oxus.

The first known candidate for this city, Ai-Khanoum, was a large city of approximately 1.5 km2 founded by Alexander but really developed by the Seleucids ruling over that part of the empire after the king’s death. The city thrived for a good five hundred years till the death of King Eucratides, the last king of the Graeco-Bactrian Empire that had blossomed here (see: Bactrian Gold, the Hidden Treasures from the Museum of Kabul). Altogether, a city worthy of Alexander.

Before his arrival, the settlement already knew an irrigation system with a network of canals that was expanded by the new Greek settlers. True to their origins, they built a city where they felt at home and included a large theater with loges, a gymnasium, an agora, many so-called mansions as well as a Heroon dedicated to a certain Kineas considered as being the founder of the city. Ai-Khanoum became a Hellenistic city by excellence with an exceptional “royal” palace erected in a mixture of Greek and Achaemenid styles. It made headlines when inscriptions containing Greek lyric poetry were found together with a precept from the oracle in Delphi.

In later years, this Alexandria changed name several times to become Diodoteia or Diodotopolis, Dionysopolis, Ostobara and eventually Eucratidia after the last Graeco-Bactrian king who expanded the palace complex and even added a treasury. In this treasury, archaeologists found numerous artifacts among which a throne and inlaid plaque from India which led them to believe they were deposited here after Eucratides’ conquest of Taxila and other cities. In and around Ai-Khanoum many large hoards of coins were retrieved most of which were from Greek and Bactrian origin but others were minted in India. In any case, the most recent specimens date to the rule of Eucratides, linking the end of Ai-Khanoum to this king. After the sudden departure of its inhabitants, the city was destroyed by fire. Although the locals returned after their hurried departure, they simply squatted in the remaining storeroom until they were expelled by yet another wave of nomadic attacks. The city was abandoned in 146 BC.

Ai-Khanoum rose from its ashes for a short while when the French started the excavations as mentioned above but was thoroughly destroyed again by modern invaders and treasure hunters – unfortunately.

Recently, another candidate for Alexandria-on-the-Oxus seems to be Kampyr Tepe situated some 30 kilometers from Termez, very close to the place where Alexander crossed the Oxus after his perilous march through the desert in 329 BC. (see: Alexander crossing the Oxus River).Today, this site lies in Uzbekistan and is separated from Afghanistan by the modern Amur Darya River. Kampyr Tepe was discovered in 1979 just before the Soviet tanks rolled into Afghanistan. Soon afterwards, it became a very sensitive and tightly guarded military zone at the border of the two countries until finally excavations were started about two years ago, in 2015, by the renowned archaeologist Edvard Rtveladze.

It certainly makes sense to find an “Alexandria” on this strategic river ford, populated by some of Alexander’s veterans together with Sogdian farmers and nomads. This lower city probably occupied the plains near the river bank and was inevitably destroyed at some point in time by the meandering Oxus River.

The ruins of the upper city can be found on a ridge overlooking the lowlands and appear rather like a citadel surrounded by powerful walls meant to protect the first Macedonian settlers, followed by the later Graeco-Bactrians.

Unlike Ai-Khanoum, Kampyr Tepe lacks the typical Greek buildings like a theater or an agora, but these may have stood in the lower part right on the Oxus. The upper city, in any case has been laid out in a grit plan in which the streets are lined with large comfortable houses for about six hundred families. They were built using dried bricks just like for the city walls – the only construction material available in this desert void of trees. The main city gate leading to the harbor offers a phenomenal view over the plains created by the river, now flowing several miles further south on the very border with Afghanistan.

The most striking find in Kampyr Tepe is the huge amount of dolia, large terracotta pots. This leads scholars to believe that the city had mainly a logistical function. Besides the usual ceramics and sculptures, some unique Bactrian manuscripts have been found as well which amazingly were written on papyrus. The diversity of the finds suggest that different cults and religions coexisted side by side for centuries. Beside the obvious Greek gods, relics of Zoroastrian, Buddhists and several local cults have been discovered mainly as images stamped on coins. The ruins of an imposing Buddhist monastery with Zoroastrian influences proudly stand outside the city walls.

These days, scholars are inclined to link Alexandria Oxiana to Kampyr Tepe rather than to Ai-Khanoum but so far they have found no evidence to substantiate either city.

[Picture of the necklace from The Australian. Picture of Kampyr Tepe from Caravanistan]