Daha also referred to a dasyu tribe in Margiana. Dahistan (east of the Caspian Sea/Gorgan) derives its name from this tribe . The Greek historians Q. Curtius Rufus (8,3) and Ptolemy (Geography: 6,10,2) located the region of the Dahas on the river Margos (modern Murghab) or in Margiana (Parpola 1988). The Dahas are also mentioned by Pomponius Mela (3,42) and Tacitus (Ann. 11,10).

Strabo wrote about the Dahae the following:

"Most of the Scythians, beginning from the Caspian Sea, are called Scythian Daheans, and those situated more towards the east Massageteans and Saceans; the rest have the common appellation of Scythians, but each separate tribe has its peculiar name. All, or the greatest part of them, are nomads. The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, the Asians, Pasians, Tocharians, and Sacarauls, who came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes, opposite the Sacean and Sogdians."; (Strabo, 11-8-1) 

The geographical term Tokharistan usually refers to 1st millennium Bactria (Chinese Daxia 大夏).

Table of Contents-Cuprins:  

The Daheans, Oxus Civilization, Bactria-Margiana Archeological Complex (BMAC) Indo-Aryana Migration

Characteristic Features of the BMAC by B.B. Lal. The Indian Point of View 

Yaz Culture and Zoroastrianism

BMAC and Other Asian Cultures

Indo Aryana and Indo-Iranian People

What Dasa means?

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

The Daheans

Archaeological cultures associated with Indo-Iranian migrations (after EIEC). The Andronovo, BMAC and Yaz cultures have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The GGC, Cemetery H, Copper Hoard and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan migrations.

The extent of the BMAC (after EIEC).

The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (or BMAC, also known as the Oxus civilization) is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age culture of Central Asia, dated to ca. 2200–1700 BC, located in present day Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan and Iran, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus). Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria was the Greek name for the area of Bactra (modern Balkh), in what is now northern Afghanistan, and Margiana was the Greek name for the Persian satrapy of Margu, the capital of which was Merv, in today's Turkmenistan.

 

Overview

Sarianidi's excavations from the late 1970s onward revealed numerous monumental structures in many different sites, including Namazga-Depe ("governmental centre"), Altyn-Depe ("secondary capital"), Delbarjin, the Dashly Oasis, Toholok 21, Gonur, Kelleli, Sapelli, and Djarkutan. The sites were fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were mostly confined to Soviet journals until the last years of the Soviet Union, so the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi's work began to be translated in the 1990s.

Scholars do not agree on either the origins of the Bactria-Margiana complex, or the reasons for its decline. Its distinctive material culture disappears from the archaeological record a few centuries after it appears.^[1] Radiocarbon dating suggests dating the complex to the last century of the 3rd millennium and the first quarter of the 2nd millennium BC.

Geographically, the Bactria-Margiana complex spans a wide area from southeastern Iran to Balochistan and Afghanistan. Possibly the archaeologically unexplored terrain of Baluchistan and Afghanistan holds the heartland of the complex (see Lamberg-Karlovsky 2002).

BMAC materials such as seals have been found in the Indus civilisation, on the Iranian plateau, and in the Persian Gulf. BMAC finds are coming onto the international trade in illicit antiquities and are finding their way into Western collections and museums.^{[citation needed]}

A previously unknown civilization?

The inhabitants of the BMAC were sedentary people who practised irrigation farming of wheat and barley. There has been interaction with the nomadic people of the contemporary Andronovo culture of the steppe to the north, as the findings of steppe pottery in the BMAC indicate. With their impressive material culture including monumental architecture, bronze tools, ceramics, and jewellery of semiprecious stones, the complex exhibits many of the hallmarks of civilization.

The discovery of a single tiny stone seal with geometric markings from a BMAC site in Turkmenistan in 2001 led some to claim that the Bactria-Margiana complex had also developed writing, and thus may indeed be considered a literate civilization. It is not clear however if the markings represent a true writing system as opposed to isolated pictographs.V. Mair (2001) has shown that the Chinese-like signs are indeed parallel to Chinese inscriptions used some 2500 ^{[when?] [vague] [dubious – discuss]} years later in Xinjiang. The tiny seal has been dislocated down from its original, much later layer. Nevertheless, the BMAC seals contain motifs and even material that are distinctive from seals of Syro-Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, showing they form a type not derived from any other region.

The Indo-Iranian hypothesis

Golden bull's head from Altyn-Depe.

 

Altyndepe (Алтын-Депе, the Turkmen for "Golden Hill") is a Bronze Age (BMAC) site in Turkmenistan, near Aşgabat, inhabited in the 3rd to 2nd millennia BC, abandoned around 1600 BC.

Namazga V and Altyndepe were in contact with the Late Harappan culture (ca. 2000-1600 BC), and Masson (1988) tends to identify the culture as Proto-Dravidian. The site is notable for the remains of its "proto-Zoroastrian" ziggurat^[2].

References

1. ^ Altyn-Depe (University Museum Monographs, No. 55) by V. M. Masson and Henry N. Michael (1988) p.68 ISBN 978-0934718547.
2. ^ V. M. Masson and V. I. Sarianidi, Central Asia: Turkmenia before the Achaemenids (trans. Tringham, 1972); review: Charles C. Kolb, American Anthropologist (1973), 1945-1948

External links

• Altin Tepe entry in Encyclopaedia Iranica
• "Bronze Age in Eurasia", by Valery Pavlovich Alexeev (1991)http://stantours.com/tm_rg_ahal_ad.html

 

Altyndepe

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Golden bull's head (H7.5cm), horns made of silver wire covered with gold foil. On the forehead and in the eyes are turquoise inlays (excavation #7, priest's tomb, room #7)^[1].

Altyndepe (Алтын-Депе, the Turkmen for "Golden Hill") is a Bronze Age (BMAC) site in Turkmenistan, near Aşgabat, inhabited in the 3rd to 2nd millennia BC, abandoned around 1600 BC.

Namazga V and Altyndepe were in contact with the Late Harappan culture (ca. 2000-1600 BC), and Masson (1988) tends to identify the culture as Proto-Dravidian. The site is notable for the remains of its "proto-Zoroastrian" ziggurat^[2].

[edit] References

1. ^ Altyn-Depe (University Museum Monographs, No. 55) by V. M. Masson and Henry N. Michael (1988) p.68 ISBN 978-0934718547.
2. ^ V. M. Masson and V. I. Sarianidi, Central Asia: Turkmenia before the Achaemenids (trans. Tringham, 1972); review: Charles C. Kolb, American Anthropologist (1973), 1945-1948

[edit] External links

• Altin Tepe entry in Encyclopaedia Iranica
• "Bronze Age in Eurasia", by Valery Pavlovich Alexeev (1991)
• http://stantours.com/tm_rg_ahal_ad.html

Coordinates: 36°51′28.50″N 60°25′56.55″E / 36.857917°N 60.432375°E / 36.857917; 60.432375

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altyndepe"

Categories: Archaeological sites in Turkmenistan | Former populated places in Turkmenistan

 

The Bactria-Margiana complex has also attracted attention as a candidate for those looking for the material counterparts to the Indo-Iranians, a major branch that split off from the Proto-Indo-Europeans. Sarianidi himself advocates identifying the complex as Indo-Iranian, going as far as to identify evidence of proto-Zoroastrian objects and rituals. James P. Mallory argues

"The geographic location of the BMAC ... conforms, it is argued, with the historical situation of the Da(h)a and Parnoi mentioned in Greek and Latin sources, which have, in turn, been identified with the Dasas, Dasyus, and Panis of the Rig Veda who were defeated by the Vedic Arya." --EIEC, p. 73.

Similarly, he argues that the design of the BMAC forts "matches the description of the fortified sites depicted in the Vedas"^[2] and mentions evidence for the presence of the soma-cult. The alleged findings of ephedra stems in BMAC context have however been disproved (Bakels 2003).

(The Rig-Veda (Sanskrit rig meaning 'praise' and veda meaning 'knowledge') is the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas. It consists of 1,017 hymns, composed in Vedic Sanskrit. These are contained in 10 books, known as Mandalas. This long collection of short hymns is mostly devoted to the praise of the gods. However, it also contains fragmentary references to historical events, notably the struggle between the early Vedic peoples (known as Aryans) and their enemies, the Dasa.

The chief gods of the Rig-Veda are Agni, the sacrificial fire, Indra, a heroic god that is praised for having slain his enemy Vrtra, and Soma, the sacred potion, or the plant it is made from. Other prominent gods are Mitra, Varuna and Ushas (the dawn). Also invoked are Savitar, Vishnu, Rudra, Pushan, Brhaspati, Brahmanaspati, Dyaus Pita (the sky), Prithivi (the earth), Surya (the sun), Savitar, Vayu (the wind), the Maruts, the Asvins, the Adityas, the Rbhus, the Vishvadevas (the all-gods) as well as various further minor gods, persons, concepts, phenomena and items.

Some of the names of gods and goddesses found in the Rig-Veda are found amongst other Indo-European peoples as well: Dyaus is cognate to greek Zeus, latin Jupiter. germanic Tyr; Mitra to persian Mithra (who became roman Mithras); Ushas is greek Eos, latin Aurora; Agni corresponds to latin ignis;.  Others maintain there is insufficient evidence for any ethnic or linguistic identification of the BMAC solely based on material remains, in the absence of written records. The archaeological record is inconclusive with regard to a migration of Indo-Aryans or Indo-Iranians to the BMAC^[3], or with a migration of Indo-Aryans from the BMAC to the Indus Valley.^[4] There is no archaeological evidence for an invasion into Bactria and Margiana.^[5] Furthermore, there is no evidence that the complex even represented an ethnic/linguistic unity. Moreover, cultural links between the BMAC and the Indus Valley can also be explained by reciprocal cultural influences uniting the two cultures, or by the transfer of luxury or commercial goods.^[6] 

 

 http://www.coo2.net/bbs/data/new_con_4/BMAC_culture_Land_and_Gonur_city.png

The BMAC complex is also very poor in horse remains or representations, which are often seen as a sign for Indo-Aryan presence.^[7]

The Indo-Iranian substratum

Altyn-Depe location on the modern Middle EastEneolithicHarappa and Mohenjo-daro).

As argued by Michael Witzel (1999) [1], (2003) [2] and Alexander Lubotsky^[8], there is a pre-Indo-European substratum in proto-Indo-Iranian which can be more plausibly identified with the original language (or languages) of the BMAC, which was, then, eventually given up by the locals in favour of proto-Indo-Iranian.

Moreover, he points out a number of words apparently borrowed from the same language, which, however, are only attested in Indic. Provided this is not an accident of attestation, it may mean that the area where the language (or language family) in question was spoken included at least Gandhara as well, if not the Indus Valley also. This would fit the archaeological evidence mentioned above, pointing to a connection of the BMAC to these areas. Considering that the BMAC is suspected to extend into Afghanistan and Baluchistan (see above), these areas may be included as well. The assumed Indo-Iranian substratum, then, is potentially relevant to the question about the language of the Indus Valley Civilization, as well. However, some BMAC words have now also been found in Tocharian (G. Pinault 2003), which renders a widespread BMAC language, from Xinjiang to the Panjab, unlikely and points to cultural influence. This, however, suggests the possibility that the language in question was spoken natively in a more limited area (such as the BMAC), but used in a larger area as a lingua franca, considering the fact that the evidence is exclusively in the form of loanwords rather than grammatical or phonetic structures. Hence, it would originally have functioned as a superstrate language.^[9]

As to known languages which might be related to the Indo-Iranian substratum, the most obvious candidate, geography considered, is the Burushaski language^[10].

Sites

• Altyndepe
• Namazga-Tepe
• Jeitun
• Gunar Tepe
• Togolok 21
• Koi Krylgan Kala
• Toprak Kala
• Ayaz Kala

Notes

1. ^ "the settlements of this culture are characterized by a very feeble accumulation: they were constructed in haste, apparently on the basis of a pre-established plan, and have not been occupied for very long" Bernard Sergent. Genèse de l'Inde. 1997, quoted from Elst 1999
2. ^ Lyonnet (1993) and Sethna (1992) have noted that only one circular fort with three walls has been discovered (Dashly-3), or that the circular walls had no value of defence (Jettmar 1981). See Bryant 2001:220
3. ^ Francfort H.-P. in Fussman, G.; Kellens, J.; Francfort, H.-P.; Tremblay, X. 2005
4. ^ Bryant 2001; Francfort H.-P. in Fussman, G.; Kellens, J.; Francfort, H.-P.; Tremblay, X. 2005
5. ^ Bryant 2001:220 (quotes Lyonnet 1993 and Parpola 1993); Fussman, G.; Kellens, J.; Francfort, H.-P.; Tremblay, X. 2005
6. ^ e.g. Fussman, G.; Kellens, J.; Francfort, H.-P.; Tremblay, X. 2005; Bryant 2001:215-16
7. ^ Bryant 2001
8. ^ The Indo-Iranian Substratum
9. ^ Sarah Thomason and Terence Kaufman, Language Contact, Creolization and Genetic Linguistics (University of California Press 1988)
10. ^ compare an essay by Michael Witzel, page 6, note 11.

References

• Sarianidi, V. I. 1976. "Issledovanija pamjatnikov Dashlyiskogo Oazisa," in Drevnii Baktria, vol. 1. Moscow: Akademia Nauk.
• Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. 2002. "Archaeology and Language: The Indo-Iranians," in Current Anthropology, vol. 43, no. 1, Feb. year University of Chicago

Further reading

• Edwin Bryant (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195169476. 
• CNRS, L'archéologie de la Bactriane ancienne. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1985
• Fussman, G.; et al. (2005). Aryas, Aryens et Iraniens en Asie Centrale. Paris: de Boccard. ISBN 2868030726. 
• Mallory, J. P. (1997). "BMAC". Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 1884964982. 
• Lubotsky, A. (2001). "Indo-Iranian substratum". in Carpelan, Christian. Early Contacts between Uralic and Indo-European. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura. ISBN 9525150593. http://www.ieed.nl/lubotsky/pdf/Indo-Iranian%20substratum.pdf. 
• Sarianidi, V. I. (1994). "Preface". in Hiebert, F. T.. Origins of the Bronze Age Oasis Civilization of Central Asia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0873655451. 
• Sarianidi, V. I. (1995). "Soviet Excavations in Bactria: The Bronze Age". in Ligabue, G.; Salvatori, S.. Bactria: An ancient oasis civilization from the sands of Afghanistan. Venice: Erizzo. ISBN 8870770257. 
• Forizs, L. Apâm. Napât, Dîrghatamas and the Construction of the Brick Altar. Analysis of RV 1.143 (pdf, 386 kB), paper read at the Vedic Panel of the 12th World Sanskrit Conference, Motilal Banarsidass, 2007 (in preparation)

 External links

• Adji Kui, Gonur Tepe findings
• Dîrghatamas - An Application of the Generalization of Witzel's Grid (pdf, 706 kB)

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http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/19th-century-paradigms-5.html

 Hunza valley imortals

  

 http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/oriental_empire.jpg

 Margiana (Old Persian Marguš): oasis in the Karakum desert, modern Mary (or Merv) in the southeast of Turkmenistan.

Margiana was situated on the boards of the river Murghab; this river, which was called Margos by the ancient Greeks, has its sources in the mountains of Afghanistan and flows to the north, into the Karakum desert, where it divides into several branches that disappear in the desert sands. The fertile delta (satellite photo) was called Margiana and was already occupied by farmers in about 2200-1700 BCE; their Bronze Age culture is known as the "Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex".

Margiana must have been conquered by the Persian king Cyrus the Great. This is not written in our sources, but is implied by the fact that he fought against the Massagetes, a nomad tribe living beyond Margiana.

In March 522 BCE, a Magian named Gaumâta seized power in the Achaemenid empire, claiming to be the brother of the legitimate king Cambyses. (Gaumâta could do this, because this brother, Smerdis, had been killed secretly.) Immediately, Cambyses advanced to the usurper, but he died before he reached Persia; the false Smerdis was able to rule for several months. However, Cambyses' relative Darius, together with six Persian noblemen, killed the usurper (29 September). Darius became king and faced a serious crisis: nearly all provinces of the Achaemenid empire revolted. The most important rebellion was that of the Medes, whose leader was king Phraortes. His rebellion spread to the north to Armenia and to the east to Parthia. Even further to the east, the oasis of Margiana revolted.

 

 

The leader of the Margian insurrection was one Frâda. Because Margiana was not a very important part of the Achaemenid empire, no action was undertaken. At the end of the spring of 521, however, the Medes had been defeated and in July the Parthian rebellion had been suppressed; only some mopping up operations were needed to restore order in the Achaemenid empire. The satrap of Bactria, Dâdarši, advanced against the rebels, which he defeated on 28 December 521 after a march of three hundred kilometers through the Karakum desert.

In the Behistun inscription, which was made immediately after the above mentioned events, Dâdarši's victory is presented as if it was just as important as the victories over the rebels in Babylonia or Media. One version of the text (the Aramaic, which is severely damaged) even mentions 55.423 Margians killed and 6.972 taken captive, which is certainly exaggerated.

 

We hear from it again in the histories of the Persian campaign of the MacedonianAlexander the Great. After the collapse of the Achaemenid empire, a Bactrian nobleman named Spitamenes started a guerilla war against the invaders (in 329/328 BCE), trying to keep Bactria and Sogdia free from Macedonian occupation. Alexander pursued the Bactrian leader, who retreated to the north, and sent his general Craterus to the west, to fortify Margiana. This was necessary, because in doing so, Spitamenes could no longer attack Alexander in the rear, in Aria. Craterus founded a city called king Alexandria and fortified five other towns, all situated on defendable hills.

 

Alexandria was refounded by king Antiochus I Soter (281-261), who called it Antiochia. It was a large, square military settlement, intended to guard Iran against incursions from nomad tribes, such as the Parni, who were to overrun this region and to found the Parthian empire in what is now Iran and Iraq. (The acropolis is now known as Erk Kala; the walled city is called Gyaur Kala (Infidel City); satellite photo.)

In 53 BCE, Antiochia in Margiana received new settlers: ten thousand Roman soldiers, taken captive by the Parthians at Carrhae. They must have found the conditions of their captivity easier than they expected; a few years later, the Greek topographer Strabo of Amasia praises Margiana as a country especially blessed by nature, and he must have received this information from the captives.

In the second century CE, Margiana played a role in the trade between east and west. Coming from China, caravans arrived in Sogdia and continued through the desert to Margiana, from where they went to the Parthian empire and finally the Mediterranean. The trade route became known as the Silk road. Margiana flourished and grew rich on the trade revenues. It had its own coins and became a cultural center of great importance, where Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Jews, and (from the late fifth century) Christians lived together. It also played a role in the spread Christianity: in the sixth century, Nestorian missionaries moved from CtesiphonMaracanda and China. through Margiana to

In the Avesta, Margiana is mentioned as one of Ahuramazda's special creations and called 'the strong, holy Môuru' (Vendidad, Fargard 1.6). In the Hindu, Parsi and Arab traditions, Margiana is identified with the ancient Paradise.

http://travel.descopera.ro/6744222-Taramul-nemuritorilor-Hunza-a-Valea-Vietii

 

Fig. 2. Region of Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex.

It is now proposed to discuss, though very briefly, the following features of the BMAC: (i) town-planning and monumental architecture; (ii) the ceramics; (iii) stone objects; (iv) metal objects; (v) sculptural art; (vi) seals and amulets; and finally (vii) the chronological horizon. This seemingly uncalled for exercise is being done in order to demonstrate that (a) the BMAC people were not nomads, as held by my Indian colleagues; and (b) these characteristic features of the BMAC never ever reached east of the Indus up to the upper Ganga-Yamuna doab – an area which was the homeland of the Rigvedic people, as is clear from the Nadi-stuti verses (10.75.5 and 6) of the Rigveda itself.

(I) TOWN-PLANNING AND MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE

The BMAC settlements, by and large, were well planned and contained monumental structures. This is abundantly clear, for example, from the excavated remains at Dashly-3, in Bactria, where a ‘cultic centre’ has been found located within a series of three successive fortifications. The cultic centre, circular on plan, with a diameter of 40 metres, was provided with nine square bastions on the exterior (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Temple at Dashly-3, Bactria.

In Margiana, excavations at Togolok-1 and Togolok-21 have yielded the remains of multi-roomed temples, of which that at the latter site is more elaborate. Covering an overall area of about 1.5 hectares, the Togolok-21 complex had in the centre a 60 x 50 m. unit enclosed by a 5-m. thick wall which was provided on its exterior with four circular towers, one at each corner, and two semicircular towers, one each abutting the exterior of the eastern and western walls. This central unit had two more enclosure walls at successive distances, which too were provided with circular towers at the corners and semicircular towers along the walls (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. Temple at Togolok-21, Margiana.

Besides the foregoing temples, at Gonur (also in Margiana) has been brought to light a massive architectural complex of secular nature. Called variously as ‘Citadel’ or ‘Kremlin’, it measures 120 x 115 m. on plan and is enclosed by a fortification wall, having on the exterior a rectangular tower at each corner and four rectangular towers on each side. Here is the plan of the ‘Kremlin’ which incorporates within its premises the king’s palace, audience hall, administrative blocks, garrison complex, etc. (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. ‘Citadel’ at Gonur, Margiana.

 http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/oriental_empire.jpg

Margiana (Old Persian Marguš): oasis in the Karakum desert, modern Mary (or Merv) in the southeast of Turkmenistan.

Margiana was situated on the boards of the river Murghab; this river, which was called Margos by the ancient Greeks, has its sources in the mountains of Afghanistan and flows to the north, into the Karakum desert, where it divides into several branches that disappear in the desert sands. The fertile delta (satellite photo) was called Margiana and was already occupied by farmers in about 2200-1700 BCE; their Bronze Age culture is known as the "Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex".

Margiana must have been conquered by the Persian king Cyrus the Great. This is not written in our sources, but is implied by the fact that he fought against the Massagetes, a nomad tribe living beyond Margiana.

In March 522 BCE, a Magian named Gaumâta seized power in the Achaemenid empire, claiming to be the brother of the legitimate king Cambyses. (Gaumâta could do this, because this brother, Smerdis, had been killed secretly.) Immediately, Cambyses advanced to the usurper, but he died before he reached Persia; the false Smerdis was able to rule for several months. However, Cambyses' relative Darius, together with six Persian noblemen, killed the usurper (29 September). Darius became king and faced a serious crisis: nearly all provinces of the Achaemenid empire revolted. The most important rebellion was that of the Medes, whose leader was king Phraortes. His rebellion spread to the north to Armenia and to the east to Parthia. Even further to the east, the oasis of Margiana revolted.

The leader of the Margian insurrection was one Frâda. Because Margiana was not a very important part of the Achaemenid empire, no action was undertaken. At the end of the spring of 521, however, the Medes had been defeated and in July the Parthian rebellion had been suppressed; only some mopping up operations were needed to restore order in the Achaemenid empire. The satrap of Bactria, Dâdarši, advanced against the rebels, which he defeated on 28 December 521 after a march of three hundred kilometers through the Karakum desert.

In the Behistun inscription, which was made immediately after the above mentioned events, Dâdarši's victory is presented as if it was just as important as the victories over the rebels in Babylonia or Media. One version of the text (the Aramaic, which is severely damaged) even mentions 55.423 Margians killed and 6.972 taken captive, which is certainly exaggerated.

We hear from it again in the histories of the Persian campaign of the MacedonianAlexander the Great. After the collapse of the Achaemenid empire, a Bactrian nobleman named Spitamenes started a guerilla war against the invaders (in 329/328 BCE), trying to keep Bactria and Sogdia free from Macedonian occupation. Alexander pursued the Bactrian leader, who retreated to the north, and sent his general Craterus to the west, to fortify Margiana. This was necessary, because in doing so, Spitamenes could no longer attack Alexander in the rear, in Aria. Craterus founded a city called king Alexandria and fortified five other towns, all situated on defendable hills.

Alexandria was refounded by king Antiochus I Soter (281-261), who called it Antiochia. It was a large, square military settlement, intended to guard Iran against incursions from nomad tribes, such as the Parni, who were to overrun this region and to found the Parthian empire in what is now Iran and Iraq. (The acropolis is now known as Erk Kala; the walled city is called Gyaur Kala (Infidel City); satellite photo.)

In 53 BCE, Antiochia in Margiana received new settlers: ten thousand Roman soldiers, taken captive by the Parthians at Carrhae. They must have found the conditions of their captivity easier than they expected; a few years later, the Greek topographer Strabo of Amasia praises Margiana as a country especially blessed by nature, and he must have received this information from the captives.

In the second century CE, Margiana played a role in the trade between east and west. Coming from China, caravans arrived in Sogdia and continued through the desert to Margiana, from where they went to the Parthian empire and finally the Mediterranean. The trade route became known as the Silk road. Margiana flourished and grew rich on the trade revenues. It had its own coins and became a cultural center of great importance, where Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Jews, and (from the late fifth century) Christians lived together. It also played a role in the spread Christianity: in the sixth century, Nestorian missionaries moved from CtesiphonMaracanda and China. through Margiana to

In the Avesta, Margiana is mentioned as one of Ahuramazda's special creations and called 'the strong, holy Môuru' (Vendidad, Fargard 1.6). In the Hindu, Parsi and Arab traditions, Margiana is identified with the ancient Paradise.

http://travel.descopera.ro/6744222-Taramul-nemuritorilor-Hunza-a-Valea-Vietii

Yaz culture

Archaeological cultures associated with Indo-Iranian migrations (after EIEC). The Andronovo, BMAC and Yaz cultures have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The GGC, Cemetery H, Copper Hoard and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan movements.

The Yaz culture is an early Iron Age culture of Bactria and Margiana (ca. 1500-1100 BC). It has been regarded as a likely archaeological reflection of early East Iranian culture as described in the Avesta. So far, no burials related to the culture have been found, and this was taken as evidence of the Zoroastrian practice of exposure or so-called sky burial.

 

Zoroastrianism

 

Basic beliefs

• There is one universal and transcendental God, Ahura Mazda, the one uncreated Creator to whom all worship is ultimately directed.^[4]
• Ahura Mazda's creation—evident as asha, truth and order—is the antithesis of chaos, evident as druj, falsehood and disorder. The resulting conflict involves the entire universe, including humanity, which has an active role to play in the conflict.^[4]
• Active participation in life through good thoughts, good words and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep the chaos at bay. This active participation is a central element in Zoroaster's concept of free will, and Zoroastrianism rejects all forms of monasticism.
• Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail over evil Angra Mainyu/Ahriman (see below), at which point the universe will undergo a cosmic renovation and time will end (cf:Zoroastrian eschatology). In the final renovation, all of creation—even the souls of the dead that were initially banished to "darkness"—will be reunited in Ahura Mazda returning to life in the undead form. At the end of time a savior-figure [a Saoshyant] will bring about a final renovation of the world (frasho.kereti), in which the dead will be revived.^[4]
• In Zoroastrian tradition the malevolent is represented by Angra Mainyu (also referred to as "Ahriman"), the "Destructive Principle", while the benevolent is represented through Ahura Mazda's Spenta Mainyu, the instrument or "Bounteous Principle" of the act of creation. It is through Spenta Mainyu that transcendental Ahura Mazda is immanent in humankind, and through which the Creator interacts with the world. According to Zoroastrian cosmology, in articulating the Ahuna Vairya formula Ahura Mazda made His ultimate triumph evident to Angra Mainyu.
• As expressions and aspects of Creation, Ahura Mazda emanated the Amesha Spentashypostasis and representative of one aspect of that Creation. These Amesha Spenta are in turn assisted by a league of lesser principles, the Yazatas, each "Worthy of Worship" and each again a hypostasis of a moral or physical aspect of creation. ("Bounteous Immortals"), that are each the

Other characteristics

Water and fire: In Zoroastrianism, water (apo, aban) and fire (atar, adar) are agents of ritual purity, and the associated purification ceremonies are considered the basis of ritual life. In Zoroastrian cosmogony, water and fire are respectively the second and last primordial elements to have been created, and scripture considers fire to have its origin in the waters. Both water and fire are considered life-sustaining, and both water and fire are represented within the precinct of a fire temple. Zoroastrians usually pray in the presence of some form of fire (which can be considered evident in any source of light), and the culminating rite of the principle act of worship constitutes a "strengthening of the waters" (see Ab-Zohr). Fire is considered a medium through which spiritual insight and wisdom is gained, and water is considered the source of that wisdom.

 

Avesta

 

The texts of the Avesta — which are all in the Avestan language — were composed over the course of several hundred years. The most important portion, the Gathas, in 'Gathic' Avestan, are the hymns thought to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. The liturgical texts of the Yasna, which includes the Gathas, is partially in Older (i.e. 'Gathic') and partially in Younger Avestan. The oldest portions may be older than the Gathas, later adapted to more closely follow the doctrine of Zoroaster. The various Yashts are in Younger Avestan and thought to date to the Achaemenid era (559–330 BCE). The Visprad and Vendidad, which are also in Younger Avestan, were probably composed even later but this is not certain.

The various texts are thought to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they found written form in the 3rd century^[ambiguous]. According to legend preserved in the Book of Arda Viraf, a 3rd or 4th century work, a written version of the religious texts had existed in the palace library of the Achaemenid kings (559–330 BCE), but which was then supposedly (Arda Viraf 1.4-7 and Denkard 3.420) lost in a fire caused by the troops of Alexander. However, neither assertion can be confirmed since the texts, if they existed, have been lost.

Nonetheless, Rasmus Christian Rask concluded that the texts must indeed be the remnants of a much larger literature, as Pliny the Elder had suggested in his Naturalis Historiae, where he describes one Hermippus of Smyrna having "interpreted two million verses of Zoroaster" in the 3rd century BCE. Peter Clark in Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient FaithGathas and older Yasna texts would not have retained their old-language qualities if they had only been orally transmitted.^{[dubious – discuss]} (1998, Brighton) suggests the

 Later redaction

According to the Dēnkard, a semi-religious work written in the 9th century, the king Volgash (thought to be the Parthian king Vologases IV, c. 147–191 CE) attempted to have the sacred texts collected and collated. The results of this undertaking (the so-called "Arsacid archetype"), if it occurred, have not survived.

All texts known today derive from a single master copy, now lost but known as the "Sassanian archetype", most likely a product of the 3rd or 4th century. According to tradition, in the 3rd century, the Sassanian emperor Ardashir I (r. 226-241 CE) commanded his high priest Tonsar (or Tansar) to compile the theological texts. According to the Dēnkard, the Tonsar effort resulted in the reproduction of twenty-one volumes, called nasks, subdivided into 348 chapters, with approximately 3.5 million words in total. One final redaction took place under Shapur II (r. 309-379).

The Avesta, as known today, represents only those parts of the text that are used liturgically, and therefore survived in the memory of the priests; and, as it now consists of all surviving liturgical texts in the Avestan language, it may or may not include material that never formed part of the 21 nasks at all. In that sense, the current Avesta is a "prayer book" rather than a "Bible". The remainder of the 21 nasks, including the Chihrdad, has been lost since then, especially after the fall of the Sassanid empire, after which Zoroastrianism was supplanted by Islam. However, some secondary literature in Pahlavi purports to contain paraphrases or lists of contents of the lost books.

The origin of the term 'Avesta' is unknown. A derivation from Middle Persian abestāg, meaning "praise", is a frequently noted possibility.

 

 Sky burial

 

Sky burial or ritual dissection was once a common funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is cut in specific locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. The location of the sky burial preparation and place of execution are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator (Tibetan: བྱ་གཏོར་; Wylie: bya gtor), which literally means, "giving alms to the birds."

The majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches rebirth. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it, or nature may let it decompose. So the function of the sky burial is simply the disposal of the remains. In much of Tibet the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and with fuel and timber scarce, a sky burial is often more practical than cremation.

 

http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/49-1/Research%20Notes.pdf

40 volume 49, number 1 expedition
In the early 1920s Sir John Marshall’s investigations of the ancient cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa (now located in Pakistan) resulted in the discovery of the Indus civilization
(2500–1900 BC). This was an astounding event for the Indian subcontinent, effectively pushing  the history of ancient India back to the 3rd millennium BC, long before the arrival of Alexander the Great in 326 BC. Marshall’s discovery also brought about important
insights into the interaction and trade between distant lands stretching from Mesopotamia to the Persian Gulf, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia. This part of the world can be called “Middle Asia”—the region between the Indus River and the Mediterranean Sea bounded on the north by Central Asia and on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. During his excavations, Marshall recovered materials from across this region at both Early Bronze Age cities.
Similarly, during the 1920s and 30s, the full richness of the Mesopotamian and Elamite  civilizations was coming to light at such sites as Tell Asmar, Tell Agrab, Kish, Susa, and especially the Royal Tombs at Ur. These excavations in Mesopotamia also revealed materials such as seals, beads, and pottery from the Indus civilization. In fact, the famous cloak of beads from Queen Puabi’s Tomb at Ur is probably made up largely of Indian beads, particularly those of carnelian.Clearly, these distant peoples were contemporaries and known to one another—but how?
In the 1930s the British Assyriologist C. J. Gadd began to look at this interaction. In a famous paper entitled research notes TRADE AND CONTACT IN THE 3RD MILLENNIUM BC BY GREGORY L. POSSEHL Gregory L. Possehl The Middle Asian Interaction Sphere
These objects document long-distance contact in the MAIS: (a) an
impression of an Indus “unicorn” seal thought to come from Tell Umma;
(b) an Indus “unicorn” seal from Mohenjo-daro; (c) one of the seals published
by Gadd (now on display in the British Museum) showing an Indus
script and animal device on a Persian Gulf–style seal; and (d) the Indus
elephant seal from Gonur Depe (compiled from images supplied by
Maurizio Tosi, Gregory L. Possehl, and Viktor Sarianidi).
www.museum.upenn.edu/expedition 41
“Seals of Indian Style Found at Ur” he brought together a series of seals that he felt were foreign to Mesopotamia and had an Indian “look” to them. Although some of Gadd’s seals
do have glyptics with Indus writing and some are probably of Indian workmanship,others came not from India but from sites in the Persian Gulf—an area whose Bronze Age archaeology was virtually unknown at the time.

During the 1930s, archaeologists also identified Indian materials alongside Mesopotamian artifacts on the Iranian Plateau at sites such as Hissar,where they found Indian-etched
carnelian beads. This suggested that interesting things were going on in this vast region during the Bronze Age. But World War II brought archaeological fieldwork in the greater Near East and South Asia to a virtual halt, and the finds were still too thin on the ground for it all to be pieced together. After the war, A. Leo Oppenheim’s article, “Seafaring
Merchants of Ur,” brought attention to the substantial 3rd millennium BC maritime activities in the Persian Gulf and beyond. According to ancient cuneiform texts Mesopotamian venture capitalist merchants obtained exotic products such as
copper, other metals, wood, pearls, and even animals via maritime commerce. Mesopotamian religious cults and the burgeoning population of elite citizens consumed these items as
objects of ostentatious display.

The texts that Oppenheim reviewed contained many references to three lands beyond the “Lower Sea” or Persian Gulf—Dilmun, Magan, and Meluhha. When these lands appear
together in cuneiform literature they apparently are always in this order, or the reverse, strongly suggesting a spatial sequencing,as in a boast by Sargon the Great (2334–2279 BC) informing us that ships from Meluhha, Magan, and Dilmun docked in the harbor of his capital of Akkad. Dilmun was both a Persian Gulf trading center—today’s island nation of Bahrain and the nearby shore of Saudi Arabia—and a place of considerable cultural significance to
the Mesopotamians—the purported entrance to their Underworld.Magan, to the east of Dilmun, was a land of copper,today home to the Sultanate of Oman and probably some
or all of the United Arab Emirates. Even farther east, was the Indus civilization of the subcontinent—Meluhha—now in Pakistan and northwest India. Cuneiform documents also
inform us that some people in Mesopotamia called themselves “Son of Meluhha,” and there are references to Meluhhan villages and granaries.We even have the personal cylinder seal of
Shu-ilishu, a translator of the Meluhhan language (Expedition 48(1):42-43).

Around the same time that this trade and interaction was being identified along Middle Asia’s southern shores, Soviet Beads from Queen Puabi’s Tomb at Ur adorned her cloak.

Sites across Middle Asia have revealed BMAC, or BMAC-like, artifacts (adapted from figure 10.8 in Fredrik T. Hiebert. Origins of the Bronze Age Oasis Civilization in Central Asia. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 1994).
The MAIS encompassed numerous cultural regions (inspired by a map by Maurizio Tosi).
Penn Museum (top), Gregory L. Possehl (maps)

Archaeologists began excavating on Middle Asia’s northern periphery at the southern edge of Central Asia. In the 1960s an interesting set of observations emerged from these excavations.

First, beginning in the 4th millennium BC, the people of southern Central Asia shared a pottery style called “Quetta Ware” with the people of Baluchistan far to the south. Along
with female figurines and occasional compartmented seals,this style of pottery persisted until the early centuries of the 2nd millennium BC, suggesting long-term interaction north
and south.

Second, at Altyn Depe in Turkmenistan, the Soviets found two provincial-style Indus seals, along with much ivory (presumably from elephants), which was also apparently from India. Their discoveries were all found in correct chronological sequence dating to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC,indicating that Altyn Depe was contemporary with the Indus
cities. Furthermore, this also provided evidence for Middle Asian interaction stretching north to the Oxus civilization which, in a second phase beginning at about 2200 BC, occupied inland river delta oases such as Margiana.We now refer to the material culture of this second phase in Central Asia as the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, or BMAC.

During the 1980s, excavations in Margiana by the Russian archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi at the city of Gonur Depe, uncovered the plan of a complex, well-defended settlement,
with rich graves and the entire range of BMAC artifacts. He also found one very fine Indus stamp seal with an elephant.Judging by its style, this seal was probably made in the Indus
region and brought or traded to Gonur. The site also has a great deal of ivory, and some artifacts have an Indus “look” to them, especially the gaming sticks or dice. Further evidence for trade or interaction between Margiana and Middle Asia can be seen in all the BMAC material found throughout the Greater Indus Valley, the Iranian Plateau, and even at sites on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf.

Since the 1960s excavations on the Iranian Plateau at such places as Tepe Yahya, Shahr-i Sokhta, Shahdad, and Jiroft have also added to the corpus of finds linking the Indus civilization with the BMAC and Mesopotamia. For example, the burial of a BMAC personage at Quetta  and the French excavations at Sibri, a BMAC settlement, indicate that BMAC peoples traveled in the Greater Indus Valley and even took up residence there. Further evidence has been identified by sifting through the reports and materials from old excavations from such
places as Bampur, Khurab, Khinaman, and Nishapur in Iran, and Kulli and Mehi in Pakistani Baluchistan.Now, more easily recognized, we see that each of these sites produced BMAC
materials that were missed when originally published.

By the end of the 20th century it had become quite apparent that this entire region had witnessed a period of new economic and political configurations during the 3rd millennium BC. To better understand this important phenomenon in world history and to bring it all together as a single dynamic, in 2002 I coined the term “Middle Asian Interaction Sphere” or MAIS in my book, The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. Interaction spheres have a long and distinguished history in archaeology since the concept has been useful in dealing with the sorts of long-distance interactions that the peoples of Middle Asia seem to have enjoyed. But no two interaction spheres are the same; nor are they unchanging over protracted periods of time. Archaeologists therefore continue to document the shifting dynamics of this important set of international relationships, leading the way in systematically investigating and furthering our understanding of the MAIS.

Gregory l. Possehl is Professor of Anthropology at the
University of Pennsylvania and the Curator-in-Charge of the Museum’s Asian Section.

For Further Reading
Gadd, C. J. “Seals of Ancient Indian Style Found at Ur.” Proceedings
of the British Academy 18 (1932):191-210.
Oppenheim, A. Leo. “Seafaring Merchants of Ur.” Journal of the
American Oriental Society 74 (1954):6-17.
Possehl, Gregory L. “Meluhha.” In The Indian Ocean in Antiquity,
edited by Julian Reade, pp. 133-208. London: Kegan Paul International
in association with the British Museum, 1996.
Possehl, Gregory L. The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary
Perspective. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira, 2002.
Sarianidi, Viktor I. Margus: Ancient Oriental Kingdom in the Old
Delta of the Murghab River. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan:
Türkmendöwlethabarlary, 2002.
,
The site of Gonur Depe looks like a citadel from the air.
Viktor Sarianidi
42 volume 49, number 1 expedition

 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Greco-BactrianKingdomMap.jpg

The Han Dynasty explorer and ambassador Zhang Qian visited Bactria in 126 BC, and reported the presence of Chinese products in the Bactrian markets:

""When I was in Bactria (Daxia)", Zhang Qian reported, "I saw bamboo canes from Qiong and cloth made in the province of Shu (territories of southwestern China). When I asked the people how they had gotten such articles, they replied, "Our merchants go buy them in the markets of Shendu (India)."" (Shiji 123, Sima Qian, trans. Burton Watson).

Upon his return, Zhang Qian informed the Chinese emperor Han Wudi of the level of sophistication of the urban civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria and Parthia, who became interested in developing commercial relationship them:

"The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan) and the possessions of Bactria (Daxia) and Parthia (Anxi) are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" (Han Shu, Former Han History).

A number of Chinese envoys were then sent to Central Asia, triggering the development of the Silk Road from the end of the 2nd century BC.^[17]

 "Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity among the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And afterwards it came to Greece. First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the Sramanas among the Bactrians ("Σαρμαναίοι Βάκτρων"); and the philosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judea guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sramanas ("Σαρμάναι"), and others Brahmins ("Βραφμαναι")." Clement of Alexandria "The Stromata, or Miscellanies" Book I, Chapter XV ^[18].

The Greco-Bactrians were known for their high level of Hellenistic sophistication, and kept regular contact with both the Mediterranean and neighbouring India. They were on friendly terms with India and exchanged ambassadors.

Their cities, such as Ai-Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan (probably Alexandria on the Oxus), and Bactra (modern Balkh) where Hellenistic remains have been found, demonstrate a sophisticated Hellenistic urban culture. This site gives a snapshot of Greco-Bactrian culture around 145 BC, as the city was burnt to the ground around that date during nomadic invasions and never re-settled. Ai-Khanoum "has all the hallmarks of a Hellenistic city, with a Greek theater, gymnasium and some Greek houses with colonnaded courtyards" (Boardman). Remains of Classical Corinthian columns were found in excavations of the site, as well as various sculptural fragments. In particular a huge foot fragment in excellent Hellenistic style was recovered, which is estimated to have belonged to a 5–6 meters tall statue.

One of the inscriptions in Greek found at Ai-Khanoum, the Herôon of Kineas, has been dated to 300–250 BCE, and describes Delphic precepts:

"As children, learn good manners.

As young men, learn to control the passions.

In middle age, be just.

In old age, give good advice.

Then die, without regret."

Some of the Greco-Bactrian coins, and those of their successors the Indo-Greeks, are considered the finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and idealization", including the largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic world: the largest gold coin was minted by Eucratides (reigned 171–145 BC), the largest silver coin by the Indo-Greek king Amyntas (reigned c. 95–90 BC). The portraits "show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal contemporaries further West" (Roger Ling, "Greece and the Hellenistic World").

Several other Greco-Bactrian cities have been further identified, as in SaksanokhurTajikistan (archaeological searches by a Soviet team under B.A. Litvinski), or in Dal'verzin Tepe. in southern

 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Kushanmap.jpg/250px-Kushanmap.jpg

Dasa