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1. Ancient Greeks in Central Asia
and Beyond

2. GREEK – CHINA exchanges in ancient
times
From the Greeks of Central Asia ~ 200 BCE to the
Chinese
------------------Æ
wall building, statue building, meander symbol in
art, etc
From the Chinese to the Greeks of Central Asia
Å-------------------------
nickel in coinage, silk, medicine(?)

3. • Routes of contact :
•
• The “ilk Road a hes o th a d south
around the Taklimakan desert
• Transportation facilitated by phryctorias
(stations with accomodation/food) built by
the ancient Greeks

4. Examples of Phryctorias along those routes

7. Greek soldier painting in the museum
at Urumqi on the Silk Road

8. Earlier expedition of Dionysos
- as reported by Apollonius, Strabo, Pausanias
• 2. India --Æ Myanmar ----Æ Yunnan (Ionia) ---
-Æ Apo Io ia o Iaponia fu thest Io ia i
Greek) or Japan (The Ainu are probable
Ionians), also
• to Pacific Islands (Micronesia, Melanesia,
Polynesia) – Ionians are excellent sailors after
fou di g Io ia o the west oast of Asia
Minor

9. Examples of city walls in Central Asia:
Bactra

10. Google Map image of the massive
Bactra walls

11. Google Map image of an unknown
fortified city, south of Bactra

12. Termez (Demetrias) walls

15. Nisa, Turkmenistan

16. Margiane (Merv), Uzbek.

17. Takhti – Sangin, Tajik. (on Oxus River)

18. Uzundara Fortress, Uzbek. (after Nigora
Dvurechenskaya)

19. While Greeks ruled in central Asia
• The esta lished the thousa d ities of Ba t a :
a common phrase during Hellenistic times
• 70 cities in Ferghana alone
• Samarkand : acropolis north of city (Kleitos
Episode)
• Triodos: Alexandria – of – Caucasus, west of river,
Kapisa (Kapisini or Kafiristan) which is east of the
river. One double city on both sides of the river

20. Marine expeditions
• G eek a i e ’s a ual of the oasts of I dia
: Periplous of the Erythraean Red “ea
• Eudoxus of Cyzicus with help of Ptolemy of
Egypt organized expedition to India and
brought precious stones, aromatics, spices.
Eudoxus also sailed from Pillars of Hercules
around Africa, did not return

21. • “t a ge e p essio s: he failed like the
elephants of Porus
• Epig a : do ’t hu t, do ’t fish, do ’t kill
• Lots of monuments at Xanthus, Lycia re:
Ale a de ’s E peditio
• Sagala (Amritsa) : capital Euthimedeia

22. • Aristotle found the inhabitants of cold Europe
full of spirit, but lacking intelligence and skill.
The Orientals intelligent and inventive, but so
spiritless as to be always slaves, but the Greek
both high-spirited and intelligent

23. On a stone monument, Ai Khanum
• Α Ω Ο Ο Ο
• Ω Α
• Ο Α Ο
• Ο Ο
• Ω Α Ο
• As a child you should learn good manners
• As an adult you should be fair
• As an elder you should give good advice
• Do ’t e sad a out death

24. Greek soldiers as mercenaries
• Greek mercenaries (women) worked as
bodyguards in Tamils and Madurai
• Greek soldiers worked as mercenaries in other
parts of India, such as South India in Tamil –
they were described in local poems and
admired for their armor

25. Buddhism
• King Menander (Milinda in the Indian tradition)
first supporter of Buddhism
• Statue of Buddha based on image of Apollo
• Monasteries at Tarim Basin resemble those of
Christians
• 137 BC: large delegation of monks from
Alexandria -on – Causasus under a Greek teacher
to a stupa inaugaration in Sri Lanka
• In a Buddhist stupa, the Greek principle of entasis
(giving a slightly convex curve to parts of building
instead of flat)

26. • In Thailand, the Menander legend as the
miraculous creator of the famous Emerald
Buddha of Bangkok, Thailand
• King Strato: is also a Buddhist saint in Thailand

27. Indo-Greek & Bactrian Kings & Queens
• Altogethe 6 ki gs a d Quee do ’t i lude
Kalliopi she did ’t ule alo e Alpha eti all :
•
• Α αθο ια, Α αθο η´ς Α ας Α ια ι ας
Α ι αχος Α ο ο ω ος Α ο ωφα ης
Α χ βιος Α ι ω ος η η ιος (2) ιο ο ος
(2) ιο η ης ιο σιος α ος α ι ης
(2) θ η ος (2) ιο ης αιος
οσ α ος ιας α ος ι ιας
α α ω ο αος α ω ο ος
φος οφι ος οι ος (2) Φι ο ος

28. • α ι ης celebrated his victory against
η η ιος A’ who was a paig i g i I dia
by issuing a pure gold coin of 20 staters – the
most luxurious coin a Greek ever made in
antiquity
• Α ας, last king of Paropamisadae struck
la gest silver coin (decadrachm) ever
minted by a Greek state, 30 BC

29. • Euthydemus : first to issue Ni coins
• The sons of Demetrios II : Agathocles and
Pantaleon, the only ones who issued Ni-Cu coins.
From the efforts of Demetrios who brought the
nickel from the Yunnan province
• Ni – Cu allo pai ti g is fou d i Yu a
province, China
• Both Agathocles and Pantaleon had coins by the
excellent artist of Euthydemus picturing Zeus and
Hecate

30. • Strato I had a long reign, at the end associated
with Strato II
• Antimahos Theos: first to issue square coins,
like the Indians. His characteristic hat is called
kausia
• Agathoclea: first woman to rule in any
Hellenistic Kingdom (Cleopatra was later)
• Menandros : his coins are found as far as
Wales

31. • Demetrios took his second son Demetrios II
and his general Menandros occupied Taxila
(Nea Hellas), Peshawar and Pushkalavriti
(Charsadda) : a Greek capital with acropolis at
junction of Swat with Kabul rivers

32. Impressions of early Chinese travelers
• all k owi g Yavanas Io ia s): doctors,
engineers
• Chinese travelers were impressed that the
cities had walls around them
• Great Wall of China: Chinese adopted
Ale a de s’s method of fortifying their
frontiers against nomadic warriors
• Chang – K’ie ’s Report around 128 BC. He
opened China to western world for trade

33. • A Chinese report after the conquest called
Ba t ia Ta - hia , a e this ea s Yavanas
• His description: many bazaars, walled cities,
shrewd traders, agriculturists, over 1 million
people had no king, all cities had their own
chiefs, most had beards, they place high value
on women, always ask their advice

34. After the Age of the Greeks
• 4th cent. AD: Apollonius of Tyana toured Taxila
• I 6 O a ’s ge e al o ue ed Badakshan,
its king Bahram Shah was a descendant of
Alexander. After Greeks, coins were imitations
of Greek coins of Heliocles
• 7th cent. AD: Greek alphabet still in use
• Kashmir poet, Ksemendra, 11th cent. AD says:
Yavanas a ake a d fl ai pla es’

35. • In Mahabharata, the Yavanas a e all
k owi g . The G eek do to s i Taxila and
Bactria were so skillful that could give sight to
the blind (prob. a real operation for cataract)
Asklipiades recognized that a man carried to
burial was in a state of catalepsy

36. • Greek words that entered Sanscrit: pen, ink,
book
• Greek words that entered Indian language:
camel (strange because Indians had their own
word already), α , α α ος, χα ι ος,
σ ι α, military camp ( α ος), army (
σ α ος ), general (σ α η ος )

37. • Charsadda : prominent Greek center, city on a
grid pattern
• Taxila: city on a grid pattern. Shrine of Double-
headed eagle (Symbol of Byzantium later)

38. • The Greek Aristocracy, great Bactrian artists
(coins) vanished, probably escaped to the hills,
high valleys. Ruling families claiming descent
from Alexander today are in Karategin, Darvaz,
Rashan, Shingnan, Wakhan, Pokhpu, the
celebrated Mirs of Badakshan, that Marco
Polo said their horses descended from
Bucephalus. In 3rd cent. AD a famous silver
patera , ow i a E glish useu

39. Dionysos expedition or other unknown
expeditions by the ancient Greeks
• Left a trail of Greek-like names across India,
Myanmar into Yunnan province, China

40. In India
• Vathi Gandaki (= deep trench or river), name
of tributary of Ganges

41. Greek names assembled from various
sources

42. In Myanmar
• City of Mycene(?) today called Myitkyina, a
mining center along the main road to China

43. In Yunnan (old capital called Yunnan)
Yunnan sounds like Ionia
• A out illio eth i i o ities with
Greek-like characteristics and wine-making
tradition

44. Yunnan

45. Easter Island
• Statues are called moais, name probably from
the G eek omoioma = liki g , e ause the
statues resemble their elders who died

46. References
• Bernard, Paul, An ancient Greek city in Central
Asia, Scientific American 246, (1982) 148 – 159
• Sarianidis, Victor 1980 Archeology The treasure
of the Golden Mount, 31
• Issigonis, M. The Ancient Greeks in Afghanistan,
Ecclectica, 2003
• Josephson, Nors Sigurd, An archaic Greek
civilization on Easter Island, 2003
• Potitsa Grigorakou, The Hellenistic civilization in
Asia in light of archeological excavations and
other numerous publications

47. • Irene Panayiotidou, The Yavanas (Greeks) in
the Indian Tradition