Archaeology of faith and trade
Greek Buddhist devotees, holding plantain leaves, in purely Hellenistic style, inside Corinthian columns,
Buner relief, 1st-2nd century CE Victoria and Albert Museum.
A series of reliefs, several of them known as the Buner reliefs which were taken during the 19th century from Buddhist structures near the area of Buner in northern Pakistan, depict in perfect Hellenistic style gatherings of people in Greek dress, socializing, drinking or playing music. (Boardman, p.126)
Some other of these reliefs depict Indo-Scythian soldiers in uniform, sometimes playing instruments. (Marshall, "The Buddhist art of Gandhara", p.36)
Finally, revelling Indian in dhotis richly adorned with jewelry are also shown. These are considered some of the most artistically perfect, and earliest, of Gandharan sculptures, and are thought to exalt multicultural interaction within the context of Buddhism in the 1st century BCE, or the 1st century CE.
Tax on trade was the mainstay of the imperial treasury in Rome and the bulk of the most valuable trade was either with or through the Alexandrian cities and ports of Greco-India, where it became the financial foundation of Buddhism - through its monasteries - and the Kushtan empire.
In my previous post, Dynastic power in the Greco-Roman world, we discussed how vital it was for personal and familial protection for those with ability to grasp the levers of power over money and faith.
In Greco-India and as we saw in The archaeology of good governance and Archaeology and identity of the first Buddhists, the ambitions of Alexander the Great in Persia were translated politically in the eastern satrapies by Diodotus I - Ashoka the Great - to create a new society managed by Indo-Greeks. They used a new language in their administration, including the Edicts, and to describe their faith.
Tetradrachm of Kujula Kadphises, derived from a coin of the Indo-Greek king Hermaeus. British Museum
The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road through the long-civilized Indus Valley. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely oversaw a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India.
Left: Kushan worshipper with Zeus/Serapis/Ohrmazd, Bactria, 3rd century CE. See also: Helios and Selene in Alexandria on the Oxus
Direct archaeological evidence of a Kushan rule of long duration is basically available in an area stretching from Surkh Kotal, Begram, the summer capital of the Kushans, Peshawar the capital under Kanishka I, Taxila and Mathura, the winter capital of the Kushans. (Rosenfield, p. 41.)
Gold coin of Kanishka I with the Hellenistic divinity Helios. (c. 120 CE).
Obverse: Kanishka standing, clad in heavy Kushan coat and long boots, flames emanating from shoulders, holding a standard in his left hand, and making a sacrifice over an altar. Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΚΑΝΗšΚΟΥ "[coin] of Kanishka, king of kings".
Reverse: Standing Helios in Hellenistic style, forming a benediction gesture with the right hand. Legend in Greek script: ΗΛΙΟΣ Helios. Kanishka monogram (tamgha) to the left.
Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on the coins of Kanishka:
ΗΛΙΟΣ (elios Helios), ΗΦΑΗΣΤΟΣ (ephaestos Hephaistos), ΣΑΛΗΝΗ (salene Selene), ΑΝΗΜΟΣ (anemos Anemos)
The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centres.
The recently discovered Rabatak inscription confirms the account of the 3rd century Chinese history, the Weilüe, and inscriptions dated early in the Kanishka era (incept probably 127 CE), that large Kushan dominions expanded into in the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century CE.
Northward, in the 2nd century CE, the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin, where they had contact with the Chinese.
Bacchanalian scene, representing the harvest of wine grapes and a drunken Dionysos, Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, 1st-2nd century CE. Tokyo National Museum.
Scenes of Greeks harvesting grapes, Greeks drinking and revelling, scenes of erotical courtship are numerous and seem to relate to some of the most remarkable traits of Greek culture. ("At the time, a favourite theme of Graeco-Parthian secular art was the drinking scene, and incongruous as it may seem, this was one of the earliest themes to be adopted for the decoration of Buddhist stupas." Marshall, p.33) These reliefs also belong to Buddhist structures, and it is sometimes suggested that they might represent some kind of paradisical world after death.
Both archaeological findings and literary evidence suggest Kushan rule, in Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan.
As late as the 3rd century CE, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period. (British Museum display, Asian Art room.)
Left: Bronze standing Buddha with features similar to those of Kanishka's coins. Gandhara, usually dated 3rd-4th century.
Only six Kushan coins of the Buddha are known (the sixth one is the centerpiece of an ancient piece of jewelry, consisting in a Kanishka Buddha coin decorated with a ring of heart-shaped ruby stones).
The Buddha is represented wearing the monastic robe, the antaravasaka, the uttarasanga, and the overcoat sanghati.
The ears are extremely large and long, a symbolic exaggeration possibly rendered necessary by the small size of the coins, but otherwise visible in some later Gandharan statues of the Buddha typically dated to the 3rd-4th century CE. He has an abundant topknot covering the usnisha, often highly stylicised in a curly or often globular manner, also visible on later Buddha statues of Gandhara.
In general, the representation of the Buddha on these coins is already highly symbolic, and quite distant from the more naturalistic and Hellenistic images seen in early Gandhara sculptures. On several design, a mustache is apparent. The palm of his right hand bears the Chakra mark, and his brow bear the urna. An aureola, formed by one, two or three lines, surrounds him.
Kanishka's expansion into the Tarim Basin probably initiated the transmission of Buddhism to China.
Buddhist monks from the region of Gandhara played a key role in the development and the transmission of Buddhist ideas in the direction of northern Asia from the middle of the second century CE. The Kushan monk, Lokaksema (c. 178 CE), became the first translators of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures into Chinese and established a translation bureau at the Chinese capital Loyang. Central Asian and East Asian Buddhist monks appear to have maintained strong exchanges for the following centuries.
The coinage of the Indo-Greeks however is generally considered as some of the most artistically brilliant of Antiquity. ("The extraordinary realism of their portraiture. The portraits of Demetrius, Antimachus and of Eucratides are among the most remarkable that have come down to us from antiquity" Hellenism in Ancient India, Banerjee, p134)
The Hellenistic heritage (Ai-Khanoum - Alexandria on the Oxus) and artistic proficiency of the Indo-Greek would suggest a rich sculptural tradition as well, but traditionally very few sculptural remains have been attributed to them. On the contrary, most Gandharan Hellenistic works of art are usually attributed to the direct successors of the Indo-Greeks in India in 1st century CE, such as the nomadic Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians and, in an already decadent state, the Kushans. ("Just as the Frank Clovis had no part in the development of Gallo-Roman art, the Indo-Scythian Kanishka had no direct influence on that of Indo-Greek Art; and besides, we have now the certain proofs that during his reign this art was already stereotyped, of not decadent" Hellenism in Ancient India, Banerjee, p147)
"The Great Departure", with the Buddha amid Greek deities and costumes.
Kanishka is renowned in Buddhist tradition for having convened in 78 CE a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. He also had the original Buddhist texts translated into Sanskrit. But was he Buddhist?
Left: detail of Kanishka, surrounded by the Iranian Sun-God and Moon-God, on the Kanishka casket. British Museum.
On the sides are two images of a seated Buddha, worshiped by royal figures. A garland, supported by cherubs goes around the scene in typical Hellenistic style.
The casket is dedicated in Kharoshthi.
The text is signed by the maker, a Greek artist named Agesilas, who oversaw work at Kanishka's stupas (caitya), confirming the direct involvement of Greeks with Buddhist realizations at such a late date: "The servant Agisalaos, the superintendent of works at the vihara of Kanishka in the monastery of Mahasena".
Kanishka played an important role in developing this faith and this should not be misinterpreted, or expanded into something more.
His leadership followed the pattern set first by Alexander of Macedon, then Diodotus I.
Right: Skanda and Visakha on Kushtan coin. Skanda is the name of deities popular amongst Hindus and Buddhists; a theory is that Skanda derives from Alexander the Great. (Skanda: The Alexander Romance in India by N. Gopala Pillai, from the Proceedings of the All-India Oriental Conference, Vol. IX (Trivandrum: Government Press, 1937), pp. 955-997)
The Kushan religious pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins and their seals, on which more than 30 different gods appear, belonging to the Hellenistic, the Iranian, and to a lesser extent the Indian world. Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins.
During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian, though it remained in Greek script for all kings. After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho.
Buddhist monasteries follow the trade routes west, until early synagogues appear (The mystery of early synagogues), as at Dura Europos.
This is one of the oldest synagogues in the world and was at first mistaken by archaeologists for a Greek temple, because of the wall paintings. Stylistically they are in provincial versions of contemporary Graeco-Roman style and technique.
Some of the paintings had their eyes scratched out, especially those which show figures in Persian costume, as several do, for example the figure on the white horse in the picture at right.
We noted in Archaeology of good governance how: Persia had ended the slavery of Jews in Babylon, some of whom turned homewards, some stayed and others moved east, and so Jews, settled in trading posts strung like pearls across the ancient world, became the merchants of the trade routes.
The halachic sage, Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba, is among those mentioned in the Mishnah as involved with trade in the Near East. R’Chiyya dealt with three of the basic goods traded along the route into China: glassware, flax, and linen.
In a Latin work of the fourth century, Descriptus Orbis, Beth Shean is described as a city which supplies textiles to the whole world. The superiority of textiles and clothes made by Jews in Beth Shean was affirmed by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. In 296 CE, Diocletian decreed fixed ceilings on prices and wages throughout the Empire. The woven products of Beth Shean were listed in the top class.
The edict lists only two types of glassware. One was designated vitri Ijudaici (Judaic glassware, i.e., glassware made by the Jews of Judah), and vitri Alessandrini (glassware made in Alexandria). Another Roman emperor, Hadrian, asserts that Jews are the glassmakers of Alexandria. Thus the testimony of two Roman emperors designate the Jews as the world’s glassmakers in Roman times. (Dan Barag, "Recent Epigraphic Discoveries Related to the History of Glassmaking in the Roman Period," Annales du 10th Congress, Madrid-Segovia, 1985, 113-116.)
R.Chiyya followed in the footsteps of his mentor, the great Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi (135-219 CE). The involvement of other sages and Jews in pan-Asian trade, as reflected in the Mishnah, burgeoned as centuries passed by. The tradition of travel and trade expanded into a world-girdling network of Jewish trade under the Persian/Jews called the Rhadanites. Ibn Khurdadhibih, an Arab chronicler of the ninth century, wrote that "these merchants speak Arabic, Persian, Roman, Frankish, Spanish and Slavonic. They travel from East to West, and from West to East by land as well as by sea." (Ibn Kurdadhibbih, The Book of the Routes and Kingdoms.)
- The Silk Route; A Judaic Odyssey, Samuel Kurinsky
Eastern part of the ancient world accessible to travellers in the first century of this era
The discoveries of M. A. Stein in 1902 indicate that the art of glassmaking, uniquely Judaic at that ancient time, was practiced by itinerant artisans along the silk route. Included with glassmaking relics at one site was a fragment of a business letter written in Hebrew script, and a Hebrew prayer written on paper. Paper was then as yet unknown in the West; Its presence indicates that the merchant was travelling from East to West. (M. Aural Stein, "A Journey of Geographical and Archaeological Exploration in Chinese Turkestan", The Geographical Journal, 1902; "Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan," 1903; Serinda, Oxford, 1921; "Central Asian Relics of China’s Ancient Silk Trade, Hirth ann. Vol. 1821; On Ancient Central Asian Tracks, London 1933.)
The Incense Road of Antiquity comprised a network of major ancient trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with Eastern sources of incense (and spices), stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant and Egypt through Arabia to India. The incense trade flourished from South Arabia to the Mediterranean between roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE. ("Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev" UNESCO.)
The Incense Route served as a channel for trading of goods such as Arabian frankincense and myrrh; Indian spices, ebony, silk and fine textiles; and East African rare woods, feathers, animal skins and gold. ("Traders of the Gold and Incense Road". Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, Berlin.)
The Periplus Maris Erythraei and other Greek texts refer to several coastal sites in the Horn of Africa, Southern Arabia and India involved with trade in frankincense, myrrh, cassia, bdellium and a range of gum resins termed duaka and kankamon and mok rotu.
Among the important trading points of the Incense Route was Gerrha, reported by the historian Strabo to have been founded by Babylonian exiles as a Chaldean colony. Gerrha exercised influence over the incense trade routes across Arabia to the Mediterranean and controlled the aromatics trade to Babylon in the 1st century BCE. (Larsen 1983: 56)
Four towns located in the Negev Desert are linked directly to the Mediterranean terminus of both the Incense Road and Spice routes. These towns include Avdat, Haluza, Mamshit, and Shivta.
Right: Avdat (Ovdat) ruins. It was inhabited by Nabataeans, Romans and Byzantines. (Ben David, H. (2005) "The Paved Roman Road from Petra to the Arava", Cathedra 116: 31-48.) Avdat continued to prosper as a major station along the Petra-Gaza road after the Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE.
As a group, these desert cities demonstrate the significantly lucrative trade in frankincense and myrrh that took place from south Arabia to the Mediterranean. At its height, from the 3rd century BCE through to the 2nd century CE, the routes included sophisticated cityscapes, irrigation systems, fortresses, and caravanserai.
A 1st century CE Indian imitation of a coin of Augustus, British Museum.
By the time of Augustus up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos to India. ("The Geography of Strabo", Vol. I of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1917)
So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the Kushan Empire for their own coinage, that Pliny the Elder (NH VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:
India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million sesterces from our empire per annum at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what percentage of these imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the spirits of the dead?
- Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.
The Ptolemaic dynasty exploited the strategic position of Alexandria to secure trade with India. (Lindsay 2006: 101)
We noted in The Lysimachus dynasty how this successor of Alexander the Great co-founded the Ptolemaic dynasty and in the first century of this era, Alexander Lysimachus becomes the alabarch of Alexandria - the pre-eminent tax-farmer for Rome, and Marcus, a son of his, is mentioned in the Petrie Ostraca for his activities between 37-44 at Myos Hormos and Berenice Troglodytica, ports located in the Red Sea. Also:
One of the son's of Alexander Lysimachus - Tiberius Julius Alexander - gave up the pretence of being Jewish to become procurator of Judea (c. 46 - 48) and Prefect of Egypt (66 - 69). A damaged papyrus refers to Alexander as holding the position of "Praetorian Prefect" - probably means that he became Prefect of the Praetorian Guard at Rome, which in later years became a common position for former Prefects of Egypt. At the Siege of Jerusalem in 70, Titus, the son of Vespasian was in command with the son of Alexander Lysimachus as his deputy.
This is how dynastic power used the tax on trade.