Roman Glass and Painted Vessels in Kushana Funerary Cult

ArputhaRani Sengupta
Synopsis

The reliquary in the mortuary tradition of the Kushana epoch is a collective term for artworks in
classic Greco-Roman and provincial Roman styles. Some of these intended for kings, courtiers,
aristocrats and wealthy merchant princes are inscribed. The Begram hoard connected to the
Saka/Scythian kings of the early centuries of the Christian era demonstrates that funerary
customs in the eastern Mediterranean was the driving force behind the Greco-Buddhist reliquary
cult. Among the wide variety of materials, the magic of innovative glass in the Begram funerary
deposit is best demonstrated by a story concerning Apollodorus of Damascus, architect-sculptor
and courtier of emperor Trajan (d.117 CE). Trajan’s lieutenant Hadrian had pretentions to
architectural design and Apollodorus had famously ticked off the future emperor by saying “Go
and draw your pumpkins/gourds”. Cassius Dio informs that Apollodorus was banished and then
executed by emperor Hadrian about 130 when at his bid for clemency he foolishly demonstrated
his supernatural skill by making a broken glass vase whole again. Magicians were esteemed and
feared by Romans. But in reality conjurers and practitioners of the occult who set up shop
outside India’s many temples was once common in Rome. There they paid a small fee for love
potion, amulet, spell or charm. At this time Scythian shamans, Persian Magus, Celtic Druids and
Egyptian priests skilled in magic and spells were close to the kings and on the same level as
kings in respect. Their awesome influence can be best seen in the Greco-Buddhist relics designed
for immortality. Ground-breaking design and painting on the original medium is the essence of
magical glass exclusive to the new funerary cult in South Asia.

During the Roman expansion aspects of culture and also language spread even beyond the
Roman Empire. From the first century onwards during the lifetime of emperors there was direct
and indirect contact between the great powers of the period; the confederation of Parthian,
Greco-Kushana and Satavahana India and the Han China acted as one. Against the backdrop of
new world order Roman glass among wide variety of objects in the buried hoard of Begram is a
deliberate cultural act with wide implications. In his introductory chapter on ‘Relics and
Reliquaries’, Willis discusses the theory and practice of the relic cult in Mahayana Buddhism. He
en umerates the three types of relics mentioned in Buddhist literature, namely corporeal relics
(saririka-dhatu), relics of use (paribhogika-dhatu), and relics of commemoration (uddesika-
dhatu) that “should be taken as points on a sliding scale, which to some extent allowed one type
of relic to be substituted and transformed into another”.1 The deposit of votive objects
widespread in the Greco-Buddhist reliquary cult is a way of arm-twisting your way to the next

1
Michael Willis, Buddhist Reliquaries from Ancient India, with contributions by Joe Cribb and Julia Shaw (London:
British Museum, 2000) p. 16. [Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 44, No. 4 (2001), pp. 367-370]
world. Mortuary art in the Scythian Kushana context does not refer to just architectural
monuments such as hemispherical stupa and rock-cut caves. It includes the reliquary casket
placed inside the numerous stupas and variety of votives including effigies placed in the centrally
planned funerary complexes. In this context, Begram, the ancient Kapisa in the northwest
frontier region, appears to be an adjunct to the Kushana dynastic cult centers located in other
parts of South Asia. The well-known devakulika at Mat in Mathura corresponds to Augusteum at
Ostia. Excavations in the 1930s by the Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan
(DAFA) uncovered imported artifacts from the Roman world in two sealed chambers at Begram
about 60km north of Kabul. The Begram ‘treasure’ in diverse materials datable to 1st-2nd
century CE are funerary votives dedicated to the afterlife of kings. The luxury goods from the
ancient Hellenised world deposited in the two bricked in chambers are primarily from
Alexandria and Punic Numidia in the north African coast connected to the Silk Road by the
organic blue dye product. The bronze Harpocrates, Serapis-Hercules and Dionysus-Selene
correlated to the plaster cast medallions of Selene and Endymion, Cupid and Psyche, Cupid and
Venus and Ganymede and Zeus in the Olympus are integral part of the funerary cult. Among a
wide range of Phoenician ivories the ivory replicas of free-standing ceremonial gateways called
torana are related to the gateways of the Great Stupa at Sanchi executed by the ‘ivory carvers of
Vidisha’ mentioned on the principal southern gateway.

0.1 Ribbed blue glass bowl, Begram, 1st-2nd century CE

0.2 Ribbed colorless iridescent glass bowl, Ø 23.5 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 247), 1st century CE
0.3 Deep dish made of mosaic millefiori glass, Begram (Exc. no. 159), 1st century CE

0.4 Colored ribbed glass bowl veined like agate, Ø 17.2 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 311), 1st century CE
0.5 Hemispherical amber colored glass cup, Ø 8.3cm, Begram (Exc. no. 157), 1st century CE
0.6 Large jar in white glass with a flat handle, Begram, 1st century CE
0.7 Rosette white glass bottle, H.7.6, Ø 13.5 cm, Begram (Exc. no. LXXXV), 1st century CE
0.8a,b The Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria, White glass vase, H. 18 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 203)
1st century CE, Kabul: National Museum of Afghanistan
The variety of glass vessels deliberately cached in the two Begram Rooms 10 and 13are
most astounding. The glass vessels in all kinds of shapes and sizes are ornamented in various
manner. The earliest glass from the Roman world in the Begram hoard is housed in Kabul
National Museum of Afghanistan. These were first studied by Otto Kurz, a member of DAFA,
and later by many other experts.2 The glass goblets, bowls and cups fashioned for magical
purpose exhibit strange magical skill. The ‘honeycomb’ pattern in white cut glass consists of
rows of concave hexagonal lozenges in rows.3 A small footed conical goblet has four rows of
hexagonal lozenges arranged between two parallel grooves. The ceremonial cup is just 9.5 cm
high while the mouth is 10.8 cm wide. A small one-handled jug too has the same ‘honeycomb’
pattern in white cut glass (H.11cm, upper rim Ø 5.8 cm, Begram, Exc. no. 204). An almost
identical one-handled jug in blue cut glass with the ‘honeycomb’ pattern is 9.3 cm high. The
ubiquitous ‘honeycomb’ pattern on a small weathered bowl in white glass indicates that honey in
the mystery religion was indeed the nectar of gods (H.8.5 cm, Rim Ø 8 cm). The mythological
reference to honey used in postmortem healing is implicit in the gem-set hexagonal gold
reliquary box from Ahin Posh stupa nestled in the valley of Jalalabad in Afghanistan.4 Three
more tall goblets in white cut glass have twelve rows of ‘honeycomb’ pattern. One of them has
weathered mineral crust. The ‘honeycomb’ cups and goblets mysteriously allude to therapeutic
honey. It also alludes to the moon goddesses Diana and Artemis worshiped as ‘Queen Bee’
linked to Apollo the sun god. Melissa meaning ‘honey bee’ in Greek were priestesses of Demeter
and the initiates of the chthonian goddess were known as Melissae or bees.

2
Foucher 1911; Foucher and Bazin-Foucher 1942/47.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_journals/bmsaes/issue_18/mairs.aspx
3
Francine Tissot, Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931-1985 (France: UNESCO, 1960) pp.267-
270. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001482/148244e.pdf
4
ArputhaRani Sengupta, ‘Visions of Faith’ in Jewellery in Buddhist Reliquary Cult, fig. 3.73 (forthcoming)
0.9a-e Tall white glass beaker with painted scenes, H. 24.8 cm, upper Ø 11.7 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 54).
1st century CE, Kabul: National Museum of Afghanistan
(Courtesy Asian Art Museum Education Department)
The mass produced mold-made ribbed bowls found in Begram are widespread in north-
eastern Africa.5 This brings into fore the relationship that existed between the primary workshops
that produced raw glass and the secondary workshops that turned it into a product, even as small
as beads in Arikamedu on the Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu mentioned in the Periplus. The
glass from Karanis in Egypt corresponds to the chemical properties of the imported raw glass
used in the local bead-making industry at Arikamedu. The mold blown glass bowls dated to 1st
century are found on the Red Sea coast of Egypt at Quseir al-Qadim,6 at ed-Dur in the Gulf
Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain7 as well as at Arikamedu and other sites in southern India.8 A
colorless, iridescent mold made ribbed glass bowl radiating light like the sun (Ø 23.5 cm) is
similar to a ribbed blue glass bowl among the glass objects from the eastern Mediterranean in the
5
E. Marianne Stern, ‘Hellenistic Glass from Kush (Modern Sudan)’ in Annales de l’Association Internationale pour
l‘Histoire du Verre, 8 (London, Liverpool: 1979). E.M. Stern, ‘Hellenistic Glass from Kush (Modern Sudan), in
AnnAIHV 8 (1979, publ. 1981), pp. 35-59.
6
Carol Meyer, ‘Glass from Quseir Al-Qadim and the Indian Ocean Trade’, in Civilization 53, The Oriental Institute
of the University of Chicago, Jan 1 (Chicago: 1992)
7
D. Whitehouse, ‘Ancient glass from ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates) 2. Glass excavated by the
Danish expedition’, in AAE, 11 (2000) pp 87–128.
8
E. M. Stern, ‘Early Exports beyond the Empire’, in Roman Glass: Two Centuries of Art and Invention, eds. M.
Newby and K. Painter (London: The Society of Antiquries of London, 1991) pp.141-155.
Begram hoard (0.1, 2). One of the unique specimens is a deep dish in millefiori mosaic glass,
which is the earliest specimens on record (0.3).9 Glass has the luminosity of gemstone.
Occasionally glass replicates monochromatic background of banded agate that is not
differentiated by color but by its uniform translucency. An absolutely matchless ribbed bowl in
colored glass is made to imitate veined agate (0.4). Among the precious glassware commissioned
exclusively for the eternal glory of the mightiest rulers is a hemispherical cup in light amber
colored glass with two bands of incised grooves. It is a slightly elongated version of the so called
‘alm’s bowl’ of Buddha (0.5). A large cylindrical bottle in plain white glass has a rectilinear flat
handle made of glass tape (0.6).
A white glass bottle has pressed rosette motif surrounded by radiate wavy lines (0.7). The
pattern on the restored flask resembles a Kushana silver plate from Punjab embossed with loving
couple encircled by radiating wavy lines.10 The painted glass beakers from Begram are
exceptionally fine and well preserved. An uncommon tall beaker in white cut glass has maple
leaves and strips of glass appliquéd in relief on the surface (H.14.2 cm, Exc. no. 237). A tall
beaker in white glass represented on the same page depicts a man flanked by two tritons stand on
top of a towering building (0.8a). The unique piece molded in high is believed to represent
Alexandria’s Pharos lighthouse crowned by a statue of Poseidon, which was one of the wonders
of the ancient world. A sailing ship and a larger ship along with a man rowing in a small boat are
molded in clear glass in high relief (0.8b). The sea vessels surrounding the lighthouse suggest
protection of the shore after a perilous journey. This exceptional glass beaker with sculptural
qualities stands out among several other painted goblets. Kurz in his 1954 essay on ‘Begram et
l’occident gréco-romain’, affirms that this was an Alexandrian product exporté comme souvenir
exported through the Red Sea trade.11 The stylistic comparisons of the Begram glassware with
the finds from Roman Egypt reinforce his point. However, these glass containers need to be
examined in a wider archaeological and cultural setting of the flourishing funerary cult during
the early centuries of the Christian era. In addition to Egyptian-themed imagery on some of the
glass vases, there are also items made of Egyptian materials, including vessels of alabaster (nos
173–75) and of porphyry (nos 215–16), mined in the Roman period in the Eastern Desert, and
bronze statuettes of quintessentially Graeco-Roman Egyptian gods (Harpokrates/Horus the
Child, no. 225; Herakles-Serapis, no. 220).
A rather well preserved tall beaker in white glass has painted scenes in two registers
(0.9a). The hunting scene at the top shows a prowling tiger and an antelope leaping forward
along with a hare (0.9b,c). Below, a fisherman is surrounded with various kinds of fish. The fish
and animals are remarkably naturalistic in form and color. The men too are depicted with notable
realism. The archer aiming at the antelope is an affluent white man wearing vibrant clothes and a
conical hat, while the rugged colored fisherman wears only a loincloth (0.9d,e). While the

9
David Whitehouse, ‘Mosaic Glass’, 2001, 147-53.
10
ArputhaRani Sengupta, ‘Goddess of Fortune and Destiny’ in Jewellery in Buddhist Reliquary Cult, fig. 2.52
(forthcoming)
11
Francine Tissot, Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931-1985 (France: UNESCO, 1960) pp.271.
painting style is similar to the wall murals in Pompeii, the same type of marine life too is seen on
the floor mosaics in Pompeii. Goblets such as these from Begram were probably made from
molds in mid first century CE. The undetermined enameled paint on these goblets using
antimony and iron oxides was apparently fired to stay durable. The vibrant coloring on the
colorless glass has survived surprising well for nearly two millennia. The technology and skill
indicates a common source from the Roman world, which in all likelihood is the eastern
Mediterranean region.

0.10 Harvesting dates, enameled glass beaker, H. 12.6 cm, upper Ø 8 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 163).
Room 10, 1st century CE, Kabul: National Museum of Afghanistan
0.11 Glass vase showing Europa raped by Zeus the bull, Begram, 1st century CE
0.12 Horsemen in battle scene painted on colorless glass goblet, Begram, 1st century CE
0.13 Gladiateur enameled glass beaker, Begram, circa 52-125 CE, Paris: Musée Guimet (18117)
Besides signs and symbols the vessels employ religious myths and legends to convey
happy afterlife. The finely painted glass beakers, with scenes of people and animals in bright
colours, carry some typically Egyptian images, such as the goddess Isis (no. 153), and scenes of
the date harvest (0.10). A battle scene painted on a tall beaker in white glass is believed to
represent the duel between Achilles and Hector (h.24.4cm, Exc. no. 27). A glass vase showing
Nereid accompany a female seated on a bull is interpreted as Europa abducted by Zeus.
However, Baal personified as bull is consort of the Punic mother goddess Tanit worshiped in the
Mediterranean region as Venus Celeste is a sky goddess indentified by crescent moon and the
nimbus veil (0.11). The central motif on the third goblet in white glass is a battle scene
(H.24.3cm). The two primary scenes seem to be rendered, one with armed combatants including
three on foot and one on horseback. A larger scene shows three warriors on horseback and two
on foot. Others appear to have perished on the battlefield. The topic might be episodes from the
Trojan War, particularly the battle between Hector and Achilles (Begram Exc. no. 27).12 A
realistically painted battle scene painted on a similar colorless glass goblet depicts horsemen, one
of whom has fallen headlong on the ground (0.12). One of the beakers in the Musée Guimet has

12
Francine Tissot, Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931-1985 (France: UNESCO, 1960) p.273.
(Color drawing by Jean Carl).
painted gladiator within a register demarcated by plain lines and surrounding floral frame.
Instead of a combat scene the gladiator seem to pose in ceremonial attire that includes red shirt
and an elaborate headgear and wide brimmed hat (0.13). On a tall beaker two priestesses appear
(0.14a,b) together with a goddess in full regalia standing frontal like the youth with a basket full
of fruit. The four figures in late Hellenistic style are painted in bright colors on the large white
glass goblet.13 The four figures seem to have oblique reference to cult rituals.

0.14a,b Goddess and two priestesses painted on colorless glass, Begram (Exc. no. 197), 1st century CE
0.15 Small bottle with a long neck in brown glass, H.12.4 cm, upper Ø 4.4 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 251)
0.16 Gilded Dionysian scene on blue-grey engraved glass, H.21.4 cm, Ø 6.6 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 154)
A surprisingly small bottle with a long neck is in plain brown glass. The blown glass Has
been shaped as a decanter with sloping triangular body with classical elegance. Presumably this
flask fitted with a stopper was used to hold liquid offering in cult rituals (0.15). Similar blown-
glass range from miniature perfume bottles to drinking vessels. A blue-grey glass pitcher with a
high-swung handle has gilded Dionysian scene engraved in a band around its shoulder. Among a
group of dancers a partially draped woman leads a pageant with her mantle spread out in her
hands (0.16).14 Two men with pine cone tipped staff follow her; the leading man holds out
thyrsus and laurel wreath. A tree and a kantharos tilting wine on the ground separates him from
another man who follows holding out a similar drinking cup.15 The engraved decoration on the
wine jug picked out in gold foil is worthy of a royal banquet. The Kushana deposit also
contained a companion cup in delicate smooth white glass decorated with engraved branches and
leaves of wild vine picked out in gold foil (H. 9 cm, Ø 14 cm, Begram Exc. no. 121). The fragile
drinking cup called cantharus (kantharos) has two delicate handles that extend slightly above the
lip. The purpose of the glass vessels and its ornamentation indicates that in addition to honey
wine was central to cult rituals. Mainly several of these drinking goblets in white glass are
treated as miniature mural painting.

13
Francine Tissot, Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931-1985 (France: UNESCO, 1960) p.272.
14
Francine Tissot, Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931-1985 (France: UNESCO, 1960) p.275.
(Drawing by Pierre Hamelin).
15
Francine Tissot, Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931-1985 (France: UNESCO, 1960) p. 275.
 Strabo reports glass production on the Levantine coast and Alexandria (16.25). The
glassware in Begram shows the climax of Alexandrian glass industry that seems to have gone
into decline by the end of 1st century. Several fish-shaped glass vessels discovered at Begram are
approximately life-sized. Like this piece, There is a possibility that several hollow fish flasks
made of glass are a direct import from Greco-Roman Egypt.16 On the contrary to the general
assumption these votive objects produced in the eastern Mediterranean were not part of the
export trade along the Silk Road. The function of the popular aquatic theme in these unusual
glass vessels can be gauged only from its source in Egypt, where the fish served as a guide to the
night sun on its chthonic journey along the river under the earth. Whitehouse notes that the fish-
shaped flasks from Begram (nos. 164, 166, 169) are fashioned using techniques not found in any
known Roman examples.17 There are fine comparable Roman glass available, although the
comparanda for mould-blown vessels in the shape of fish is an example from ed-Dur.18 The fish
flasks of Begram are necessarily the creation of innovative artisan in a previously unattested
workshop in the Roman Empire itself. Although innovation in the production of the Begram
group does not in any case imply manufacture in India, this magical technique survives mostly in
north India. Skilled traditional glassworker make ornamental glass baubles as souvenirs and
demonstrate their skill art craft fairs.
Many glass objects discovered in the Begram hoard represent a variety of techniques of
glassworking. Glassmakers during early Roman period are mentioned in Lyons (Gaul), Athens
(Greece), Numidia kingdom of Mauretania (Morocco), Dalmatia, and Cologne (Rhineland).
Roman record identifies the Jews in Alexandria and Syria as principal glassmakers. Colored
glass was produced through the addition of metal oxides to molten glass. Roman mold-blown
glass vessels have attractive designs and intricate shapes to cater to a wide variety of taste and
function that range from cinerary urn to ceremonial drinking cups.19 But glass was not routinely
marketed as a cheap or ordinary merchandise. Similar to silk, innovative glass as material is
magical to begin with and the earliest examples are found in ceremonial sites linked to wealthy
patrons. Hence it is hard to view even the mass produced early glass creations as plain, utilitarian
wares or even as souvenir pieces as proposed by some.
Mold-blowing allowed for the mass production of plain, utilitarian wares but certain
popular cups may have been regarded as souvenir pieces. The discovery of glassblowing led to
an increase in the range of shapes and designs that glassworkers could produce. An offshoot of
free-blowing is the mold-blowing process that use a durable mold in baked clay and sometimes

E. M. Stern, ‘Roman Glassblowing in a Cultural Context’, in American Journal of Archaeology 103/3 (1999) pp.
16

441-484.
17
David Whitehouse, Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, (Catalogue) Vol. 1 (New Yoprk, NY: Hudson
Hills, 2001) p. 442.
18
David Whitehouse, Excavations at ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates). The glass vessels, Vol. 1.
Leuven, Peeters (1998) no. 113.
19
Jennifer Price, ‘Decorated Mould-Blown Glass Tablewares in the First Century AD’, in Roman Glass: Two
Centuries of Art and Invention, edt. by Martine Newby and Kenneth Painter (London: Society of Antiquaries, 1991)
pp. 56–75.
wood or metal. The simple undecorated square or round mold consisting of at least two parts
could be opened to remove safely the finished product from inside. The mold could be also be
quite intricate decorated shape in intaglio, so that on the glass the design appears in relief.
Similar to goldworking, the mold maker and the glassworker are not the same person. The
glassblower would blow a chunk of hot glass into the reusable mold and inflate it to adopt the
patterned shape within. Next, the glass vessel is removed from the mold and shaped while still
malleable to elaborate the rim or add handles if required. Pattern molding is a variation of this
process that use ‘dip molds’. In this process, the gob of hot glass is first inflated into the mold to
adopt its negative shape and then removed from the mold and free-blown into its final shape.
Pattern-molded vessels developed in the eastern Mediterranean. The glass fish flasks deposited
in Begram are the earliest examples. Other known examples of pattern-molded vessels are
usually dated to the fourth century CE. Although a mold could be reused they tend to deteriorate
and break. The popular shapes were either duplicated or an impression made from the existing
glass vessels for several generations.
Contrary to general perception certain type of flasks shaped like fish are made of blown
glass and not mold made as presumed to be. The details such as the upper and dorsal fins are
organically shaped while the fish is still in malleable state, such elements in glass cannot be
made separately and then attached through heat. Fine lines on the surface, indicating the texture
of the fish’s body, too is achieved during the process of manipulating glass under the flame. The
wish to appease evil Set seems to be the reason behind the fish flasks. Chiefly the Oxyrynchus
and Nile carp were considered sacred to Set as they had apparently swallowed the penis of Osiris
after Set had dismembered the god of the dead. The fish was in fact valued for having preserved
the fertile seed of Osiris resurrected by Isis and Horus. A beaker in white glass (H.17.8cm) is
encased within a ‘cage’ of horizontal undulating filaments of glass supported by vertical
filaments attached to the wall of the vessel (Begram Exc. no. 228, Exc. no. 194.). 20 A beaker
with two handles in blue glass has the same type of glass filigree as the preceding piece (0.17).
Among the several such vessels within a ‘cage’ is a 21 cm high vase in clear glass surrounded by
horizontal undulating filaments of white glass attached to the wall of the vessel by means of
vertical filaments. The unusual manufacturing technique is exposed by the damage to the vessel
(Begram Exc. no. LXXXII).21 The molten glass is frozen in fanciful wavy filaments around glass
beakers made in different shapes. The extremely rare ‘cage cups’ are the earliest known
examples of nanoengineering very seldom found elsewhere. A large rhyton set on a conical foot
is an equally unusual drinking vessel with a curious terminal shaped like the head of an
antelope. Its horns are playfully twisted up while the glass was still malleable (0.18). Equally
unusual is a large almost life-sized fish shaped rhyton set on a short foot. These luxury objects
are large drinking vessels that incorporate magical intent for life after death. The naturalistic,

20
Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931–1985 – IS BN 978-92-3-104030-6 – © UNES CO 2006,
p.277.
Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan, 1931–1985 – IS BN 978-92-3-104030-6 – © UNES CO 2006,
21

p.276.
lifelike fish in glass has eyes and fins rendered in blue glass. The tail of this unusual type of flask
was probably plugged with a cork (0.19). The dexterity of the craftsman working with fire
manipulated the molten glass on a rod while rapidly twisting and attaching additional shapes to
the main form. The popular fish flasks in glass is familiar form in variety of artworks. In
Egyptian mythology the fish linked to the invincible sun god protects and guides the sun in its
nocturnal course (0.20a-d).

0.17 Cage beaker with two handles, Blue glass, Begram (Exc. no. 182), 1st century CE
0.18 Antelope rhyton on conical foot, Colorless glass, H 0.165. Begram (Exc. no. 158), 1st century CE
0.19 Nile carp fish flask in glass, Begram, Site 2, Room 10, 1st century CE

0.20a Oxyrynchus Nile fish in blue glass, L. 32 cm, Begram (Exc. no. 193), 1st century CE
Kabul: National Museum of Afghanistan ((04.1.47)
0.20b Oxyrynchus Nile fish in blue glass fragment, Begram, Site 2, Chamber 10, 1st century CE
0.20c Oxyrynchus Nile fish in white glass fragment, Begram, Site 2, Chamber 10, 1st century CE
0.20d Golden fish glass fragment, Begram, Site 2, Chamber 10, 1st century CE (Courtesy Musée Guimet)
Imitation glass gem called ‘paste’ is an alternative to precious engraved gemstones,
which is an expensive medium affordable only by kings and princes. Sometimes even glass is not
cast but individually engraved. Paradoxically the expertise of skilled engravers required in
glyptic art is available to make the imitation glass gems. A blue glass cameo of a seated man
holding a palm frond in his outstretched right hand resembles Kushana king Azes on his coin.22
Hellenistic and early Roman copies of classical gems is often imitated in glass. A remarkable
blue glass medallion from Gandhara depicts a cavern in which Eros observes Venus embrace
Adonis. In the cameo Adonis stoops down to kiss Venus seen as usual from the rear in classic
Roman style (0.21).23 The divine lovers in the blue glass disc is equivalent to ‘The Kiss’
celebrated in a Roman mosaic in Piazza Armerina in Sicily, which is undoubtedly one of the best
specimens of this type (0.22). Curiously, in addition to the divine embrace Adonis is given a pot
of honey to guarantee his happy afterlife. In sympathetic magic Venus and Adonis offer rebirth
like that of Adonis and promise that the deceased man became another Adonis and the woman
another Venus. Likewise, in the cults of Serapis and Isis and Cybele and Attie the shade of a man
that went into the earth resurrected as Serapis or Attis attained eternal bliss in the company of
the goddess.

0.21 Cupid, Venus and Attis, Blue glass, Ø 2.7cm, Depth 4mm, Afghanistan, 1st century CE
Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago (AIC)
0.22Venus embracing Attis, Roman mosaic, Piazza Armeria, 1st -2nd Sicily, Italy
0.23 Winged centaur running, Colorless glass, L. 18 cm, Sirkap, Taxila, 1st century CE
Archaeological remains of Roman glass appears well beyond imperial frontiers. Taxila,
in the Peshawar valley, en route to Pataliputra from Begram along the Indus and Kabul rivers,
has also yielded Roman glassware. It includes two ribbed bowls, unguentaria and shards of
mosaic glass. A winged centaur runs on a milky white glass cameo from Taxila (0.23).24 It is one
among several inscribed glass votives from Taxila that coexist with seals engraved in gemstone.
Some of the inscribed paste glass incorporate typical Greco-Buddhist signs such as triratna, lion
and elephant (0.24). A green glass seal with knobby handle is doubtlessly from the north coast of
Africa. The seal inscribed ABLVCCT in Bactrian Greek depicts a powerful lion approach a
seated ibex.25 The ibex is a much loved votive in gold and gems; it appears on the finial of silver

22
Errington and Cribb (eds.), The crossroads of Asia. Transformation and symbol in the art of ancient Afghanistan
and Pakistan (Cambridge: Ancient India and Iran Trust, 1992) p.159, exh.cat. no. 160, Cambridge Fitzwilliam
Museum. Azes coin Ø 2.5 cm, Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago Collection.
23
David Whitehouse, Cameo Glass. Roman Glass: two centuries of art and invention, M. Newby and K. Painter,
London: Society of Antiquaries of London, 1991.
24
John Marshall, Taxila (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1951) vol.III, pl. 207, no.33. ‘3 vols.’
ArputhaRani Sengupta, ‘Goddess of Fortune and Destiny’ in Jewellery in Buddhist Reliquary Cult, fig. 2.33
25

(forthcoming)
Indravrman reliquary casket and in Tillya Tepe burial and Scythian kurgan. A green glass seal
depicting lion and ibex is inscribed has ABLVCCT engraved in Bactrian Greek. The ibex that
climbs the highest reaches of a mountain personifies a human who transcends human destiny on
earth and reaches heaven in afterlife. The lion represents the female sun goddess Tanit
personified as lion and crescent moon atop a hill (0.25). The Punic goddess Tanit, the powerful
consort of Baal the bull, was revered as Nania in the ancient Kushana and Sassanian kingdoms
(0.26). Tanit Nania seated on lion identifies Durga and Lalita among several other names of the
goddess worshiped in India.

0.24 Glass votives inscribed in Prakrit Brahmi, Taxila, 1st c entury AD

0.25 Lion and Ibex, Green glass seal inscribed in Greek, Afghanistan, 1st-2nd century AD
o.26 Nania on lion, Mural painting, Panjikent, 7th century CE
0.27 Moon goddess Tanit, Cast bronze, North Afghanistan, 1st-2nd century AD
Roman and Kushana coins doubling as pendant amulets have left perceptible trace on
precious gem and charms in paste glass. The image of individuals including Vima Takto (Soter
Megas) funerary tokens is cast in glass. Votive coins in bronze and occasionally in lead are cast
in finely executed clay or stone molds. A cast bronze coin from Taxila depicts a goddess holding
a radiant star between a crescent horned arched hill and the constellation of Pleiades formed by
six dots in the formation of Tetractys triangle sacred to Pythagoreans (0.27). The complex
iconography identifies the Punic goddess Tanit of Carthage derived from Atargatis and
worshiped as Venus Celeste in the Mediterranean region. Vast quantities of Tetractys gold beads
(1.3 x 1.0 cm) from the 1st century Tillia Tepe tomb I are part of the ‘Hidden Treasure of
Afghanistan’ in the Kabul National Museum (MK 04.40.323).26 Travelers like Isidore of Charax
and the author of the Periplus named ‘Alexandrias’ sailing into Barygaza in the 1st century AD
probably brought loads of ‘Ghost Coins’ for secondary cult rituals dedicated to the departed.
This tradition continues among the Hindus in Pakistan who store the ancestors’ caskets in a
temple and sporadically transport them to India for the final religious rites. The transnational
travelers who converged in South Asia for similar cult purpose would have had the knowledge
about Gandhara and the former Greek kingdoms of Bactria and Arachosia in the north-western
frontier region of the Indian subcontinent.
The incessant religious pilgrimage to the ritual sites was augmented by the Silk Road
trade. Improved transportation across the seas and the Roman roads increased the volume of
bilingual Charon’s obol dedicated in the name of Apollodotus, Menander and Demitrios, the
beloved of Demeter. The so called Indo-Greek coins inscribed in Greek and Kharoshti is typical

ArputhaRani Sengupta, ‘Charms and Amulets’ in Jewellery in Buddhist Reliquary Cult, fig. 6.40a-c (forthcoming)
26
of the kingdom of Numidia that minted coins inscribed in Greek and Phoenician script. The plan
of Sirkap is similar to Mohenjo-Daro. Proceeding from the ‘palace’ complex in the necropolis
the High Street towards the North Gate leads to several large blocks separated by narrow side
streets.27 The chambers used for rituals arranged around open quadrangle are actually dead-end:
A remarkable feature of these houses is that, although is some cases there are doors
communicating between two or more rooms, there are no doors giving direct access from these
rooms to the interior court or to the streets outside. Votives from the funerary complex in Sirkap
include terracotta and pottery, beads, gems and coins. A deposit of 61 copper coins of Azes I,
Azes II and Aspavarma, Gondopharnes, Kadphises I and Hermaeus (Hermes) in is of special
interest. A number of earthenware moulds for casting coins was found in a room just outside the
Sirkap complex near its south-west corner. The molds with clear impression of the coins are
those of Azes II. Eight of the molds are complete and twenty broken.

0.28 Horseman, Sand-cast glass, North Afghanistan, 1st-2nd century AD

0.29 Portrait heads, Paste Glass, North Afghanistan, 1st-2nd century AD
Glass was major commodity in the Red Sea trade; the imitation gems in glass supposedly
duped the Chinese. Sand cast glass and metal is the simplest and the cheapest. The method is still
used by itinerant craftsmen who recycle metal brought by customers and recast them in sand that
has the impression of the icon from his stock. The portrait glass votives in Gandhara were
apparently cast from original image fashioned in clay and then cast in sand. A Roman cavalry
man in mold-made green glass disc is probably a Scythian or a royal horseman of Mauritania
(0.28). Actually, Kushana period paste glass is our only evidence for the existence of such types
not represented in gem stones. And glass with the luminosity of gemstone was a good substitute.
Imitation gem made of glass often tries to create the effect of stone that has contrasting colors in
different strata. Occasionally glass is colored to imitate plain or banded stones such as agate. The
pressed glass technique spread from Alexandria to Rome and its provinces. A type of
commemorative portraits in paste glass is mostly from north Afghanistan. The mold-made tokens
are in gleaming blue, tan, green, golden and almost black red glass. The small glass memorials
are cast from the impression taken from the original in baked clay. Despite its coarseness the
sand cast glass relies on and properties of light and translucent color of the glass that imitate
precious gemstones. In general portrait heads of men in profile wear the smooth sun hat called
kausía. The Greek headgear with rounded visor first observed in early coins and gems is usually

27
John Marshall, A guide to Taxila (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960) pp.70,71.
called ‘Bactrian’ hat. Several commemorative glass discs are also devoted to another type of
curly haired diademed head; the Negroid features clearly indicate royal descent from the north
African kingdoms (0.29). The votives combines paranormal and religious beliefs correlated with
the personality, which offers a rare glimpse into the rich history and culture of the transnational
cult.
Most of the ancient bangles are circular, rectangular, oval, bi-concave or plano-convex in
cross section. Triangular bangles with ridged apex and those with rounded edges are rare.
Occasionally triangular bangles are decorated with dots. Monochrome bangles have short
slanting or vertical lines or dots. Monochrome, polychrome and ropelike entwined bichrome
glass bangles in different shades are from Maski, Nasik, Navesa, Bhokardan and Brahmagiri.
While most glass bangles are pulled from fire some with shallow grooves are mold made.
Monochrome glass bangles from Sirkap are blue, yellow or amber. Three types of stratified glass
bangles are from Maski. One type has strip of opaque yellow and transparent amber with brown
dots on the top. Another type of stratified opaque green bangle has two stripes of binding yellow
with yellow and green rope design on top. The third type consists of wire like two yellow strips
binding a channeled green. Glass bangles from Brahmagiri have a yellow strip above a grey
base.56 The Kushana period solid glass bangles are double or single convex, devoid of any
decoration. Under the early Roman Empire the glassmaking industry spread from initial centers
on the Egyptian and Syro-Palestinian coast to become a technologically advanced, empire-wide
enterprise.28 Tinted glass bangles in Palestine similar to those from the Indian subcontinent were
usually worn by prostitutes in Roman military area (0.30a,b). Sacred Marriage in this world and
in the next was part of early Buddhist funerary cult. In this context Roman glass bangles found in
the stupa sites have a fascinating historical and ethnological reminder. Glass bangles are an
important sign of a married woman in South Asia. Glass bangles signify blissful married life in
India where a bride is usually sent to her connubial bed laden with bangles up to her elbows.
Most workers in the glass bangle workshops thriving in Ferozabad in north India are Muslims,
which in a sense indicates their racial origin.
The Roman glassware deposited in Begram presumably arrived by sea from Egypt at the
port of Barbarikon. By bypassing Barygaza the loads of valuables then travelled northwards
along the Indus Valley to Taxila and Begram. The ships from Alexandria sailed directly to India
with the dangerous but fast Etesian winds in the month of July or Epiphi (Periplus 39). With Isis
guiding the prow of their ship, the voyage culminated at Barbaricum, a small island port located
like a gem in the delta on the seven heads of the Indus River along the coastal district of Scythia.
Actually, serpents called graea in Persia come forth from the depths to meet the sailors as they
approached Barbarikon from the sea. The only navigable river in the middle of Indus (Sinthus)
rears like the polycephelous snake that knots around the reliquary caskets in Amarvati.
Barbaricum known as Scythian market town was populated by Parthian princes constantly at war
with each other (Periplus 38). The ships brought figured linens, topaz, coral, storax,

28
S. J. Fleming, Roman Glass; reflections on cultural change, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of
Archaeology and Anthropology, 1999.
frankincense, vessels of glass, silver and gold plate, and a little wine and took back costus,
bdellium, lycium, nard, turquoise, lapis lazuli, Seric skins, cotton cloth, silk yarn, and indigo. 29
The Scythian populating along the Araxes river predates Armenia according to Diodorus
Siculus. Herodotus notes their presence even at the time of the Persian expedition of Cyrus
against the Massagetae and declares that the Scythians conquered all of Asia (1.104). Strabo
informs that the Scythians in Greater Armenia ruled the whole of Asia (11.13. 5). According to
Strabo a district in Armenia called Sacasene was named after the Sacae (11.8.4). The landlocked
Iberia, Colchis bordering the Black Sea, and Albania bordering the Caspian Sea are three small
districts in Georgia sandwiched between Armenia to the south and the Caucasus Mountains to
the north. Caspiana in the eastern part of Albania in Strabo’s time is not to be confused with the
later Albania in the Balkans. Jason and the Argonauts of the ancient Greek tribe called the
Japhethite supposedly crossed the Black Sea to Colchis in search of the golden fleece before the
Trojan War. Medea, daughter of the king of Colchis, helped Jason steal the fleece from her father
and ran off with him to Greece. From these accounts it is clear that Scythians had a clear head
start at Armenia, the Pontic kingdom and Bactria, the breakaway province of Sassanid Syria.

0.30a,b Roman glass bangles, Palestine, 1st-2nd century AD

0.31 Patterned bead, Roman Glass, Bronze Age / 1st century AD
Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex
0.32 Square elephant seal, Steatite, BMAC, Turkmenistan, Bronze Age / Proto-historic period
Archaeology Victor Sarianidi (hoto Kenneth Garrett)
From Herodotus we learn that the Scythians skinned and beheaded slain adversaries and
shaped their skulls into drinking cups. Their elaborate funeral rituals evidenced by numerous
kurgans across Central Asia stretching up to China and Russia bear witness to bridal and horse
sacrifice. A Scythian tomb might even include the entire household to serve in the afterlife.
Various precious offerings were placed in and around the outside of the burial mound. In the
virgin territory described as Indo-Greek kingdom the Scythian Kushana is a transnational cult
that expanded from the cult of Mithradates IV of Pontus. Several groups of unprecedented cut
objects in several mysterious pockets exist as ‘Indus Valley Culture’ in part of India, Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. These archaeological sites in the no man land belong to no

29
Rachel Mairs, ‘Glassware from Roman Egypt at Begram (Afghanistan) and the Red Sea trade’, in British
Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 18: xx–yy (London: British Museum, 2012) p.8. ‘PDF’
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_journals/bmsaes/issue_18/mairs.aspx
perceptible culture. Described as Bronze Age culture these necropolises of the early historic
period belong to a vast Greco-Roman network but escape the radar of Greco-Buddhist reliquary
cult.

0.33 Bird-mother Askos, Faience, 20.2 x 21.8 cm, Begram, Afghanistan, 1st century AD
Kabul: National Museum of Afghanistan (57-2-90)
0.34 Anthropoid Askos, Terracotta, H. 18.5 cm, Selinous, 1st century AD
Avignon: Museé Calvet, France
0.35 Ibex Askos, Polychrome terracotta, H.15.9 cm, Kushana Afghanistan, 1st century AD (Auct. PF.6258)

0.36a,b Deer painted on polychrome ewer, H.15.9 cm, Kushana Afghanistan, 1st century AD
(Auct. no. PF6257)
0.37 Blue glazed pottery, Ø 13 cm, Kushana Afghanistan, 1st century AD
0.38 Polychrome pottery, H. 6.4cm, W.14 cm, Kushana Afghanistan, 1st century AD (Auct. no. LK109)
A case in point is a small black and white glass bead from the Bactria-Margiana
Archaeological Complex. The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) further west
in Turkmenistan is supposed to be Bronze Age culture, yet a wound glass bead from the site is
typical of the mainstream reliquary cult flourishing during the inter-cultural Kushana period. The
wound bead shows fabric and inclusions encircling the perforation, which is most visible on the
wavy white glass thread applied on its black surface (0.31). The wound glass bead is quite
different from drawn glass tube that is cut into short segments. These are usually reheated to
round them off so that air bubbles and other inclusions are stretched parallel along the
perforation. The black and white glass bead is still used as amulet to ward off evil and protect
children. Roman glass bead in the funerary cult is somewhat a cave shelter that also offers a
welcoming light at the end of the tunnel. Egyptian culture accept a literal bodily resurrection and
true to form the womb chamber of the bead patterned with wavy lines typically offers shelter,
nourishing flow of water and light. A square steatite seal of a royal elephant inscribed in Indus
Valley hieroglyph is a rare evidence of links between the Indus Valley and Bactria-Margiana
Archaeological Complex (BMAC) further west in Turkmenistan (0.32). Bactria was the Greek
name for the area of Bactra (modern Balkh), and Margiana was the Greek name for the Persian
satrapy of Margu, the capital of which was Merv, in today's Turkmenistan. The fortified funerary
complex is centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus). It is located north of Afghanistan in
present day Turkmenistan and southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan. The Bactria-
Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) also called the ‘Oxus Civilization’ is part of
Kushana Gandhara yet dated as a Bronze Age culture to ca. 2200–1700 BC. Despite cultural
diversity the various Kushana period cult centers are unified by a common quest for eternal life.
The problem is how to square the circle.

0.39a-d Painted star and fish on terracotta vessel, Indus Valley, Proto-historic period (ArtMission.com)
One of the unusual vessels from the Begram hoard excavated in 1937–39 is an anthropoid
in the form of ‘Bird Mother’ goddess. The vessel in blue-green faience typically incorporates
signs and symbols to reinforce radiant everlasting life. The acanthus and swastika armband
common in Greco-Buddhist art pledge regeneration and protection in afterlife. Acanthus well
known in architectural sculpture is usually overlooked on the girdle clasp and arm band.
Acanthus in Plant Symbolism alluding to resurrection at first meant that life is cyclical. Her
hands laden with bangles are held together in fervent prayer. Attractive floral headband, close
fitting necklace and disc earrings with concentric circles completes her adornment (0.33). The
consummate craftsmanship exhibited by the greenish faience pottery from Begram is similar to
Mediterranean type of Askos from Sicily. It implies expanding art patronage and multi-national
connections in the reliquary cult.30 Similar Askos from Selinous is now in Avignon Museé
Calvet in France (0.34). One of the two painted ewers with bulbous body is shaped like an Ibex
has scroll pattern suggestive of water (0.35). The painted deer on the one handled polychrome
ewer too is symbol of water (0.36a,b). A small footed blue glazed pottery from Afghanistan
emulates lapis lazuli. It is an admirable substitute for expensive stone or glass vessel (0.37). A
Kushana polychrome pottery is covered with Pompeian red familiar in the mural paintings
(0.38).
The river route to Taxila, Mohenjo-Daro and the other parts of the Indus Valley begins at
the port of Barbarikon on the Indus delta. The river route northward then proceeds to Begram
and other points in Central Asia. Barbarikon and Barygaza at the mouth of the Narmada are
directly connected to the Red Sea trade across the Indian ocean. These ancient ports are
historically and archaeologically connected to the other ports on the Malabar and Coromandel
coasts in South India. Roman amphorae are found in all these regions. Apart from information
gleaned from the 1st century Periplus on the north-western ports of India, in general there is less
information on the southern ports in antiquity (Begley and De Puma 1991, 7; on Barygaza in
antiquity, see also Gokhale 1987). From this historic conundrum the so called Indus Valley
Culture materialized at the beginning of the 20th century from the random spade of railroad
workers in Sind. A terracotta bottle from the Indus Valley suggesting a captive genie is straight
out of the Arabian Nights; you expect the spirit being to pop out of its small mouth any minute.
The flat circular shape of the bottle is similar to the molded Kushana rattles made of two concave
discs spliced together. The unusual bottle unadorned on the bottom has two fish encircling a
painted star radiating from a wheel at the center (0.39).

0.40 Capricorn pearl medallion, Polychrome pitcher, Kushana Central Asia

Great Britain: The Barkat Collection (SF.227/2015)
0.41 Capricorn standard, Steatite seal, Mohenjo-Daro, Proto-historic Period
0.42 Capricorn Zodiac, Steatite seal (M-417), Mohenjo-Daro, Proto-historic Period
0.43 Faience bangle from Harappa, Proto-historic Period
Karachi: National Museum of Pakistan
Marshall excavated Greek type of earthenware from Sirkap necropolis, some of which
are jugs and amphora with handle. But most of the recent material that fills much of the gap in
the cultural history of the Kushana cult come from the cavalier archaeology connected to well
organized auctions on the e-portals. Capricorn enface holding leafs is painted on slip covered
30
ArputhaRani Sengupta, ‘Goddess of Infinite Variety’ in Jewellery in Buddhist Reliquary Cult, fig.1.29
(forthcoming)
pitcher from a Kushana grave in Afghanistan. The double circle of pearl medallion adapted from
Roman and Kushana coins frame the Capricorn standard alternating with acanthus motif in the
interspaces. The two dimensional circle on three dimensional space creates a unique pattern of
time and space in which the surrounding double row of pearls seem to revolve like the
constellations around the two hemispheres. The space in between the two or three circles placed
side by side is divided into cells and filled with symbolic motifs such as the acanthus of
regeneration (0.40). Analogous composition of symmetrically paired goats or rams enface
surrounded by pearly medallions in woven silk was a much favored face cover in Central Asia
burials. Similar types of Sogdian patterns are found in the distant funerary cult center in
Antinoepolis in Egypt. The necromantic regenerative goat sign is comparable to the famous
Sumerian Standard of Tamuz and the tree of life at the center representing the goat consort of
fertility goddess Ishtar-Inana. The rearing goats enface conjoined at the mouth by a bunch of
leafs on the painted jug is similar to the symmetrically composed leafy Capricorn standard
inscribed in hieroglyphics from Mohenjo-Daro. A radial wheel within the fortress glyph on the
lower left corner is rebus for the sun and the ‘Place of Truth’ (0.41). The design developed form
predetermined idea is so similar as to suggest that these were created at the same time if not by
the same hand. Obviously the price tag of different kinds of votives dedicated to the dead varies
in proportion to the material, size and the type of skill expended on it. In turn the choice is
influenced by function, affordability and personal preference guided by prescribed norms and
ethnicity. A steatite disc from Mohenjo-Daro depicts six heads of Capricorn revolving around a
mystifying womb sign (0.42). The womb at the heart of regeneration naturally occurs in the shell
bangles found in the ancient archaeological sites in Taxila and Mohenjo-Daro. Understandably
the shell bangle is still valued as auspicious sign by the married women of Bengal. The ‘womb’
form replicated in faience has rays radiating from the ‘bangle’ found in Mohenjo-Daro (0.43).31
Sun in the northern hemisphere (Uttarayana) transiting from the house of Sagittarius to
the house of Capricorn is Makar Sankranti. The solar chariot driven by horses is the ultimate
embodiment of divine providence. The painting on a cinerary pot transports the departed to the
heavenly realm represent the living soul as winged bird on its neck ringed with a lotus pond
(0.44). The living soul conceived as a bird with human head is called Ba in Egypt and Kinnara
and Kinnari in Buddhist art. In addition paired horse within a chain of circles on the slip covered
globular body espouses rebirth of the sun on the sculptured railings of the stupa and Taxila
offering trays. Saturn is the Lord of Capricorn called Makara Rashi. Sankranti means transition.
Makar Sankranti (Capricorn) and Mesh Sankranti (Aries) are the most important among the
twelve Sankranti, which denote the time when sun changes direction from one constellation of
the zodiac to another. Commemoration takes place on Makar Sankranti when the sun ascending
northern hemisphere is propitious. Makar Sankranti in mid January is winter solstice. The sun
descending in the Southern Hemisphere is Mara, from Indo-European root ‘mer’ meaning to die.

ArputhaRani Sengupta, ‘Goddess of Infinite Variety’ in Jewellery in Buddhist Reliquary Cult, figs.1.119-121
31

(forthcoming)
Thus the six descending southern signs are feared as malevolent and cyclic rituals are performed
to avert Mara. The painted vessels dedicated to the departed serve the same function, the images
accompanied by various rituals are meant to protect happy afterlife (0.45-49). The polychrome
pottery in the Greco-Buddhist cult correlate with patterned burial silk from Central Asia, which
is closely related to the circular reliefs and jewellery pieces found in stupa complexes. Similar
symbolic motifs on coins and gems dedicated to the dead were ceremoniously buried in hoards
and deposited in reliquaries. The cult of Antinous founded by Hadrian (r. 117–138 CE) in
Antinoopolis or the ‘city of Antinous’ in Egypt was popular among Greeks. The image of
Antinous became a cultural icon in the empire and beyond, bowls depicting Antinous have been
found in the grave of a governor in modern-day Georgia.

0.42

0.44 Horse and kinnara painted pot, H.50.8cm, Afghanistan, London: The Barkat Collection (GDC.020)
0.45 Antler deer Kushana painted pot, H.14.6cm, W. 15.9cm, Afghanistan (Auct. no. LO839c)
0.46 Deer, swastika, dragon painted pot (detail), H.29.8 cm, W. 36.8 cm, Afghanistan (Auct. AM.0374)
0.47 Sea dragon Kushana painted pot, H. 44.5cm, W. 33 cm, Afghanistan (Auct. no. x.0205)
0.48 Pearl framed polychrome Kushana pottery, H.10.9 cm, W.17.1cm, Afghanistan (Auct. no. LO.757)
0.49 Capricorn jug with ring handle, H. 13 cm, Afghanistan (Auct. no. LK031)
The Greco-Buddhist artifacts are in close proximity with those from the so called Bronze
Age sites, and both exhibit incredibly new transitory special styles. Furthermore, the Great Stupa
monument in Mohenjo-Daro and analogous mounds in the Nindowari citadel, home to the
prehistoric Kulli culture in Pakistan’s Baluchistan, is far more than a coincidence. Hieroglyphic
button seals, compartmental bronze seals, composite sculpture and stone inlay (pietra dura -
parchin kari) common to the planned ritual site at BMAC and the Indus Valley exhibit
challenging cross-cultural accomplishments. The Greek diadem of bearded priest-king at
Mohenjo-Daro and variety of metalwork, glyptic art and artifacts comparable to millennia old
mature skill in Egypt and Mesopotamia raise several questions regarding identity and function.
However, modern archaeology has failed to connect the significance of ephemeral expertise
displayed in the Indus Valley and BMAC where steatite, bronze, copper, silver, electrum, faience
and lapis lazuli are not locally available. Identical tasks undertaken to ensure afterlife at various
Buddhist sites, Indus Valley and BMAC inquire: What can it tell us about the lives and
aspirations of those involved in its construction? Compared to the ancient ‘cradle of civilization’
in Egypt and Mesopotamia, the fledgling Buddhist culture is recent dawn of a religious cult that
evolved into an extraordinary civilization. The epoch that introduced transformation in the Indus
Valley and the rest of the subcontinent hovers as an unresolved distant speck. Comparative
iconography and morphology is thus crucial to identify the meaning of the unique reliquary cult
that suddenly manifested in the prehistoric antiquity at the dawn of the Common Era.