Hellenistic and Parthian Central Asia

Persian Translation of Shenkar, M. (2011), "Temple Architecture in the Iranian World in the Hellenistic Period”, in Kouremenos, A., Rossi, R., Chandrasekaran, S. (eds.), From Pella to Gandhara: Hybridisation and Identity in the Art and Architecture of the Hellenistic East, Oxford.

Abstract
This article examines the longstanding rivalry of Rome and Parthia, which began as an unintended consequence of Crassus’ decisive defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE. It synthesizes the accounts and opinions of numerous Graeco-Roman writers from the Augustan Age to late antiquity in order to help illustrate the new and interconnected post-Carrhae world and its legacy. The rivalry of the Romans and Parthians became a primary focus of their foreign policies and drastically expanded their perceptions of the world in which they interacted. Even after the fall of the Parthians to the rebellious Sassanid Persians in the 220s CE, the Romans continued to find their three-century-long rivalry with the Parthians of interest and relevant to the changing world of late antiquity.

This article combines historical analysis with international-relations theory to contend that geopolitical developments around the Eastern Mediterranean in the middle third century BCE were indirectly responsible for the emergence of the Parthian state and a new international system of states in the ancient East. Since the death of Alexander the Great, the Seleucid Empire had ruled over much of the East; however, disastrous military conflicts at home and abroad in the West caused a sudden decline of Seleucid power in the 240s-
230s BCE. The troubles of the Seleucid state caused what political scientists call a power-transition crisis that damaged Seleucid hegemony over the East when the Seleucid satraps of Parthia and Bactria declared their independence. Moreover, the deleterious civil wars between Seleucid dynasts in the West and the rebellions of eastern satraps encouraged the nomadic Parni tribe from the Central Asian steppe (later known as the Parthians), who had been seeking a new homeland for decades, to invade northeastern Iran and establish a new kingdom. With the Parni’s successful conquest of Parthia and its immediate consequences, a new interstate system of tripolarity between the Seleucid Empire, Bactrian Kingdom, and the newly formed Parthian state emerged in the ancient East.

This paper seeks to shed new light on the latest discovered occupation period at Ulug-depe: the Hellenistic and Parthian occupation. Ulug-depe displays the longest continuous stratigraphic sequence of southern Central Asia, from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Iron Age. After its abandonment at the end of the Middle Iron Age period, the site was reoccupied during the late 1st millennium BC. Although the archaeological levels relating to this period are badly preserved, extended research led by the joint Turkmen-French Archaeological Expedition (MAFTur) has succeeded in unearthing this occupation in many places of the site and has studied a varied pottery assemblage. Its study suggests Ulug-depe was located strategically in the central part of the Kopetdag during the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE.
This is the English version of a paper previously published in

The sculpted battle scene from the complex in Khalchayan has survived only in fragments. From the moment of excavation several attempts of reconstruction have been made. The below study takes as a starting point the Hellenistic models of depicting mounted combat and the headgear of the preserved personages. The analyze of the fixed compositions of the mounted victory in Hellenistic and post-Hellenistic art allows to believe that the decorations might have consisted of one, larger composition on the Western wall which is shorter and probably two battle scenes on the longer Southern wall. The decoration of the Western wall might include combat or hunting scene which is impossible to determine. The principles of depicting the scenes of mounted victory did not allow presentation of the unarmored rider defeating armored opponent. The enemies were either both armored/in cloth, or the winner was shown in armor while the defeated in textile. This might have resulted from socilal function of armor hence the armored riders would be marked as socially superior or it would symbolically emphasize the vulnerability of the defeated personage. The headgear of the personages is an important symbolic factor as diademed personages are usually shown as victorious, therefore the helmeted heads from Khalchayan must have belonged to the defeated enemies rather than the vanquishers. Showing the victors bare headed or in diadems or crowns was well attested in related artworks. Therefore the mounted victory scenes on the Southern wall of room 3 in Khalchayan must have involved armored riders in diadems defeating armored riders in helmets. The fragments of the torsos in kaftans might have belonged to the attendants of the both sides or to the scene on Western wall which might include combat of unarmored opponents or a hunting scene

This paper is for critique prior to submission for publication. It draws upon the traditions of numismatists and recommends the sigla used to achieve standardized documentation of Greek numismatic inscriptions. It follows the Leiden Conventions with several exceptions widely used in numismatic publications and considers the different requirements of plain text and decorated (rich) text word processors.

The Hellenistic Period begins in 330 BC with the final victory of Alexander the Great over Darius III of the Persian Empire and it ends with the battle of Actium in 31 BC. Ambitious campaigns started by Philip of Macedon were pursued with a greater ambition by his son Alexander and made him the conqueror of a vast empire that included Greece, Persia, the Near East, and Egypt.
During this period the city-states begin to give way to a more global culture, and the entire Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East flourish in a background of conflict, commerce, and cross-cultural influence, with the Macedonian imperial ideals and the Greek language dominating the scene.
The individual richness of civic coinage is replaced with the dull series of imperial/dynastic coinages of Alexander the Great, and his followers in the Hellenistic Period. While portraits of newly established kings begin to dominate the obverses, depictions of warlike gods and goddesses such as Zeus, Athena, Poseidon and heroes like Herakles and Perseus with their warrior attributes become repetitious reverse subjects; a reflection of the general situation of the period.
During this period, the Idealism of classical art gave way to a more realistic way of expressing the human figure. To publicize the kings and queens, sometimes their extraordinary likenesses are reflected on their coinage.

The article discusses one type of armored depictions of specific type of armament of infantry warriors in the art of Gandhara of Kushan Age. The warriors are depicted in local mutation of Hellenistic hypaspist kit, including pteryges and corselet covered either with rhombs or scale pattern. This may point to conclusion that Skanda, often depicted in discusses kit, as a bastard but powerful god was associated to Greek population which itself was out of Varna system.

Les mondes hellénistiques s’étendent de l’Anatolie à l’Indus et de l’Arménie à l’Égypte, de 323 à 31 av. J.-C. Ces territoires présentent le point commun de ne pas appartenir à l’aire culturelle grecque et d’abriter des populations aux origines et cultures diverses. L’étude des sociétés préexistantes à la conquête macédonienne apporte un élément majeur de compréhension du fonctionnement des nouveaux pouvoirs, de leur structuration et de l’administration qu’ils vont générer ainsi que des transferts culturels entre communautés. Les sources correspondant au domaine de spécialité de
chacun des auteurs et le débat historiographique qu’elles suscitent sont ainsi au coeur de ce manuel. Après un tableau chronologique, sont abordées les questions de l’administration des territoires, de leur économie, du rôle des sanctuaires comme communautés locales et des aspects culturels.

Les auteurs
• Philippe Clancier est Maître de conférences en Histoire ancienne à l’université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, spécialiste du monde mésopotamien.
• Omar Coloru est chercheur post-doctoral, spécialiste des relations entre les mondes gréco-romain et iranien.
• Gilles Gorre est Maître de conférences en Histoire ancienne à l’université Rennes 2, spécialiste du monde hellénistique.
Tous trois sont membres d’ARSCAN (Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité).

SOMMAIRE
1re  partie : Une brève histoire des temps hellénistiques
1. Alexandre le Grand : rupture et continuité
2. L’éclatement de l’empire sous les successeurs d’Alexandre
3. Les royaumes hellénistiques au IIIe siècle
4. Les évolutions de l’espace séleucide, d’Antiochos III à la fin de la période hellénistique
5. L’Égypte lagide aux IIe et Ier siècles
2e  partie : La gestion du territoire et les représentants du roi
6. Les modalités du contrôle royal sur le territoire
7. Les agents du contrôle royal
3e  partie : Économie royale et échanges économiques et commerciaux
8. L’économie royale
9. La question monétaire
10. La production et le marché
11. Les sanctuaires dans l’économie des royaumes hellénistiques
4e  partie : Les relations entre les communautés locales et l’autorité royale
12. Poleis et communautés anciennes
13. La constitution d’une nouvelle élite
5e  partie : Le brassage des cultures : langues, savoirs, cultes et traditions
14. Des sociétés multilingues
15. Les temples babyloniens et égyptiens : conservatoires des cultures locales ?

This article provides a survey of the Hellenistic period of a much-neglected area in the archaeology of Central Asia, southern Tajikistan. It integrates data on famous treasures and sites, including the Oxus Treasure, Takht-i Sangin with the Oxus Temple, and the palace at Saksanokhur with less known Soviet-era discoveries and an analysis of more recently excavated sites and discoveries.

IL RITRATTO DEL SOVRANO NELL’ARTE DELL’ORIENTE ELLENISTICO E PARTICO

Keywords: ritratto regale, arte ellenistica, arte partica, Seleucia al Tigri, Nisa Partica, Dura Europos.

A seguito dell’impresa di Alessandro il Grande, il mondo occidentale, greco, e quello orientale, iranico, s’incontrano e si compenetrano nei vasti territori ad est del Mediterraneo. Sotto gli Achemenidi, queste regioni avevano già conosciuto l’arte greca e accolto alcuni influssi occidentali nella loro produzione artistica. Ora, con la formazione di nuove dinastie di origine macedone nelle aree che un tempo componevano le satrapie dell’impero achemenide, l’influsso dell’arte, dell’architettura e della cultura greca ellenistica si fa più forte e pervasivo. Con i successori di Alessandro si assiste in Asia a una codificazione del ritratto ufficiale del sovrano attraverso l’uso di elementi forniti dalla lingua franca dell’arte ellenistica. Tale tipologia di ritratto ufficiale, insieme al linguaggio artistico ellenistico, verrà acquisita ed utilizzata anche dalle altre dinastie che si affacceranno nel corso del III secolo a.C. sul panorama orientale. In particolare sotto i Parti Arsacidi si assisterà a un fecondo incontro fra l’ellenismo ed elementi iranici o centro asiatici da un lato ed elementi vicino orientali dall’altro.
L’intervento proposto, partendo dagli elementi delineati nel saggio di E. Castelnuovo, si concentrerà sull’analisi del ritratto ufficiale del sovrano nell’Asia ellenistica e partica. In particolare, attraverso gli importati casi studio forniti dalla produzione artistica di Seleucia al Tigri, Nisa Partica e Dura Europos verranno analizzate le caratteristiche di tali ritratti, i messaggi veicolati e l’orizzonte culturale, sociale e artistico in cui si inseriscono.

Re-Search.  Archaeology in Central Asia and the South Caucasus, Berlino, 4th-5th June 2019

OLD NISA – MITHRADATKERT

Jacopo Bruno PhD, Università degli Studi di Torino

Keywords: Old Nisa, Parthia, Arsacids, Parthian period

The archaeological area of Nisa, near Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, consists of the two mounds of Old Nisa and New Nisa and is traditionally identified with the “Parthaunisa” - Parthian Nisa - mentioned by Isidore of Charax. Old Nisa – Mithradatkert was, in the beginning, the fortified residence of the Arsacid sovereigns; the very name of Mithradatkert, meaning “Fortress of Mithradates”, would suggest it was a royal foundation of Mithradates I. The urban area, instead, was hypothetically located on the nearby hill of New Nisa.
It is likely that after the death of its founder, Old Nisa underwent a major construction phase with the erection of a monumental complex in the central part of the site, along with a modification in the appearance and destination of the entire citadel whose layout was now transformed in order to make room for the construction activities devoted to the commemoration and celebration of the Arsacid royal family.
The excavation works carried out in Old Nisa since the 1930s by Soviet, Russian, Turkmen and Italian archaeological expeditions allowed the identification of the main architectonic complexes of the site, even if it is thought that more or less the whole surface of the citadel had been interested by building activities during the Parthian period.
Old Nisa is considered one of the main sites of the ancient region of Parthia in southern Turkmenistan and it is the only one that has been extensively investigated. The information provided by this site clearly shows the fruitful contacts between Greek-Hellenistic, Iranian and Central Asian traditions in that peculiar phase of transition that sees the rise of the Parthian power from a peripheral kingdom to a supra-regional empire.

This paper seeks to shed new light on the latest discovered Hellenistic and Parthian occupation period at Ulug-depe (South Turkmenistan). After its abandonment at the end of the Middle Iron Age period, the site was reoccupied during the late 1st millennium BC. Extended research led by the joint French-Turkmen Archaeological Expedition (MAFTur) has succeeded in unearthing this occupation in many places of the site and has studied a varied pottery assemblage.

The article (written with Tatjana Filimonova) describes the results of the preliminary studies in Torbulok / Khushdilon conducted in the autumn of 2013. During construction of the local school a large stone bowl had been found, which could be identified in 2012 as a perirrhanterion, a vessel used in Greek cult, and thus suggested an ancient sanctuary at the site. In 2013, we did a geophysical prospection of the site, examined the finds in the local school museum and opened 3 small test trenches. These works and the results are described here. They served as a preliminary work for the excavations taht we started in 2014 and finished in 2018.
On pages 100-101 of the present article the editors have inserted a passage that does not reflect my opinion, but that of Yusuf Yakubov, a well-known Tajik colleague. It is about the question in which rituals the stone bowl has been used. I would have liked to discuss this with Yusuf Jakubov and there was ample time to do so during my stays in Tajikistan. But the editors have inserted the passage here without discussion and without my knowledge. My most important objection to the 'zoroastrian' interpretation introduced here by Jakubov is methodological: from the fact that Zoroastrianism was widespread in the Pamir until modern times, and that this religion also included elements of other religions and earlier times, it can not be inferred that these elements  are related in their origin to the Zoroastrian religion.
Please post me if you would like to see the pictures given in the plates in a better quality.

Tras la caída del Imperio parto a manos de Ardešīr, el nacimiento de la nueva Persia sasánida llevo aparejada la aparición de un nuevo poder en Oriente Próximo que sustentaría su cohesión y expansión en la fuerza militar. A lo largo de su historia los sasánidas no solo tuvieron que hacer frente a numerosos problemas internos, sino que debieron desarrollar su estrategia militar, heredera de la tradición parta, para poder enfrentarse con garantías a poderosos enemigos como el Imperio romano-bizantino, los hunos, los heftalitas o los turcos goks. Finalmente, un imperio desgastado por los constantes enfrentamientos no podría resistir al empuje de los árabes musulmanes tras cuatro siglos de historia.

Daily life in a cosmopolitan world: pottery and culture during the Hellenistic period, International Association for Research on Pottery of the Hellenistic period, 2nd Conference, Lyon, 5th-8th November 2015.

The material culture of the Nisa district (SW Turkmenistan) and the upper Atrek valley (NE Iran) during of the Hellenistic period.

La satrapia achemenide della Parthava, situata al confine fra Turkmenistan e Iran, rimase con alterne vicende sotto il controllo dei sovrani Seleucidi fino al III secolo a.C. quando, nell’area della pedemontana centrale del Kopet Dagh, emerse lo stato Partico.
Quest’area è stata oggetto a partire dal XX secolo di numerose indagini archeologiche che hanno portato a una migliore conoscenza della cultura materiale e del popolamento della regione fino all’avvento dell’Islam. In particolare, le ricerche condotte nell’area di Nisa e nell’alta valle dell’Atrek hanno prodotto numerosi dati che contribuiscono a ricostruire l’evoluzione storica dell’antica Parthia settentrionale.
Nonostante le molteplici indagini archeologiche compiute in questa regione, i dati archeologici sul periodo ellenistico sono ancora molto limitati. Maggiori informazioni su questo periodo si hanno dallo studio della ceramica rinvenuta negli scavi e nelle ricognizioni di superficie effettuate lungo il versante turkmeno e iraniano del Kopet Dagh. La ceramica proveniente da contesti archeologici databili fra IV e III secolo a.C. mostra come la cultura ceramica di questa regione sia ancora legata a tradizioni locali risalenti al periodo achemenide. Solo successivamente, alla fine del III secolo a.C. e in particolare nel corso del II a.C., si riscontra una maggiore influenza ellenistica. Questa influenza è riscontrabile anche in altri campi come appare evidente dallo studio dell’architettura e dei ritrovamenti di Nisa Vecchia dove si assiste al felice incontro di tradizioni ellenistiche, iraniche e centro asiatiche.
Questo studio si concentrerà sull’analisi dei materiali ceramici databili fra IV e I secolo a.C. rinvenuti nel corso delle ricerche nell’area di Nisa e nell’alta valle dell’Atrek cercando di delineare le caratteristiche di queste produzioni ceramiche e l’impatto della cultura ellenistica sulla tradizione ceramica locale fra la fine del dominio Seleucide e l’inizio di quello Partico.

A lo largo de su historia, el ejército sasánida se convirtió por derecho propio en una de las fuerzas bélicas más importantes de su época y que logró enfrentarse de igual a igual con la todopoderosa máquina bélica que suponía el ejército romano-bizantino, obteniendo numerosas e importantes victorias. Su grandeza radica no sólo en haber sabido mantener y fomentar los aspectos clave del tradicional ejército parto, sino el haber imprimido su propia seña de identidad en él para convertirlo en una garantía tanto del mantenimiento como de la expansión del imperio. La caballería catafractaria se convirtió así en legendaria por su efectividad o maniobrabilidad, pero no era el único elemento importante del ejército sasánida pues éste también incluía expertos arqueros cuyas nubes de flechas provocaban estragos en los ejércitos enemigos. Si a ello sumamos la habilidad táctica de los soberanos sasánidas y la estrategia defensiva que emplearon mediante fortalezas y murallas, destinadas a proteger el imperio, veremos que tanto la fama como el miedo que inspiraba la maquinaria bélica sasánida estaban justificados.

HELLENISTIC CENTRAL ASIA:
CURRENT RESEARCH, NEW DIRECTIONS
University of Reading, 15-17 April 2016.

"Ceramics of the Parthian Homeland: new data about the ceramic production of the early Arsacid period from the Italian excavations in Old Nisa (Turkmenistan)".

Keywords: Old Nisa, Parthia, Hellenism, Turkmenistan, pottery

The former Achaemenid satrapy of Parthava, located along the lower slopes of the Kopet Dagh mountain range, between the present-day Turkmenistan and Iran, was under control of the Seleucid authority until the mid-3rd century BC when it gained the independence under the first Arsacid (Parthian) king Arsaces I.
This area was investigated since the beginning of the 20th century by several archaeological mission that led to a better knowledge of the material culture and occupation of the central part of the Kopet Dagh piedmont before the Islamic conquest. The still ongoing researches in the site of Old Nisa (near the present-day Ashgabat, Turkmenistan), conducted by the Centro Scavi Archeologici of Torino are of outstanding importance for our understanding of the early Arsacid period (2nd century BC – 1st century AD) and of the degree of Hellenistic influence in this area. Here, the Italian mission started in 2007 the excavation of new monumental buildings located in the SW corner of the rampart of Old Nisa, firstly devoted to storage and productive activities but probably also to representative functions.
This paper aims to an evaluation of the ceramic production of the Parthian period in the SW Turkmenistan (Ahal)  based primarily on the results of the recent Italian excavation in Old Nisa and on the results of the Russian and Turkmen excavations in Khyrly-depe, Yanyk-depe, Garry-Kjariz, Koša-depe, Anau, Koša-Haudan, Čakan-depe.
This work will be focused on the cultural horizon of the Parthian ceramic complex of Ahal, analyzing the different influences, traditions and cultural contacts that spread from the study of pottery. Particular attention will be devoted to the analysis of the degree of Hellenistic influence in the ceramic repertoire coming from these excavation.