The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India. Getzel M. Cohen

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СКАЧАТЬ on the Tigris).

      22. Sealings of the kind found in Babylonia have thus far not been found in excavations in northern Mesopotamia; see Invernizzi in Ancient Archives 309. In 1932, Rostovtzeff observed that not one bulla had been found at DOURA EUROPOS (YCS 3 [1932] 17 and n. 14). He also noted that “no clay medallions with seal-impressions were found at Dura and … no one of the parchments and papyri found at Dura shows any traces of ever having been sealed.” Note, however, P. Dura 28, a parchment that was found in February 1933 that contains a Syriac deed of sale dated to 243 A.D.; it has a seal with an image that has been identified as that of Gordian III. In a personal communication Pierre Leriche, who has excavated at Doura Europos since 1986, informs me that during the Franco-Syrian excavations “on n’a pas trouvé d’empreinte de sceaux” there.

      23. SIOS 2, referring to Rostovtzeff, YCS 3 (1932) 24.

      24. YCS 3 (1932) 23f.

      25. Rostovtzeff, YCS 3 (1932) 9, 18. Rostovtzeff, YCS 3 (1932) 9, 18.

      26. See Rostovtzeff, YCS 3 (1932) 26–48 (catalogue) and 3–25, 49–91; McDowell, SIOS 36–126 (catalogue), 25–35, 127–208. For the sealings found at SELEUKEIA on the Tigris, see that entry, n. 12.

      27. Rostovtzeff, YCS 3 (1932) 72–91.

      28. YCS 3 (1932) 25; and A. Invernizzi, AAAS 21 (1971) 105f.

      29. For bullae found at Seleukeia see SELEUKEIA on the Tigris and n. 12; on the terracotta figurines, see that entry, n. 25.

      30. McDowell, SIOS 209–20; A. Invernizzi, AAAS 21 (1971) 105f.; and id. in Arabie orientale 28f.; for illustrations of bullae and sealings, see, for example, Rostovtzeff, YCS 3 (1932) pls. following p. 114; McDowell, SIOS, pls. at end; Invernizzi in Ach. Hist. 8:357.

      31. Invernizzi in Ach. Hist. 8:353ff.

      32. See SELEUKEIA on the Tigris, n. 12.

      33. Cf. Rostovtzeff, YCS (1932) 90–91; and Sherwin-White and Kuhrt, Samarkhand 149.

      34. B. Haussoullier, Klio 9 (1909) 352–53 = SEG 7:39 = I. Estremo Oriente 107; see also Sherwin-White and Kuhrt, Samarkhand 157.

      35. For the absence or paucity of stone or marble in the Middle East and the challenge this presented to the Greeks wishing to inscribe something see Haussoullier, Klio 9 (1909) 11.

      36. See, for example, Kritt, Bactria; Holt, Thundering Zeus 48–60, 67–86.

      37. For the foundations attributed to Alexander one should consult in particular Fraser, Cities; and Billerbeck’s edition of Stephanos, as well as Droysen, Hist. 2:748–54; Berve, Alexanderreich 1:291–301; Tarn, Alexander 2:232–59; and below, pp. 35–38, 339.

      38. See, for example, Holt, Thundering Zeus 55–60.

      39. See, for example, Bopearachchi, SNG ANS 9; id., Monnaies gréco-bactriennes; id. in De l’Indus 81–108, 129–68; and id. in Greek Archaeology 109–26; Kritt, Bactria; Holt, Thundering Zeus 67–125; Cribb in Afghanistan ancien carrefour 207–26; and bibliographies in each of these.

      40. For archaeology in central Asia see, for example, Allchin and Hammond, Archaeology of Afghanistan; Ball and Gardin, Gazetteer Afghanistan; V. A. Gaibov, G. A. Koshelenko, G. V. Trebeleva, Parthica 12 (2010) 107–16; Mairs, Hellenistic Far East (central Asia and India).

      41. See, for example, Gardin in De l’Indus aux Balkans 447–60; id. in Akten XIII Kong. 187–93. See also Ball and Gardin, Gazetteer Afghanistan passim; Gardin, Prospections 3: passim; and B. Brentjes, Das Altertum 27 (1981) 133–46.

      42. See, for example, Abdullaev in Afghanistan ancien carrefour 227–57.

      43. P. 20.

      44. For collections of inscriptions see, for example, Canali De Rossi, I. Estremo Oriente; Merkelbach and Stauber, Steinepigramme; Coloru, Da Alessandro 287–93; Merkelbach and Stauber, Euphrat; and Rougement, IGIAC. In general, see the useful overview with bibliographic references by Bernard in Greek Archaeology 75–108; see also Rapin in De l’Indus aux Balkans 375–76; and Rougement in Afghanistan ancien carrefour 127–36.

      45. In Greek Archaeology 92–93.

      46. Narain, CAH² 8:415.

      47. See, for example, C. Rapin, BCH (1983) 347, no. 28.

      48. T’oung Pao 68.4–5 (1982) 264.

      49. In Afghanistan ancien carrefour 421–539, especially 421–46. For similar concerns, see also Fraser, Cities 232–34.

      An Overview

      ARMENIA

      Media Atropatene and Armenia were located on the northwest border of the Iranian plateau. Both regions were under Achaemenid control and, hence, will have nominally passed to Alexander after the Macedonian king conquered the Persian Empire.¹ Nevertheless, there is no firm evidence that Alexander founded any settlement in Armenia. Although Appian claimed (Syr. 55) that Armenia was one of the territories under Seleukos I Nikator’s rule, there is no general agreement as to its status.² In any event, the only settlement that can be attributed to a Seleucid monarch with any degree of probability is EPIPHANEIA on the Tigris.

      MESOPOTAMIA AND THE GULF REGION

      In many respects Hellenistic northern Mesopotamia represents an extension of Syria. Just as Macedonian regional names were transferred to Syria, so an area of northern Mesopotamia was renamed “Mygdonia,” a reflection of the strong Macedonian presence in the region (Strabo 16.1.23).³ By contrast, there is no area in southern Mesopotamia or in regions beyond the Tigris that was given a Macedonian regional name.⁴ Furthermore, the minting of quasi-municipal coinage, which is found under Antiochos IV Epiphanes and later in southeastern Anatolia, northern Syria, and Phoenicia, is also found in northern Mesopotamia (at EDESSA/ANTIOCH on the Kallirhoe and ANTIOCH in Mygdonia).⁵ This represents the farthest point east for the minting of these types of coin.⁶ The contrast with southern Mesopotamia and regions farther east is noteworthy. There certainly were Seleucid foundations in these areas. Furthermore, we do find evidence for royal Seleucid mints at various cities (e.g., SELEUKEIA on the Tigris, SELEUKEIA on the Eulaios, Persepolis, EKBATANA, and HEKATOMPYLOS). Nevertheless, there is no extant evidence that any town or settlement there minted any kind of local bronze coinage. As O. Mørkholm observed, this coin type “did not penetrate into the East.”⁷

      In 1927 M. Rostovtzeff observed that “the centre of the Seleucid Empire was made up of the former kingdoms of Babylonia and Assyria” and that the intense colonization of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Parapotamia was “intended to transform the kernel of their kingdom into a new Macedonia.”⁸ In the latter part of the twentieth century the centrality of Mesopotamia for the Seleucids was reemphasized by, among others, Susan Sherwin-White and Amélie Kuhrt as well as Pierre Briant.⁹ They focused on the Middle Eastern context. In the introduction to their book, From Samarkhand to Sardis, Sherwin-White and Kuhrt commented: “The title of this book expresses our firmly held view that the Seleucid empire was an eastern empire centered in the middle east, particularly the ‘Fertile Crescent’, i.e., Mesopotamia and north Syria and western Iran. These areas formed . . . the core of the Seleucid kings’ huge realm. From this perspective, Asia Minor in the west and Central Asia in the east constituted the outer frontiers of the kingdom, СКАЧАТЬ