Bactra found

[marcus]

Hello all,

Many of you will remember Jona Lendering, who was a frequent and valuable member of Pothos. Well, he's still around, but for some reason has been having difficulty accessing Pothos recently, so he asked me to post the following news:

All the best

Marcus

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Discovery of a historical site near Balkh

27 July 2006

Authorities declare that a Hellenistic site has been identified near Balkh, in the north of Afghanistan, and that it is about 2,000 years old.

The site, about 25 km from Mazar-e Sharif, at first sight looks like a ruin on a hill. Of what is called an ancient building, only the remains of a mud-brick wall survive. Due to natural causes and war, this building has collapsed and was covered by earth.

Mr. Said Reza Hosseini, archaeologist of the Agency for Information and Culture in Balkh, says that this site was discovered by smugglers of antiquities. They have made great holes in the ruins.

Mr. Hosseini tells that fortunately, the site became known to the authorities before the looters were able to remove the stone base of a column that was probably made in the Hellenistic Age.

Mr. Hosseini believes that, except for the column base, many objects of historical value can be discovered. The archaeologist believes that the site has been a fort guarding the entrance of Balkh, and assumes that it is more than 2,000 years old. He infers that the ruins in hill are of the same age.

The archaeologist is greatly worried about the ineffective measures to protect this historical site and stresses that the Afghan government must take precautions to ensure the safety of those working on this important site.

Text Haroon Najafizada, BBC (Translation Sharona Asghari)

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Hellenistic Bactra is, to the best of our knowledge, a continuition of an Achaemenid settlement. (If it were not, it would have been called Alexandria or Seleucia.) This is where Alexander and Roxane married and, if there is continuity deeper into history, it is the site where, according to legend, Zarathustra was killed.

The bad news is that the warlord in charge of the site is an Uzbek named Rashid Dostum, who is by many observers held responsible for the Dasht-i-Leili massacre; the good news is that he was recently made "Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces", which means that he may be able to get some assistance from Kabul. The Swedes are, reportedly, increasing control of the area.

Bye!

Jona

[amyntoros]

The archaeologist believes that the site has been a fort guarding the entrance of Balkh, and assumes that it is more than 2,000 years old. He infers that the ruins in hill are of the same age.

Hellenistic Bactra is, to the best of our knowledge, a continuition of an Achaemenid settlement. (If it were not, it would have been called Alexandria or Seleucia.) This is where Alexander and Roxane married and, if there is continuity deeper into history, it is the site where, according to legend, Zarathustra was killed.

Am a bit confused 'cause the first quote implies that they are not sure of the nature of the site yet the second quote is quite specific. Either way, this is quite exciting and I hope they'll be able to properly protect the excavations. Wish Jona was able to stop by and say hello as well.

Best regards,

[marcus]

Am a bit confused 'cause the first quote implies that they are not sure of the nature of the site yet the second quote is quite specific. Either way, this is quite exciting and I hope they'll be able to properly protect the excavations.

The second part, after the dashes, is Jona's message, rather than the newspaper report.

Anyway, I'm not sure there's too much confusion - I think what Jona is saying, is that Hellenistic Bactra must have been a continuation, because of the lack of name-change. But then we sort of knew that, because it's very clear from Arrian and Curtius (at least) that Bactra already existed when Alexander arrived.

To be honest, the site of Bactra hasn't ever really been in doubt, either - I've known for years that it was in the environs of Mazar Al-Sherif, and I was always under the impression that some of the Hellenistic fortifications had already been identified. I suppose this is really just reinforcing, through new discoveries, what was basically known all along.

Anyway, all I can say is that Afghanistan is still my number 1 on my list of places to go ... such a shame that I value my life and liberty more.

ATB

[dean]

Hello,

Marcus said,

Anyway, all I can say is that Afghanistan is still my number 1 on my list of places to go ... such a shame that I value my life and liberty more

I was watching in the footsteps of Alexander and throughout the whole area Michael Wood goes around with some suspicious Arab looking guys with rifles- to fend off "bandits" - anyway, nothing happens but it certainly isn't a place I would want to book as a holiday destination.

Best regards,
Dean

[ruthaki]

To this day I regret that I didn't go to Afghanistan (and Iran) during the early and mid '70's when it was still open to tourism, such as the fabled Magic Bus that used to go there from Europe. A few people (women) I knew during the 70's (our free and easy hippie daze)went there. One brought back sacks of beautiful embroidered vests from Afghanistan and sold them here for $15. I had a couple -- still have one of them which I treasure. We used to wear Afghan clothes then, those goat-lined coats and beautiful dresses with embroidered bodices. Being so enraptured by Alexander I was dying to go but alas! had two kids to look after (being a single mother at that time.) It's one of the big regrets of my life that I never got to go there while the world was still a safe place.

[susan]

I have a small book by Arnold Toynbee, "Between Oxus & Jumna" which describes his historical & archaeological travels in Afghanistan & Pakistan in the early 60s. In it, he speculates on the Hellenestic origins of many of the cities, including Balkh ( ie Bactra). There's a lot of interesting speculation in it on locations. It's a good book, I'd recommend it - a bit dry but he certainly knew his stuff.

Susan

[nina]

i've been wanting to go on DISCOVER TURKEY with Peter Sommer Travels for 2 or 3 years now. well, i've got the money but you know the old saying "all dressed-up with no place to go" i want ot go where atg has gone but there is so much turmoil. This is exactly what's ruining the world....fighting. makes me sick nina

[derek]

Nina,

I went on a tour of Turkey a few weeks ago, and it was perfectly safe. There are problems with Kurds and fundamentalists in the eastern regions, but an escorted tour won't take you farther east than Cappadoccia in the centre of the country. Turkey is a marvellous country, very welcoming and surprisingly westernised. Don't let the turmoil in the middle east put you off. Turkey considers itself a European country and is no more dangerous than going to Greece or Italy.

[marcus]

There are problems with Kurds and fundamentalists in the eastern regions, but an escorted tour won't take you farther east than Cappadoccia in the centre of the country. Turkey is a marvellous country, very welcoming and surprisingly westernised. Don't let the turmoil in the middle east put you off.

I'm on a tour ın Eastern Turkey at the moment - I'm wrıtıng thıs ın an Internet cafe on the shore of Lake Van - yesterday I was about 30 km from the Iranıan border and the day before I could see the watchtowers along the Armenıan border.

No problem - ıf you can you must do ıt - of course Alexander never came thıs far east ın Turkey so ıt's not really ın hıs footsteps - but the Turks are sufferıng a very bad season thıs year not least because all the Germans stayed at home for the World Cup so ıf you can come here then do so!

ATB

[marcus]

I have a small book by Arnold Toynbee, "Between Oxus & Jumna" which describes his historical & archaeological travels in Afghanistan & Pakistan in the early 60s.

Hı Susan

I have Toynbee's book too - ıt's great ısn't ıt?

ATB