Showing posts with label eucratides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eucratides. Show all posts

Thursday, 10 April 2014

Lost treasures from ...where?

This first lost treasure is Hellenic or Hellenistic but wasn't discovered in Greece.



Some writers think it depicts a kitchen slave character from a Greek comedy and certainly it looks like a theatre mask or a decoration inspired by one since there are no eyeholes.


So where is this from?

Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan!

There's currently a wonderful show on at the Art Gallery of NSW of Lost Treasures from Afghanistan which I havnt seen yet due to having a broken arm.

Ai Khanoum is thought to have been Alexandria on the Oxus mentioned by the geographers.

Here's a map. Sadly the site was been damaged by fighting between the Russians and Afghans since it was studied by  French archaeologists but here's a map.



Finally a coin showing Eucratides. Thats probably a helmet even if it does like a lot like a flattened version of a pith hat although perhaps he just preferred hats to wreaths ?