Roman Finds in Begram and Taxila

The current state of research on glass along the Silk Road was the subject of an international conference within the scope of the »Sino-German Project on Cultural Heritage Preservation« of the RGZM and the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, hosted in December 2008 in Mainz.
Since Antiquity the routes of the so-called Silk Road formed an important network for commercial, cultural and technological exchange. Far-reaching and criss-crossing the Asian continent they connected eastern and south-eastern parts of Asia to the Mediterranean world via both maritime and overland routes. Named after the lucrative silk trade, which developed during Han Dynasty, one tends to think of the Silk Road as a one-way road starting in China and ending at the Mediterranean. However, goods, technologies and ideas were travelling in both directions, and glass is an excellent example for a trade-good that arrived in the East from the West. The key developments of glass, which had its origins in the Middle and Near East, mainly took place in the Mediterranean and in the Arab World during Antiquity and Islamic times. Although known in the Far East since at least the Han Dynasty and treated as equivalent to precious stones, glass never played a significant role in Far Eastern cultures. Therefore glass finds from Far Eastern sites provide evidence for far-reaching trade relationships and imply cross-fertilization with other cultures.
Thus the contributions to this conference dealt with a geographical area between Western Europe, the Balkans, the Near East, Central Asia, as well as Eastern and Southeastern Asia and covered a chronological range from 200 BC to AD 1000. The conference focused on the one hand on recent results of scientific analyses of glass and on the other hand on archaeological questions. The possibility of interdisciplinary research was one of the focal points of the conference and hence this volume, as well as questions on workshops, raw material, technology and trade.
The international conference was considered to provide the participants with an insight beyond their own immediate concerns. By means of presenting studies of regionally specific glass forms and techniques as well as current methods and discoveries, even when not directly connected to the Silk Road, a broader perspective is offered.

Here is in French the article published here in English with the same title on February 2, 2022.
Cet article en français correspond à celui publié ici en anglais le 2 février 2022.  Il a été légèrement modifié. C'est un article consistant en photographies prises le 19 février 2022 à Sirkap, Taxila, par Nasir Khan.  Les photos sont accompagnées par de brèves explications.

The article is devoted to the find of the unique glass vessel with the enamel painting in the burial 1 of the barrow 23 of the burial ground Lebedevka V in the Western Kazakhstan. The context of the find examined thoroughly allows its dating to the middle of the 3rd c. AD. of the main attention was paid to the description and attribution of the glass vessel with the depiction of four gladiators. It belongs to the group of vessels of an exquisite quality, which were very likely to be produced in the Near East, and bears a strong resemblance to piece found in the Treasury of Begram (Afghanistan). The dating of these vessels is arguable. Different researches suggest dates within the late 1st – the first half of the 3rd cc. AD. The context of find from Lebedevka gives only terminus ante quem for the vessel and does not allow to precise its dating in the above mentioned chronological frames. However, taking into consideration that such a fragile piece of art is unlikely to be kept and passed on from generation to generation in the nomadic community both its late dating within these period and correspondingly the dating of the goblet from Begram to the second half of the 2nd c. AD are preferable. In conclusion, the find is considered in the context of the numerous import items of the western and eastern origin found in the excavation of the Lebedevka barrow-mounds.

Note: Please now see amendments to these arguments made in light of additional material in my revised doctoral dissertation, "The Begram Hoard and its Context" (2021).

This paper offers two major revisions to the chronology of the archaeological site of Begram (Afghanistan). The first revision pertains to when the Begram hoard was deposited (i.e. not when the objects were produced). Based on the new identification of three coins from room 10 as belonging to the post-Vasudeva Oesho with bull series, as well as an analysis of the distribution of the hoard objects and the degradation of the surrounding structure, a terminus post quem for this event is fixed at c. 260 AD. The second revision relates to the occupation of Site II and other areas of the New Royal City. Drawing on architectural, ceramic, and numismatic evidence, it is argued that both Ghirshman’s attribution of the Site II structure to Niveau II only, and his attribution of the Qala to Niveau III, are incorrect. Rather, it seems that the Site II structure was renovated and continued to be occupied through Niveau III, and was occupied at the same time as the upper occupation layers at Site B, Site I, and the city entrance. The hoard was likely deposited with the abandonment of the New Royal City at the end of Niveau III.

The current state of research on glass along the Silk Road was the subject of an international conference within the scope of the »Sino-German Project on Cultural Heritage Preservation« of the RGZM and the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, hosted in December 2008 in Mainz. Since Antiquity the routes of the so-called Silk Road formed an important network for commercial, cultural and technological exchange. Far-reaching and criss-crossing the Asian continent they connected eastern and south-eastern parts of Asia to the Mediterranean world via both maritime and overland routes. Named after the lucrative silk trade, which developed during Han Dynasty, one tends to think of the Silk Road as a one-way road starting in China and ending at the Mediterranean. However, goods, technologies and ideas were travelling in both directions, and glass is an excellent example for a trade-good that arrived in the East from the West. The key developments of glass, which had its origins in the Middle and Near East, mainly took place in the Mediterranean and in the Arab World during Antiquity and Islamic times. Although known in the Far East since at least the Han Dynasty and treated as equivalent to precious stones, glass never played a significant role in Far Eastern cultures. Therefore glass finds from Far Eastern sites provide evidence for far-reaching trade relationships and imply cross-fertilization with other cultures. Thus the contributions to this conference dealt with a geographical area between Western Europe, the Balkans, the Near East, Central Asia, as well as Eastern and Southeastern Asia and covered a chronological range from 200 BC to AD 1000. The conference focused on the one hand on recent results of scientific analyses of glass and on the other hand on archaeological questions. The possibility of interdisciplinary research was one of the focal points of the conference and hence this volume, as well as questions on workshops, raw material, technology and trade. The international conference was considered to provide the participants with an insight beyond their own immediate concerns. By means of presenting studies of regionally specific glass forms and techniques as well as current methods and discoveries, even when not directly connected to the Silk Road, a broader perspective is offered.