Myths of Ancient Bactria and Margiana on its Seals and Amulets

324 Pages·2016·22.45 MB·English

by  Sarianidi V.

VICTOR SARIANIDI

MYTHS OF ANCIENT BACTRIA AND MARGIANA ON ITS SEALS AND AMULETS.

Moscow, 1998

The civil war in Afghanistan gave unparalleled impetus to the rapacious excavations of the burial
mounds and graves of Ancient Bactria, once situated on the territory of modern-day Afghanistan. All
kinds of funeral offerings -mostly seals and amulets decorated with intricate narrative images - have
appeared on the counters of antiques stores throughout the world. The one thing that saved these items,
excavated by amateur archeologists, from disappearing altogether, was the fact that some of them
ended up in large private collections and museums. It was only thanks to the kindness of true antique
connoisseurs like Ron Garner, Andrew Hale and Jonathan Rosen, that the author was able to compile a
summary description of these seals and amulets, in an attempt to save this precious material from
disappearing forever. The subjects depicted on the seals and amulets reflect the myths of the Bactrians,
giving us a unique opportunity to look into the intellectual world of a people who did not leave behind
any written records.
Definite parallels can be drawn between most of the images depicted on the seals and amulets,
and the Syro-Hittite glyptic of the Bronze Age, leaving no question as to the historical succession of the
two.
The author was able to date the Bactrian seals and amulets with a certain degree of accuracy thanks to
his discoveries of identical or very similar articles during scientifically-controlled excavations in
neighboring Margiana (on the territory of what is now Turkmenistan). This study examines over 1,800
seals and amulets, 95 percent of which are being published for the first time. Having been put together
in a single volume, they indisputably attest to the existence of a separate Bactro-Margianian school of
glyptic and sphragistics.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Pierre Amiet
Acknowledgements
Historical and Cultural Background
Main Groups of Images:
Introductory Remarks
Group I. Anthropomorpha
Deities Seated on Thrones, on Animals or on Dragons
Anthropomorphic Deities
"Mistress of Animals"
Kneeling Deities
Heroes in Combat with Dragons
Acrobats
Human Beings
Group II. Serpents and Dragons
Group III. Fabulous Creatures
Group IV. Animals and Birds
Group V. Arthropoda and Plants
Group VI. Individual Seals and Amulets

Catalogue:
Bactria
Margiana

Abbreviations
Bibliography
1
Foreword

Victor Sarianidi, excellent archaeologist, who turns in this work to interpretation of iconography
of seals and amulets, is known as an expert in field research. Due to his excavations, the results of
which are published with exemplary rapidity, we learn about astonishing fortresses of Bactria and
Margiana situated on the border of the Iranian plateau and the steppes crossed by the Amu Darya river,
to the north of modern Afghanistan. Classical historians tell us that Cyrus the Great had fortified the
oriented provinces of his immense empire before he lost his life in a war with nomads beyond the
frontier. Meanwhile, extremely elaborated constructions discovered by recent excavations are 1500
years elder than fortifications of Cyrus; these constructions testify to the existence of earlier unknown
cosmopolitan civilization, and one can only ask a question - if it anticipated in some respects the
achievements of civilization of the Persian Empire. Actually, objects from the tombs situated in close
vicinity to these fortresses have most significant parallels with the data of other contemporary Iranian
civilizations, especially with those from Elam. What does it mean? Ancient Elam is practically the only
historical entity which existed in Iran prior to migration of the Iranians. This kingdom had profoundly
double character, because one of its parts occupied the plateau of modem Ears and neighbouring
valleys, and another was situated on the plain of Susiana, modern Khuzestan. The latter part of the
country was a sort of a small Mesopotamia, a prolongation to the East of its great neighbour populated
by the Sumerians and later by the Babylonians; its population was culturally identical with them,
somewhat like "arabs" of our days. Elam thus united the "race of lords", the mountaineers, especially
the Elamites, and the Susians who were the Semites by their language and culture.
The rivals of early Sumerians in the IV millennium B.C., Elamites, found for the first time their
cultural and political identity when they liberated themselves from the tutelage of the Mesopotamians
and built their capital Aushan (Tall-i Malyan) in Ears. And they immediately entered the "period of
inter-Iranian exchange" having sent their merchants to - so to say - colonize the East of Iran; trading
stations marked their route, which at any rate reached Seistan, Shahr-i Sokhta, in the delta of Hilmend.
The creators of the writing system named Proto-Elamite and original animalistic art met in these new
regions creations of a more archaic culture spread from the eastern Turkmenistan up to Quetta, to the
South of Hindu Kush.
The ambitions of the Proto-Elamites undoubtedly exceeded their capacities, for their double
"kingdom" soon collapsed (c. 2700 B.C.), but still it managed to engender some new civilization which
we title Trans-Elamite situated at a crossroads of modern states of Iran and Afghanistan. The creators
of this civilization discovered at Tepe Yahya and Shahdad, on the western outskirts of the Lut desert,
were extremely active partners of the great urban civilizations of Mesopotamia of the Sumerians and
later - of the Empire of Akkacl on one hand, and civilizations of Turkmenistan and the Harappan India
- on the other. In the middle of the III millennium B.C. the Trans-Elamites manifested themselves as
expert technicians in metallurgy and in processing of exotic coloured stones: alabaster and chlorite as
well as semiprecious stones - turquoise, cornelian and lapis lazuli. It seems that they were closely
connected with apparently semi-nomadic transporters of goods and seafarers of the Persian Gulf, who
brought their production to the urban civilizations from the outlying districts of the Iranian plateau.
Trans-Elamites also adopted some achievements and ideas of Mesopotamian civilization, in particular
some mythological personages. The metallurgists of the Trans-Elamites made ceremonial axes which,
according to the Elamite tradition, the local kings gifted to their dignitaries and high officials; they also
casted compartmented copper seals, which in the Akkad period were exported to Susa and Mari in
Syria, where one of them was found in a perfectly dated archaeological context.
Finally, at the end of the III - beginning of the II millennium B.C., when the Elamites became
free from long Mesopotamian tutelage and founded their traditional double kingdom, their close
relatives Trans-Elamites spread their civilization beyond the Hindu Kush, to the fortresses built at that
time in Bactria and Margiana in the North and in Quetta and Sibri in the South. Civilization of this
"Outer Iran" formed a very original component in the immense network of the inter-Iranian exchange,
but it stood in side of the road of History for it had no script. This civilization was extremely brilliant
till its extinction by XXVII century B.C., but in many a way it remains a mystery for us. However, the
iconography revealed on its cylinder seals, compartmented seals, amulets and stones engraved contains,
without any doubt, rich information on the culture. Victor Sarianidi approaches this mystery with
courage and knowledge which is due to understanding of collectors and keepers in the main museums
of the world, who did not hesitate to give him documentation collected through their efforts.

Pierre Amiet
Honourable General Inspector
of the Museums of France
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The origin of this book was rather unusual. In a way its appearance was due to illegal excavations
of tens of thousands of ancient graves in Bactria, a country which in ancient times existed in the North
of modern Afghanistan. After the fall of the monarchy and the emergence of the Republic of
Afghanistan in 1973, the central power in Kabul began to lose its control over distant provinces of the
country. This situation made it possible for the local peasants to start predatory excavations of the
graves of the Bronze Age in desert areas on the left bank of the Amu Darya. Very soon not only
individual treasure-hunters, but whole clans and even whole villages, taking advantage of the weakness
of the authorities, set themselves to this profitable trade.
Infinite numbers of various funeral offerings from the ancient graves inundated antiquarian shops
in Kabul and later found their way to private collections all over the world. As a member of the Russian
archaeological mission in Afghanistan in the 1970's, the author visited Kabul annually and managed to
make impressions, drawings and photographs of many of the seals and amulets before they vanished
into private collections. Though these photographs are far from being professional, in many cases they
are the only evidence and documentation of the things now lost from the view of scholars.
Fortunately, many of the amateur collectors have lent or gifted their Kabul acquisitions to
museums, thus saving the antiquities for science. These loans and gifts are the origin of the collections
of Bactrian seals and amulets in the Louvre, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the Museum of
the Ligabue Institute (Venice), etc. Many objects from these collections were published by P. Amiet, E.
Porada, H. Pittman, G. Azarpay, and M. Shubin. Finally, the owners of excellent private collections
(Mr. R. Garner, Mr. J. Rosen and Anahita Gallery) granted their materials for publication in the present
catalogue.
The exceptional scientific importance of Bactrian seals and amulets was greatly affected by the
obscurity of their provenance: as they originated from uncontrolled illegal excavations, it was
impossible to define their historical and cultural context and chronology. Archaeological discovery of
the very same types of amulets and seals in northern Bactria (Uzbekistan) and Margiana (southern
Turkmenistan) threw light on this most important issue. Comparison between the Bactrian ("Afghan")
seals and amulets on the one hand and those originating from archaeological excavations in Margiana
on the other hand eliminates all doubts that all of them should be dated back to the II millennium B. C.
The idea of a catalogue of these seals and amulets had been put forward many years ago, but the
opportunity for practical realization of the project appeared only recently, when Mr. Ron Garner made
the author an offer to publish his collection of Bactrian seals and amulets in a special volume. He was
an initiator and a sponsor of the author's visit to the United States in February 1994 for the first-hand
acquaintance with his collection and with the collection in Anahita Gallery in Santa Monica (now in
Santa Fe).
Thank you, Ron. The history of Bactrian studies will never forget your unselfish and noble deed!
Being already in the United States, the author with the assistance of Prof. G. Azarpay (University
of California at Berkeley) also had the chance to acquaint himself with the magnificent collection of
Bactrian seals and amulets belonging to Mr. Jonathan Rosen (New York).
It is the author's pleasant duty to express his thanks to Dr. P.O. Harper (The Metropolitan
Museum of Art), who gave him the opportunity of the first-hand view of Bactrian seals and amulets in
the collection of the Museum, some of them being still unpublished.
It would be unfair not to express my deep gratitude to Professor Asko Parpola who helped me
greatly in my work on this book and acquainted me with literature which I could not find elsewhere.
I am very grateful to Prof. Pierre Amiet for his help and for sending me the photographs of seals
and amulets from the Louvre collection. I am also very much obliged to Prof. Edith Porada, who helped
me for two decades with her valuable advice and who sent me all her publications, often unavailable in
the libraries of Russia.
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Assyriologist Dr. Igor S. Klotchkoff not only for the
draft English translation of the text of the catalogue, but also for his numerous critical remarks. It goes
without saying that all mistakes and omissions are mine.
In conclusion I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ann and Ron Garner for their titanic
and scrupulous work of reading and correcting the whole text of the Catalogue.

Victor Sarianidi
Moscow, 1997
M ai n Gro up s o f Ima ge s
HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND

Twenty years ago almost nothing was known about the most ancient history of Bactria and
Margiana, two legendary lands, situated on the outskirts of the world of the Ancient East. Scarce and
fragmentary records in Persian and Greek written sources implied some form of political existence of
these two countries in the epoch prior to the invasion of Alexander the Great. In 1970 Russian
archaeologists began their field explorations in the sands of the desert regions on the left bank of the
Amu Darya and discovered the first sites of the Late Bronze Age there. Subsequent work demonstrated
that, already at the beginning of the II millennium B.C., the Bactrian plain had been colonized by tribes
of ancient farmers. A new Bactrian center of civilization, akin to the civilizations of the Ancient East,
has emerged (Сарианиди, 1977; Sarianidi, 1986b).
The newcomers appreciated the favourable ecological conditions of the Bactrian plain, which at
that time was lavishly irrigated by the waters of the rivers flowing down from the foothills of the Hindu
Kush; the Balkh-ab River would have been of special importance. In due course the fertile alluvial
plain was covered by scores of settlements. The inhabitants of these small villages were tillers and
stock-breeders.
Every such village consisted of several dozen dwelling-houses built of sun-baked bricks; both
sides of the walls were covered with mud plaster. As a rule, each house had several dwelling and store
rooms, organized around a central courtyard. The houses were separated by narrow lanes and alleys or
small vacant plots of land.
Side by side with these typical rural settlements there were rare fortresses with massive defensive
walls strengthened by battle towers. Inside the walls of the fortresses there were the same dwelling-
houses as was usual in unfortified settlements. I suppose that the fortresses were inhabited by more
prosperous families risen from the ranks of commoners.
On the site of Dashli we found alongside ordinary residential quarters two imposing public
buildings. The first one, the so-called "Round Temple," was undoubtedly a building with some cultic
functions, most probably a temple of the fire cult. The second building greatly differed in its lay-out
from the first one, but it seems that it also was a temple, perhaps connected with some other cults and
consecrated to other deities (G. Pugachenkova).
The existence of monumental architecture, which demands tremendous expenditure of public
labour, implies a high level of social development of the Bactrian society, probably even an early form
of state, though restricted by traditions of a primitive democracy.
Bactrian craftsmen attained great success in many fields. Excellent wheel-made ceramics were
burnt in sophisticated kilns. Production of the local potters was consumed not only on the spot by their
fellow tribesmen; it also spread all over the area and penetrated through exchange and trade to nomadic
herdsmen who lived on the fringes of Bactrian agricultural oases.
Numerous funeral offerings contained real masterpieces of metal-work, including weapons, tools
and beautiful artistic bronze, which testifies to the highest professionalism of their creators. In some
respects the Bactrian braziers surpassed their colleagues from neighbouring Iran and Mesopotamia.
Bronze and copper alloy compartmented seals from Bactria seem to be unique in the art of the Ancient
Near East. Bactrian jewelers produced gold and silver vessels, decorated with finely engraved
compositions, and beautiful figured stamp seals, which had no analogy in the art of the neighbouring
countries. Astonishingly refined compositions on numerous stone amulets were cut in a combined
technique of drilling and engraving. And finally, from the technical point of view, cylinder seals found
in the graves of Bactria were not inferior to their Mesopotamian prototypes (Teissier, 1987).
All these facts testify to the existence in Bactria of a distinctive original center of an "alto-
orientalische" culture (Сарианиди, 1986). Bactria of the Late Bronze Age seems to have been an
independent and prosperous country, inhabited by the tribes which, to my mind, had come from the
West.
Another ancient country, Margiana, was situated in the Southeast of modern Turkmenistan, in the
desert of Kara Kum, in the former delta of the Murgab River. Now it becomes evident that both
countries, Margiana and Bactria, were simultaneously inhabited by the newcomers at the beginning of
the II millennium B.C. Some of the immigrants who colonized the Murgab Delta came from the
foothills of the Kopet Dagh, where they for unknown reasons had left their long-occupied places.
Others were the immigrants from the West, related to those who had colonized Bactria. Thus, the
population of the Murgab Delta was mixed. Formerly many students believed that Bactria and
Margiana had been colonized by the immigrants from southern Turkmenia, but R Amiet proved that the
main ethnic element in both cases had been the newcomers from the West - probably Proto-Elamites
(Amiet, 1986).
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M ai n Gro up s o f Im age s
Margiana, like Bactria, was situated on an alluvial plain, which was abundantly irrigated by the
waters of the Murgab Delta. Rural settlements of Margiana looked just like Bactrian ones. Although
most of them were unfortified, there were several fortresses with thick defensive walls, behind which
rich families and clans lived.
A high level of social development could be deduced from the fact of the existence of
monumental architecture, mainly temple structures. Alongside small "village" temples like Togolok-1,
there were "cathedrals" (e.g., Togolok-21), temples of the fire cult and the cult of hallucinogenic
drinks. Near Gonur-1, the capital settlement of Margiana, we have discovered a temenos, a sacred plot
of land, encircled with massive walls strengthened by battle towers. Inside the walls stood a modest
temple with a special room for producing hallucinogenic drinks of Soma/ Haoma type from Ephedra
twigs and hemp. We also found here simple rectangular fire altars. Outside the encircling walls of the
temples at Gonur-1 and Togolok-21 there were mighty deposits of ashes, real hills, three meters high
and measuring 100x50m. This fact indicates that fire on the altars was burning constantly, which was
characteristic only of the true fire-temples.
In general the material culture of Margiana was very similar to that of Bactria: almost identical
complexes of ceramics, the same tools and weapons, jewelry and glyptic. The only difference is that in
Bactria all these categories of things are represented much better, because illegal diggings in
Afghanistan have brought more finds than archaeological excavations in Turkmenistan have
uncovered.
Moreover, profound similarity is revealed not only in the material culture, but in the sphere of the
spirit, too. Bronze and copper seals and stone amulets from Margiana have the same images and scenes
as the Bactrian ones. This fact is of great importance. Narrative compositions on amulets and seals
from Bactria and Margiana could not be the result of the arbitrary fantasy of ancient stone-cutters or
foundry masters; on the contrary, these compositions were the graphic fixation of oral myths spread
among the local population. They were so to say "synopses" or "quotations" from some religious myth,
the most dramatic episode of which the ancient craftsmen tried to represent on stone amulets and
copper seals. Just as a crucifix with a figure of Christ gives us the idea of a dramatic episode in the life
of the founder of Christianity, certain compositions repeated on numerous seals and amulets were
immediately understood by the people in Bactria and Margiana. The similarity of the images on the
seals and amulets indicates that the inhabitants of Bactria and Margiana shared the same beliefs and
myths due to their common origin (Sarianidi, 1992).
The images on amulets and seals of Bactria and Margiana have some parallels in glyptic of
eastern Iran, from Tepe Hissar through Shahdad up to Tepe Yahya. P. Amiet demonstrates in his
numerous works that closer parallels can be found in glyptic of southeastern Iran (Elam). But the most
impressive correspondence we find in Syro-Hittite glyptic. The so-called genii -kneeling winged bird-
men - are represented fairly well both in Bactrian-Margianian and Syro-Hittite glyptic. I believe that in
the whole system of Near Eastern art the iconography of Syro-Hittite and Mitannian glyptic offers the
most obvious parallels to the materials from Bactria and Margiana. That is of great importance for
historical and cultural attribution of Bactrian and Margianian seals and amulets. The point is that some
of the images on Bactrian amulets were obviously inspired by Mitannian glyptic; and it seems that
some of the Bactrian cylinder seals were imported from Mitanni. Meanwhile cuneiform documents
from the archives of Mitanni contain the most ancient records of the principle Aryan deities and this
fact, to my mind, is very important for answering the questions: What tribes did colonize Bactria and
Margiana in the II millennium B.C. and from where did they come? (Dumezil, 1961, pp. 265-298;
Mayhofer. 1966).
The enormous quantity of Bactrian seals and amulets with the images of typically Syro-Hittite
and Mitanni deities proves that most of them (seals and amulets) were produced on the spot, not
brought to the country through exchange or trade. Almost every adult Bactrian had such a seal or an
amulet. Usually these seals and amulets had apotropaic functions, defending their owners from evil
demons in everyday life.
The reader will find in the present catalogue hundreds of amulets and seals which reflect the
influence of the Syro-Hittite glyptic. One can draw only one conclusion: Bactrian seals and amulets
must be ascribed to the immigrant tribes which, moving in the general direction from the West to the
East, reached the Bactrian plain and colonized it.
We do not know for sure what made the traditional, settled tillers leave their long-occupied area
and look for a new homeland. Most probable seems to be the theory recently set forth by the
geomorphologists, according to which a global xerothermic period had begun at the very end of the III
millennium B. C, producing a severe drought. Perhaps the natural reasons were combined with some
historical events in Mesopotamia that made the Near Eastern tribes go and look for new lands suitable
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for agriculture and stock-raising. For whatever reason, we find the traces of their migration in Elam and
to a minimal degree in Mesopotamia, which remains a riddle for me. Probably a high density of
population in Mesopotamia together with the stormy political events at the beginning of the II
millennium B.C. prevented the hypothetical immigrants from the North from settling there and they
had to march further, up to Elam.
Though this part of the route of the migrants can be reconstructed only hypothetically, their
subsequent steps can be traced by the archaeological data received in recent years. P. Amiet advances a
theory, according to which the Proto-Elamite tribes moved from southwestern Iran in the eastern
direction on the eve of the II millennium B.C. Several Proto-Elamite clay tablets were found at the sites
of Tall-i Malyan and Tepe Yahya. Some of the stamp seals and cylinders from Tall-i Malyan (ancient
Anshan) had the drawings of "serpent rosettes" (Sumner, 1976, fig. 4,1) and a scene with a bull in
combat with a lion, very characteristic of the glyptic of Outer Iran, from Bactria and Margiana to
Baluchistan (Sumner, 1976, fig. 5, k). The style of the images on the seals, especially cogged contours
of the bodies of the personages (Sumner, 1974. fig. 12) reminds us of the Bactrian glyptic;
correspondence of such a kind cannot be ignored, taking into account that in the II millennium B.C. the
culture of Tall-i Malyan was deeply influenced from outside. At Tepe Yahya, besides imported copper
compartmented seals, local cylinder seals with typically Bactrian figures of the winged bird-men and
winged women seated on thrones were found (Lamberg-Karolovsky, 1970, fig. 33).
It was stated that the sites of Shahdad type in eastern Iran had marked a "Trans-Elamite border,"
i.e., a frontier of the territory occupied by the migrants from Elam. Still Elamite influence did not stop
at Kerman, but went further - to Iranian Khurasan, Turkmenistan and Bactria (Amiet, 1986). In general
this theory corresponds to archaeological facts (Сарианиди, 1990) and future research will surely
supplement it with new important details and definitions.
Meanwhile we have good reason to suppose that the migration did not stop in the above-
mentioned regions, but continued in two different directions: to the North to Margiana, and to the East
to Baluchistan. With respect to the colonization of Baluchistan, I would like to point to the materials
from the graveyard of Sibri (Santoni, 1984) and from the so-called "Quetta hoard" (Jarrige, Hassan,
fig.l. Map of the distribution of the similar archaeological complexes.
1989, pp. 150-166). All specialists agree that these funeral offerings correspond to the materials from
Bactria and Margiana. True, some of the scholars consider them to be Bactrian and Margianian
imports, but we cannot exclude the possibility that these materials mark the process of settling of the
kindred tribes from Elam. I can also point to the materials from the graveyards of Hurab and Mehi, as
well as to the cult vessel and the "miniature column" from Kulli, which to a certain extent fill the
lacuna between Tepe Yahya and the sites of Baluchistan (fig.l).
Moreover, many years ago E. Mackay noted that the Post-Harappan seals of Chanhu Daro greatly
differed from the Harappan ones, but looked like the seals from Elam. Unfortunately, we know too
little about the Jhukar culture, which had replaced the Harappan Civilization. However the appearance
of the new types of seals and amulets in the culture, as well as the absence of anthropomorphic
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M ai n Gro up s o f Im age s
figurines, so characteristic of Bactria, Margiana and many of the sites in eastern Iran, could hardly be a
mere chance. Despite the opinion of J. Schaffer (Schaffer, 1986), who denies the settling of the Indo-
Aryans on the Indian subcontinent, some scholars believe that archaeological data confirm the process
of colonization of Baluchistan and probably the Indus Valley by new tribes (Parpola, 1993, pp. 41-55).
Not only the seals and amulets, but other Bactrian cult objects, e.g., the well-known silver
ceremonial axe (now in the Metropolitan Museum), demonstrate close relations with Mitannian culture
(Brentjes, 1986). The presence of the Aryan element in the Mitannian kingdom justifies, to my mind,
the question: had not these northern Mesopotamian territories been the homeland of Aryan tribes,
which later spread into two streams - one into the Indus Valley and the other into Bactria and
Margiana? The linguistic theory of the Near Eastern pre-motherland of Indo-Irani-ans seems to support
such an assumption. According to T. Gamkrelidze and V. Ivanov, the Greek, Armenian and Aryan
linguistic community - later separating into the Greek, the Armenian and the Indo-Iranian dialects -
existed somewhere on the borders of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. Indo-Iranians migrated in the
eastern direction and finally reached the Indian subcontinent through Iran and Afghanistan
(Гамкрелидзе, Иванов, 1984, pp. 899-900).
Bactrian glyptic of "Mitannian style" indicate relations between Mitanni and Bactria and
Margiana, but the direction of such connections is still disputable. A. Parpola considers that the tribes
migrated from Central Asia to northern Mesopotamia (Parpola, 1993, pp. 49-50).
Now, after discovery of the Harappan settlement of Shortugai in Eastern Bactria, nobody has any
doubts about the historical and cultural ties which existed between this land and the Indus Valley. But
we should differentiate the ties which originated from the common center in the West, whence the
settling of the Indo-Aryan tribes began, from direct contacts between Bactria and the Indian
subcontinent.
Amulets with compositions which include acrobats jumping over bulls, figures of the "crossed
animals," scenes with heroes in combat with animals, etc., testify to the ties of the first kind. Obviously
imported compartmented seals and the cylinder seals (Joshi, Parpola, 1987, v. I, n 412) which were
brought to the Indus Valley from Bactria and Margiana should be included into this group of evidence.
The images typical of the Harappan Civilization which were found in Bactria in adjusted form, e.
g., the horned deity in "yogic pose" (n 64) that looks like the Harappan one (Joshi, Parpola, 1987, v. I,
p. 304, 305 et ak), tell us about the relations of the second kind (Сарианиди, 1982b, p. 300, fig. 1).
Very revealing is another image of an animal with a lama's head and vertical braid pattern in front of it
(n 919), which reminds us of similar images in the Harappan glyptic (Joshi, Parpola, 1987, pp. 211, 222
et ak); there was a special sign in the form of the vertical braid pattern in the Harappan script.
Very interesting are the miniature seals and amulets of brittle gypsum found in Bactria and
Margiana. Such seals and amulets bear the images of animals that have direct parallels in the art of the
Indian subcontinent (Harappa, Tarakai Qila, Tarkhanawala Dera, Kalibangan). These parallels (Joshi,
Parpola, 1987, v. I, p. 309, n 57; p. 363, n 1; v. II, p. 230, n 349; p. 304, n 637) also testify to close
inter-relations between Bactria and Margiana on the one hand and India on the other. The images were
so widespread in the Indus Valley that it seems only natural to consider India to be their homeland
whence they came to Bactria and Margiana.
The hypothesis that the tribes of Bactria and Margiana were the Aryans has received new
archaeological support. The latest excavations of the Italian expedition of the Ligabue Institute at the
graveyard of Gonur-1 revealed that before interment the grave pits had been specially burnt with fire
from the bottom up to the surface (Salvatori, 1994). Having in mind that water, fire and earth were
considered by the Indo-Iranians to be "pure elements," one may suppose that the rite meant
"purification" of the earth from defilement of decomposing corpses. Such a practice is unknown
elsewhere in the Near East.
Early on in his first articles dealing with the Bactrian seals P. Amiet took notice of the so-called
"Nestorian" seals from Ordos, originating from illegal excavations in the upper reaches of the Hwang
Ho. These seals resemble the bronze ones from Bactria. Later R. Biscione pointed out that they
resemble the seals from Shahdad and Margiana (Biscione, 1985). Both authors concluded that the
Ordos seals had to be dated back to the II millennium B.C.; the seals might have appeared in Sinkiang
together with the tribes settling from Outer Iran.
During recent years the number of Bactrian and Margianian parallels to the Ordos seals greatly
increased; to my mind, that excludes the possibility of a chance correspondence. It becomes evident
that the Ordos seals mark traces of global settling of the tribes, which spread all over Outer Iran and
even reached Xinkiang. Unfortunately, the territory in between - especially the Tarim Valley and
Gansu province - remains terra incognita with respect to archaeology. Still I dare to put a question:
could the owners of the Ordos seals be Tocharians? According to the linguistic theory of T.
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M ai n Gro up s o f Ima ge s
Gamkrelidze and V. Ivanov, the speakers of Tocharian dialects migrated eastward to Central Asia after
separation from the Anatolians (Гамкрелидзе, Иванов, 1984, p. 935). In any case the presence of the
Tocharian in Eastern Turkestan in the I millennium B.C. was registered by Chinese written sources
(Pulleyblank, 1966).
An absolutely new view opens on the studies of Bactrian seals and amulets with the discovery of
images on them - images which have formal parallels in Aegean glyptic. Of course, one can hardly
believe in direct contacts between Bactria and the Aegean World in the Bronze age, but mediated
relations cannot be excepted. I have attempted to derive an explanation of these Bactrian-Aegean
parallels from the linguistic theory of T. Gamkrelidze and V. Ivanov. According to these scholars, the
eastern part of the Indo-European community occupied some territory in Syria and Anatolia not later
than the III millennium B.C. Then this part of the community disintegrates into the Greek, the Proto-
Armenian and the Indo-Iranian dialects, which in turn indicates extensive migrations. As a result, the
Greek tribes invaded the Aegean World and their kindred Indo-Iranians moved eastward at the same
time, reaching Margiana, Bactria and probably the Indian subcontinent. Thence untwined their
historical fortune, changing their material culture, but keeping a part of the common mythological
heritage which they brought to their new homelands. That might explain the origin of common motifs
and images in glyptic of Bactria and the Aegean World.
Greece and Asia Minor shared a lot of common myths (Harmatta, 1968, pp. 57-67); for example,
the whole cycle of theogonic myths which came to Greece from Anatolia originating probably in
Mesopotamia. Many mythological episodes in the famous Odyssey were traced back to their
Mesopotamian and Anatolian sources, and the very name of Polyphemus, according to a linguist, could
be compared with the name of Gilgamesh (Obenhuber, 1974). A hero in combat with a multi-headed
dragon on Mesopotamian seals reminds us of the Lernaen Hydra.
Turning to the seals and amulets of Bactria, one will find a composition with a horned deity in
combat with a five-headed hydra. Another amulet depicts an eagle clawing a man lying on the ground;
the scene reminds us of the ancient Greek myth about Prometheus. Finally, there are numerous images
of the "Mistress of Animals," a composition with a central female figure surrounded by animals. Close
parallels to that image can be found not only in the Syro-Hittite region, but also in Greece, where this
personage was known under the name of Pothnia Theron. Even more impressive are two other
compositions - one with a female seated on a monster, another with a dragon swallowing a man -
known both in Greece and Bactria (Сарианиди, 1993, fig. 7) (fig.2). It is only natural to assume that
such compositions had spread to Bactria and Greece from a common center, most probably from Syro-
Anatolia (Sarianidi, 1994, fig. 11).
fig.2. Map of the distribution of similar motifs found on seals and amulets.

In this connection I would like to point to the Bactrian images of deities who have human figures
with wings and goat heads decorated with a beard and mighty horns curved down. Such goat-men
appeared at the beginning of the fourth millennium B. C. practically simultaneously in Northern
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M ai n Gro up s o f Im age s
Mesopotamia (Gawra XIII-XII), in Susiana (Susa B), and in Luristan (Gyan). We cannot tell for sure if
they were men with goat's heads or with the masks of goats (Антонова, 1991), though in one case we
undoubtedly have the image of a human figure with the head of an ibex (British Museum, Quarterly,
1928, PI XXXIX, B).
Personages of this kind were known in the Syro-Hittite and Mycenaean-Minoan glyptic from the
beginning of the second millennium B. C. (Salje, 1990, PI. XXIV, n 435-437 et al.); G. Contenau
considered them to be the result of the influence of the Mycenaean culture (Contenau, 1922, Pis.
XXIX. XXX), though in the Aegean World these personages had rather specific iconography (long
gowns) and greatly differed from the Bactrian ones.
Even if the Bactrian goat-men were somehow connected with the Susian goat-men, we cannot
ignore one serious difference between them: the Bactrian goat-men always had wings and they
represented deities of the local pantheon unknown elsewhere in the ancient Near East. Human figures
with horned goat's heads in glyptic of Mesopotamia and Susiana were identified as "demons," whereas
in the Bactrian art they seemed to be benevolent creatures, often haunted by dragons which obviously
had a negative meaning in the local system of symbols.
The discussion of broad migrations during the Bronze Age brings us to problems of chronology.
After discovery of the antiquities of Bactria and Margiana all scholars agreed that the material culture
of these countries should be treated as a single whole and that it could be named the "Bactria-Margiana
Archaeological Complex." Originally western scholars dated the archaeological complex back to the
middle of the III millennium B.C., but soon P. Amiet noted that the antiquities of Bactria had been
"archaized" rather than archaic, and dated them back to the end of the III - beginning of the II
millennium B.C. Russian scholars, however, from the very beginning insisted on dating the materials
within the limits of the II millennium B.C. I can fully agree with that just making a note that main
period of existence of BMAC includes all the second millennium B.C. and the beginning of the first
millennium B.C.
During broad-scaled excavations in Margiana an iron bead was found in the temple of Togolok-
21, and a fragment of an iron knife or a dagger in the cultural level of the temenos of Gonur-1. Special
laboratory analyses show that is was real refinery (not meteorite) iron, which, according to the written
sources and archaeological data, had appeared in the Ancient Near East not prior to the middle of the II
millennium B.C. One can hardly imagine that Margiana, devoid of local iron-ore deposits and remote
from them could produce iron earlier than other countries of the Near East. J. Schaffer contends that
India had its own center of iron metallurgy (Schaffer, 1980), but we do not know whether it was
meteorite or refinery iron, which is of crucial importance. A series of radiocarbon dates (non-
calibrated) also sets Bactria-Margiana within the limits of the II millennium B.C. The whole complex
of the data at our disposal indicates that the first colonists from the West appeared in Bactria and
Margiana in the 18th-17th centuries B.C.; the South Turkmenian tribes could not have colonized
Margiana long before that. Thus had risen a new civilization. Though it had been created mainly by
newcomers from the West, it had developed a unique culture of its own. One cannot but think that, at
the beginning of the II millennium B.C., "civilization" spread from traditional Near Eastern centers to
the northern periphery of the settled agricultural world, and Outer Iran was the place where the fifth
great center of world civilization emerged.
In the middle of the I millennium B.C. Bactria and Margiana were perceived as one country
under the name Bactria. Thus, Darius the Great wrote in his famous Behistun inscription about
suppression of an uprising in Margiana: "...Then the land became mine. That's what I have done in
Bactria..." (Ill, 19-21). Scholars took notice of this passage of the inscription and concluded that at that
period Margiana had been a part of Bactria. It is very difficult to define the character of political
relations between these historical provinces in the II millennium B.C., but as the inhabitants of both
lands had the same culture, I use the term "Bactria" not only for Bactria proper but for Margiana too.
Unfortunately, a Bactrian writing system, if any, has not yet been found, and thus only their
graphic arts, first of all - seals and amulets - give us a peep into the spiritual world of their creators.
Judging from themes and images on the seals and amulets, the world of ancient Bactrians was full
of fantastic creatures who lived mainly in the heavens. These were winged lions, griffins and sphinxes;
wings imply that their abode was in celestial spheres. But the most important amongst these beings
were anthropomorphic deities - usually winged bird-men - who were surely at the top of the local
pantheon. They solemnly sit on benches or thrones, on real or fabulous animals, sometimes on dragons.
The bird-men were accompanied by birds, often depicted behind their backs (fig.3).
These principal deities had several hypostases. Surrounded by animals and birds they, to my
mind, were posing as "Masters" or "Mistresses" of animals and the feathered world. Kneeling bird-men
are considered to be spirits - genii. Sometimes they occupy the central place in compositions, where
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