1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910791159203321

Autore

Mairs Rachel

Titolo

The Hellenistic Far East : archaeology, language, and identity in Greek Central Asia / / Rachel Mairs

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oakland, California : , : University of California Press, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

0-520-29246-4

0-520-95954-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (251 p.)

Classificazione

HIS002000

Disciplina

958/.01

Soggetti

Greeks - Asia, Central - Antiquities

Excavations (Archaeology) - Asia, Central

Asia, Central Antiquities

Ay Khānom (Afghanistan) Antiquities

Bactria Antiquities

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. Administering Bactria: From Achaemenid Satrapy to Graeco-Bactrian State -- 2. Ai Khanoum -- 3. Self-Representation in the Inscriptions of Sōphytos (Arachosia) and Heliodoros (India) -- 4. Waiting for the Barbarians: The Fall of Greek Bactria -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Greek Documents -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In the aftermath of Alexander the Great's conquests in the late fourth century B.C., Greek garrisons and settlements were established across Central Asia, through Bactria (modern-day Afghanistan) and into India. Over the next three hundred years, these settlements evolved into multiethnic, multilingual communities as much Greek as they were indigenous. To explore the lives and identities of the inhabitants of the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, Rachel Mairs marshals a variety of evidence, from archaeology, to coins, to documentary and historical texts. Looking particularly at the great city of Ai Khanoum, the only extensively excavated Hellenistic period urban site in Central



Asia, Mairs explores how these ancient people lived, communicated, and understood themselves. Significant and original, The Hellenistic Far East will highlight Bactrian studies as an important part of our understanding of the ancient world.