Lands of Asia layouts (Eng) 26.11.21

part iv | migrations of cultures
Worship of deities from Asia Minor had spread all the way to the East. A silver
plaque found at the site of Ai-Khanum, bearing an image of Cybele, a significant
mother-goddess from Asia Minor, standing on her chariot drawn by lions, is direct
evidence of this.
Items excavated at Kampyrtepa include a statuette of a musician playing multifluted
pipes, the so-called syrinx or ‘pan flute’. This musical instrument is associated
with a variety of different figures, but it is noteworthy that numerous figurines of
the god Attis playing a syrinx have been discovered in the territory of Asia Minor
and north of the Black Sea. In the Hellenistic period, Attis was depicted wearing
long trousers, a short-sleeved, pleated tunic with a belt and a Phrygian hat. The
figure of the statuette from Kampyrtepa has the same attire, but unfortunately, the
Phrygian cap, the most important attribute of Attis, is absent, as the head of the
figure is missing.
It is quite probable that the cult of Attis, and of his wife Cybele, had spread to
Central Asian territories, as the veneration of deities associated with death and
renewal in nature, embodied in the cult of Siyavush in particular, had a long tradition
in these regions. Fragments of ancient Bactrian manuscripts found at Kampyrtepa,
written in black ink on the finest papyrus and dating from the first half of the 2nd
century AD, provide further evidence of links between Kushan Bactria and Roman
Egypt. Papyrus was invented in Ancient Egypt where it was cultivated, just as it
was in Palestine. The Egyptian rulers had exclusive rights to sell it abroad and they
prohibited its export if it became necessary. The city of Alexandria was the main
centre of papyrus trade in the world. It may have been from here that papyrus was
brought to Bactria and later used as material for Bactrian manuscripts. The papyrus
manuscripts discovered at Kampyrtepa were the first to be found in Central Asia and
adjacent countries. The first Roman (Latin) and other inscriptions in Central Asia
were found in Kara Kamar in the far south-west of Surkhan Darya province.
Several short Bactrian inscriptions contain the personal names of visitors to
this site. One of them, ‘Arziochsh’, includes the component ‘Ochsho’, the name
of the ancient Bactrian deity of the Amu Darya river, the Oxus, and, according to
V.A. Livshits, could be translated as ‘precious’ to (the god) Vakhsh. This inscription
gives us an idea of how ancient the Kara Kamar caves are, as the Bactrian script that
became prominent under King Kanishka (in the first half of the 2nd century AD)
had probably emerged under his predecessor, King Kadphises II, who ruled in the
late 1st or early 2nd century AD, and continued to be used on the territory of Bactria
(Tokharistan) until the 11th century.
We can say that Bactrian inscriptions are ‘native’ to this area. However, two threeline
Latin inscriptions have also been found here.
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