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177-657: Ai-Khanoum ( / aɪ ˈ h ɑː nj uː m / , meaning 'Lady Moon'; Uzbek Latin : Oyxonim ) is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province , Afghanistan . The city, whose original name is unknown, was likely founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and served as a military and economic centre for the rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destruction c.  145  BC. Rediscovered in 1961,

354-668: A UNESCO effort tasked to conserve the site at Mohenjo-daro. Other international efforts at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa have included the German Aachen Research Project Mohenjo-daro , the Italian Mission to Mohenjo-daro , and the US Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP) founded by George F. Dales . Following a chance flash flood which exposed a portion of an archaeological site at

531-402: A quadrangular block of two pairs of units separated from each other by corridors meeting at right angles; the eastern pair were used as audience halls, while the western pair possibly functioned as chancelleries . The entrances to the chambers from the encircling corridors were offset, meaning that, in theory, two separate groups could have entered the complex, been allowed an audience, received

708-643: A "relatively uniform" material culture in terms of pottery styles, ornaments, and stamp seals with Indus script , leading into the transition to the Mature Harappan phase. According to Giosan et al. (2012), the slow southward migration of the monsoons across Asia initially allowed the Indus Valley villages to develop by taming the floods of the Indus and its tributaries. Flood-supported farming led to large agricultural surpluses, which in turn supported

885-465: A 60-metre-high (200 ft) acropolis . Although not situated on a major trade route, Ai-Khanoum controlled access to both mining in the Hindu Kush and strategically important choke points. Extensive fortifications, which were continually maintained and improved, surrounded the city. Ai-Khanoum, which may have initially grown in population because of royal patronage and the presence of a mint in

1062-407: A Persian iwan , was supported by eighteen columns, ornamented slightly differently from those in the courtyard. On the southern side of the hypostyle, a door opened onto a large reception room ornamented with decorations including wooden sconces, painted protomes of lions, and geometrical art; this room was probably enclosed, as it had no drainage system, and it allowed access to the other areas of

1239-549: A central reception room, while the southern section included the service quarters and bath complex. Fragments of columns found at the site indicate a height of nearly 8 metres (26 ft). As the large dwellings at Ai-Khanoum, including those in the palace, have little in common with the traditional Greek oikos , scholars have theorised as to their origin. The prevailing hypothesis suggests an Iranian origin , similar styles being visible at Parthian Nisa and Dilberjin Tepe under

1416-607: A club, while the Brahmi side displays Vāsudeva with his Sudarshana Chakra and a conch shell . The coins indicate that the cult of the Vrsni Viras had spread far from their Mathuran homeland and that they had retained enough importance to be recognised with royal patronage; further, as the Greek obverse would have been superior to the Brahmi reverse, the coins show that Balarama was considered senior to Vāsudeva, in accordance with

1593-771: A commission was created at the Collegium of the People's Commissariat of Education of the Uzbek SSR to develop the Uzbek alphabet based on the Cyrillic alphabet. This commission developed an alphabet that included all 33 letters of the Russian alphabet , as well as six additional characters Ң ң, Ҷ ҷ, Ө ө, Қ қ, Ƶ ƶ, Ҳ ҳ and an apostrophe. However, this project was heavily criticized by linguists and educators for its cumbersomeness and

1770-465: A continuity in cultural development but a change in population. According to Lukacs and Hemphill, while there is a strong continuity between the neolithic and chalcolithic (Copper Age) cultures of Mehrgarh, dental evidence shows that the chalcolithic population did not descend from the neolithic population of Mehrgarh, which "suggests moderate levels of gene flow." Mascarenhas et al. (2015) note that "new, possibly West Asian, body types are reported from

1947-455: A contribution of Hellenistic philosophy to the development of Buddhist moral precepts. A gymnasium was located along the western ramparts. In its final architectural phase, it covered an area of 390 by 100 metres (1,280 by 330 ft), divided between a southern courtyard and a northern complex, and was accessible from both the palace district and a street running behind the riverside fortifications. There were three doors allowing entrance from

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2124-437: A decision, and left, without seeing each other. West of the administrative quarter, on the southwestern side of the palace, lay two units that were identified, by the presence of bathrooms , as residential in purpose. In layout, the structures were similar to other residences excavated in the city, with a small courtyard to the north and living quarters to the south. The larger of the units, which contained other features such as

2301-404: A disc of mother-of-pearl plates depicting a scene from Hindu mythology. This disc, which was decorated with polychrome glass paste and gold thread, most probably represents the meeting of Dushyanta and Shakuntala . The library was located at the south of the treasury near the residential quarters. Its function was identified through the discovery of two literary fragments, one on papyrus and

2478-410: A distinct phonetic value. It had six vowels and twenty-three consonants. Notably, unlike the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets that followed, it did not contain a letter to represent /f/ , due to the argument that it was always assimilated to /p/ in the orthophony. Some had also proposed that there be no letter to represent /h/ , due to many dialects assimilating it to /x/ , but this was not implemented in

2655-586: A generation after the presumed journey; Shane Wallace, meanwhile, has noted that Klearchus was not an uncommon name and thus Robert's identification was improbable at best. All three propose instead that this Klearchus was a resident of Ai-Khanoum. Despite the refutation of Robert's theory, the stele still maintains its importance in modern analyses. The text of the epigram is poetic in its composition and vocabulary, echoing well-known Greek works such as Homer 's Odyssey , Pindar 's odes, and possibly even Apollonius ' Argonautica . Mairs and Wallace have attributed

2832-479: A high defensive standard. To the south and west lay the Kokcha and Oxus, respectively—both riverbanks were steep cliffs more than 20 metres (66 ft) high, which presented a challenge to any amphibious assault. Meanwhile, any eastward approach was protected by a natural acropolis, around 60 metres (200 ft) in height, which stretched about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north from the Kokcha. This plateau also included

3009-524: A highly uniform and well-planned grid pattern, suggesting they were planned by a central authority; extraordinary uniformity of Harappan artefacts as evident in pottery, seals, weights and bricks; presence of public facilities and monumental architecture; heterogeneity in the mortuary symbolism and in grave goods (items included in burials). These are some major theories: Harappans evolved some new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze , lead, and tin . A touchstone bearing gold streaks

3186-571: A hundred excavated, there are five major urban centres: Mohenjo-daro in the lower Indus Valley (declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 as " Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro "), Harappa in the western Punjab region , Ganeriwala in the Cholistan Desert , Dholavira in western Gujarat (declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021 as " Dholavira: A Harappan City "), and Rakhigarhi in Haryana . The Harappan language

3363-547: A joint discussion. By 1924, Marshall had become convinced of the significance of the finds, and on 24 September 1924, made a tentative but conspicuous public intimation in the Illustrated London News : "Not often has it been given to archaeologists, as it was given to Schliemann at Tiryns and Mycenae , or to Stein in the deserts of Turkestan , to light upon the remains of a long forgotten civilisation. It looks, however, at this moment, as if we were on

3540-594: A new version of the Uzbek alphabet and spelling. The alphabet compiled by this team had the following order: A a, B b, V v, G g, D d, E e, Ƶ ƶ, Z z, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Å å, O o, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, F f, X x, C c, Ş ş, Ç ç, Q q, Ƣ ƣ, H h, Ꞑ ꞑ . However, at this time the Cyrillization process was already gaining momentum in the USSR, which made the reform of the Latinized alphabet irrelevant. In 1939,

3717-621: A new viceroy of India, Lord Curzon , pushed through the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904 , and appointed John Marshall to lead the ASI. Several years later, Hiranand Sastri , who had been assigned by Marshall to survey Harappa, reported it to be of non-Buddhist origin, and by implication more ancient. Expropriating Harappa for the ASI under the Act, Marshall directed ASI archaeologist Daya Ram Sahni to excavate

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3894-568: A pact of friendship and 500 war elephants ; he thus sought the sustained economic and military development of Bactria, which was now the headquarters of the Seleucids in the East. Antiochus, who had a personal connection to the region through his mother, Apama , the daughter of the Sogdian warlord Spitamenes , continued the policies of his father. Several of Ai-Khanoum's key buildings, including

4071-729: A process of documentation and standardization. The question of the transition of the Uzbek language to the Latin alphabet was raised back in 1920. In January 1921, it was discussed at the regional congress in Tashkent, but then supporters of romanization did not receive approval from numerous adherents of reforming the Arabic script. This issue was raised for the second time in 1926 at the First Turkic Congress in Baku. At this congress,

4248-462: A report in 2023, Uzbek publishing houses still mostly used the Cyrillic alphabet. In September 2023, linguists proposed another project for reform of the Latin alphabet. Thus, in the new alphabet it is proposed to modify four letters: Ў/ў, Ғ/ғ, Ч/ч, & Ш/ш respectively to Õ/õ, Ğ/ğ, C/c, Ş/ş. This is the third attempt to reform the Uzbek alphabet since 2018. The current (1995) Uzbek Latin alphabet has 29 letters: The symbol ⟨‘⟩ does not constitute

4425-548: A separate letter. Below is a table of Uzbek Cyrillic and Latin alphabets with represented sounds. Note that in Arabic script, vowel-initial words begin with a silent ا (traditional alphabet; may be replaced with an etymological ع in loans) or with a silent ئ (Yangi Imlo alphabet). The Cyrillic letters Ё ё, Ю ю, Я я correspond to the sound combinations yo, yu, ya . The Cyrillic letters Ц ц and ь (capital Ь occurs only in all-capitals writing), called (t)se and yumshatish belgisi respectively, are used only in loanwords. In

4602-473: A singular medallion ( pictured ). This disc , which depicts the Greek goddess Cybele accompanied by Nike in a chariot drawn by lions, was described as "remarkable" by the Metropolitan Museum of Art on account of its "hybrid Greek and Oriental imagery". Made of silver, the disk combines components of Greek culture, such as the chlamys all the deities wear, with Oriental design motifs such as

4779-599: A site whose entire upper layer had been stripped in the interim. Although his original goal of demonstrating Harappa to be a lost Buddhist city mentioned in the seventh century CE travels of the Chinese visitor, Xuanzang , proved elusive, Cunningham did publish his findings in 1875. For the first time, he interpreted a Harappan stamp seal , with its unknown script, which he concluded to be of an origin foreign to India. Archaeological work in Harappa thereafter lagged until

4956-407: A small iwan behind the courtyard, lay to the west and was separated from its smaller neighbour by an isolating corridor. The three-room bathrooms lay to the rear of the units and were tiled with limestone slabs and pebble mosaics of palmettes and marine animals, continuing an existing tradition of Hellenistic art . Based on the more private nature of the western unit, scholars have speculated that it

5133-455: A small citadel at its southeast corner—protected by the 80-metre (260 ft)-high cliffs on two sides and a small moat on the third, this 150 by 100 metres (490 by 330 ft) fort served as the defensive headquarters of Ai-Khanoum. These natural defences were reinforced by walls that completely enclosed Ai-Khanoum's city and acropolis. The northern ramparts, which were not assisted by any natural features, were built to be particularly strong:

5310-439: A three-stepped platform, consisted of a distyle in antis pronaos and a narrow cella . Four coffins—two wooden and two stone—were found underneath the platform. Burials were generally not allowed within the walls of Greek cities—hence Ai-Khanoum's necropolis being located outside the northern ramparts—but special exemptions were made for prominent citizens, especially city founders. Since the shrine predated every other structure in

5487-570: A tradition in archaeology, the civilisation is sometimes referred to as the Harappan, after its type site , Harappa , the first site to be excavated in the 1920s; this is notably true of usage employed by the Archaeological Survey of India after India's independence in 1947. The term "Ghaggar-Hakra" figures prominently in modern labels applied to the Indus civilisation on account of a good number of sites having been found along

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5664-608: A vacant stare or an idiotic laugh. In 1961, the King of Afghanistan , Mohammed Zahir Shah , was on a hunting expedition when he noticed the still-visible outline of the city from a hillside. He called in the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA), who had been excavating sites in the country since 1923. The excavation was led first by Daniel Schlumberger and then by Paul Bernard . As

5841-409: Is a lack of distinct identifying features (such as artwork, sculpture, or inscriptions) associating Alexander with the city, it remains unlikely that he did more than replace an Achaemenid garrison on the site, if it existed, with a Greek one. Based on ceramic data gathered at the site, it is likely that Ai-Khanoum was expanded in stages. The first stage would have begun under one of the first rulers of

6018-483: Is also used to mark a long vowel when placed immediately after a vowel, as in maʼno (meaning). Since this character is also absent from most keyboard layouts, many Uzbek websites use U+2019 ’ RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK or U+0027 ' APOSTROPHE instead. Currently most typists do not bother with the differentiation between the modifier letter turned comma and modifier letter apostrophe as their keyboard layouts likely accommodate only

6195-410: Is at an angle to the older main street). Ai-Khanoum was built predominantly using unbaked bricks, with baked bricks and stone used much less often. The palace complex was large, measuring about 350 by 250 metres (1,150 by 820 ft) and occupying around a third of the lower town. The size and intricacy of the complex, which was built on the order of Eucratides I, would have served as a demonstration of

6372-490: Is no conclusive evidence of palaces or temples. Some structures are thought to have been granaries. Found at one city is an enormous well-built bath (the " Great Bath "), which may have been a public bath. Although the citadels were walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive. Most city dwellers appear to have been traders or artisans, who lived with others pursuing the same occupation in well-defined neighbourhoods. Materials from distant regions were used in

6549-507: Is not directly attested, and its affiliations are uncertain, as the Indus script has remained undeciphered. A relationship with the Dravidian or Elamo-Dravidian language family is favoured by a section of scholars. The Indus civilisation is named after the Indus river system in whose alluvial plains the early sites of the civilisation were identified and excavated. Following

6726-457: Is probable that the elder Straton was represented by the 77 centimetres (30 in) statue. The arsenal , which was not fully excavated, was on the eastern side of the southern main street, against the base of the acropolis. Substantial quantities of slag found in the building's courtyard suggest that the building housed the workshops of blacksmiths. Although the recovered weapons were diverse, they were few in number, leading to speculation that

6903-462: Is shown by their dockyards, granaries , warehouses, brick platforms, and protective walls. The massive walls of Indus cities most likely protected the Harappans from floods and may have dissuaded military conflicts. The purpose of the citadel remains debated. In sharp contrast to this civilisation's contemporaries, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt , no large monumental structures were built. There

7080-425: Is sometimes called Mature Harappan to distinguish it from the earlier cultures. The cities of the ancient Indus were noted for their urban planning , baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of large non-residential buildings, and techniques of handicraft and metallurgy . Mohenjo-daro and Harappa very likely grew to contain between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals, and

7257-679: The Cyrillic script under Joseph Stalin : The Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet contains all the letters of the Russian alphabet, apart from Щ and Ы, plus four extra ones, namely Ў, Қ, Ғ and Ҳ. These four letters are considered as separate letters and not letter variants. They come in alphabetical order after the letter Я. The letters Ц and Ь are not used in Uzbek native words, but are included in the alphabet for writing loanwords, e. g. кальций (calcium). However, Щ and Ы are not included, so they are replaced by ШЧ and И in loanwords and names from Russian, e. g.

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7434-599: The Ghaggar-Hakra River in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The terms "Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation" and "Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation" have also been employed in the literature by supporters of Indigenous Aryanism , after a posited identification of the Ghaggar-Hakra with the river Sarasvati described in the early chapters of the Rigveda , a collection of hymns in archaic Sanskrit composed in

7611-519: The Kushan Empire . The city also contained other types of housing, including smaller houses for people of lower status. The excavators discovered three temples at Ai-Khanoum—a large sanctuary on the main street near the palace, a smaller temple in a similar style outside the northern wall, and an open-air podium on the acropolis. The large sanctuary, often called the Temple with Indented Niches,

7788-525: The Seleucid Empire —either the empire's founder Seleucus I Nicator or his son and successor Antiochus I Soter . Seleucus established a cohesive Central Asian policy, which "went beyond the limited, ad hoc military and political aims of Alexander", according to historian Frank Holt . After the Seleucid–Mauryan war , Seleucus ceded the Indus Valley to Chandragupta Maurya , in return for

7965-648: The Soviet-Afghan War in the late 1970s halted scholarly progress and during the following conflicts in Afghanistan , the site was extensively looted. The precise date of Ai-Khanoum's founding is unknown. The northernmost outpost of the Indus Valley Civilization had been established at Shortugai , around 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Ai-Khanoum, during the late third millennium BC. Shortugai, which existed for several centuries, traded with its southern neighbours and constructed

8142-475: The heroön (hero's shrine), the northern fortifications , and a shrine, were constructed under his reign. It is likely that a mint was opened in Ai-Khanoum in around 285 BC, both because of the metal deposits near the city and a growing Seleucid interest in eastern Bactria, which suggests that this mint spurred the growth of the city as a royal foundation. Around one-third of the bronze coins found in

8319-402: The palace and gymnasium were constructed, the main sanctuary and heroön were rebuilt, and the theatre was certainly active. He probably sponsored Mediterranean artists to place himself on a par with other major Hellenistic kings, the status of his capital city thus being comparable to that of Alexandria , Antioch , or Pergamum . The treasury was found to house substantial quantities of

8496-491: The water buffalo . Early Harappan communities turned to large urban centres by 2600 BCE, from where the mature Harappan phase started. The latest research shows that Indus Valley people migrated from villages to cities. The final stages of the Early Harappan period are characterised by the building of large walled settlements, the expansion of trade networks, and the increasing integration of regional communities into

8673-419: The 10-metre (33 ft)-high and 6-metre (20 ft)-thick walls were built out of solid mud bricks and protected by large towers and a steep ditch. The size of these ramparts allowed a few defending soldiers to nullify siege engines and engage an attacking force with minimal casualties; the large scale also reflects the low confidence of the Greek architects in the strength of mud-brick walls. The main gate of

8850-452: The 1995 reform and bring the orthography closer to those of Turkish , Turkmen , Karakalpak , Kazakh (2018 version) and Azerbaijani . This was met with mixed reactions from the citizens. The proposal was put up again for discussion in May of the same year, this time with a deadline of 1 November 2021. In February 2021, the Uzbek government announced that Uzbekistan plans to fully transition

9027-593: The 2nd century AD. Hellenistic culture in the region would persist longer only in the Indo-Greek kingdoms . While on a hunting trip in 1961, the King of Afghanistan , Mohammed Zahir Shah , rediscovered the city. An archaeological delegation, led by Paul Bernard , unearthed the remains of a huge palace in the lower town, along with a large gymnasium , a theatre capable of holding 6,000 spectators, an arsenal, and two sanctuaries . Several inscriptions were found, along with coins , artefacts, and ceramics. The onset of

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9204-566: The ASI attempted to "Indianise" archaeological work in keeping with the new nation's goals of national unity and historical continuity, in Pakistan the national imperative was the promotion of Islamic heritage, and consequently archaeological work on early sites was left to foreign archaeologists. After the partition, Mortimer Wheeler, the Director of ASI from 1944, oversaw the establishment of archaeological institutions in Pakistan, later joining

9381-473: The Arabic script. In 2018, the Uzbek government launched another reform effort for the Uzbek Latin alphabet. The new proposal called for replacing some digraphs with diacritical signs . In March 2021, the proposed changes were put up for public discussion and debate. They called for replacing Ch ch, Sh sh, Gʻ gʻ, Oʻ oʻ with Ç ç, Ş ş, Ḡ ḡ, Ō ō (and, in loans, Ts ts with C c). This would largely reverse

9558-619: The Company any historical artifacts acquired during his travels. Masson, who had versed himself in the classics , especially in the military campaigns of Alexander the Great , chose for his wanderings some of the same towns that had featured in Alexander's campaigns, and whose archaeological sites had been noted by the campaign's chroniclers. Masson's major archaeological discovery in the Punjab

9735-991: The Early Harappan, Mature Harappan, and Late Harappan phases. Mehrgarh is a Neolithic (7000 BCE to c.  2500 BCE ) mountain site in the Balochistan province of Pakistan , which gave new insights on the emergence of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Mehrgarh is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia . Mehrgarh was influenced by the Near Eastern Neolithic, with similarities between "domesticated wheat varieties, early phases of farming, pottery, other archaeological artefacts, some domesticated plants and herd animals." Jean-Francois Jarrige argues for an independent origin of Mehrgarh. Jarrige notes "the assumption that farming economy

9912-481: The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs decreased its funding in the mid-1970s. The inaccessibility of the city's acropolis and the roughness of its terrain meant that any excavation there was much more difficult than on the lower level, leading to it being studied much less than the lower city. Despite these and other constraints, DAFA did not compromise on scientific rigour or procedure. In 1974,

10089-500: The Ghaggar-Hakra system might yield more sites than the Indus river basin. According to archaeologist Ratnagar, many Ghaggar-Hakra sites in India and Indus Valley sites in Pakistan are actually those of local cultures; some sites display contact with Harappan civilisation, but only a few are fully developed Harappan ones. As of 1977, about 90% of the Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered were found at sites in Pakistan along

10266-674: The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in 209 BC, defeating its ruler Euthydemus I at the Battle of the Arius and unsuccessfully besieging Bactra , Euthydemus' capital. Although there is no evidence that Ai-Khanoum was itself attacked by the invaders, Antiochus may have conducted operations near the city, or even minted his currency there. He may have also brought new settlers to the region. The later conquests of Euthydemus and his successor Demetrius I were also beneficial for

10443-558: The Harappan civilisation lasted from c.  2600 –1900 BCE. With the inclusion of the predecessor and successor cultures – Early Harappan and Late Harappan, respectively – the entire Indus Valley Civilisation may be taken to have lasted from the 33rd to the 14th centuries BCE. It is part of the Indus Valley Tradition, which also includes the pre-Harappan occupation of Mehrgarh, the earliest farming site of

10620-523: The Hellenistic world, which melded Oriental production techniques with Greek traditions of acrolithic statues. A statuette of Heracles found at the site displays artistic continuity with later Indo-Greek coinage, which depict Vajrapani as syncretised with the demigod and Zeus. Uzbek alphabet Like all Turkic languages in Central Asia and its literary predecessor Chagatai , Uzbek

10797-416: The Hellenistic world. Later historians have dismissed Robert's hypothesis: Jeffrey Lerner noted that there is no evidence to support the assumption that Clearchus travelled to the eastern regions for research, as opposed to simply using a reference source; following Lerner, Rachel Mairs observed, knowing the philosopher's approximate date of death, that the placement of the stele in the sanctuary would have been

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10974-571: The Indus Civilization , London: Arthur Probsthain, 1931. The first modern accounts of the ruins of the Indus civilisation are those of Charles Masson , a deserter from the East India Company 's army. In 1829, Masson traveled through the princely state of Punjab, gathering useful intelligence for the Company in return for a promise of clemency. An aspect of this arrangement was the additional requirement to hand over to

11151-616: The Indus River Valley site of Mehrgarh and is dated to 7,000  YBP ." The Early Harappan Ravi Phase, named after the nearby Ravi River , lasted from c.  3300 BCE until 2800 BCE. It started when farmers from the mountains gradually moved between their mountain homes and the lowland river valleys, and is related to the Hakra Phase , identified in the Ghaggar-Hakra River Valley to

11328-791: The Indus Valley Civilisation, in the Gomal River valley in northwestern Pakistan, at Manda, Jammu on the Beas River near Jammu , and at Alamgirpur on the Hindon River , only 28 km (17 mi) from Delhi. The southernmost site of the Indus Valley Civilisation is Daimabad in Maharashtra . Indus Valley sites have been found most often on rivers, but also on the ancient seacoast, for example, Balakot ( Kot Bala ), and on islands, for example, Dholavira . "Three other scholars whose names I cannot pass over in silence, are

11505-525: The Indus Valley. Several periodisations are employed for the IVC. The most commonly used classifies the Indus Valley Civilisation into Early, Mature and Late Harappan Phase. An alternative approach by Shaffer divides the broader Indus Valley Tradition into four eras, the pre-Harappan "Early Food Producing Era", and the Regionalisation, Integration, and Localisation eras, which correspond roughly with

11682-573: The Indus river, while other sites accounts only for the remaining 10%. By 2002, over 1,000 Mature Harappan cities and settlements had been reported, of which just under a hundred had been excavated, mainly in the general region of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra rivers and their tributaries; however, there are only five major urban sites: Harappa , Mohenjo-daro , Dholavira , Ganeriwala and Rakhigarhi . As of 2008, about 616 sites have been reported in India, whereas 406 sites have been reported in Pakistan. Unlike India, in which after 1947,

11859-607: The Kot Diji related material". He sees these areas as "catalytic in producing the fusion from Hakra, Kot Dijian and Amri-Nal cultural elements that resulted in the gestalt we recognize as Early Harappan (Early Indus)." By 2600 BCE, the Early Harappan communities turned into large urban centres. Such urban centres include Harappa , Ganeriwala , Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan, and Dholavira , Kalibangan , Rakhigarhi , Rupar , and Lothal in modern-day India. In total, more than 1,000 settlements have been found, mainly in

12036-545: The Latin script when writing in Uzbek. Most street signs are also in the new Latin script. The main national TV channel of Uzbekistan, Oʻzbekiston Telekanali (owned by MTRK ), has also switched to the Latin script when writing in Uzbek, although news programs are still broadcast in Cyrillic script (compare with another TV channel owned by the same company, Yoshlar, broadcasts news programs in Latin script). Additionally, in Afghanistan Uzbek continues to be written in

12213-523: The Latin script, the letters Oʻ (Cyrillic Ў ) and Gʻ (Cyrillic Ғ ) are properly rendered using the character U+02BB ʻ MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA , which is also known as the ʻokina . However, since this character is absent from most keyboard layouts (except for the Hawaiian keyboard in Windows 8, or above, computers) and many fonts, most Uzbek websites – including some operated by

12390-610: The Mediterranean. Because of the perishable nature of the oil inside it, one of these vases is inscribed with the regnal year of the monarch (Year 24). Combined with other inscriptions in the treasury and the identification of the ruling monarch as Eucratides I, the date of Ai-Khanoum's fall has been dated with fair certainty to around 145 BC. Several items in the treasury are likely to have been loot brought back by Eucratides from his Indian conquests: these include Indian agates and jewellery, offerings from Buddhist stupas , and

12567-439: The Russian surnames Щедрин (Shchedrin) and Быков (Bykov) are rendered Шчедрин and Биков in Uzbek Cyrillic. Despite further reforms, this alphabet is still in use both in Uzbekistan and neighboring countries (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan). Until 1992, Uzbek in the USSR continued to be written using a Cyrillic alphabet almost exclusively, but now in Uzbekistan the Latin script has been officially re-introduced, although

12744-409: The Uzbek government – use either U+2018 ‘ LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK or U+0027 ' APOSTROPHE to represent these letters. The character U+02BC ʼ MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE ( tutuq belgisi ) is used to mark the phonetic glottal stop when it is put immediately before a vowel in borrowed words, as in sanʼat (art). The modifier letter apostrophe

12921-505: The Uzbek language from the Cyrillic script to a Latin-based alphabet by 1 January 2023. Similar deadlines had been extended several times. Generally the younger generation prefers to use the Latin alphabet, while the older generation, who grew up in the Soviet era, prefers the Cyrillic alphabet. The Latin alphabet is mainly used in business and tourism, and the Cyrillic alphabet is mainly used in official government documents. According to

13098-467: The alluvial plain of the Indus and its tributaries. In addition, there was a region with disparate flora, fauna, and habitats, up to ten times as large, which had been shaped culturally and economically by the Indus. Around 6500 BCE, agriculture emerged in Balochistan , on the margins of the Indus alluvium. In the following millennia, settled life made inroads into the Indus plains, setting

13275-466: The art of ancient India ; the sculpture of the pillars of Ashoka may have been inspired by drawings of Greco-Bactrian buildings brought back to the Mauryan Empire by ambassadors. It is impossible to say whether inspiration came from Ai-Khanoum or other Hellenistic sites. The artwork of Ai-Khanoum does display innovative and original craftsmanship, such as the biggest faïence sculpture found in

13452-542: The citadel representing centralised authority and an increasingly urban quality of life. Another town of this stage was found at Kalibangan in India on the Hakra River. Trade networks linked this culture with related regional cultures and distant sources of raw materials, including lapis lazuli and other materials for bead-making. By this time, villagers had domesticated numerous crops, including peas , sesame seeds , dates , and cotton, as well as animals, including

13629-514: The cities for constructing seals, beads and other objects. Among the artefacts discovered were beautiful glazed faïence beads. Steatite seals have images of animals, people (perhaps gods), and other types of inscriptions, including the yet un-deciphered writing system of the Indus Valley Civilisation . Some of the seals were used to stamp clay on trade goods. Although some houses were larger than others, Indus civilisation cities were remarkable for their apparent, if relative, egalitarianism . All

13806-505: The city had never been resettled after its abandonment, the ruins lay close to the surface and were easy to excavate. At other sites in the region, successive generations built upon the foundations of their predecessors, leaving the Hellenistic construction layer as much as 15 metres (49 ft) below the ground. Nevertheless, the excavation of Ai-Khanoum proved problematic and complex. The city's immense size meant that DAFA's small team had to focus their attention on key areas, especially when

13983-409: The city was set in the northern rampart, which also guarded the canal that supplied water to the city's centre. From the main gate, a street ran southwards in a straight line along the base of the acropolis and continued through the lower city to the southern riverbank—a distance of about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi). Apart from the southern zone, which housed large dwellings organised in three blocks,

14160-470: The city was soon terminated by a huge fire. It is unknown when the final occupants of Ai-Khanoum abandoned the city. The final signs of any habitation date from the 2nd century AD; by this time, more than 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) of earth had accumulated in the palace. In March 1838, a British soldier-explorer named John Wood was travelling in Badakshan as a representative of the East India Company . He

14337-412: The city were issued in the period following Antiochus' accession in 281 BC, an indication that he continued to spend money on the city. Under his successor Antiochus II , who came to the throne in 261 BC, the mint continued to strike valuable coins and the ramparts were bolstered with a buttress and brick linings. The city's development was greatly slowed when Diodotus I , governor of

14514-492: The city, as the population increased and many public buildings were reconstructed. The improvement in the city's fortunes can be seen through innovations in the manufacturing and sophistication of pottery —Achaemenid styles were replaced with more varied shapes, some of which were reminiscent of Megarian bowls. The city's zenith came during the rule of Eucratides I in the mid-second century BC, who probably made it his capital, naming it Eucratideia . During his reign,

14691-561: The city, lost some importance through the secession of the Greco-Bactrians under Diodotus I ( c.  250  BC). Seleucid construction programmes were halted and the city probably became primarily military in function; it may have been a conflict zone during the invasion of Antiochus III ( c.  209  – c.  205  BC). Ai-Khanoum began to grow once more under Euthydemus I and his successor Demetrius I , who began to assert control over

14868-491: The city, possibly for religious festivals. The excavators found the bones of around 120 individuals in the orchestra , probably dating from the fall of the city in 145 BC. The excavations of Ai-Khanoum yielded three hoards of Hellenistic coins , along with 274 stray coins, of which 224 were legible. The first hoard was found in a small room in the administrative section of the palace complex in 1970. It contained 677 punch-marked coins and six silver drachmas all bearing

15045-437: The civilisation may have contained between one and five million individuals during its florescence. A gradual drying of the region during the 3rd millennium BCE may have been the initial stimulus for its urbanisation. Eventually it also reduced the water supply enough to cause the civilisation's demise and to disperse its population to the east. Although over a thousand Mature Harappan sites have been reported and nearly

15222-503: The confluence of the Oxus and Qizilsu , a tributary whose valley provided access to the mineral-rich Western Pamirs and Chinese Turkestan , but which also formed a natural corridor for any potential northern invaders. Ai-Khanoum therefore served as a strategically important bulwark, despite not controlling a major crossing of the Oxus or any other large trade route. Reflecting the city's strategic importance, its founders built Ai-Khanoum to

15399-494: The courtyard to a corridor which encircled the main complex. This comprised long rectangular rooms surrounding a square central courtyard, entered through four exedrae , one on each side; the exedra on the northern side contained a small plinth bearing an inscribed dedication and a statue. The inscription was addressed to Hermes and Heracles , the two patron deities of the Greek gymnasium, by two brothers named Triballos and Straton, on behalf of their father, also named Straton; it

15576-410: The death rate increased, as the close living conditions of humans and domesticated animals led to an increase in contagious diseases. According to one estimate, the population of the Indus civilisation at its peak may have been between one and five million. During its height the civilisation extended from Balochistan in the west to western Uttar Pradesh in the east, from northeastern Afghanistan in

15753-409: The development of cities. The IVC residents did not develop irrigation capabilities, relying mainly on the seasonal monsoons leading to summer floods. Brooke further notes that the development of advanced cities coincides with a reduction in rainfall, which may have triggered a reorganisation into larger urban centres. According to J.G. Shaffer and D.A. Lichtenstein, the Mature Harappan civilisation

15930-527: The dissolution of the East India Company and the establishment of Crown rule in India , archaeology on the subcontinent became more formally organised with the founding of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Alexander Cunningham , the Survey's first director-general, who had visited Harappa in 1853 and had noted the imposing brick walls, visited again to carry out a survey, but this time of

16107-467: The earlier Achaemenid Empire , who established a small fort nearby. Ai-Khanoum was originally thought to have been a foundation of Alexander the Great , perhaps as Alexandria Oxiana , but this theory is now considered unlikely. Located at the confluence of the Amu Darya ( a.k.a. Oxus) and Kokcha rivers, surrounded by well-irrigated farmland, the city itself was divided between a lower town and

16284-447: The eastern provinces, seceded from the Seleucids and founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . Although Ai-Khanoum's temple and sanctuary were reconstructed under Diodotus, possibly to enhance religious legitimacy, most Seleucid construction programmes were not continued. Bertille Lyonnet theorises that during this time Ai-Khanoum was merely "a military stronghold with administrative functions". The Seleucid emperor Antiochus III invaded

16461-420: The end. The Arabic script is still used for writing Uzbek in Afghanistan and by Afghan-Uzbek diaspora elsewhere. In the early 21st century, with the publication of dictionaries and literature by Afghan-Uzbek scholars, as well as the adaptation of Uzbek Arabic script by domestic as well as international news outlets (just like BBC News Uzbek Afghanistan and TRT Afghani Uzbek ), the Arabic script has undergone

16638-404: The first Latin alphabet post-independence was as follows: A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, X x, Y y, Z z, Ç ç, Ğ ğ, Ɉ ɉ, Ñ ñ, Ö ö, Ş ş, ʼ. Education in many areas of Uzbekistan is in the Latin script, and in 2001 the Latin script began to be used on coins . Since 2004, some official websites have switched over to using

16815-435: The first assault led to the end of Hellenistic rule in the city, Ai-Khanoum continued to be inhabited; it remains unknown whether this reoccupation was effected by Greco-Bactrian survivors or nomadic invaders. During this time, public buildings such as the palace and sanctuary were repurposed as residential dwellings and the city maintained some semblance of normality: some sort of authority, possibly cultish in origin, encouraged

16992-550: The first irrigation systems in the area. A thousand years later, the area fell under the control of the Persian Achaemenids , who established a satrapy (administrative province) centred on Bactra (present-day Balkh ) and expanded eastwards by conquering the Indus Valley . To assert control over the local region, they founded a fort named Kohna Qala on a ford of the Oxus , around 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) north of

17169-514: The fixed pose of the figures and the crescent moon. The small fragments that remain of the cult statue , which would have stood at the centre of the temple, show that it was sculpted according to the Greek tradition ; a small portion of the left foot has survived and displays a thunderbolt, a common motif of Zeus . Based on the apparent dissonance between the Greek statue and the Oriental temple it

17346-514: The foot of the Bolan Pass in Balochistan , excavations were carried out in Mehrgarh by French archaeologist Jean-François Jarrige and his team in the early 1970s. The cities of the ancient Indus had "social hierarchies, their writing system, their large planned cities and their long-distance trade [which] mark them to archaeologists as a full-fledged 'civilisation.'" The mature phase of

17523-433: The general region of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra Rivers and their tributaries. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley Civilisation, making them the first urban centre in the region. The quality of municipal town planning suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene , or, alternatively, accessibility to

17700-571: The graves of Mehrgarh beginning in the Togau phase (3800 BCE)." Gallego Romero et al. (2011) state that their research on lactose tolerance in India suggests that "the west Eurasian genetic contribution identified by Reich et al. (2009) principally reflects gene flow from Iran and the Middle East." They further note that "[t]he earliest evidence of cattle herding in South Asia comes from

17877-408: The gymnasium complex, the palace complex perhaps suffered the greatest damage: the walls were used as a quarry for building materials (in some places even the deepest foundations were gutted), while the small quantities of limestone at the site, primarily found as decoration or capitals , were consumed in lime kilns . The Northern Alliance built a gun battery atop the acropolis, further destabilizing

18054-411: The houses had access to water and drainage facilities. This gives the impression of a society with relatively low wealth concentration . Archaeological records provide no immediate answers for a centre of power or for depictions of people in power in Harappan society. But, there are indications of complex decisions being taken and implemented. For instance, the majority of the cities were constructed in

18231-455: The inhabitants to reuse the raw building materials now freely available in the city for their own ends, whether for construction or trade. A silver ingot engraved with runic letters and buried in a treasury room provides support for the theory that the Saka occupied the city, with tombs containing typical nomadic grave goods also being dug into the acropolis and the gymnasium. The reoccupation of

18408-550: The inscription and placing of the stele to "the first Bactrian-born generation" in the middle or late second century BC; they propose that this generation sought to define themselves as part of the wider Greek world by giving Ai-Khanoum legitimacy in the eyes of Delphi, itself a symbol of Hellenic unity. The poem also shares thematic elements with the Buddhist Edicts of Ashoka (inscribed in 260–232 BC); and Valeri Yailenko has proposed that it may have inspired them, suggesting

18585-468: The issue of displaying synharmonism in writing; As a result, it was decided to display synharmonism in writing, for which 9 letters were introduced into the alphabet to display vowels. In 1929, as part of comprehensive programs to " educate " (politically influence) Uzbek people , who for the first time now had their own cartographically delineated (administrative) region, Uzbek writing in the Uzbek SSR

18762-1001: The last five lines of a series of maxims , originally displayed at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi —only small and barely legible fragments of the upright portion of the stele, which would have been inscribed with the first 145 maxims, survive. An epigram was inscribed adjacent to the maxims, commemorating a man named Klearchos, who had copied the maxims from the Delphic sanctuary: ἀνδρῶν τοι σοφὰ ταῦτα παλαιοτέρων ἀνάκει[τα]ι ῥήματα ἀριγνώτων Πυθοὶ ἐν ἠγαθέαι ἔνθεν ταῦτ[α] Κλέαρχος ἐπιφραδέως ἀναγράψας εἵσατο τηλαυγῆ Κινέου ἐν τεμένει. παῖς ὢν κόσμιος γίνου ἡβῶν ἐγκρατής μέσος δίκαιος πρεσβύτης εὔβουλος τελευτῶν ἄλυπος   These wise sayings of men of old, The words of famous men, are consecrated At holy Delphi, where Klearchos copied them from carefully To set them up, shining from afar, in

18939-446: The late Mr. R. D. Banerji , to whom belongs the credit of having discovered, if not Mohenjo-daro itself, at any rate its high antiquity, and his immediate successors in the task of excavation, Messrs. M.S. Vats and K.N. Dikshit . ... no one probably except myself can fully appreciate the difficulties and hardships which they had to face in the three first seasons at Mohenjo-daro."  — From, John Marshall (ed), Mohenjo-daro and

19116-496: The later city. Although scholars have speculated that a small Achaemenid garrison may have been placed at the location, there is no consensus that a settlement was established at Ai-Khanoum prior to the arrival of the Greco-Macedonians under Alexander the Great c.  328  BC. Historians have disputed who ordered the transformation of this small settlement into the major city it became. Initially, Ai-Khanoum

19293-490: The local population. Despite these reports, Harappa was raided even more perilously for its bricks after the British annexation of the Punjab in 1848–49. A considerable number were carted away as track ballast for the railway lines being laid in the Punjab. Nearly 160 km (100 mi) of railway track between Multan and Lahore , laid in the mid-1850s, was supported by Harappan bricks. In 1861, three years after

19470-604: The loot from his campaigns in India against the Indo-Greek King Menander . It is likely that Ai-Khanoum was already under attack by nomadic tribes when Eucratides was assassinated in around 144 BC. This invasion was probably carried out by Saka tribes driven south by the Yuezhi peoples, who in turn formed a second wave of invaders, in around 130 BC. The treasury complex shows signs of having been plundered in two assaults, fifteen years apart. Although

19647-440: The lower city, it reasonably may be supposed that the person the heroön was built to honour was either the city's founder or an extremely notable early citizen. The most prominent of the coffins, which was also the earliest, was linked to the upper temple by an opening and conduit down which offerings could be poured. As the builders had not endowed any of the other sarcophagi with such a feature, this coffin would likely have housed

19824-576: The lower town was unplanned; this distinguishes Ai-Khanoum from other Hellenistic foundations of the Near East, such as Seleucia on the Tigris , which tended to be built according to the Hippodamian grid plan . It was also the subject of a major redevelopment during the early second century BC, which resulted in slight disunity in the orientations of some major buildings (the palace, for example,

20001-406: The main army was in the field when the city was taken; this theory was supported by brick blockages in the arsenal's passages, suggesting a limited number of defenders. Of the pieces found, which included arrowheads, spears, javelins, a caltrop intended to stop mounted animals, and uniform ornaments, the most interest was paid to iron cataphract armour—the earliest example yet found. The theatre

20178-453: The main entrance to the palace, was entered from the curved road through another propylaeum. The courtyard was bordered by 118 Corinthian columns. The columns of the north, east, and west colonnades were 5.7 metres (19 ft) high, while those of the south colonnade were almost 10 metres (33 ft) tall, forming a Rhodian peristyle . The palace was entered through a hypostyle behind the southern portico; this vestibule, similar in style to

20355-402: The main north–south road. The DAFA archaeologists chose to excavate a house near the end of the fourth row from the palace, close to the confluence of the two rivers. This house, 66 by 35 metres (217 by 115 ft) in area, showed evidence of three older architectural stages dating back half a century to c.  200 BC; it consisted of a large courtyard to the north and the main building to

20532-513: The means of religious ritual. As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and the recently partially excavated Rakhigarhi , this urban plan included the world's first known urban sanitation systems . Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells . From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner courtyards and smaller lanes. The housebuilding in some villages in

20709-453: The modern Uzbek Latin alphabet ц becomes ts after vowels, s otherwise; ь is omitted (except ье, ьи, ьо, that become ye, yi, yo ). The letters c (apart from the digraph ch ) and w , not considered distinct letters of the Uzbek alphabet, are named (t)se and dubl-ve respectively. In mathematics, x, y, z are named iks, igrek, zet . When the Uzbek language is written using

20886-458: The name of Agathocles of Bactria . The latter six coins are inscribed with the Greek and Brahmi scripts on either side, and are significant in their own right as "the earliest unambiguous images" of the Vrsni Viras . The figures on the coins can be definitively identified through their iconography: on the Greek side is Balarama , possibly as Sankarshana , holding his customary plough and

21063-718: The north to Gujarat state in the south. The largest number of sites are in the Punjab region , Gujarat, Haryana , Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir states, Sindh , and Balochistan. Coastal settlements extended from Sutkagan Dor in Western Baluchistan to Lothal in Gujarat. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in Afghanistan which is the northernmost site of

21240-609: The north were accessed from doors on an east–west corridor. The complex housed the inventory of the palace in vases labelled in Greek, including gemstones and lapis lazuli from the Badakshan mines, ivory, olive oil, incense, a cash reserve , and other valuables. Many of the vase labels, which were either written with ink or inscribed post-firing, describe monetary transactions: for example, one attests that an official named Zenon had transferred 500 drachmas to two employees named Oxèboakès and Oxybazos, who were responsible for depositing

21417-437: The northern wall, which had succeeded a simpler and smaller structure on the site, somewhat resembled the grand central sanctuary in architecture with niches in the walls, but featured, instead of a cult image, three chapels for worship. The podium on the acropolis was oriented towards the east, provoking suggestions that it was used as a sacrificial platform for worship of the rising sun , as similar platforms have been found in

21594-479: The northwest Indian subcontinent . Many of the present ruins date from the time of Eucratides I , who substantially redeveloped the city and who may have renamed it Eucratideia , after himself. Soon after his death c.  145  BC, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom collapsed—Ai-Khanoum was captured by Saka invaders and was generally abandoned, although parts of the city were sporadically occupied until

21771-516: The one led by Mortimer Wheeler , a new director-general of the ASI appointed in 1944, and including Ahmad Hasan Dani . After the partition of India in 1947, when most excavated sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation lay in territory awarded to Pakistan, the Archaeological Survey of India, its area of authority reduced, carried out large numbers of surveys and excavations along the Ghaggar-Hakra system in India. Some speculated that

21948-409: The other on parchment; the organic writing material had decomposed, but through a process similar to decalcomania , the letters had been engraved on fine earth formed from mudbrick decomposition. The parchment constituted an unknown theatrical work , most probably a trimetrical tragedy , possibly involving Dionysus , a figure known for travelling to India and the East. On the other hand, the papyrus

22125-401: The palace through doors on every side. The palace was divided into three zones, each serving different functions and linked by a network of courtyards and long corridors, which were carefully placed, allowing both seclusion and easy access for royalty and highly ranked officials. South of the reception area lay a suite of rooms that would have served as the administrative quarters, consisting of

22302-407: The philosopher Clearchus had written extensively on the morals and cultures of barbarian and Oriental cultures. Robert proposed that on a journey to research his literary subjects in more detail, Clearchus had stopped at Ai-Khanoum and set up his stele there. This theory was accepted as fact , and was often cited as an example of the purely Greek nature of Ai-Khanoum and of the interconnected nature of

22479-441: The plain was naturally suitable for agriculture; the proximity to the rivers allowed for the construction of irrigation canals; and the nearby highlands provided herders with large areas of summer pasturage. The area was also rich in minerals: mines on the upper Kokcha in Badakshan were the only sources of lapis lazuli in the world, also producing copper, iron, lead, and rubies. The city was 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) downstream from

22656-469: The presence of extra letters. Most critics proposed eliminating the letters Щ щ and Ы ы from the alphabet. Some considered it necessary to also exclude the letters Е е, Ё ё, Ц ц, Ю ю, Я я. It was proposed to take the letter A a for the sound [ɔ], and to use Ə ə for [ä]. In addition to the main project of the Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet, a number of others were proposed: In 1940, Uzbek was switched to

22833-407: The region still resembles in some respects the housebuilding of the Harappans. The ancient Indus systems of sewerage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus region were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in many areas of Pakistan and India today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans

23010-410: The region. As the acropolis was primarily military, with only a few small residences, scholars have suggested that it was used as a ghetto quarter for native Bactrian soldiers; the validity of this segregationary hypothesis continues to be debated. One of the most-studied monuments in the city is a small heroön , located just north of the palace in the lower town. This shrine, which was constructed on

23187-401: The reign of Antiochus I was stamped with a triangular monogram ( [REDACTED] ) during the coining process. At Ai-Khanoum, bricks bearing the same mark were found in the heroön , one of the oldest structures in the city. Therefore, it is considered probable that Ai-Khanoum was the site of the primary Seleucid mint during Antiochus' coregency and early sole reign; an earlier mint, which

23364-467: The remains of that eminent citizen, while the others were reserved for family members. The general scholarly consensus is thus that this man, known from an inscription to have been named Kineas, was the Seleucid epistates or oikistes who governed the first settlers of Ai-Khanoum. The archaeologists unearthed the base of a stele placed in a prominent position in the pronaos. Engraved upon it were

23541-468: The remit of the mission was expanded to include paleogeographical and archaeological surveys of the surrounding areas; building upon these successful surveys, further fieldwork was also planned. All archaeological work was stopped in 1978, when the Saur Revolution sparked the Soviet-Afghan War and triggered the still-ongoing political instability in Afghanistan . During the warfare, the site

23718-455: The ruins of the city were excavated by a French team of archaeologists until the outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan in the late 1970s. The city was probably founded between 300 and 285 BC by an official acting on the orders of Seleucus I Nicator or his son Antiochus I Soter , the first two rulers of the Seleucid dynasty . There is a possibility that the site was known to

23895-483: The ruler's power and wealth; Bernard commented that it "simultaneously served three functions: it was a state structure, a residence, and a treasury". A huge plaza, 27,000 square metres (6.7 acres) in area, lay to the south of the palace and may have been used for military parades, drills, or simply as garrison quarters. The palace itself was accessed through a gateway known as the Main Propylaea , which opened on

24072-459: The sanctuary of Kineas. As a child, be well behaved; As a young man, self-controlled; In middle age, be just; As an elder, be of good counsel; And when you come to the end, be without grief.   In 1968, Louis Robert , a French historian, proposed that the Klearchos named in the inscription was the philosopher Clearchus of Soli . This identification was founded on the fact that

24249-612: The second-millennium BCE, which are unrelated to the mature phase of the Indus Valley Civilization. Recent geophysical research suggests that unlike the Sarasvati, described in the Rigveda as a snow-fed river, the Ghaggar-Hakra was a system of perennial monsoon-fed rivers, which became seasonal around the time that the civilisation diminished, approximately 4,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilisation

24426-464: The site's two mounds. Farther south, along the main stem of the Indus in Sind province, the largely undisturbed site of Mohenjo-daro had attracted notice. Marshall deputed a succession of ASI officers to survey the site. These included D. R. Bhandarkar (1911), R. D. Banerji (1919, 1922–1923), and M. S. Vats (1924). In 1923, on his second visit to Mohenjo-daro, Baneriji wrote to Marshall about

24603-417: The site, postulating an origin in "remote antiquity", and noting a congruence of some of its artifacts with those of Harappa. Later in 1923, Vats, also in correspondence with Marshall, noted the same more specifically about the seals and the script found at both sites. On the weight of these opinions, Marshall ordered crucial data from the two sites to be brought to one location and invited Banerji and Sahni to

24780-401: The site. The city of Ai-Khanoum was founded at the southwest corner of a plain in the region of Bactria , at the confluence of the Oxus (modern Amu Darya ) and Kokcha rivers. The plain, which covered an area of around 300 square kilometres (74,000 acres), was triangular, being bounded by the rivers on two sides and the mountains of the eastern Hindu Kush on the third. The loess soil of

24957-409: The south, separated by a large porch with two columns. The main building comprised a central reception room, encircled by a corridor which provided access to the bath complex, kitchen, and other rooms. Another house, located 150 metres (490 ft) outside the northern rampart, was partially excavated in 1973; the archaeologists were only able to study the central part of the main building and part of

25134-412: The stage for the growth of rural and urban settlements. The more organized sedentary life, in turn, led to a net increase in the birth rate. The large urban centres of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa very likely grew to containing between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals, and during the civilisation's florescence, the population of the subcontinent grew to between 4–6 million people. During this period

25311-593: The straight apostrophe. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights : Indus Valley Civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation ( IVC ), also known as the Indus Civilisation , was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia , lasting from 3300  BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia , it

25488-413: The sum in the vase and sealing it. Most of the names inscribed on the labels are of Greek origin, but some, like Oxèboakès and Oxybazos, are not; these Bactrian-Iranian names were never inscribed in the "senior" position. Scholars have disputed whether a meaningful conclusion can be drawn. Some of the other vases indicate transportation of luxury goods, such as incense from the Middle East or olive oil from

25665-882: The threshold of such a discovery in the plains of the Indus." In the next issue, a week later, the British Assyriologist Archibald Sayce was able to point to very similar seals found in Bronze Age levels in Mesopotamia and Iran, giving the first strong indication of their date; confirmations from other archaeologists followed. Systematic excavations began in Mohenjo-daro in 1924–25 with that of K. N. Dikshit , continuing with those of H. Hargreaves (1925–1926), and Ernest J. H. Mackay (1927–1931). By 1931, much of Mohenjo-daro had been excavated, but occasional excavations continued, such as

25842-401: The traditional lineage system. The second hoard was found three years later, in the kitchen of the extramural residence . This hoard consisted of 63 silver tetradrachms , of which 49 were Greco-Bactrian; a majority of these were dedicated to Euthydemus I, while the others were dedicated to other kings. The third hoard was found during the winter of 1973–4 by an Afghan farmer near the site, and

26019-730: The transition of all Turkic languages of the peoples of the USSR to the new Latin alphabet, Yañalif was approved. To implement the transition to the Latin alphabet, the New Alphabet Committee was created under the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of the Uzbek SSR. Various projects for the new alphabet were widely discussed on the pages of the press, various meetings, meetings, and conferences. Significant discussion flared up on

26196-476: The use of Cyrillic is still widespread. The deadline in Uzbekistan for making this transition has been repeatedly changed. In 1993, President of Uzbekistan at the time Islam Karimov proposed a new Uzbek alphabet with ⟨c⟩ /ts/, ⟨ç⟩, ⟨ğ⟩, ⟨ ɉ ⟩, ⟨ñ⟩, ⟨ö⟩, ⟨ş⟩, until it was replaced with the current 1995 alphabet. The letter J with stroke is said to have been the equivalent of Cyrillic letter Zhje . The order of

26373-536: The vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra , a seasonal river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The term Harappan is sometimes applied to the Indus Civilisation after its type site Harappa , the first to be excavated early in the 20th century in what was then the Punjab province of British India and is now Punjab, Pakistan . The discovery of Harappa and soon afterwards Mohenjo-daro

26550-433: The west side of the main street; the propylaea itself had been built by an earlier ruler and was reconstructed under Eucratides. Encompassing a wide portico in between two adjoining porches, the roof of the structure was noted for its palmette antefixes . It allowed access to a curved road that ran towards the palace's courtyard. This rectangular courtyard, which measured 137 by 108 metres (449 by 354 ft) and served as

26727-472: The west, and predates the Kot Diji Phase (2800–2600 BCE, Harappan 2), named after a site in northern Sindh , Pakistan, near Mohenjo-daro . The earliest examples of the Indus script date to the 3rd millennium BCE. The mature phase of earlier village cultures is represented by Rehman Dheri and Amri in Pakistan. Kot Diji represents the phase leading up to Mature Harappan, with

26904-399: The western side in detail. This extramural dwelling was much larger than the one inside the city, covering an area of 108 by 72 metres (354 by 236 ft). With a large courtyard to the north and buildings to the south, it had a similar layout to the urban house, although its main building was divided by an east–west corridor into two halves—the northern section formed the living quarters, with

27081-568: Was "a fusion of the Bagor, Hakra, and Kot Diji traditions or 'ethnic groups' in the Ghaggar-Hakra valley on the borders of India and Pakistan". Also, according to a more recent summary by Maisels (2003), "The Harappan oecumene formed from a Kot Dijian/ Amri-Nal synthesis". He also says that, in the development of complexity, the site of Mohenjo-daro has priority, along with the Hakra-Ghaggar cluster of sites, "where Hakra wares actually precede

27258-618: Was Harappa, a metropolis of the Indus civilisation in the valley of Indus's tributary, the Ravi river . Masson made copious notes and illustrations of Harappa's rich historical artifacts, many lying half-buried. In 1842, Masson included his observations of Harappa in the book Narrative of Various Journeys in Baluchistan, Afghanistan, and the Punjab . He dated the Harappa ruins to a period of recorded history, erroneously mistaking it to have been described earlier during Alexander's campaign. Masson

27435-416: Was a philosophical dialogue discussing the theory of forms of Plato , which some have considered a lost work by Aristotle . It is also possible, conversely, that the text was written by a Greco-Bactrian philosopher in Ai-Khanoum. A residential zone was situated in the area south of the palatial complex. This consisted of rows of blocks of large aristocratic houses, separated by streets at right angles to

27612-422: Was also built into the side of the acropolis, on the northern part of the main street. Seating between five and six thousand spectators—considerably more than would have lived in the city—it was 85 metres (279 ft) in diameter and contained three loggia , just below the diazoma , which were probably used for dignitaries. It is clear that the audience was expected to come from the surrounding districts as well as

27789-442: Was approved: In 1934, the script underwent another reform, which reverted the addition of back-front vowel distinctions. The letters Ө ө, Y y, Ь ь were removed from the alphabet, while the letter Ə ə had its usage reduced, being primarily replaced by A a . This reform simplified Uzbek spelling, but did not solve all its problems. In this regard, in 1937, a team of scientists under the leadership of A.K. Borovkov began to develop

27966-458: Was comprehensively looted and several important artefacts were sold on the antiquities market to private collectors. The systematic looting of the northern part of the lower city appears to have been carried out through the digging of hundreds of holes. Although this suggests that the looters expected to find artefacts in an area DAFA had not excavated, the archaeological integrity of the site has been compromised. Although similar holes were found in

28143-499: Was found in Banawali , which was probably used for testing the purity of gold (such a technique is still used in some parts of India). The people of the Indus civilisation achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. A comparison of available objects indicates large scale variation across the Indus territories. Their smallest division, which

28320-485: Was identified as Alexandria Oxiana, one of the cities founded by Alexander. There are considerable difficulties with identifying these cities, as the sources disagree; and the authors may have inadvertently referred to the same Alexandria as being at two different cities. As well as Ai-Khanoum, Alexandria Oxiana has been variously interpreted as being Alexandria in Sogdiana, Alexandria near Bactra, or as Termez . As there

28497-407: Was impressed by the site's extraordinary size and by several large mounds formed from long-existing erosion. Two years later, the Company contracted Alexander Burnes to sail up the Indus to assess the feasibility of water travel for its army. Burnes, who also stopped in Harappa, noted the baked bricks employed in the site's ancient masonry, but noted also the haphazard plundering of these bricks by

28674-534: Was informed by his guides of the existence of an ancient city in the area, which the natives called Babarrah . All his inquiries were rebuffed by the local inhabitants and the chance of rediscovery was lost, as Wood wrote in an account: The appearance of the place, however, does indicate the truth of [Tajik] tradition, that an ancient city once stood here. On the site of the town was an Uzbek encampment; but from its inmates, we could glean no information, and to all our inquiries about coins and relics, they only vouchsafed

28851-412: Was intended for the sovereign's family, as contrasted with the eastern unit, which was probably intended for the monarch himself and his intimate companions. North of the residential units lay a small courtyard, which was connected to a small library in the treasury. The treasury building, on the western side of the palace courtyard, from which it could be entered, constituted the third zone. This building

29028-537: Was introduced full-fledged from Near-East to South Asia," and the similarities between Neolithic sites from eastern Mesopotamia and the western Indus valley, which are evidence of a "cultural continuum" between those sites. But given the originality of Mehrgarh, Jarrige concludes that Mehrgarh has an earlier local background, and is not a "'backwater' of the Neolithic culture of the Near East". Lukacs and Hemphill suggest an initial local development of Mehrgarh, with

29205-486: Was isolated in terms of trade, but had a developed administration with a high level of economic diversity. This administration was passed on to the Yuezhi and Kushan nations, as shown by their use of Greek titles and coinage and their adaptations of the Hellenistic numerical and calendrical systems. The art historian John Boardman has also noted that Ai-Khanoum may have been one of the conduits for Greek art influencing

29382-420: Was located in, scholars have posited the syncretism of Zeus and a Bactrian deity such as Ahura Mazda , Mithra , or a deity representing the Oxus. The thunderbolt has also been used as an attribute for the goddesses Artemis , Athena , or even Cybele; it could even be purely symbolic. The DAFA archaeologists were only able to perform superficial studies of the other two religious structures. The temple outside

29559-441: Was located prominently in the lower city, between the main street and the palace, and it consisted of a square edifice upon a 1.5-metre (4.9 ft)-high podium, surrounded by an open area. It was constructed by the early Diodotids on the site of a very early Seleucid structure, which had been established shortly after the city's foundation. The eponymous indented niches were situated on the 6-metre (20 ft)-high temple walls—one

29736-547: Was most likely located at Bactra but may have been elsewhere, was terminated near-simultaneously after a relatively brief period of operation. Some items found at Ai-Khanoum, such as Greek olive oil in the treasury or the Mediterranean plater mouldings on Greco-Bactrian artwork, would suggest the existence of large-scale trading networks, but such findings are few, while the Indian art in the treasury seems to have simply been plunder. Historians have thus concluded that Greco-Bactria

29913-407: Was of late construction, as the treasury itself was likely previously located in buildings east of the courtyard. In its latest form, the treasury building was composed of twenty-one rooms grouped around a square courtyard of approximately 30 metres (98 ft) on a side. The thirteen rooms on the southern, eastern, and western sides opened directly onto this courtyard, while the eight storage rooms to

30090-412: Was on each side of the front entrance, while each of the other sides was sculpted with four more. The courtyard was enclosed on three sides by buildings. To the southwest, there was a wooden colonnade with Oriental pedestals; to the southeast was a series of small rooms and porticoes adjoining a porch with columns of the distyle in antis style, which formed the entrance from the main street; and an altar

30267-505: Was one of three early civilisations of North Africa , Southwest Asia and South Asia , and of the three, the most widespread, its sites spanning an area including much of modern-day Pakistan , northwestern India and northeast Afghanistan . The civilisation flourished both in the alluvial plain of the Indus River , which flows through the length of Pakistan, and along a system of perennial monsoon -fed rivers that once coursed in

30444-664: Was quickly sold on the antiquities market in Kabul . Although a large portion of the hoard later passed through New York, where a member of the American Numismatic Society was able to compile an inventory, its integrity had then been lost; some coins had been removed, while others, such as a drachma of Lysias Anicetus , had been added. Only 77 of the 224 legible stray coins were Greco-Bactrian or Indo-Greek; there were also 68 stray Seleucid coins, 62 of which displayed Antiochus I. One series of Bactrian coins from

30621-694: Was roughly contemporary with the other riverine civilisations of the ancient world: Ancient Egypt along the Nile , Mesopotamia in the lands watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris , and China in the drainage basin of the Yellow River and the Yangtze . By the time of its mature phase, the civilisation had spread over an area larger than the others, which included a core of 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) up

30798-563: Was situated in the northeast wall. From the beginning of the excavation, the Persian and Achaemenid elements of the temple's architecture were remarked upon. The identifying "indented niches", along with the building's three-stepped platform, were common features of Mesopotamian architecture and successor styles. Many artefacts were found at the temple, including libation vessels (common to both Greek and Central Asian religious practices), ivory furniture and figurines , terracottas , and

30975-620: Was switched to Latin script. The latinization of Uzbek was carried out in the context of latinization of all languages in the Soviet Union . The new Latin script also brought about the letter f to represent /f/ and distinction of back and front vowels, adding a number of new characters for them. At the Republican Spelling Conference in Samarkand, held in May 1929, a new Uzbek alphabet of 34 characters

31152-473: Was the culmination of work that had begun after the founding of the Archaeological Survey of India in the British Raj in 1861. There were earlier and later cultures called Early Harappan and Late Harappan in the same area. The early Harappan cultures were populated from Neolithic cultures, the earliest and best-known of which is named after Mehrgarh , in Balochistan , Pakistan. Harappan civilisation

31329-590: Was written in various forms of the Arabic script historically. Following the Russian revolution and Soviet takeover of Russian Turkestan , in January 1921, a reformed Arabic orthography designed by the Jadidists was adopted, which replaced the harakat marks used for short vowels with a fully alphabetic system that indicated every vowel and removed all letters that occurred only in Arabic loanwords and did not have

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