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This volume provides a thorough conspectus of the field of
Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek studies, mixing theoretical and
historical surveys with critical and thought-provoking case studies
in archaeology, history, literature and art. The chapters from this
international group of experts showcase innovative methodologies,
such as archaeological GIS, as well as providing accessible
explanations of specialist techniques such as die studies of coins,
and important theoretical perspectives, including postcolonial
approaches to the Greeks in India. Chapters cover the region's
archaeology, written and numismatic sources, and a history of
scholarship of the subject, as well as culture, identity and
interactions with neighbouring empires, including India and China.
The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World is the go-to reference
work on the field, and fulfils a serious need for an accessible,
but also thorough and critically-informed, volume on the
Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms. It provides an invaluable
resource for anyone interested in the Hellenistic East.
In the aftermath of Alexander the Great's conquests in the late
fourth century BC, 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 from 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.
In 2014, a collection of papers was found on eBay: a scrapbook,
inside which was written 'Testimonial Book of Dragoman Solomon N.
Negima'. The letters pasted into the testimonial book bear
recommendations of Negima's services as dragoman - a combination of
tourist guide and interpreter - in the Holy Land, from travellers
of different nationalities, social classes, religions, genders and
races. Using these reference letters, and the first-hand published
and unpublished accounts of the travellers themselves, this book
tells the stories of several such tourists, including the intrepid
Victorian female traveller, Ellen E. Miller, and an
African-American minister, Rev. Charles T. Walker, who had been
born into slavery. Between the lines of others' letters, Solomon
Negima's remarkable life story also emerges: from a German mission
school in Jerusalem, to the British army in the Sudan, to a
successful career as a dragoman in Palestine and Syria, and finally
to comfortable retirement with his son, Aziz, and daughter, Olinda,
at a Mormon mission in Jerusalem. The discovery of this unique
scrapbook allows us an insight into the lives of individuals whose
histories would otherwise be lost to us, and a new perspective on
the history of travel in the Middle East.
In 2014, a collection of papers was found on eBay: a scrapbook,
inside which was written 'Testimonial Book of Dragoman Solomon N.
Negima'. The letters pasted into the testimonial book bear
recommendations of Negima's services as dragoman - a combination of
tourist guide and interpreter - in the Holy Land, from travellers
of different nationalities, social classes, religions, genders and
races. Using these reference letters, and the first-hand published
and unpublished accounts of the travellers themselves, this book
tells the stories of several such tourists, including the intrepid
Victorian female traveller, Ellen E. Miller, and an
African-American minister, Rev. Charles T. Walker, who had been
born into slavery. Between the lines of others' letters, Solomon
Negima's remarkable life story also emerges: from a German mission
school in Jerusalem, to the British army in the Sudan, to a
successful career as a dragoman in Palestine and Syria, and finally
to comfortable retirement with his son, Aziz, and daughter, Olinda,
at a Mormon mission in Jerusalem. The discovery of this unique
scrapbook allows us an insight into the lives of individuals whose
histories would otherwise be lost to us, and a new perspective on
the history of travel in the Middle East.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, growing numbers of
tourists and scholars from Europe and America, fascinated by new
discoveries, visited the Near East and Egypt - attracted by the
riches and mysteries of the Land of the Bible. Almost all such
visitors, no matter how esoteric or academic their pursuits, had to
deal with the local authorities and the native workforce for their
archaeological excavations. The vast majority of these visitors had
to rely on interpreters, dragomans, translators and local guides.
This study, based on published and unpublished travel memoirs,
guidebooks, personal papers and archaeological reports of the
British and American archaeologists, deals with the socio-political
status and multi-faceted role of interpreters at the time. Those
bi- or multi-lingual individuals frequently took on (or were forced
to take on) much more than just interpreting. They often played the
role of go-betweens, servants, bodyguards, pimps, diplomats, spies,
messengers, managers and overseers, and had to mediate, scheme and
often improvise, whether in an official or unofficial capacity. For
the most part denied due credit and recognition, these interpreters
are finally here given a new voice. An engrossing story emerges of
how through their many and varied actions and roles, they had a
crucial part to play in the introduction to Britain and America of
these mysterious past cultures and civilizations.
This book is intended as an introduction to the archaeology of the
easternmost regions of Greek settlement in the Hellenistic period,
from the conquests of Alexander the Great in the late fourth
century BC, through to the last Greek-named kings of north-western
India somewhere around the late first century BC, or even early
first century AD. The Far East of the Hellenistic world a region
comprising areas of what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the
former-Soviet Central Asian Republics is best known from the
archaeological remains of sites such as Ai Khanoum, which attest
the endurance of Greek cultural and political presence in the
region in the three centuries following the conquests of Alexander
the Great. The chapters here survey the available evidence,
including Latin, Greek, Chinese and Indian texts, as well as
archaeology, survey the secondary literature, and ponder themes of
identity, cultural contact and ethnicity.
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.
The sixth annual Current Research in Egyptology symposium took
place from 6th-8th January 2005 at the University of Cambridge.
Although the topics covered by the papers were many and varied, if
there is a general theme it might be that of exploring the borders
and parameters of the discipline of Egyptology.
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