#bactria

[chantssecrets]

A lapis lazuli bull bead talisman from the ancient Western Asiatic, Bactrian culture.

1st Millennium AD or older 

[along-the-silkroad]

Kushan worshiper with deity Zeus/ Serapis/ Ohrmazd, Bactria, 3rd century CE. Metropolitan Museum of Art

[baebeylik]

Sealed Document Announcing the Dispatch of Sheep. Bactria, 330-329 BCE.

The Khalili Collections.

[jeannepompadour]

Opium capsule necklace, grave VI, Tillya-tepe, dating from 1st century BC to 1st century AD

[illustratus]

Alexander and Roxana by Peter Paul Rubens

[memories-of-ancients]

Gold griffin head applique inlaid with stones, Bactria, 50 BC-100 AD

from The J. Paul Getty Museum

[estera-shirin]

Panel of deity and worshipper—Bactria, Northern Afghanistan, 200s CE

The Met describes the deity as "Zeus/Serapis/Ohrmazd," and I would be willing to bet it is Ohrmazd (also called Ahura Mazda), who is the supreme deity in Zoroastrianism. The religion originally incorporated many Bronze Age deities into a pantheon with Ohrmazd at the head. There is a lot of debate over whether Zoroastrianism is monotheistic, dualistic, or polytheistic, which really varies based on the time period and community. Given the location and time period of this panel, the deity being Ohrmazd seems the most likely to me.

According to the Met: "This rare Central Asian votive panel depicts a deity (with nimbus) being approached by a male worshiper, probably nonroyal but portrayed as of equal stature to the god. Compositionally, they follow scenes of homage and investiture from the post-Hellenistic West and from Iran in which a king and a god appear side by side. A majestic figure with a full beard and long wavy hair, who has been identified as the supreme deity Zeus/Serapis/Ohrmazd, receives a suppliant in the characteristic Iranian short tunic and leggings, hands clasped in adoration. Here, the rich intercultural style that developed in the Kushan realm is clearly displayed: Indian divine iconography; the Iranian type of two-figured composition; and Greco-Roman naturalism in the drapery and pose, as well as in the use of light and shadow to suggest modeling. The panel has holes at the corners and was probably set up, together with three others acquired by the Museum (MMA 2000.42.1, .3, .4), on the interior walls of a sanctuary, perhaps a family shrine."

[pollyj]

Copper alloy compartmented stamp-seal; sculpted back, damage to centre; depicting four snakes surrounded by seventeen circles.

Bactria, Afghanistan, 2200-1800 BC