1.4 The Begram 'Treasure'

The objects found in Rooms 10 and 13 of excavation Site 2 during the campaigns of 1937 and 1939 are generally referred to as the ‘Begram Treasure' (Figs. 26, 27). These remarkable finds, extraordinary in number as well as artistic value, consisted of objects as diverse as their places of origin. Among the finds were objects of carved ivory and others of bone from the Indian subcontinent; plaster, bronze and glass objects from the Roman world; and fragments of Chinese lacquer ware (Hackin 1939 & 1954: Plates).

Figure 26	Figure 27

In this chapter, the various artifacts contained in the ‘treasure’ will be reviewed, and a description of those objects in each category which may reveal something about their origins and about dating of the ‘treasure’ will be closely examined. The ivory and bone objects will be only generally described here, as they are the main concern of this work and are analyzed in depth in Chapters 2 - 5.

1.4.1 The ivory and bone carvings: a general description

The extraordinary collection of ivory and bone carvings from Begram is unparalleled in number by any other single find of ivory and bone objects from anywhere in South or Central Asia (Volume II: Plates). More than a thousand individual pieces were discovered in the two excavated rooms (Rooms 10 and 13 of Site 2 in the 'New Royal City’). These ivory and bone objects can be roughly divided into two categories: plaques and bands, either engraved or in relief; and sculptures in high relief.

The Begram carvings vary in thickness, some bands approximately two millimeters thick while other plaques and high relief sculptures are between eight and twelve millimeters thick. Those with engraved designs fall into a number of categories, from simple engravings on flat surfaces to more complicated engravings using double contour lines and relief created by gouging away the undecorated parts, making the decoration stand out on a sunken surface. Another technique can be referred to as ‘relief in reverse’ where the decorated part is carved in sunken relief (Plates 46-57). This technique is very rarely found in Indian art and some scholars have suggested that it may have originated in the Near East (Rosen Stone 1994:95). On some ivory and bone objects traces of red and black paint were found: red appeared predominantly on floral and zoomorphic decoration and black was sometime used to accentuate the contours of the bodies, strands of hair, or the eyes of human figures.

            The decorative motifs include engraved or sculpted women, mythical creatures, floral and faunal designs and architectural constructions. Stylistic comparisons can be drawn to the art of Mathura during the Kushan era and to works of Satavahana art. It is striking that very few male figures are found; only occasionally do these ivory and bone artifacts depict a few horsemen or hunters. The scant number of men, plus the particular nature of the many scenes involving women, have led some authors to believe that the ivory and bone artifacts from Begram most often represent scenes from women's quarters. And from this it is inferred that these objects, which may have formed parts of chests or tables and chairs, were perhaps specially designed for use in women's chambers.

The majority of the ivory and bone objects discovered in Room 10 consists of the previously described plaques and bands, either delicately engraved or sculpted in relief. In certain cases a number of small holes indicated that they were probably fastened to some other, larger objects, such as wooden chests or tabourets. However, three high relief sculptures of women were also found (Plates 199, 200, 201). Their exact function is unclear, but considering the nature of the other ivory and bone objects, it is probable that they, too, formed part of a small chest or tabouret. Unfortunately, the excavation report does not mention the existence of any holes in the three sculptures which, like the plaques and bands, might have held some sort of fastening device.[1]

The delicately carved and sculpted objects discovered in Room 13 apparently formed parts of the backs of chairs or thrones, which were often decorated on both sides. The fact that the remaining parts of the chairs were not discovered may suggest that they were made of wood which has long since decayed in the humid soil. Some of the ivory and bone objects possess marks on their reverse sides which may have served to indicate where they were meant to be positioned. It is impossible, however, to assess whether most of the ivories and bone objects carried such marks because so many are heavily damaged.

1.4.2 The Graeco-Roman objects

The remarkable collection of Western artifacts, excavated at the site of Begram under the direction of Joseph Hackin, consisted of glassware, bronzes, plaster medallions, alabaster objects and porphyry. It is beyond the scope of this thesis to delve in detail into all the Graeco-Roman objects found, but the most noteworthy are discussed below.

Glassware

The substantial number and considerable variety of glassware artifacts include the so-called Millefiori bowl, the surface design of which is made up of small ‘cells’ of various shapes surrounded by black dots (Fig. 28). The central part of each cell is green or yellow and bordered by a stripe of red ochre, and within each cell are four black dots arranged cross-wise. The bowl’s basic field color ranges from gray-blue to gray-violet. The style is well-known in Egyptian art and, according to some scholars, was perfected in the beginning of the Common Era and should be dated, based on similar finds in Europe, to the first half of the first century CE (MDAFA IX 1939:29).

Figure 28

Other glassware included a curved rhyton with the narrow end representing the head of a horned animal (Fig. 29). Also uncovered was a similar rhyton in the shape of a goat’s head which held the remains of an ostrich egg. Similar objects were discovered in the Aegean, dated to the first century CE. (Kurz 1954:107).

Figure 29

Still more glass objects included a number of fish-shaped flacons (Fig. 30), a few vases constructed of a plain glass inner vase surrounded by glass lattice work (Fig. 31), and pillar-molded bowls (Fig. 32). The latter are of various colors and are of a type constructed with a series of vertical exterior ribs. Examples of such pillar-molded bowls are known throughout the Roman world, and a number of them have been discovered on the island of Bahrain, at the site of Ed-dur in the Arabian Gulf Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwayn, at Bidya in the Emirate of Fujairah, and in the coastal site of Arikamedu in Tamil Nadu, southern India.[2] These pillar-molded bowls appear very frequently in Claudio-Neronian sites and seem to have only been produced between 25 BCE and 75 CE. They may have been a product of Alexandria, Egypt which, together with cities along the coast of Syria, was known in ancient times as a major glass manufacturing center (During Caspers 1986:24).

Figure 30	Figure 31	Figure 32

An exceptionally beautiful object is a large vase which appears almost like a sculpture (Fig. 33). The vase is made of uncolored transparent glass on which is fixed a scene in relief of the same material. The central part of the scene in relief is occupied by a tall, fort-like structure on top of which stands a man, or the statue of a man, and at his feet two semi-human beings. The remainder of the scene consists of a number of small boats with and without occupants. Some scholars have argued that the tower with the triton, and the boats associated with it, make it possible to identify the structure as the lighthouse of Alexandria[3] (Kurz 1954:101-102).

Figure 33

Undoubtedly the most fascinating of all the glass objects discovered at Begram are the uncolored glass beakers with figurative designs which, in Hackin’s estimation, were merely painted on the vessels in question (Figs. 34-37). In 1972, however, R.H. Brill published the results of chemical and other analyses done on one of the beakers which revealed that rather than having been simply painted on, the decorations had been fired into place. Laser probe analysis further showed that the base glass variety parallels ancient glassware found in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Rome and Arabia and is distinctly different from glass made in Central Asia, ruling out the possibility that it may have been produced locally (Brill 1972:78).

Figure 34	Figure 35	Figure 36	Figure 37

Although quite homogeneous in their general scheme, a wide variety of scenes are represented on the ‘painted’ glass beakers. One scene depicts two female and two male figures between two circular double-bands of yellow and red ochre (Fig. 34). The women wear aureole type headdresses and are fully clothed. Both men are standing in front of the women, one holding a jar. Other scenes on these beakers include warriors in combat, which certain scholars have identified as scenes from the Iliad (Figs. 35-36) (MDAFA 1954:254-256).

An Egyptian origin for these glass beakers is evidenced, according to some authorities, by the depiction of scenes which include dark skinned fishermen and hunters, as well as animals from the African subcontinent such as the leopard[4] (Fig. 37). In addition, similar fragments of ‘painted’ glass beakers are known from Fayyum, Egypt (Coarelli 1962:317-318).

Bronzes

The small bronze pieces discovered at Begram find their counterparts not only throughout the Roman Empire but also far beyond its frontiers. In Room 10, only a few bronze pieces were discovered, including an intriguing shield that consisted of two circular bronze plaques fixed unto each other (Fig. 38). The front is decorated by a Medusa head around which movable fish are fastened. The decorations are in relief and were created by pressing forms from the back side, in which the concave patterns can be seen. The exterior of the front was protected by a thick plate of uncolored glass separated from the movable decorations by a circular piece of wood. The upper plaque had small bells attached to its lower edge. The undecorated lower plaque is slightly larger and is fixed onto the upper, decorated plaque. Between the two plaques, the insertion of a circular piece of wood originally assured a free space for the tinkling of the bells. (Hackin 1939:46-47)

Figure 38

Four small bronze busts were also uncovered in Room 10, two of which represented Mars and Athena (Fig. 39). Each bust is hollow with a removable plug at the top, which may point to their having been used as tiny flacons, perhaps for perfume. Each had a small ring on the back, used perhaps as a handle or to attach a piece of lace in order to hang it around the neck. (Hackin 1939:50-51)

Figure 39

Compared with the objects from Room 10, the more varied artifacts found in Room 13 are of relatively greater interest. Among the finds were small statuettes, jars (Fig. 42), a mask, a tripod (Fig. 43) and a table leg. Of these, the bronze statuettes are of particular interest because of their Graeco-Egyptian features.

Figure 42	Figure 43

Two of the statuettes clearly display an Egyptian origin. A small statue 13.3 cm. high, of a young man with a finger pointed toward his mouth (Fig. 40), can be identified as Horus the Child (MDAFA XI:282-283); a not dissimilar statue was also discovered in Taxila (Marshall 1975:605, Pl.186, 417). Another obviously Egyptian statuette is that of a Serapis-Heracles depicting the god naked with arms spread, legs slightly apart, and with the right foot placed just in front of the left (Fig. 41). His right hand rests on a club while his left holds a ball. He is shown with a beard and a full head of hair wearing a calathus, the primary source of the identification (MDAFA XI:277). Like the Horus figure, this statue is a typical representation of a Graeco-Egyptian god; the head and attire are characteristic of the god Serapis while his attributes and pose are typical of Heracles.

Figure 40	Figure 41

Plaster objects

Most of the plaster objects consist of circular medallions from 12 to 22.3 cm in diameter with scenes rendered in both high and low relief. All the scenes derive their imagery from the Graeco-Roman world. As in the case of the other Western objects, it would little serve the purposes of this thesis to describe each of these medallions in detail. Accordingly, it may suffice to examine just a few notable examples, the shape and composition of which may serve to illuminate the origin and date of the corpus as a whole.

In one medallion, a young woman is depicted in three-quarter profile from the waist up, holding in her left arm a child at her breast (Fig. 44). Her left hand holds a piece of grapevine while her right holds a bunch of grapes in front of the child; the scene has been identified as the child Dionysus nurtured by Ino (Kurz 1954:113).

Figure 44

In another medallion several figures are busy in festive activities. In front, three men are shown readying an animal on a spit in preparation for a feast (Fig. 45). To the right another figure is shown putting up decorative draperies; in the background a small building is shown, together with a tiny statue. This scene is common on other pieces of Graeco-Roman art and most probably represents the preparation of a sacrifice in honor of Dionysus (Kurz 1954:115).

Figure 45

One piece which is noteworthy because of its possible place of origin depicts a woman lying on a bed, her head supported by her left arm (Fig. 46). Above, and supported by the bench, a triangular tympanum is depicted with a medallion in the center. The woman has been identified as the Tyche of Alexandria which, if correct, may point to Hellenistic Egypt as the particular place of origin (Kurz 1954:127).

Figure 46

Another beautiful piece in high relief depicts Eros and Psyche in the allegorical union. Normally, Psyche would be portrayed with wings but in the Begram example she is fully rendered as a butterfly (Fig. 47).

Figure 47

Finally, there is one further plaster object which is of an entirely different nature from the ones described above: a small statue of a naked woman, perhaps Aphrodite (Fig. 48). Only the front is decorated, which suggests that like the medallions it, too, was the product of a mold. The left arm of the young woman is raised and her hand holds a ball or piece of fruit. Her right arm is flexed upward and her hand rests on her shoulder.

Figure 48

According to Kurz, since plaster is difficult to sculpt, all these plaster models were cast from metal originals. Their place of origin is a matter of dispute. The themes are drawn from Greek mythology, and though the style does not provide an incontrovertible clue, Kurz attributes them to Roman Alexandria (1959).

S. Mustamandi offers a very different interpretation and suggest that these plaster medallions were made, for the most part, at Begram itself. The existence of a hole in the upper section of some of the plaster objects and the presence of finger prints indicates to Mustamandi that these objects were not made for decoration but as models in a workshop (Mustamandi 1968:72-73). It is, however, unclear that they therefore necessarily were a product of a Begram workshop as opposed to a Graeco-Roman one. It is equally possible that they were transported to Begram as examples of trade ware.

Alabaster and Porphyry

Only a scant number of alabaster objects came to light in Room 10, among them a very elegant elongated two-handled amphora (Fig. 49). Also uncovered was a beautiful œnochœ with a three-lobed spout and a large handle. The most interesting alabaster object for comparative purposes, however, is a bowl with a handle the extremity of which is in the shape of a ram’s head (Fig. 50). The bowl has a double groove around the rim as well as grooves in the bottom. Nearly identically shaped objects have been discovered in Taxila, though composed of materials other than alabaster (Hackin 1939:33; Marshall 1975:589, Pl.183, 262).

Figure 49	Figure 50

Porphyry objects were also found among the Begram Treasure. One is a cylindrically shaped goblet on a round foot; near its top and near its bottom are four and three circular grooves, respectively (Fig. 51). Porphyry is a type of rock found primarily in Egypt, consisting of feldspar crystals embedded in a compact red or purple ground mass. Because of the primarily Egyptian origin of this material, it is more than likely that the objects themselves were created there.

Figure 51

1.4.3 Chinese lacquers

The Chinese lacquers are the worst preserved of those objects discovered in Room 13; due to their fragile composition, only a small number of heavily damaged fragments were uncovered, and the humid soil which had destroyed the supporting wood left only extremely thin and delicate pieces of lacquer (Fig. 52-54) (MDAFA XI 1954:295-297). Though small in number, their importance should not be underestimated for purposes of dating: stylistic comparisons with similar, precisely dated lacquers found elsewhere make it possible to assign them with a high degree of certainty to the first century CE.

Figure 52	Figure 53	Figure 54

One set of lacquer fragments originates from a bowl, the bottom of which was decorated in red on black ground. The fragments have been carefully studied, and J. Carl arrived at the following reconstruction: in the center there existed an inner circle consisting of a decoration of ovals and spirals; in the broad circular rim around it was a three-fold decoration in a motif known as the ‘three bears’, a stylized zoomorphic motif which was separated by three zones decorated with dots (Fig. 52). This motif is found in various Han-dynasty period lacquers dating to the first century CE (Elisseeff 1954:153).

Fragments of another lacquer bowl were discovered among the objects in Room 13. The exterior is of a brownish color with traces of red painted decoration at certain spots; the inside is coated with a thin layer of red paint (MDAFA 1954:295). The exterior decoration is divided into three painted bands, each measuring three centimeters in height, and two plain bands, each measuring nine millimeters in height. The decoration is apparently characteristic of the first century CE Han dynasty lacquers, and is found on other lacquers of the same period (Elisseeff 1954:152).

A fragmentary bowl bordered by a circular piece of silver and with two handles of gilded bronze is the only one of its kind discovered at Begram. The outer decoration resembles others found on lacquers from the first century CE Han period, although it has not been found specifically on lacquers with handles. The spiral and stripe decoration on the inner band is not too common, but Elisseeff mentions two examples which recall the design from Begram; these two fragments have been dated to the first century CE (Elisseeff 1954:153).

All the other small fragments, too, have almost exact counterparts in East Asia, especially in China and Korea. And unlike the ivory and bone objects, or the Graeco-Roman ware, there seems to be no controversy surrounding either the origin or dating of the lacquers. A number of similar lacquers attributed to the Han dynasty are known from a Chinese tomb discovered at Lo-Lang in Korea and from Noin-ula in Mongolia (Elisseeff 1954:151). The style of the decorations on the lacquers seems to assign them with great certainty to the era of the Han dynasty in China, and more particularly, to the first century CE.

1.4.4 Indianesque ‘Kinnari’ jar

Among the relatively ordinary finds of vases and bowls made of earthenware, one piece stands out: a jug in the shape of a bird-woman -- a combination known as a ‘Kinnari’ -- discovered in Room 13 (Fig. 55). The human part of the object consists of the head, bust and arms of a female figure; the remaining part presents a combination of bird and fish features[5].

Figure 55

The head of the figurine is broad with slightly slanting eyes and thin eyebrows, the nose straight with broad nostrils, the mouth held open. The figure’s hair is tied in a tight pony-tail which reaches all the way down the back of the jug and serves as the handle. Her arms are bent in front of her with her hands held in ‘añjali’ between her breasts. From ear to ear over her head is an ornament consisting of a row of flowers under which her forehead bangs are visible. She is adorned with large circular earrings, a double-row pearl necklace and a trefoil armlet. The latter consist of a broad band decorated in the middle by a row of gammadia (or swastikas) bordered by two tiny bands of pearls; above this is a three-lobed piece which carries the same pearl motif along the side. On the sides are feathers depicted horizontally; the remaining part of the jug is undecorated. On its back, just behind the handle, is an opening larger than the mouth, for liquid initially to be poured into the jug.

Although it can be argued that such Kinnari jugs or vases are a Western invention and were more common in the West, the particular execution and style of the Begram object is so typically Indian that there is almost no doubt that it was the product of an Indian atelier.

According to J.L. Davidson, the Kinnari vessel from Begram has one particular feature, the trefoil armlet, which provides a definitive indication of its date (Davidson 1971:31-32). This type of trefoil armlet, Davidson argues, has not been found on Indian sculpture later than the gateways of Sañci I, i.e. the middle of the first century BCE. Although Davidson’s argument is plausible, it does not exclude the likelihood that a certain shape or motif is still occasionally used even though its greatest popularity has diminished. Indeed, the use of the Kinnari vessel in a later period is suggested by a pottery find at Bhokardan, in the modern Indian state of Maharastra. A fragment of an anthropomorphic pot which might have been a Kinnari style object was discovered there in a layer which can be bracketed by an early date of the first century BCE but by a terminus date between the second and third centuries CE.

The Bhokardan fragment, however, consists only of a portion below the neck and above the belly showing female breasts. Horizontal projections at the sides may indicate arms or possibly wings (Deo 1974:169-170). And regrettably, the Bhokardan excavation report fails to provide information on the fragment’s material composition, making it impossible (without examining the object directly) to assess whether it was made of the same material as that of the Begram example.

Aside from the question of dating, should the material of the Bhokardan fragment turn out to be comparable to that of the Begram vessel, and should the postulated shape of the Bhokardan vessel find general acceptance, then one could at least assert that the Kinnari pot from Begram is Indian in origin. However, this level of identification does not necessarily point to a more exact place of manufacture since both the vessels from Bhokardan and at Begram came from sites on well-used trade routes.

1.4.5 Initial interpretations: a possible hoard or treasure

Since their discovery in 1937 and 1939 (Hackin 1939; MDAFA XI 1954), the objects from Rooms 10 and 13 of site 2 in the ‘New Royal City’ of Begram have been referred to, for the most part, as a ‘treasure’ hoarded there over time. The assertion that the objects may have formed part of a royal treasure has been based upon several factors and inferences, some epigraphic, others drawn from archaeological evidence uncovered in situ.

The excavations of 1937 and 1939 were initially colored by A. Foucher’s identification of the site in the 1920s as ancient Kapisi, the summer capital and residence of the Kushan emperors (Foucher 1925:259 & 266). That the early excavators proceeded under the belief that they were uncovering a royal residence, as opposed to a settlement of some other nature, is indicated by their adoption of Foucher’s terms ‘Old Royal City’ and ‘New Royal City’ for different areas of the excavations, and of the title ‘Palace’ for the site in which Rooms 10 and 13 were uncovered.

The nature of the objects found in the two rooms seemed to support the early excavators’ assumption that Begram had once been a royal residence. The great variety of beautiful and in some instances quite extraordinary objects could be shown to come not only from India but also from the Roman world and from China. The intrinsic value of many of the artifacts -- carved ivory, delicate glassware, bronzes -- plus the breadth of their origins combined to support the notion such exquisite objects had belonged to royalty. Further, the fact that the objects were found in rooms anciently protected by brick walls constructed in front of the original wooden doors seemed to some scholars to corroborate the assumption that this had been a royal hoard carefully hidden at a moment when the inhabitants of the city took sudden flight in the face of an impending attack -- such an attack presumably being that of the Sasanian invaders of the mid-third century CE (Ghirshman 1946:30). Only for a royal hoard, it was suggested, would such care have been taken to attempt to seal the objects away in the hope of preserving them, and retrieving them at a later date.

Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the wide range of dates which, in the early assessments of some scholars, separated certain objects from the others -- as much as two or three centuries, in some chronologies -- led these and other individuals to adhere to the royal ‘treasure’ theory. Only royalty, it was argued, would have had both the interest and the capacity to hoard valuable objects over such a long period of time.

As we shall see in Chapter 5, however, these early datings are now subject to reevaluation. And such chronological reassessments will form part of a larger reexamination of the true nature of the royal ‘treasure’, and of the nature of the Begram settlement itself (see Chapter 6).

Website Maintained by:
Information Systems and Services,
International and Area Studies,
UC Berkeley

Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
URL: ECAI.org