The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India
and symbols—found on Seleucid coins.26
The discoveries of the bullae and single clay seals have provided useful and dated information about both the social and economic history of Hellenistic Babylonia and the history of its art. For example, they have shed important light on the method of registering business documents under the Seleucids.27 By extension, of course, we can learn something of the nature of business transactions in these regions. In addition, many of the bullae provide information about taxation in Babylonia under the Seleucids. Finally, as Rostovtzeff has noted, the bullae “give us a glimpse into the Seleucid archives of Babylonia [and] . . . furnish us with a set of official seals well dated, which corresponds to another set of objects—the coins.”28
Archaeological excavation has uncovered, among other objects, both bullae and terra-cotta figurines at Seleukeia.29 Interestingly, the figurines date from both the Seleucid and the Parthian periods; the bullae, on the other hand, date only from the Seleucid. No Parthian sealings have yet been found. The evidence is admittedly negative, but nevertheless potentially significant: it undoubtedly reflects the difference between the Seleucid and the Parthian approaches to administration and bureaucracy.
Finally, for the historian of art the study of the motifs found on the seals and bullae as well as the style of carving can also be rewarding; it is, however, a very complex exercise.30 Generally speaking, scholars have been able to distinguish Greek and Oriental iconography; within the latter category—which is much smaller than the former—it is possible to distinguish Babylonian and Achaemenid types.31 It is interesting and instructive to try to trace the nature and extent of these influences in the extant impressions. On the other hand, it is doubtful whether one can draw any definitive conclusions about the ethnic background and composition of the population of a particular city based solely on the typology of the extant seals and bullae of that city.32
The study of the bullae and sealings may throw some light on the Hellenization of Babylonia. It is interesting to note that at the beginning of the Seleucid hegemony in Babylonia cuneiform tablets were still the accepted method for maintaining records. By the beginning of the second century B.C. these tablets were being supplanted by papyri and parchment. Furthermore, a large number of names and motifs on the bullae and single clay seals were Greek. The Hellenizing tendency is quite clear. What is less clear is the extent to which this tendency spread among the native population.33
Greek Inscriptions. A clay tablet from the Parthian period and inscribed in Greek has been discovered at BABYLON.34 The inscription is a list of ephebes and neoi. Undoubtedly the tablet was inscribed by persons of Graeco-Macedonian descent. Clay tablets were, of course, the common writing material in southern Mesopotamia. Irrespective of whether the inscriber was driven by choice or necessity, the tablet offers a rather nice example of the adoption of a native practice by the descendants of the colonists.35 In addition, other Greek inscriptions provide information regarding such places as SELEUKEIA on the Tigris, IKAROS, ANTIOCH in Persis, and URUK as well as BABYLON.
BACTRIA AND INDIA
Our knowledge of the Graeco-Macedonian settlements in Hellenistic Bactria is, of course, a function of the available evidence.36 And here it is useful to distinguish between the evidence available for the foundations attributed to Alexander and that for those attributed to the various Graeco-Bactrian dynasts. For the former, we have the lists in the various recensions of the Alexander Romance and its derivatives, as well as in Stephanos.37 In addition, we have the information available in the major narrative accounts of Alexander’s life, namely Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, Appian, Curtius Rufus, and Justin. For the latter, the surviving literary evidence is quite spotty.38 Essentially, it is confined to observations and passages in a few authors—for example, Strabo, Pliny, and Justin—rather than occurring in a continuous narrative. Furthermore, when these authors do provide information about Bactria and adjacent regions, their focus is usually on the dynasts rather than on the settlements.
There is extensive numismatic evidence emanating from Hellenistic Bactria.39 And this evidence is of the utmost importance and utility in reconstructing the history of Hellenistic Bactria and the adjoining regions. On the other hand, it is of only modest utility for the historian trying to give an account of the settlements there. In this connection we may note that it has been suggested that there were mints at, for example, AÏ KHANOUM and (possibly) ALEXANDREIA in Aria.
Archaeological excavation has demonstrated the existence of previously unknown Greek settlements at KAMPYR TEPE (Pandocheion?) in Uzbekistan and AÏ KHANOUM in Afghanistan.40 Furthermore, ceramic evidence from Aï Khanoum provides evidence for contact between Bactria and the Mediterranean world throughout the Hellenistic period.41 We may note, for example, the presence of Dionysiac motifs on objects found in Bactria and Sogdiana.42 The archaeological evidence for contacts between Bactria and regions farther west is supported by other sources. Thus, we may recall the well-known request sent by the Mauryan king Bindusara (c. 298–272 B.C.) to the Seleucid king Antiochos I (281–261 B.C.) asking the latter to send him Greek wine, figs, and a Greek philosopher! (Athen. 14.652f–653a). And elsewhere I have mentioned the dispatch of elephants by a Bactrian satrap to Antiochos I in 274/3 B.C.43
Greek inscriptions have been found at various places in Bactria, especially at AÏ KHANOUM.44 The inscriptions are on stone, on vases, and, occasionally, on parchment. P. Bernard called attention to the relative paucity of inscriptions on stone in a city like AÏ KHANOUM, which had, nevertheless, yielded so much other evidence of its Greek heritage and culture. This paucity is particularly noticeable in comparison with other cities of the Seleucid Near East, such as Susa.45 Bernard noted the practically total absence of public documents on stone recording, for example, letters between the king and the local authorities, or local administrative decisions. In particular, he called attention to the absence of dedications of honorific statues and decrees in honor of benefactors. Of course, as he noted, there is at least one major example of a public benefaction: the erection of the gymnasium at Aï Khanoum. But the general absence is noticeable. Setting aside the possibility that this was simply a function of chance, he suggested that the spirit of euergetism that one frequently encounters in other parts of the Seleucid empire was generally not present in Bactria—a function, perhaps, of the relatively small number of colonists in the region. Of course, it is also true, as Narain has observed, that the Greek settlers in Bactria were never able to establish a monolithic, dynastic state there as, for example, the Seleucids or the Ptolemies did in the regions under their control.46 In any event, the general paucity of Greek inscriptions is puzzling, especially when it is contrasted with the number and high quality of the coins that were minted by the Greeks in Bactria. But whether this reflects the relatively small population of settlers, the nature of central governmental control (or absence, thereof), or chance is—as Bernard noted—impossible to say.
Finally, some Aramaic inscriptions have also been discovered in Bactria.47
Regarding Chinese sources, D. D. Leslie and K. H. J. Gardiner observed: “Authenticity and dating of western classical sources are reasonably (but by no means finally) established, and the identification of most of the place-names accepted. As these sources deal with far away places they grow less and less reliable and by the time we get to China their knowledge is slight indeed. The same is true in reverse for the Chinese sources. Authenticity and dates have been queried, and the identifications of place-names in Central Asia and even more so in western Asia are still the subject of considerable debate . . . with no real consensus to be seen.”48 F. Thierry also discussed the difficulties and challenges of translating, understanding, and interpreting the Chinese sources.49 The difficulties are manifold. Thierry noted, for example: “Il est évident que des passages des textes chinois ont été corrumpus par les compilateurs et par les éditeurs, mais aussi par les auteurs eux-mêmes qui n’ont pas compris les documents originaux et qui les ont interprétés” (435). “La question des noms propres, des ethnonymes et des toponymes n’est pas le moindre des dangers des textes chinois” (437). “Enfin, dans certains cas, les auteurs chinois n’ont pas transcript, mais traduit le nom du pays ou du personnage” (439). “L’usage