Bactria
is Burning wall-mounted. |
Bactria is Burning
Bactria is an ancient Greek city-state
founded by Alexander the Great in modern-day Afganistan. Bactria
thrived through a combination of good fortune and its strategic
location along the Silk Route. It was a Hellenistic island of
culture that lasted longer deep in the heart of Asia than the
Greek empire Alexander built in the Mediterranean. Because of
its unique geography, Bactria was a direct contact between the
Hellenistic world, Buddhism and the ancient civilizations of
Asia. With time and new conquerors, Bactria fell into ruin. With
the waning importance of the overland trade routes, it faded
into obscurity. The name means little more than a sentence in
the history of Alexander the Great. Yet some art of Bactria,
with its Hellenistic Buddha and Asiatic Hercules, survived. Now
that art too is lost forever.
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