Egyptian Artefacts from Central and South Asia Rachel R. Mairs Historical Note Bactria (modern northern Afghanistan / southern Central Asia) was settled by Greeks under Alexander the Great in the late 4th century B.C. The Graeco-Bactrian state survived until its destruction by nomadic incursions in the mid-2nd century B.C. Campaigns by the Graeco- Bactrians had, however, established a number of kingdoms (conventionally referred to as ‘Indo- Greek’) in the north-west of the Indian Subcontinent, at least one of which survived into the 1st century A.D. The Kushan Empire, founded by a dynasty of Central Asian origin, succeeded that of the Graeco-Bactrians in Central Asia, and later spread into South Asia. A number of important works on the history and archaeology of Hellenistic (c. 3rd century B.C. – 1st century B.C.) and Kushan (c. 2nd century B.C. – A.D. 2nd century) South and Central Asia are available in western European languages. On the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo- Greek states, see Tarn 1951, Narain 1957, Holt 1988; 1999 (in English). On the Kushans, see Staviskij 1986 (in French). Gorbunova 1986 (in English translation) covers the archaeology of the Ferghana Valley. Introduction “When his majesty was in Nahrin according to his annual custom, the princes of every foreign land came bowing in peace to the might of his majesty from as far as the farthest marshlands. Their gifts of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, turquoise and every kind of plant of god’s land were on their backs, and each was outdoing his fellow. The prince of Bakhtan had also sent his gifts and had placed his eldest daughter in front of them, worshiping his majesty and begging life from him.” The Bakhtan (Bentresh) Stele, Louvre C284, trans. Lichtheim 1980, 91. “The Great King Ptolemy [III] … inherited from his father kingship over Egypt, Libya, Syria, Phoenicia, Cyprus, Lycia, Caria and the Cyclades islands. He invaded Asia with his infantry, cavalry, fleet, and elephants from Troglodytike and Ethiopia. . . [H]e crossed the Euphrates River and subdued Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Susiana, Persis, Media, and everything else as far as Bactria . . .” The Adulis Inscription, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae (OGIS) 54, trans. Holt 1999, 176. (See also Austin 1981, 365; Burstein 1985, 125–126.) The theme of the king as triumphant over his enemies, receiving the tribute of foreign lands, is one familiar to the point of banality in Egyptian royal inscriptions. The Bakhtan Stele and the Adulis Inscription, despite being dated to the reigns of Ramesses II and Ptolemy III respectively, and written in two different languages, Middle Egyptian and Greek, share this common theme, presenting the king of Egypt as militarily dominant over the lands of the Near East and North Africa.