Ai-Khanoum: The Lost Greek City in Afghanistan

At the confluence of the Kokcha River and the Amu Darya, in northern Afghanistan’s Takhar province, lie the ruins of Ai-Khanoum (which means “Moon Princess”). This ancient settlement was home to a major Hellenistic city from the late 4th century BC to the mid-2nd century BC, whose original name remains unknown (some researchers propose Estobara, following Ptolemy’s Geography).

Its acropolis dominated a vast area defined by the banks of the two rivers, surrounded by farmland and protected by powerful and high cliffs, as well as extensive fortifications up to 10 meters high and 6 meters thick, with large towers and a wide moat.

The site was first identified by Jules Barthoux in 1925, who recognized the existence of ancient settlements. In 1961, the King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, observed the ruins during a hunting expedition and reported them to the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA), which had been excavating sites in the country since 1923.

Extent of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, with the location of Ai-Khanoum. Credit: Rowanwindwhistler / Wikimedia Commons

Excavations began in 1963 under the direction of Daniel Schlumberger, who determined that it was likely a Greek site. Paul Bernard subsequently took charge of the work until the Soviet invasion in 1979, which interrupted the exploration of what is now considered the most representative site of Greek presence in Afghanistan.

During the war, the site was looted, and many objects were sold on the antiques market to private collectors. The walls were used as a quarry for building materials, while many capitals and other limestone decorative elements ended up in lime kilns. A battery of cannons was installed at the top of the acropolis.

Since its creation in 1922, the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA) had sought to find material evidence of the presence of Alexander the Great and his successors in this country. Initially, it was thought to be the city of Alexandria Oxiana, founded by the Macedonian king.

Excavations of Ai-Janum in 1978. Credit: Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan

However, the urban and architectural program unearthed can be dated to the late 4th century BC, so it is not attributable to Alexander the Great but more likely to his general Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire. The city is believed to have been abandoned in the mid-2nd century BC and was not significantly reoccupied, explaining its good state of preservation.

The city was protected by a powerful wall and the bank of the Amu Darya, divided into a lower part and an elevated acropolis. In the lower part was the palace complex, of large dimensions, with a monumental courtyard of 27,000 square meters surrounded by 118 Corinthian columns between 5.5 and 10 meters high. The palace had different areas such as administrative areas, residential zones, and the treasury, with sumptuous objects looted from Indian campaigns.

In the residential area, large aristocratic houses have been excavated, with spacious courtyards and bath areas decorated with mosaics. In the religious buildings, the main temple stands out, with stepped niches in the walls and architectural elements of Persian and Achaemenid influence. An arsenal, a gymnasium, and a theater with a capacity for 6,000 spectators were also found.

Map of the city. Credit: Habib M’henni / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Although it did not control any major trade routes, the city’s location was strategic because the mines of the upper Kokcha in Badakhshan were the world’s only sources of lapis lazuli, and they also produced copper, iron, lead, and rubies.

Numismatic findings provide evidence of the city’s long occupation and its economic role, with coins from various Greek rulers. It lost importance with the secession of Diodotus I around 250 B.C., who broke away from the Seleucid Empire to create the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. However, it grew again under Euthydemus I and his successor Demetrius I, who extended their control over the northwestern Indian subcontinent.

Many of the current ruins date from the time of Eucratides I, who remodeled the city and probably renamed it Eucratideia. Shortly after his assassination, around 145 B.C., the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom collapsed, and the city was captured by Saka invaders. Some parts remained sporadically occupied, believed to be by the nomads who had assaulted it.

Ruins of Ai-Khanoum in 2014. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

A silver ingot engraved with runic letters, found buried in the treasury room, supports this hypothesis, as does the discovery of tombs with typical Saka grave goods in the acropolis and the gymnasium.

When the last inhabitants left the city remains unknown, but the latest indications point to the 2nd century A.D. By that time, more than two and a half meters of soil had accumulated over the palace.

One of the city’s most unique monuments is a small heroon that appeared north of the palace in the lower city. It is a shrine built on a three-step platform, with two columns at the entrance. Beneath the platform, four coffins were found, two made of wood and two of stone.

Inscription of the heroon of Kineas in Ai-Khanoum with the Delphic maxims. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Since the shrine predates any other structure in the lower city, archaeologists believe that the person in whose honor it was built was either the founder of the city or one of its first notable citizens. The oldest coffin was connected to the upper temple by an opening and a conduit through which offerings could be poured. It probably contained the remains of this eminent citizen, while the others were reserved for his family members.

The fact is, we know his name from an inscription: his name was Kineas, and he was the epistates (governor) of the city’s first settlers or its oikistes (founder).

In his heroon, there was also the base of a stele on which the last five lines of the 147 maxims of the Oracle of Delphi are engraved (which must have covered the rest of the lost stele). According to the inscription, the precepts were engraved by a man named Clearchus, who had copied them in Delphi and who may have been Clearchus of Soli, a disciple of Aristotle.

ἀνδρῶν τοι σοφὰ ταῦτα παλαιοτέρων ἀνάκει(τα)ι / ῥήματα ἀριγνώτων Πυθοὶ ἐν ἠγαθέαι / ἔνθεν ταῦτ(α) Κλέαρχος ἐπιφραδέως ἀναγράψας / εἵσατο τηλαυγῆ Κινέου ἐν τεμένει. / παῖς ὢν κόσμιος γίνου / ἡβῶν ἐγκρατής / μέσος δίκαιος / πρεσβύτης εὔβουλος / τελευτῶν ἄλυπος (These wise sayings of men of old / The words of famous men, are consecrated / In holy Delphi, where Clearchus carefully copied them / To set them, shining from afar, in the sanctuary of Kineas. / As a child, behave well / As a young man, have self-control / In maturity, be just / As an old man, be a good advisor / And when you reach the end, do not grieve.)

This inscription, dating from around 300-250 B.C., is the oldest in which the Delphic maxims appear, as there is no trace of them left in Delphi.

Coins of Agathocles with Rigvedic deities. Credit: Classical Numismatic Group;Coin ID 57554 / Wikimedia Commons

The prestigious art historian John Boardman believes that Ai-Khanoum may have been one of the conduits through which Greek art influenced that of ancient India. Among the numerous coins found at the site are Indian silver drachmas minted by Agathocles, the fifth king of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which bear the earliest known representations of Hindu deities.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on October 11, 2023: Ai-Janum: la ciudad griega perdida en Afganistán

SOURCES

Bernard, P. (1982). An Ancient Greek City in Central Asia. Scientific American, 246(1), 148–159. jstor.org/stable/24966505

Getzel M. Cohen, The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India

Livius, Ai Khanum

Rachel Mairs, The Hellenistic Far East: Archaeology, Language, and Identity in Greek Central Asia

Wikipedia, Alejandría de Oxiana

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