Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24 (2018) 354-419 brill.com/acss Ai Khanoum after 145 bc The Post-Palatial Occupation* Laurianne Martinez-Sève** University of Lille [email protected] Abstract The attack that caused the ruin of Ai Khanoum around 145 BC was a key event of its history. This was the beginning of the so-called post-palatial period, which is often considered of short duration. The article intends to provide a general study of this last stage of the history of the city, taking into account the information already published, but also the new evidence resulting from the ongoing study of its main sanctuary (henceforth the Sanctuary). The few inhabitants of Ai Khanoum still living in the city after 145 BC reoccupied its private and public buildings and were engaged in the recovering of all the riches of the former Graeco-Bactrian capital. They exploited the stone materials, the metallic objects, the furniture and even reused the ceramics abandoned in the town. The Sanctuary remained in activity for a while, under the control of an authority who undertook maintenance operations, but the religious conceptions of the population underwent some major changes. This study also enables to review the common assumptions regarding the role played by nomadic people during this period. Keywords Hellenistic Bactria – Ai Khanoum – Post-palatial period – the Temple with Indented Niches – cults – recovering activities – Yuezhi – Sakā * I wish to thank F. Grenet, G. Lecuyot, B. Lyonnet, M. Minardi, C. Rapin and S. Watson for their accurate assistance and comments. But I alone am responsible for the opinions expressed in the paper. ** Domaine du Pont de Bois, BP 60149, 59653 Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/15700577-12341336Downloaded from Brill.com10/10/2021 02:10:27PM via free access Ai Khanoum after 145 bc 355 1 Introduction It is a well-known fact that critical events happened at Ai Khanoum (fig. 1) around 145 BC which caused the disappearance of the Greek elites, who either fled or were killed. The Graeco-Bactrian kings, who had made the city one of the major centres of Bactria, and perhaps their main capital under Eucratides I, lost it at the same time they were deprived of eastern Bactria. However, these events did not lead to an abrupt demise of the city (figs. 2, 3): the remains of a later occupation were brought to light all throughout the archaeological exca- vations achieved under the direction of the late Paul Bernard. There is a general consensus about the fact that the city underwent deep changes during that time. It was no longer a political centre, and its inhabit- ants are described as squatters because they reoccupied the Graeco-Bactrian buildings, exploited them and scavenge for metals and building materials. Greek culture no longer played any role in the lives of this population, which had given up the key practices, institutions and probably also the values of Hellenism that had previously represented the basis of the identity of the local elites. Much about this period is still unclear, and any estimation on its duration is difficult to asses. Variable data have been published, especially because the estimates of the archaeologists involved in the DAFA excavations formed grad- ually after the completion of each new fieldwork season and in some cases it changed. For instance, while examining the first findings from the exca- vations, P. Bernard had thought that the final stage of the history of the city lasted about one century, until the 1st century BC.1 He reached this conclusion after finding (in 1966 and 1967) a residential quarter extending between the Heroon of Kineas and the entrance of the Palace, and then after he excavated (in 1967) the remains of the last stage of the Gymnasium and of the Temple with Indented Niches (in 1968 – temple aux niches indentées). These were the most densely populated areas of the town at the end of its history. P. Bernard’s opinion changed thereafter. In one of his final articles summariz- ing the findings of Ai Khanoum, he wrote that the city was abandoned around 140 BC, which would reduce the duration of the post-palatial period to only five years.2 The members of his archaeological team followed this evolution of his thought. In 1983 O. Guillaume had considered that the reoccupation of the 1 Bernard 1968, 279 (he even wrote in this paper that the town was definitively abandoned only at the end of the 1st century BC “aux environs de notre ère”); Bernard 1969, 354; 1970, 301; Bernard 1973, 110-111. 2 Bernard 2006, 66. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24Downloaded (2018) 354-419 from Brill.com10/10/2021 02:10:27PM via free access 356 Martinez-Sève figure 1 Map of Bactria (drawing by B. Leguyot and L. Martinez-Sève). monumental Propylaea – through which one passed to reach the Palace area from the street – had a long duration.3 But in 1987 S. Veuve estimated that the same stage had lasted twenty years at the Gymnasium,4 whereas according to C. Rapin (1992) it could not have lasted for more than five years at the Treasury 3 Guillaume 1983, 27. 4 Veuve 1987, 109. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to DownloadedSiberia 24from (2018) Brill.com10/10/2021 354-419 02:10:27PM via free access Ai Khanoum after 145 bc 357 figure 2 Plan of Ai Khanoum (drawing by J.-C. Liger and G. Lecuyot). of the Palace.5 This latter assumption has finally prevailed. Moreover, it seems supported by the fact that the same pottery types remained in use after 145 BC, without undergoing significant transformation since the Graeco-Bactrian period. According to B. Lyonnet, this strong continuity implies that the last period of the city was short-lived, with an estimated range going from some months to a few years.6 By contrast, if this state of affairs had lasted longer, the shapes and techniques of the vases would have changed. Her assumption concerns the city as a whole, whereas the other assessments had been given for only some of its quarters. Thus it could have been hypothesised that the 5 Rapin 1992, 295 (see also 32-35, 287-294). 6 Lyonnet 2013, 183. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24Downloaded (2018) 354-419 from Brill.com10/10/2021 02:10:27PM via free access 358 Martinez-Sève figure 3 Ai Khanoum. Plan of the central area (drawing by J.-C. Liger). Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to DownloadedSiberia 24from (2018) Brill.com10/10/2021 354-419 02:10:27PM via free access Ai Khanoum after 145 bc 359 reoccupation of the Treasury had a shorter duration than that of the Gymnasium or the Propylaea. Nobody has since then questioned these conclusions except for J.D. Lerner, who recently suggested placing the desertion of the town at the end of the 1st century BC.7 However, P. Bernard himself revisited this issue in the final publication of the residential quarter extending between the Heroon of Kineas and the entrance of the Palace in the last volume of the series Fouilles d’Aï Khanoum. He thought necessary to reconsider the length of the last period of life of the city, for which he might have given too short an estimate, as well as the characteristics of its last inhabitants, who may have been too rashly described as “squatters”. Since this last period of the history of Ai Khanoum started after the destruction of its Palace, he also recommended to employ the term “post-palatial”, which has a less negative connotation than the French “tardif” (i.e. late).8 This was by no means a novelty, since he had already used this expression in his first preliminary reports.9 Thus we need to reconsider this post-palatial period, taking into account the evidence recorded in previous publications, but also the new and rich informa- tion provided by the ongoing study of the Sanctuary. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this work, without pretending to be exhaustive. 2 The Characteristics of the Post-Palatial Occupation at Ai Khanoum Ai Khanoum’s post-palatial period differs considerably from the previous Graeco-Bactrian period, both in relation to private dwellings and to the activi- ties of the inhabitants of the town. The latter were apparently of local origin and modest in their social background. The only available archaeological evi- dence points at the absence of any permanently residing elite which would have held political and military power.10 7 Lerner 2010; 2011. Using epigraphic and numismatic arguments, J.D. Lerner concludes that the Greek elites remained at Ai Khanoum until the middle of the 1st century BC. For criti- cal remarks, see Holt 2012. 8 Bernard 2013, 147 (footnote no. 313), 151. 9 Bernard 1968, 179 (“post-palatial occupation”). 10 Contrary to Lerner 2011. An inscription engraved on a silver ingot found in the treasury is assigned to a nomad power (Rapin 1992, 34-35, 288). However, no evidence indicates that representatives of this power had been appointed in the city on an ongoing base. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 24Downloaded (2018) 354-419 from Brill.com10/10/2021 02:10:27PM via free access 360 Martinez-Sève 2.1 Private Dwellings Broadly speaking, one of the main remarkable features of the post-palatial period at Ai Khanoum is the phenomenon which saw the reoccupation and change of use of the Graeco-Bactrian buildings. This explains why the inhabit- ants of the town were seen as squatters. They settled both in private properties and public buildings, which were privatised and divided into distinct units.