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Intro. 310 Asian Humanities Tues. August 30 Nomads and Warriors. Kushans who were. Kushan Empire. Who were the Kushans? Time period ? What was their point of origin ? Expansion ? What were their characteristics ? What is their importance to the - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Intro
310 Asian Humanities310 Asian Humanities
Tues. August 30 Tues. August 30 Nomads and WarriorsNomads and Warriors
Kushans who were
Kushan EmpireKushan EmpireWho were the Kushans? Time period?
What was their point of origin? Expansion?
What were their characteristics?
What is their importance to thestudy of early Asian history and trade?
Kushans answers
Kushan EmpireKushan EmpireWho were the Kushans?
Time period?1st - 3nd cen.
What was their point of origin? Expansion?Northern Steppes of China -- driven Further West.
What were their characteristics? -- nomads, warriors, expansionistic.Eventually unified under one ruler.
Accommodated a variety of different religions Acquisitive of luxury goods and ideas: gold coins, religions, Greek alphabet/ script. Employed their own language (Bactrian)
Kushans supplies
Kushan OriginsKushan OriginsWho were the Kushans?
Origins: Yuezhi - nomadic tribes in Northern Steppes
Supplied the Chinese with horses
Xinjiang province
Chariot and horses,Qin dynasty, 200 BC
Kushans supplies2
Kushan OriginsKushan Origins
Supplied the Chinese with horses … and jade
Xinjiang province
Jade burial suit, Han dynasty, 200 BCE-200 CE
Silk roap map1
Map #1Map #1
By 1st c. BCE, driven West by competing nomads
Silk roap map2
Map #2Map #2
Kushans2
Kushan artKushan artImportance? -- As a cross-roads culture
Birth of Buddha
Development of The Gandahara sculptural style
Kushans2
Kushan artKushan artImportance: -- As a cross-roads culture
Maya’s dream - from the current Asia Society exhibit (on blog)
Kushan coins
Kushan coinageKushan coinageImportance? -- a culture that adopted and adapted other cultural
forms; silk route champion.
-- accommodated and embraced multiple religions, ideas. Possibly aiding
spread of Buddhism to
China
Image of Kanishka
Shiva, obverse side
Greek Helios, obverse
Kushans who were
Kushan EmpireKushan Empire
Significance:
Kushans give us an example of:
* interaction between nomadic andsedentary groups.
* the transition from nomadicto sedentary lifestyle.
* Cultural exchanges of the1st – 2nd century in the silk road region.
The Bactrian Hoard: Material Remains as Cultural Heritage
Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19X1s9AOSWY&playnext=1&list=PLDA04D47BC85C8108
The (unfolding) Story of the Bactrian Hoard
Late 1978 - Russian archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi discovers the collection.
1979 - Soviets invade and occupy Afghanistan.
1989 - Soviets withdraw, defeated by US trained mujahidin forces, who subsequently battle for control of the country.
1996 - Taliban comes into power, begin stringent Islamic rule, destroying non-Islamic artwork, including the Bamiyan Buddhas (2001).
2001 - Attempts to find the hoard and blow open the palace vaults fail as theTaliban retreats and Americans move in.
2006 - President Karzai announces the hoard’s recovery. An international team present as the safes are opened.
2008 - Afghanistan initiates an extensive overseas showing of the 2011 collection -- France, Italy, Amsterdam USA, UK, Germany -- though
Afghanistan itself cannot display it.
Destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas
1997, Bamiyan Buddha 2001, post-destruction 2009, reconstruction attempts
Bactrian Hoard Recovery
Breaking into the safes, April 200420,600 gold items were part of the hoard,Including 2,000 coins from the Kushan
empire
Bactrian Hoard collection
Aphrodite brooch with Greek, India, and Asian influences
Bactrian Hoard collection
Gold pendant inlaid with jewels
A folding, portable crown from Tillya Tepe
The Bactrian Hoard collection
Bactrian Hoard collection
Bactrian Hoard -- Kushan coins
Kanishka, Iranian god of fire Athso
Nana, Iranian healing goddess
Controversy in Exhibition: Secrets of the Silk Road (on the blog)
• From China, mounted at Penn Museum early 2011.
• Focused on burial site and mummies found in Western China.
• Located in Tarim Basin, skirting the Taklamakan desert (Xinjiang, Western China).
• Controversy: DNA indicates Caucasoid features. Garments also suggested origins from outside the region.
• Would it fuel arguments of minority separatist groups, notably China’s Uighur peoples?
Coming up: Ancient Maritime Connection
Th/Sept. 1: view an on-line exhibit noted on the blog; what do you learn? How do you rate it?
***Reading response/blog entry #1. due: 10 a.m. Sept. 1 ***
Log onto the blog and 1) introduce yourself; 2) comment on an aspect that you find most compelling from the readings from the first 2 weeks (2-3 paragraphs).
End
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19X1s9AOSWY&playnext=1&list=PLDA04D47BC85C8108