Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #bactria

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How The Silk Roads Began:
The Greek historian Strabo described the region of Afghanistan as a ‘land of a thousand cities’ and Kabul was known to the Chinese as a wealthy and “large kingdom” with “excellent traders”. 1/3

#Ariana #Bactria #SilkRoads #AfghanHistory #Khorasan Image
The Chinese Han dynasty's envoy described Afghanistan as cosmopolitan region with “shrew merchants” who work in markets where one can find “all sorts of merchandise”. More than an estimated 1 million people lived in the region at the time in “fixed abodes and walled cities". 2/3 Image
When the Han Chinese emperor heard about the sophisticated civilisation of Afghanistan and the surrounding regions, he immediately urged the dispatch of embassies in order to build trading relations. This is how the Silk Roads started - Afghanistan was at the centre. 3/3

#Ariana Image
Read 3 tweets
Ancient Coin of the Day: An absolutely gorgeous silver tetradrachm of Demetrius I of Bactria, ca. 2000-185 BC, with an utterly fantastic portrait bust of the man himself on the Obverse. #ACOTD #Bactria

Image: ANS 1997.9.67. Link - numismatics.org/collection/199… ImageImage
The history of the kings of Bactria is quite confusing, primarily because our information about them is primarily derived from numismatic sources, which has necessarily caused some degree of debate about the period.
Around 245 BC, the satrap of Bactria, Diodotus I, broke from the Seleucids and established Bactria as an independent kingdom, issuing coins typical of Hellenistic monarchs, with an Obverse dominated by a diademed portrait.

Image: ANS 1980.109.108. Link – numismatics.org/collection/198… ImageImage
Read 9 tweets
#Hydronomastics is the study of #hydronyms, the proper names of bodies of water.

It's a branch of #toponomastics, the study of #toponyms (the proper names of places), which in turn is a branch of #onomastics, the study of #orthonyms (proper names).

French / Luxembourghish sign: The River Sauer in Martelan...
#Hydronym and #hydronomastics both derive from Ancient #Greek ὕδωρ / húdōr (water) + ὄνομα / ónoma (name). The Greek island of Skiatho...
#Hydronyms tend to outlast other #toponyms, even when new #languages and cultures displace earlier ones.

#England, #EastAnglia, #Essex, and #Sussex are named for the #Angles and #Saxons; but #Trent, #Ouse, #Thames, #Severn, and #Avon are older #Celtic and #RomanoBritish names. A map showing the main rive...
Read 173 tweets

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