William Dalrymple Profile picture
Scottish historian & art historian; @EmpirePodUK podcaster& Jaipur Literature Festival co-director; Mehrauli goatherd & kabooter baz. Writes the occasional book

Oct 9, 2021, 5 tweets

The Bagram Ivories
Spectacular 1stC CE Sanchi-style carvings on ivory, originally probably part of a throne, found in the storeroom of a Kushan palace under the current Bagram airbase.

Scholars believe they were probably carved nearby by itinerant Indian craftsmen working for the Kushans.

Sanchi has an inscription referring to a donation by the ivory carvers of nearby Vidisha. This is quite possibly their work.

The carvings of the Bagram ivories shows scenes representing the women's quarters of a palace, and this may well be where the seat was intended to be placed.

Roman/Hellenistic glassware, possibly from Egypt, or maybe made on site from Egyptian glass rods, found alongside the Bagram Ivories.

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