Archaeologists discover layers of Indo-Greek city in Swat

Dawn News ^ | Sunday, June 26, 2016 | Fazal Khaliq

[SunkenCiv]

Archaeologists excavate Indo-Greek and Saka-Parthian structures at Bazira, Swat. -- Dawn photo	Indo-Greek coins discovered during the recent excavation at Bazira, Barikot, Swat. Courtesy Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat	Indo-Greek coins discovered during the recent excavation at Bazira, Barikot, Swat. Courtesy Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat	Terracotta baroque female figurine, circa 3rd-2nd BC. Courtesy Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat	Indo-Greek coins discovered during the recent excavation at Bazira, Barikot, Swat. Courtesy Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat

[SunkenCiv]

A picture is worth, well, you know.

[SunkenCiv]

[reed13k]

So when they say Indo-Greek do they mean Alexander the Great Indo-Greek or before that?

[reed13k]

Never mind I missed it the first time 3rd century BC so likely Alexander.

[Paladin2]

Swat’s up with this dig?

[MUDDOG]

I’ve got a replica Roman bronze coin that looks like the first coin in the picture, down to the corrosion.

I think it came in the mail from Readers Digest in the 1960s, in an ad for some book they were pushing.

[r_barton]

Careful, that’s what killed the 3 Stooges, apparently. ;-)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3443949/posts#9

[dp0622]

OK, I’m on the ping list for this but I must detour with a question as this MUST be a smart bunch.

Why has my spell check stopped working on EVERYTHING!!!???

[cloudmountain]

Swat’s up with this dig?

2/3 of a pun: P U

[jpsb]

Alexander (The Great) got around quite a bit back in the day.

[Verginius Rufus]

Birthplace of the Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth?

[SunkenCiv]

Alexander the Great -- there were no Indo-Greek cities before that, contrary to what one of the false stories about Alexander the Great indicates. Greeks lived and worked in the Persian Empire, but mostly stayed in the area of their birth, IOW, mostly Anatolia.

[SunkenCiv]

That story rings a bell... I think we had something like that as well — it was plastic though, and was used to scrape off the scratch-and-sniff coating to see how much we’d won or whatever (we won nothing of course).

[SunkenCiv]

Yore spel chek is pr08a8ly werkinq find, mine is.

[SunkenCiv]

Probably not, probably named after the local pastime, something to do with the many flies there. OTOH, flies are found in baseball... hmm... I guess it’s still a mystery...

[umgud]

Had to google the location. Interesting. Thanks.

[tumblindice]

Al was a wanderer. He wandered round and round and round and ... he got around.

[Paladin2]

[SunkenCiv]

He surely did. One of the times he had gotten severely wounded and had to recuperate for some months, he was holed up in Balkh (impressive site to the present day) for the winter; as spring arrived, so did the massive reinforcements, mostly Greeks from the conquered/liberated Persian areas and the Greek homeland. The largest Greek force ever assembled up to that time (hmm, perhaps *ever*) was divided into four parts and sent up into the four major river valleys, kicking the crap out of everyone and everything they found. By the end of that campaign season, Big Al had established the basis for the later Hellenistic kingdom of Bactria (Balkh is the city of Bactria).

And he wasn’t done. He finally stopped his advance just over the Indus River.

[MUDDOG]

I’ve got it in front of me now.

It’s a little smaller than a 50-cent piece. The heads side says “Augustus Pater” around the head, and the reverse has what looks like 2-column arch with fasces inside, with S and C bordering it on the outside, and “PROVIDEN” underneath.

It feels like metal and is heavier than a quarter, so I think it is metal, but I’ve never used it to scratch off prize tickets, so I can’t be sure!.