Sirkap
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Sirkap is the name of an archaeological site on the bank opposite to the city of Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan.
The city of Sirkap was built by the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius after he invaded India around 180 BC. Demetrius founded in the northern and northwestern Indian subcontinent an Indo-Greek kingdom that was to last until around 10 BC. Sirkap is also said to have been rebuilt by king Menander I.
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[edit] A Greek city
- Fluted vase with bead and reel design (Bhir Mound, stratum 1)
- Cup with rosace and decoratice scroll (Bhir Mound, stratum 1)
- Stone palette with individual on a couch being crowned by standing woman, and served (Sirkap, stratum 5)
- Handle with double depiction of a philosopher (Sirkap, stratum 5/4)
- Woman with smile (Sirkap, stratum 5)
- Man with moustache (Sirkap, stratum 5)
(Source: John Marshall "Taxila, Archaeological excavations").
The site of Sirkap was built according to the "Hippodamian" grid-plan characteristic of Greek cities (See: Sky view of Sirkap). It is organized around one main avenue and fifteen perpendicular streets, covering a surface of around 1200x400 meters, with a surrounding wall 5-7 meters wide and 4.8 kilometers long. The ruins are Greek in character, similar to those of Olynthus in Macedonia.
Numerous Hellenistic artifacts have been found, in particular coins of Greco-Bactrian kings and stone palettes representing Greek mythological scenes. Some of them are purely Hellenistic, others indicate an evolution of the Greco-Bactrian styles found at Ai-Khanoum towards more indianized styles. For example, accessories such as Indian ankle bracelets can be found on some representations of Greek mythological figures such as Artemis.
Following its construction by the Greeks, the city was further rebuilt during the incursions of the Indo-Scythians, and later by the Indo-Parthians after an earthquake in 30 CE.
[edit] Religious buildings
Buddhist stupas with strong Hellenistic decorative elements can be found throughout the Sirkap site, as well as a Hindu temple, indicating a close interaction of religious cultures. A Greek religious temple of the Ionic order is also visible at the nearby site of Jandial (650 meters from Sirkap), but there is a possibility that it may have been dedicated to a Zoroastrian cult.
The site of Sirkap bears witness to the city-building activity of the Indo-Greeks during their occupation of the Indian territory for close to two centuries, as well as their integration of other faiths, especially Buddhism.
[edit] Visit by Apollonius of Tyana
The Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana is related to have visited India, and specifically the city of Taxila in the 1st century CE. He describes constructions of the Greek type, probably referring to Sirkap:
- "Taxila, they tell us, is about as big as Nineveh, and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities" [1]
- "I have already described the way in which the city is walled, but they say that it was divided up into narrow streets in the same irregular manner as in Athens, and that the houses were built in such a way that if you look at them from outside they had only one story, while if you went into one of them, you at once found subterranean chambers extending as far below the level of the earth as did the chambers above." [2]
[edit] Notes
