This piece pertains to an ancient culture referred to both as the Bactria-
Margiana Archaeological Complex (BCAM) or as the Oxus Civilisation. The
Bactria-Margiana culture spread across an area encompassing the modern
nations of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Northern Afghanistan.
Flourishing between about 2100 and 1700 BC, it was contemporary with
the European Bronze Age, and was characterised by monumental
architecture, social complexity and extremely distinctive cultural artefacts
that vanish from the record a few centuries after they first appear.
Pictographs on seals have been argued to indicate an independently-
developed writing system.
It was one of many economic and social entities in the vicinity, and was a
powerful country due to the exceptional fertility and wealth of its
agricultural lands. This in turn gave rise to a complex and multifaceted set
of societies with specialist craftsmen who produced luxury materials such
as this for the ruling and aristocratic elites. Trade appears to have been
important, as Bactrian artefacts appear all over the Persian Gulf as well as
in the Iranian Plateau and the Indus Valley. For this reason, the area was
fought over from deep prehistory until the Mediaeval period, by the armies
of Asia Minor, Greece (Macedonia), India and the Arab States, amongst
others.
The meaning of these objects in ancient Bactria
still mystifies scholars. Many are convinced that
they must have had a ritual function and were
perhaps worshipped as idols. Others argue that
they had a more practical purpose and were used
as a counterweight for pounding grain or
pumping water. Bactria is the ancient Greek
name for an area that encompassed parts of
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and
northern Afghanistan. It was a mountainous and
extremely fertile region that had a highly
developed civilisation in the late third and early
second millennium BC. Excavations have
uncovered other intriguing artifacts such as the
composite stone goddesses which attest to the
presence of a vibrant religious culture. Today
these marble 'pillar-like' sculptures impress us
with their simplicity of form and mysterious past.
This jasper ‘column’ has a
wonderfully smooth finish. The ancient
craftsman may well have chosen this block of
stone for its attractive ochre color. The cylindrical form gets
progressively narrower towards the upper part
and then flares out at the top. A shallow channel
runs across both ends, dividing them into two
halves.
