The ''Berenike Buddha'' is a statue of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

parts of which were discovered in January 2018 and January 2022 in an archaeological excavation in the ancient harbour of Berenike, Egypt, by an American-Polish archaeological mission. The statue was discovered in the forecourt of an early Roman period temple dedicated to the Goddess

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. The statue has been alleged to be the first statue of the Buddha to ever be found west of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, but the Helgö Buddha was found earlier. This one attests to the extent of Indo-Roman relations in the early centuries of the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...

Origin

The Buddha statue was excavated in Berenike, and Egyptian port city on the western shore of the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. Based on stylistic details and the context of the excavation, researchers thought that the statue was made in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

around the second century CE. According to Steven Sidebotham, a history professor at the University of Delaware who is co-director of the Berenike Project, the statue dates to between 90 and 140 CE. It was made from a stone that was extracted south of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, and may also have been carved in Berenike itself. The statue has a halo around the head of the Buddha, decorated with the rays of the sun, and has a lotus flower by his side. It is 71cm tall. The excavations at Berenike also yielded other artifacts related to ancient India: an inscription in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

dated to the Roman Emperor,

Philip the Arab Philip I (; – September 249), commonly known as Philip the Arab, was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. After the death of Gordian III in February 244, Philip, who had been Praetorian prefect, rose to power. He quickly negotiated peace with the S ...

(244 to 249 CE), as well as

Satavahana The Satavahanas (; ''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...

coins dated to the 2nd century CE. They also discovered inscriptions in Greek, including one below the Sanskrit inscriptions, something Rodney Ast, the researcher from Heidelberg University who discovered the Buddha figure, says is “unique in Egypt.” “It’s probable that the statues were carved in Berenice and, without a doubt, the inscription too. So the place had artisans capable of making those objects and people interested in ordering them,” explains Ast, who also points out that the discovery raises new questions. “What does it mean to make an offering of a Buddha statue in a Roman temple to Isis in Egypt? It is a topic that will keep anthropologists, historians and others busy for a while,” he says. Various fragmentary parts of Buddha statues (torsos, heads) had already been discovered at Berenike in 2019, some made of local

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

References

{{reflist Buddha statues Red Sea Governorate 2nd century in Egypt Buddhism in Africa 2018 archaeological discoveries 2022 archaeological discoveries

Origin

See also

References