Tapa Shotor, also Tape Shotor or Tapa-e-shotor ("Camel Hill"), was a large

Sarvastivadin The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particula ...

monastery near Hadda,

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 ...

, and is now an archaeological site. According to archaeologist Raymond Allchin, the site of Tapa Shotor suggests that the

Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

descended directly from the art of Hellenistic

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...

, as seen in

Ai-Khanoum Ai-Khanoum (, meaning 'Lady Moon'; ) is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. The city, whose original name is unknown, was likely founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and served as a mili ...

."Following discoveries at Ai-Khanum, excavations at Tapa Shotor, Hadda, produced evidence to indicate that Gandharan art descended directly from Hellenised Bactrian art. It is quite clear from the clay figure finds in particular , that either Bactrian artist from the north were placed at the service of Buddhism, or local artists, fully conversant with the style and traditions of Hellenistic art , were the creators of these art objects" in In 1992, the Taliban looted and then set Tapa Shotor on fire.

Stylistic analysis

In view of the style of the objects found at Tapa Shotor, particularly the clay figures, Allchin suggests that either Bactrian artists came and worked for Buddhist monasteries, or that local artists had become "fully conversant" in Hellenistic art. This opinion was confirmed by the archaeologist who excavated the site Tarzi: "in the light of the latest discoveries there is no longer any doubt about the prolongation of the Graeco-Bactrian artistic past". According to Tarzi, Tapa Shotor, with clay sculptures dated to the 2nd century CE, represents the "missing link" between the Hellenistic art of Bactria, and the later stucco sculptures found at Hadda, usually dated to the 3rd-4th century CE. The sculptures of Tapa Shortor are also contemporary with many of the early Buddhist sculptures found in

. Traditionally, the influx of artists conversant in Hellenistic art has been attributed to the migration of the Greek populations from the

Greco-Bactrian The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall a ...

cities of

and Takht-i Sangin. Tarzi further suggested that Greek populations were established in the plains of

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...

, which included Hadda, around the Hellenistic city of Dionysopolis, and that they were responsible for the Buddhist creations of Tapa Shotor in the 2nd century CE.

Chronology

According to archaeologist Zemaryalai Tarzi, the first, pre-monastic, period of Tapa Shotor, corresponds to the reign of the

Indo-Scythian The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranian peoples, Iranic Scythians, Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwe ...

king Azes II (35-12 BCE). The first Buddhist period dates to the reign of

Kushan ''Kushan'' or Kushana may refer to: * Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan ...

king

Huvishka Huvishka ( Kushan: Οοηϸκι, ''Ooēški'', Brahmi: 𑀳𑀼𑀯𑀺𑀱𑁆𑀓; ', '; Kharosthi: 𐨱𐨂𐨬𐨅𐨮𐨿𐨐 ', ') was the emperor of the Kushan Empire from the death of Kanishka (assumed on the best evidence available to ...

(155-187 CE). This period correspond to the creation of vihara, and niches 1, 2 and 3 in particular. The period after

Vasudeva I Vāsudeva I (Bactrian language, Kushano Bactrian: Βαζοδηο ''Bazodeo''; Brahmi script, Middle Brahmi: 𑀯𑀸𑀲𑀼𑀤𑁂𑀯; ', Chinese language, Chinese: 波調 ''Bodiao''; flourished, fl. 200 Common Era, CE) was a Kushan Empire, ...

to the last Kushans (225-350 CE) saw the creation of niche XIII. After the Kushans, a period of the site corresponds to the

Kidarites The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns, were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and South Asia in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna people, Huna, ...

(4th-5th century CE). The site remained inactive for about 250 years, from around 500 to 750 CE. A last period of activity followed, only marked by restorations, before the destruction of the site by fire in the 9th century CE. The period have been structured as follows: * Tapa Shotor I:

king Azes II (35-12 BCE) * Tapa Shotor II:

king

(155-187 CE). Vihara, and niches V1, V2 and V3 * Tapa Shotor III: (187-191 CE) * Tapa Shotor IV:

(191-225 CE) * Tapa Shotor V: Last Kushans (225-350 CE) * Tapa Shotor VI:

(350-450 CE) * Tapa Shotor VII: 5th century * Tapa Shotor VIII: 6th century. Corresponds to the 1st period of Tape Tope Kalan. * hiatus (6th-8th century) * Tapa Shotor IX: mid 8th century-9th century. Destruction by fire

Excavation

The monastery was excavated by an all-Afghan archaeological team. It yielded numerous sculptures in an archaeologically intact environment, providing great insights on the art of the region. A stupa was excavated in the main courtyard. A coin of the Indo-Greek king

Menander Menander (; ; c. 342/341 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek scriptwriter and the best-known representative of Athenian Ancient Greek comedy, New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the Cit ...

was found in the ruins, but the abundance of finds of Kushan coinage suggest a main 4th century CE date for the site. Tapa Shortor had some beautiful statuary in Hellenistic style, particularly one seated Buddha attended by

Herakles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through Amphitr ...

Vajrapani (Sanskrit; Pali: Vajirapāṇi, 'holder of the thunderbolt', lit. meaning, "Vajra in ishand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. The personification of Indra, the King of the Devas in the Hindu order, he is t ...

and a

Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman mythology, Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the dau ...

-like woman holding a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

, now destroyed (Niche V2). Another has an attendant reminding the portrait of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. Boardman suggested that the sculpture in the area might be an "incipient Buddhist sculpture in Indo-Greek style". Many of the statues are three-dimensional representations in-the-round, a rare instance in the area of Hadda, which related the style of Tapa Shotor to the Hellenistic art of Bactria, and to the Buddhist caves of

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

such as the

Mogao Caves The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...

, probably directly inspired by these. Various niches display scenes of the Buddha surrounded by attendants (especially niches V1, V2, V3). Niche XIII, or "aquatic niche", also demonstrates sculpture in the round, and depicts Naga Kalika predicting the success of the

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

towards attaining enlightenment. The niche is dated to the period 250-350 CE, and is probably synchronous with the clay sculptures of Temple II in Penjikent. These sculptures are made of clay. Later sculptures molded in

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

can also be seen at the site.> File:Map of Hadda, Charles Masson 1841.jpg, Map of Hadda, by

Charles Masson Charles Masson (1800–1853) was the pseudonym of James Lewis, a British East India Company soldier, independent explorer and pioneering archaeologist and numismatist. He was the first European to discover the ruins of Harappa near Sahiwal in P ...

in 1841. Tapa Shotor was the "Large Mound with a hollow". File:Tapa Shotor lunette.jpg, Painting of an underground meditation chamber

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

. Tapa Shotor, period VI (350-450 CE). File:Rzeźby z buddyjskiej stupy - Hadda - 001552s.jpg, Attendants to the Buddha, Tapa Shotor (Niche V1) File:Rzeźby z buddyjskiej stupy - Hadda - 001551s.jpg, Buddha attendants, Tapa Shotor (Niche V1) File:Tapa Shotor, seated Buddha, Niche V3.jpg, Seated Buddha with

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

attendant. Tapa Shotor (Niche V3). File:Vajrapani-Alexander, Tapa Shotor.jpg, Head of "Vajrapani-Alexander", Tapa (Niche V3). File:Rzeźby z buddyjskiej stupy - Hadda - 001556s.jpg, Buddha attendants, Tapa Shotor File:Rzeźby z buddyjskiej stupy - Hadda - 001553s.jpg, Small decorated stupas in Tapa Shotor. File:Wykopaliska buddyjskie - Hadda - 001545s.jpg, Site of Tapa Shotor, with a protective roof.

External links

Description and plan of Tapa Shotor (French)
* The famous Buddha with Herakles-Vajrapani and Tyche can be seen in

References

{{Central Asian history Central Asian Buddhist sites Archaeological sites in Afghanistan Former populated places in Afghanistan Buddhism in Afghanistan Buddhist art Stupas in Afghanistan Gandhara art