Aromatic vials in the shape of Greek gods, Begram, 2nd century.

Bagrām (Also Begram, anciently Kapici or Kapisa) is an antique city 60 kilometers northwest of Kabul in Afghanistan, near today's city of Charikar. It was built at the junction of the Ghorband and the Panjshir valley, acting as a passage point to India on the Silk Road, towards Kabul and Bamiyan. Begram treasure. ... Begram treasure. ... Greek mythological characters (Most of the gods and goddesses had Roman equivalents. ... Kabul (34°32′ N 69°10′ E, Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ... The Silk Road (Traditional Chinese: 絲綢之路; Simplified Chinese: 丝绸之路; pinyin: sÄ« chóu zhÄ« lù, Persian راه ابریشم Râh-e Abrisham) was an interconnected series of routes through Southern Asia traversed by caravan and ocean vessel, and connecting Changan, China, with Antioch, Syria, as well as other points. ... Kabul (34°32′ N 69°10′ E, Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ... Bamiyan province is one of the thirty_four provinces of Afghanistan. ...

Origins

The city was destroyed by Cyrus, restored by Darius, and then fortified and rebuilt by Alexander the Great as Alexandria of the Caucasus. Begram then became one of the capital cities of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Begram has a Greek hippodamian plan. The city was walled in bricks, and reinforced with towers at the angles. The central street was bordered with shops and workshops.-1... Darius was the name of three kings of ancient Persia: Darius the Great or Darius I of Persia. ... Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius (Pompei mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ... Alexandria of the Caucasus (Askandria-e-Qafqaz or Askandria Paro paizad) was a city founded by Alexander the Great (one of many given the name Alexandria), at an important junction of communications in the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush, about 45 miles North of Kabul, in the country of... Approximate extent of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom circa 220 BCE. The Greco-Bactrians were a dynasty of Greek kings who controlled Bactria and Sogdiana, an area comprising todays northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 to 125 BCE. Their expansion...

The Begram treasure

An Indian ivory from Begram, 2nd century.

A Greco-Roman gladiator on a glass vessel, Begram, 2nd century.

Begram (Kapisa) became the summer capital of the Kushan Empire from the 1st century, their other capital being in Mathura in central India. Begram ivory. ... Begram ivory. ... Download high resolution version (600x800, 115 KB)Greco-Roman gladiator on a glass vessel. ... Download high resolution version (600x800, 115 KB)Greco-Roman gladiator on a glass vessel. ... Boundary of the Kushan empire, c. ... (1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century - other centuries) The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100. ... Mathura (मथुरा) is a city in India, located approximately 50 km north of Agra, and south of Delhi. ...

The emperor Kanishka started many new buildings there. The central palace building yielded a very rich treasure, dated from the time of emperor Kanishka in the 2nd century: ivory-plated stools of Indian origin, lacquered boxes from Han China, Greco-Roman glasses from Egypt and Syria, Hellenistic statues in the Pompean style, stuc moldings, and silverware of Mediterranean origin (probably Alexandria). Gold coin of Kanishka I with a representation of the Buddha (c. ... Gold coin of Kanishka I with a representation of the Buddha (c. ... (1st century - 2nd century - 3rd century - other centuries) Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese characters: 漢朝, Simplified Chinese characters: 汉朝, pinyin Hàncháo 202 BC - AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ... Greco-Roman refers to the culture of Ancient Greece and Classical Rome and reflects the essential unity of the Mediterranean world at the time when those cultures flourished, between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD. Categories: Historical stubs | Ancient Rome | Ancient Greece ... The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... Starch-polyester disposable cutlery Cutlery refers to any hand utensil used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Antiquity and modernity stand cheek-by-jowl in Egypts chief Mediterranean seaport Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria (in Arabic, الإسكندرية, transliterated al-ʼIskandariyyah) is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that countrys second largest city, and the capital of the Al Iskandariyah governate. ...

The "Begram treasure" as it has been called, is indicative of intense commercial exchanges between all the cultural centers of the Classical time, with the Kushan empire at the junction of the land and sea trade between the east and west. However, the works of art found in Begram are either quite purely Hellenistic, Roman, Chinese or Indian, with only little indications of the cultural syncretism found in Greco-Buddhist art. Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE. Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century...

The city was apparently abandoned after the campaigns of the Sassanian emperor Shapur I, in 241. Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... Shapur I, son of Ardashir I, was king of Persia from 241 to 272. ... Events Shapur I of Persia succeeds Ardashir I Births Deaths Ardashir I, first ruler of the Sassanids Categories: 241 ...

Begram vase depicting the rape of Ganymede by Zeus. Begram artwork Musee Guimet, personal photograph 2004. ... In Greek mythology, Ganymede (Greek: Γανυμήδης, Ganumêdês) was a divine hero whose homeland was the Troad. ... Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ...	Begram vase fragments depicting a fighting scene. Begram artifact. ...	Plaster mold from Begram. Begram artwork Musee Guimet, personal photograph 2004. ...	Plaster mold from Begram depicting a cupid. Begram artwork Musee Guimet, personal photograph 2004. ... Cupidon (French for Cupid), by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1875 This article is about the Roman god, for other meanings see Cupid (disambiguation). ...
Plaster mold from Begram. Begram artwork Musee Guimet, personal photograph 2004. ...	Plaster mold from Begram. Begram artwork Musee Guimet, personal photograph 2004. ...	Plaster mold from Begram depicting a Greek soldier. Begram artwork Musee Guimet, personal photograph 2004. ...

Today

As many other historical sites in Afghanistan, Bagram has been looted for old artifacts during the years following the overthrow of the Communist regime. Today, Bagram hosts the strategic Bagram Air Base from which most US air activity in Afghanistan takes place. This article is about Communist rule in Afghanistan (1978-1992). ... Bagram Air Base is located at the antique city of Bagram near Charikar in Parvan, Afghanistan. ...

See also

• Bagram torture and prisoner abuse
• Bagram Air Base

In 2005, a 2,000-page U.S. Army report confirmed the abuse, torture and death of two unarmed civilian Afghan prisoners by U.S. armed forces in 2002. ... Bagram Air Base is located at the antique city of Bagram near Charikar in Parvan, Afghanistan. ...

External links and references

• Begram geographical data
• National Museum of Afghanistan: Begram
• The lost treasures
• Khabul Museum
• Afghanistan art
• Lost and stolen images in Afghanistan
• In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths by Tim Golden, New York Times, May 20, 2005. (About U.S. war crimes in Bagram.)