Background information for teaching this unit:
Alexander the Great was not merely interested in conquest. His dream was to travel "to the ends of the earth." His love of adventure, and his quest for knowledge became a quest to cross the unknown plains of Asia, and to reach the Endless Ocean, which the Greeks believed marked the boundary of the world. By the year 326 BC, Alexander's armies had marched and fought for more than eight years. Exhausted his commanders refused to continue past the Beas River. This was to be the "final frontier." For the first time, Alexander could not persuade his men to continue to the east. Ultimately they journeyed down the Indus River to head south to the sea and return. Throughout his empire, Alexander founded cities, towns, and military outposts to both support his armies, but also to facilitate the movement of supplies the length of Central Asia. Likewise, Greeks and Macedonian soldiers, officials and traders flocked to settle these cities, bringing Greek political and cultural ideas throughout the vast region. Though a matter of much debate, this "influence" is now seen as a blending of Greek and local culture.
Watch Beyond Boundaries: Buddhist Art of Gandhara (Berkeley Art Museums/Pacific Film Archive)
This 47-minute overview describes how the Gandhara region was a crossroads of art and culture from the second to the ninth century AD. Images of the Buddha
reflect the cultural exchanges between the Hellenistic world and the native artistic traditions of India.
See the San Francisco Asian Art Museum lessons on Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
This unit provides extensive background and photographs about the region of Gandhara and the wealthy Silk Roads city of Ai Khanoum.
Lessons 1 through 5 provide photographs of the region and artifacts for students to learn about "the ends of the earth." This was the farthest region
explored and conquered by Alexander the Great.
Examples of Gandharan and Kushan sculpture can be found by clicking here.
FIne examples of Gandharan art can be found on the websites of the:
• Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• British Museum, London
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• Guimet Museum, Paris
Teachers can read Dr. Rachel Mair's "Hellenistic India: New Voices in Classical Reception Studies" for current perspectives on cultural syncretism.
Ask students to carefully examine images. Encourage students to discuss:
"What do you see that shows evidence of Classical Greek style?"
"What other elements do you notice that seem to be different or unlike this traditional style? Why?"
ASSESSMENT:
Using the Teacher's Guide: Analyzing Primary Sources (Library of Congress ask students to describe stylistic qualities of one object of Gandharan art.
• What influences seem "classically Greek? What aspects might seem Persian? Why?
• Compare a "bodhisattva" image from India to one found at Gandhara. How does Greek influence show? What aspects seem Indian?
• Find examples of Hellenistic art from other regions of Alexander's empire on the internet or in library books. What common characteristics do you notice?
• Discuss the meaning of the term "Hellenistic art."
• Make a classroom map to show photo examples of Hellenistic sculpture or architecture.
• Ask students to find examples of Greek architectural features in their community. (You'd be surprised once you start looking!) Discuss why this is so.
Here are a few obvious examples:
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, San Francisco, CA
GLOSSARY of TERMS
acropolis - The citadel of a Greek city, usually located at the highest point, where the major temples and public buildings are located.
amalgam - a mixture of different elements.
Bactria - A region that was considered part of the greater Persian Empire in the early 6th Century BCE. It was located in northern Afghanistan and included parts
of present day Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th Century BCE, it became the center of a Greco-
Bactrian kingdom that lasted several centuries. The capital of Bactria was Balkh. The empire gradually declined under the Kushan dynasty in the 1st
Century CE.
Balkh - An ancient city in Northern Afghanistan that was the capital of the kingdom of Bactria. It is also the name of a modern district in Afghanistan today that
roughly corresponds to ancient Bactria. The ancient city of Balkh was destroyed in the 13th century. The modern city of Balkh is closely associated with
Mazar-e-Sharif.
Bodhisattva - a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others and is worshipped as a deity in Mahayana Buddhism.
colonization - During the Greek and Hellenistic period, there was relative independence from the metropole (mother city). Frequently, colonies were established for
population transfer in addition to economic purposes.
Corinthian - One of the three major orders of classical architecture (the other two are Doric and Ionic). A characteristic of the Corinthian column is the capital that
is embellished with acanthus leaves. It is the most decorative of the orders. The Corinthian order was developed in Athens in the 5th Century BCE. Its
popularity spread to the West, the Roman Empire, and to Central Asia.
Diadochi - "The Successors" - those generals who assumed control following the death of Alexander. The empire broke into the following regional kingdoms:
• Antigonid dynasty in Macedon and central Greece
• Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt based in Alexandria
• Seleucid dynasty in Syria and Mesopotamia based in Syria
• Attalid dynasty in Anatolia based at Pergamum
• Greco-Bactrian and Greco-Indian kingdoms near the Indus River.
• Pontus kingdom near the Black Sea.
Gandhara - The ancient kingdom located in the foothills of the Himalayas north of the present day city of Peshawar, Pakistan, once an incredibly wealthy region due to
its position along the Silk Road trade routes linking China, South Asia, and the Mediterranean. Recent scholarship dates Gandharan findings from the Second
Century, BC to the 7th Century AD. Originally influenced by Greek settlement during the Hellenistic Age, later influences were Roman, Scythian, Parthians,
Kushans, Huns, and Indian.
Hellenism - Devotion to ancient Greek language, customs, artistic styles, and other cultural practices, primarily after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE).
This often existed in imperial and colonial areas with people not necessarily of Greek origin.
hybrid - Person, plant, or thing whose background is of two different traditions / cultures.
entrepot - A conveniently located port that includes the following:
• safe anchorage during storms
• source of good drinking water
• stable political system that guarantees security for foreigners
• well-developed system of coinage, weights & measures, and quality control for cargoes
• low taxes
• reliable workforce for loading/unloading ships, guarding ships and storehouses.
• ready supplies of wood for masts and ship repair
• skilled pilots, guides, and interpreters for subsequent journeys.
An entrepot does not necessarily produce resources. It may or may not be a manufacturing center.
Kushans - Central Asian nomadic people who conquered much of South, Central, and Western Asia in the 1st Century CE. They ruled a kingdom based in northern
India from the first through third centuries CE.
Silk Road - The collection of trade routes and resting points for caravans linking Asia and the West, from China to the Middle East; the trade routes that were significantly
expanded in the fourth century BCE with Alexander's conquests, enduring through the 14th century CE; a metaphor for the exchange of goods and ideas
between East and West that occurred over the course of many centuries, serving to facilitate the spread of Buddhism, trade, and international relations.
syncretism - The unforeseen blending and adaptation of culture(s) that develops as a result of conquest or colonization.
Books for students:
Gunther, John. Alexander the Great. New York, NY: Sterling Point Books, 2007.
Kazantzkis, Nikos. Translated by Theodora Vasils. Alexander the Great: A Novel. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1982.
Shecter, Vicky Alvear. Alexander the Great Rocks the World. Plain City, OH: Darby Creek Publishing, 2006.
Zarabouka, Sofia. The Story of Alexander the Great. Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2004.
Books and Articles for teachers:
Baker, Rosalie F. and Charles F. Baker III. Ancient Greeks, Creating the Classical Tradition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Fildes, Alan & Joann Fletcher. Alexander the Great: Son of the Gods. Getty Trust Publications, 2002.
Fox, Robin Lane. The Search for Alexander. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1980.
Behrendt, Kurt A. The Art of Gandhara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.
Green, Peter. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C. A Historical Biography. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991.
Hiebert, Fredrik and Pierre Cambon, Ed. Afghanistan, Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2008.
Mairs, Rachel R. "Hellenistic India" New Voices in Classical Reception Studies, Issue 1, 2006. http://brown.academia.edu/RachelMairs/Papers/169809/Hellenistic_India
Wheeler, Mortimer. Flames Over Persepolis. New York, NY: Reynal & Company, Inc., 1968.
Woods, Michael. In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,, 1997.
Online References:
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/afghanistan-treasures/
Alexander the Great Alexander of Macedon Biography. History of Macedon Project.
http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.html
Alexander the Great (Lists towns & garrisons Alexander established)
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html
All About Alexander the Great
http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=alexander-the-great
The Art of Gandhara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
https://books.google.com/books?id=MJ3eCZVlT48C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Archaeology of the Hellenistic Far East, Dr.Rachel Mairs. Merton College, University of Oxford.
http://www.academia.edu/420524/The_Archaeology_of_the_Hellenistic_Far_East_A_Survey
Art of the Hellenistic Age and Hellenistic Tradition, Heilbrunn. Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm
The Art of the Silk Road: The Parthian Empire,
http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/parthians/parthians.html
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA: Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, Curriculum unit for teachers
http://education.asianart.org/explore-resources/lesson-or-activity/afghanistan-and-silk-road-map-project-lesson
Gandhara Art: The British Museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/egypt/cleopatra_history_to_myth/marble_portrait_of_alexander_t.aspx
Guimet Museum: Gandhara Images
http://www.guimet.fr/spip.php?page=mot&id_mot=229&id_rubrique=32
Map of Alexander the Great's Empire in 323 BC, courtesy of Maps ETC,
An online service of Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse, University of South Florida, 2007.
http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/800/849/849.htm
Map of Alexander's Empire, Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_III_empire_map-fr.svg
Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Art of Gandhara
http://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?y=4&x=13&ft=gandhara&rpp=100&pg=1
Alexander the Great was not merely interested in conquest. His dream was to travel "to the ends of the earth." His love of adventure, and his quest for knowledge became a quest to cross the unknown plains of Asia, and to reach the Endless Ocean, which the Greeks believed marked the boundary of the world. By the year 326 BC, Alexander's armies had marched and fought for more than eight years. Exhausted his commanders refused to continue past the Beas River. This was to be the "final frontier." For the first time, Alexander could not persuade his men to continue to the east. Ultimately they journeyed down the Indus River to head south to the sea and return. Throughout his empire, Alexander founded cities, towns, and military outposts to both support his armies, but also to facilitate the movement of supplies the length of Central Asia. Likewise, Greeks and Macedonian soldiers, officials and traders flocked to settle these cities, bringing Greek political and cultural ideas throughout the vast region. Though a matter of much debate, this "influence" is now seen as a blending of Greek and local culture.
Watch Beyond Boundaries: Buddhist Art of Gandhara (Berkeley Art Museums/Pacific Film Archive)
This 47-minute overview describes how the Gandhara region was a crossroads of art and culture from the second to the ninth century AD. Images of the Buddha
reflect the cultural exchanges between the Hellenistic world and the native artistic traditions of India.
See the San Francisco Asian Art Museum lessons on Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
This unit provides extensive background and photographs about the region of Gandhara and the wealthy Silk Roads city of Ai Khanoum.
Lessons 1 through 5 provide photographs of the region and artifacts for students to learn about "the ends of the earth." This was the farthest region
explored and conquered by Alexander the Great.
Examples of Gandharan and Kushan sculpture can be found by clicking here.
FIne examples of Gandharan art can be found on the websites of the:
• Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• British Museum, London
• Victoria & Albert Museum, London
• Guimet Museum, Paris
Teachers can read Dr. Rachel Mair's "Hellenistic India: New Voices in Classical Reception Studies" for current perspectives on cultural syncretism.
Ask students to carefully examine images. Encourage students to discuss:
"What do you see that shows evidence of Classical Greek style?"
"What other elements do you notice that seem to be different or unlike this traditional style? Why?"
ASSESSMENT:
Using the Teacher's Guide: Analyzing Primary Sources (Library of Congress ask students to describe stylistic qualities of one object of Gandharan art.
• What influences seem "classically Greek? What aspects might seem Persian? Why?
• Compare a "bodhisattva" image from India to one found at Gandhara. How does Greek influence show? What aspects seem Indian?
• Find examples of Hellenistic art from other regions of Alexander's empire on the internet or in library books. What common characteristics do you notice?
• Discuss the meaning of the term "Hellenistic art."
• Make a classroom map to show photo examples of Hellenistic sculpture or architecture.
• Ask students to find examples of Greek architectural features in their community. (You'd be surprised once you start looking!) Discuss why this is so.
Here are a few obvious examples:
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, San Francisco, CA
GLOSSARY of TERMS
acropolis - The citadel of a Greek city, usually located at the highest point, where the major temples and public buildings are located.
amalgam - a mixture of different elements.
Bactria - A region that was considered part of the greater Persian Empire in the early 6th Century BCE. It was located in northern Afghanistan and included parts
of present day Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th Century BCE, it became the center of a Greco-
Bactrian kingdom that lasted several centuries. The capital of Bactria was Balkh. The empire gradually declined under the Kushan dynasty in the 1st
Century CE.
Balkh - An ancient city in Northern Afghanistan that was the capital of the kingdom of Bactria. It is also the name of a modern district in Afghanistan today that
roughly corresponds to ancient Bactria. The ancient city of Balkh was destroyed in the 13th century. The modern city of Balkh is closely associated with
Mazar-e-Sharif.
Bodhisattva - a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others and is worshipped as a deity in Mahayana Buddhism.
colonization - During the Greek and Hellenistic period, there was relative independence from the metropole (mother city). Frequently, colonies were established for
population transfer in addition to economic purposes.
Corinthian - One of the three major orders of classical architecture (the other two are Doric and Ionic). A characteristic of the Corinthian column is the capital that
is embellished with acanthus leaves. It is the most decorative of the orders. The Corinthian order was developed in Athens in the 5th Century BCE. Its
popularity spread to the West, the Roman Empire, and to Central Asia.
Diadochi - "The Successors" - those generals who assumed control following the death of Alexander. The empire broke into the following regional kingdoms:
• Antigonid dynasty in Macedon and central Greece
• Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt based in Alexandria
• Seleucid dynasty in Syria and Mesopotamia based in Syria
• Attalid dynasty in Anatolia based at Pergamum
• Greco-Bactrian and Greco-Indian kingdoms near the Indus River.
• Pontus kingdom near the Black Sea.
Gandhara - The ancient kingdom located in the foothills of the Himalayas north of the present day city of Peshawar, Pakistan, once an incredibly wealthy region due to
its position along the Silk Road trade routes linking China, South Asia, and the Mediterranean. Recent scholarship dates Gandharan findings from the Second
Century, BC to the 7th Century AD. Originally influenced by Greek settlement during the Hellenistic Age, later influences were Roman, Scythian, Parthians,
Kushans, Huns, and Indian.
Hellenism - Devotion to ancient Greek language, customs, artistic styles, and other cultural practices, primarily after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE).
This often existed in imperial and colonial areas with people not necessarily of Greek origin.
hybrid - Person, plant, or thing whose background is of two different traditions / cultures.
entrepot - A conveniently located port that includes the following:
• safe anchorage during storms
• source of good drinking water
• stable political system that guarantees security for foreigners
• well-developed system of coinage, weights & measures, and quality control for cargoes
• low taxes
• reliable workforce for loading/unloading ships, guarding ships and storehouses.
• ready supplies of wood for masts and ship repair
• skilled pilots, guides, and interpreters for subsequent journeys.
An entrepot does not necessarily produce resources. It may or may not be a manufacturing center.
Kushans - Central Asian nomadic people who conquered much of South, Central, and Western Asia in the 1st Century CE. They ruled a kingdom based in northern
India from the first through third centuries CE.
Silk Road - The collection of trade routes and resting points for caravans linking Asia and the West, from China to the Middle East; the trade routes that were significantly
expanded in the fourth century BCE with Alexander's conquests, enduring through the 14th century CE; a metaphor for the exchange of goods and ideas
between East and West that occurred over the course of many centuries, serving to facilitate the spread of Buddhism, trade, and international relations.
syncretism - The unforeseen blending and adaptation of culture(s) that develops as a result of conquest or colonization.
Books for students:
Gunther, John. Alexander the Great. New York, NY: Sterling Point Books, 2007.
Kazantzkis, Nikos. Translated by Theodora Vasils. Alexander the Great: A Novel. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1982.
Shecter, Vicky Alvear. Alexander the Great Rocks the World. Plain City, OH: Darby Creek Publishing, 2006.
Zarabouka, Sofia. The Story of Alexander the Great. Los Angeles, CA: J. Paul Getty Trust, 2004.
Books and Articles for teachers:
Baker, Rosalie F. and Charles F. Baker III. Ancient Greeks, Creating the Classical Tradition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Fildes, Alan & Joann Fletcher. Alexander the Great: Son of the Gods. Getty Trust Publications, 2002.
Fox, Robin Lane. The Search for Alexander. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1980.
Behrendt, Kurt A. The Art of Gandhara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.
Green, Peter. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C. A Historical Biography. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991.
Hiebert, Fredrik and Pierre Cambon, Ed. Afghanistan, Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2008.
Mairs, Rachel R. "Hellenistic India" New Voices in Classical Reception Studies, Issue 1, 2006. http://brown.academia.edu/RachelMairs/Papers/169809/Hellenistic_India
Wheeler, Mortimer. Flames Over Persepolis. New York, NY: Reynal & Company, Inc., 1968.
Woods, Michael. In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,, 1997.
Online References:
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/afghanistan-treasures/
Alexander the Great Alexander of Macedon Biography. History of Macedon Project.
http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.html
Alexander the Great (Lists towns & garrisons Alexander established)
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html
All About Alexander the Great
http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=alexander-the-great
The Art of Gandhara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
https://books.google.com/books?id=MJ3eCZVlT48C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Archaeology of the Hellenistic Far East, Dr.Rachel Mairs. Merton College, University of Oxford.
http://www.academia.edu/420524/The_Archaeology_of_the_Hellenistic_Far_East_A_Survey
Art of the Hellenistic Age and Hellenistic Tradition, Heilbrunn. Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm
The Art of the Silk Road: The Parthian Empire,
http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/parthians/parthians.html
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA: Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul, Curriculum unit for teachers
http://education.asianart.org/explore-resources/lesson-or-activity/afghanistan-and-silk-road-map-project-lesson
Gandhara Art: The British Museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/egypt/cleopatra_history_to_myth/marble_portrait_of_alexander_t.aspx
Guimet Museum: Gandhara Images
http://www.guimet.fr/spip.php?page=mot&id_mot=229&id_rubrique=32
Map of Alexander the Great's Empire in 323 BC, courtesy of Maps ETC,
An online service of Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse, University of South Florida, 2007.
http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/800/849/849.htm
Map of Alexander's Empire, Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_III_empire_map-fr.svg
Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Art of Gandhara
http://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?y=4&x=13&ft=gandhara&rpp=100&pg=1