Rachel Mairs

The Archaeology of the Hellenistic Far East: a Survey (Bar International) Rachel Mairs

This book is intended as an introduction to the archaeology of the easternmost regions of Greek settlement in the Hellenistic period, from the conquests of Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BC, through to the last Greek-named kings of north-western India somewhere around the late first century BC, or even early first century AD. The Far East of the Hellenistic world a region comprising areas of what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the former-Soviet Central Asian Republics is best known from the archaeological remains of sites such as Ai Khanoum, which attest the endurance of Greek cultural and political presence in the region in the three centuries following the conquests of Alexander the Great. The chapters here survey the available evidence, including Latin, Greek, Chinese and Indian texts, as well as archaeology, survey the secondary literature, and ponder themes of identity, cultural contact and ethnicity.