DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0646
SCULPTURES ON NEMRUD DAGH. 609
ing statues are repetitions, in form, of this one, but vary in the heads. From
the verbose and somewhat pompous inscription, we learn that Antiochos had
received glory, might, and all the goods of life, because of his pious deeds.
He tells us that he had not only submitted his rule to the gods, and trusted
them, but that he had also consecrated to them images, and provided for their
worship. Moreover, he had chosen this lofty summit to be the last abiding-
place of his body deserted by the soul, that it might be near the dwelling of
the Eternals, and had consecrated this tomb to the worship of the gods and of
his ancestors. Not only had he erected this sacred place, but he had ordained
priests, who should, on the anniversary of his birth and coronation days, hold
solemn services to the gods. Fully to secure these services, he then gives his
orders to all coming rulers to carry out his wishes."95 So these colossi are
the deities he mentions; the largest being Zeus-Oromazdes, a strange com-
bination of the Greek Zeus and the Persian Ormuzd. The female figure
is Commagene, a personification of the country. The young king himself
appears among these divinities; and two of the other colossi represent
peculiar syncretic gods,—Artagnes-Heracles-Ares, and Apollo-Mithras-Helios-
Hermes. The reliefs found, doubtless, represent the ancestors of the proud
Antiochos ; the first of whom, as the inscription showed, was Darius, Hystas-
pes' son. The pose and costume of these figures are, moreover, more Oriental
than Greek ; so that altogether, in these remarkable sculptures completing
Antiochos' lofty grave, we have witnesses, in his inland kingdom, to a strange
mingling of Greek and Oriental elements in the late day when he ruled (69-34
B.C.).
Even to far-off India, in consequence of the revolutionizing conquests of
Alexander, the influence of Greek sculpture spread during the opening cen-
turies of the Hellenistic age. It was by way of Bactria, a part of the Persian
Empire, where Greek colonists and kings established themselves, that Greek
rule and influence were thus extended. The coins of these Bactrian princes are
a most interesting evidence of the activity of Greek artists in this remote in-
land country, and point out the course by which Greek art found its way even
to India.11??11 At Peshawur in the Punjab have been found probably the earliest
Indian sculptures in stone, which are thought to date from about the reign of
the great king A^oka, 250 B.C."95b In these monuments, now removed to the
British Museum, the Greek modes of expression are most evident, not only
in those which are clearly portraits, but also in more ideal subjects. The
garments worn are a copy of Greek drapery, and there is much vigor in the
portraiture. That this Greek influence, however, was not strong enough mate-
rially to affect the later life of Indian sculpture, is not strange. In the monu-
ments of subsequent days, as, for instance, in those from the great tope at
Amravati, it has quite faded out, giving place to a voluptuous, unpleasant style,
and repulsive symbolism.
ing statues are repetitions, in form, of this one, but vary in the heads. From
the verbose and somewhat pompous inscription, we learn that Antiochos had
received glory, might, and all the goods of life, because of his pious deeds.
He tells us that he had not only submitted his rule to the gods, and trusted
them, but that he had also consecrated to them images, and provided for their
worship. Moreover, he had chosen this lofty summit to be the last abiding-
place of his body deserted by the soul, that it might be near the dwelling of
the Eternals, and had consecrated this tomb to the worship of the gods and of
his ancestors. Not only had he erected this sacred place, but he had ordained
priests, who should, on the anniversary of his birth and coronation days, hold
solemn services to the gods. Fully to secure these services, he then gives his
orders to all coming rulers to carry out his wishes."95 So these colossi are
the deities he mentions; the largest being Zeus-Oromazdes, a strange com-
bination of the Greek Zeus and the Persian Ormuzd. The female figure
is Commagene, a personification of the country. The young king himself
appears among these divinities; and two of the other colossi represent
peculiar syncretic gods,—Artagnes-Heracles-Ares, and Apollo-Mithras-Helios-
Hermes. The reliefs found, doubtless, represent the ancestors of the proud
Antiochos ; the first of whom, as the inscription showed, was Darius, Hystas-
pes' son. The pose and costume of these figures are, moreover, more Oriental
than Greek ; so that altogether, in these remarkable sculptures completing
Antiochos' lofty grave, we have witnesses, in his inland kingdom, to a strange
mingling of Greek and Oriental elements in the late day when he ruled (69-34
B.C.).
Even to far-off India, in consequence of the revolutionizing conquests of
Alexander, the influence of Greek sculpture spread during the opening cen-
turies of the Hellenistic age. It was by way of Bactria, a part of the Persian
Empire, where Greek colonists and kings established themselves, that Greek
rule and influence were thus extended. The coins of these Bactrian princes are
a most interesting evidence of the activity of Greek artists in this remote in-
land country, and point out the course by which Greek art found its way even
to India.11??11 At Peshawur in the Punjab have been found probably the earliest
Indian sculptures in stone, which are thought to date from about the reign of
the great king A^oka, 250 B.C."95b In these monuments, now removed to the
British Museum, the Greek modes of expression are most evident, not only
in those which are clearly portraits, but also in more ideal subjects. The
garments worn are a copy of Greek drapery, and there is much vigor in the
portraiture. That this Greek influence, however, was not strong enough mate-
rially to affect the later life of Indian sculpture, is not strange. In the monu-
ments of subsequent days, as, for instance, in those from the great tope at
Amravati, it has quite faded out, giving place to a voluptuous, unpleasant style,
and repulsive symbolism.