Page:India—what can it teach us?.djvu/281

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

NOTE A, p. 9.

ON THE TREASURES FOUND ON THE OXUS AND AT MYKENAE.

The treasure found on the north bank of the Oxus in 1877, and described by General Cunningham in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1881, contains coins from Darius down to Antiochus the Great and Euthydemus of Bactria. The treasure seems therefore to have been buried on the bank of the river at the time when Euthydemus marched against Antiochus, who invaded Bactria in 208 b.c. Euthydemus was defeated, and the treasure, whether belonging to him or to one of his nobles, was left untouched till the other day. There can be no doubt as to the Persian character of many of the coins, figures, and ornaments discovered on the bank of the Oxus, and we must suppose therefore that they were spoils carried away from Persia, and kept for a time in Bactria by the victorious generals of Alexander.

Now of all the hypotheses that have been put forward with regard to the treasure found at Mykenae, or at least some portion of it, that of Professor Forchhammer has always seemed to me the most plausible. According to his view, some of the works of art discovered at Mykenae should be considered as part of the spoils that fell to Mykenae, as her legitimate share in the booty of the Persian camp. The Persian, or, if you like, Assyrian character of some of the things discovered in the tombs of Mykenae admits of no doubt. The representation of the king in his chariot, with the charioteer, hunting the stag, is clearly Assyrian or Persian. The dress of the figures on some of the seals is decidedly Assyrian or Persian. Now the same style of art