Berenike Buddha

Berenike Buddha
Photograph of the Berenike Buddha, front and side views. [1] [2]
Material	Anatolian marble
Size	71 centimetres (28 in)
Created	c. 100 CE, 2nd century CE, possibly in Alexandria
Present location	Egypt
class=notpageimage| Location of Berenike, where the Buddha was excavated

The Berenike Buddha is a statue of the Buddha parts of which were discovered in January 2018 and January 2022 in an archaeological excavation in the ancient harbour of Berenike, Egypt, by an American-Polish archaeological mission. The statue was discovered in the forecourt of an early Roman period temple dedicated to the Goddess Isis. ^{[3] [1]}

The statue has been alleged to be the first statue of the Buddha to ever be found west of Afghanistan, ^[1] but the Helgö Buddha was found earlier. This one attests to the extent of Indo-Roman relations in the early centuries of the Common Era. ^[1]

Origin

The Buddha statue was excavated in Berenike, an Egyptian port city on the western shore of the Red Sea. Based on stylistic details and the context of the excavation, researchers thought that the statue was made in Alexandria around the second century CE. ^[1] According to Steven Sidebotham, a history professor at the University of Delaware who is co-director of the Berenike Project, the statue dates to between 90 and 140 CE. ^[4] It was made from a stone that was extracted south of Istanbul, and may also have been carved in Berenike itself. ^[5] The statue has a halo around the head of the Buddha, decorated with the rays of the sun, and has a lotus flower by his side. ^[1] It is 71cm tall. ^[5]

The excavations at Berenike also yielded other artifacts related to ancient India: an inscription in Sanskrit dated to the Roman Emperor, Philip the Arab (244 to 249 CE), as well as Satavahana coins dated to the 2nd century CE. ^[6] They also discovered inscriptions in Greek, including one below the Sanskrit inscriptions, something Rodney Ast, the researcher from Heidelberg University who discovered the Buddha figure, says is “unique in Egypt.” ^[7]

“It’s probable that the statues were carved in Berenice and, without a doubt, the inscription too. So the place had artisans capable of making those objects and people interested in ordering them,” explains Ast, who also points out that the discovery raises new questions. “What does it mean to make an offering of a Buddha statue in a Roman temple to Isis in Egypt? It is a topic that will keep anthropologists, historians and others busy for a while,” he says. ^[8]

Various fragmentary parts of Buddha statues (torsos, heads) had already been discovered at Berenike in 2019, some made of local gypsum. ^{[9] [10]}

See also

• Buddhist art
• Buddhism and the Roman world
• Greco-Buddhism
• Indo-Roman relations

References

1. Magazine, Smithsonian; Parker, Christopher. "Archaeologists Unearth Buddha Statue in Ancient Egyptian Port City". Smithsonian Magazine.
2. "Buddha statue found at Berenike (Egypt)". Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw.
3. "Garum Masala;Dramatic archaeological discoveries have led scholars to radically reassess the size and importance of the trade between ancient Rome and India". New York Review. 20 April 2023.
4. Jarus, Owen (2 May 2023). "1st-century Buddha statue from ancient Egypt indicates Buddhists lived there in Roman times". livescience.com.
5. "Buddha statue found in ancient Egyptian seaport, points to Roman-era links with India". ABC News. 28 April 2023.
6. "Statue depicting Buddha found in Ancient Egyptian city". HeritageDaily - Archaeology News. 27 April 2023.
7. Español, Marc (2023-05-10). "Buddha in the land of the pharaohs: 2,000-year-old statue of Siddhartha Gautama discovered in Egypt". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
8. Español, Marc (2023-05-10). "Buddha in the land of the pharaohs: 2,000-year-old statue of Siddhartha Gautama discovered in Egypt". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
9. Carannante, Alfredo; Ast, Rodney; Kaper, Olaf; Tomber, Roberta (1 January 2020). "Berenike 2019: Report on the Excavations". Thetis. Some of the stone sculpture, both relief and in the round, included images of Buddha and other South Asian deities. (...) The second item was a small stone head of Buddha measuring 9.3 cm high. Its hair was drawn back from the front and sides in wavy strands. The topknot was unusually flat, but clearly marked by a ribbon surrounding it, both typical elements of Buddha heads. The ears, which would have to be characterized by long earlobes, were not represented, but were probably painted on slightly protruding surfaces (Pl. XXIII 1, 2 and 4). An artisan at Berenike had produced it from local gypsum. According to its overall appearance this iconography seems to be Gandharan, Kushan or Guptan.
10. Kaper, O.E (2021). "Berenike as a Harbour for Meroe: New evidence for Meroitic presence on the Red Sea Coast". Der Antike Sudan. Mitteilungen Der Sudanarchäologischen Gesellschaft Zu Berlin E.v. 32: 58.