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The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex
(BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilisation, is
the modern archaeological designation for a
Bronze Age civilisation in Central Asia, that
flourished between ca. 2300 and 1700 BC, in an
area located in present-day northern Afghanistan,
eastern Turkmenistan, southern Uzbekistan and
western Tajikistan, centred on the upper Amu
Darya (Oxus River).
Bactria was the ancient Greek name for the area
of Bactra (modern Balkh), in what is now northern
Afghanistan, and Margiana was the ancient Greek
name for the Persian satrapy of Margiana, the
capital of which was Merv, in modern-day
southeastern Turkmenistan.
Several sites of this civilisation were discovered
and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor
Sarianidi (1976). Sarianidi's excavations from the
late 1970s onwards, revealed numerous
monumental structures in sites fortified by
impressive walls and gates.
The people of the BMAC culture were very
proficient at working in a variety of metals
including bronze, copper, silver and gold, as
attested through the many metal artefacts found
throughout the sites. They also practised the
farming of wheat and barley. With their impressive
material culture including monumental
architecture, bronze tools, ceramics, and
jewellery of semiprecious stones, the complex
exhibits many of the hallmarks of civilisation.
The BMAC was contemporary
with the European Bronze Age, and was
characterised by monumental architecture, social
complexity and extremely distinctive cultural
artefacts.
Pictographs on
seals have been argued to indicate an
independently-developed writing system.
It was one of many economic and social entities
in the vicinity, and was a powerful country due to
the exceptional fertility and wealth of its
agricultural lands. This in turn gave rise to a
complex and multifaceted set of societies with
specialist craftsmen who produced luxury
materials such as this for the ruling and
aristocratic elites. Trade appears to have been
important, as Bactrian artefacts appear all over
the Persian Gulf as well as in the Iranian Plateau
and the Indus Valley. For this reason, the area
was fought over from deep prehistory until the
Mediaeval period, by the armies of Asia Minor,
Greece (Macedonia), India and the Arab States,
amongst others.
During the 2nd millennium BC metallurgists in
Bactria-Margiana were already fairly well-versed
in the bronze casting process, both by mould
and lost wax. As an integral part in their artistic
production, bronze was used not only for
ceremonial and functional axes, but also to
create adornments, including pins, pendants and
other accessories such as small cosmetic bottles.
These bottles have been mostly excavated from
burial contexts in Bactria-Margiana; the most
interesting examples featuring three-
dimensional sculptures of animals, just like the
one here illustrated.
- (LO.1042)
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