Saturday, April 29, 2023

The Buddha of Berenike

Berenike in Egypt was the Roman Empire's main window toward India. In the 2nd century AD fleets of ships sailed back and forth with the monsoon winds, carrying on a significant trade. 

The latest find from the ongoing excavations is this statue of the Buddha, which was found in the forecourt of the Temple of Isis. It is 28 inches high (71 cm). My first thought was that this must have come from India, but apparently not; the analysis says the marble was quarried near Istanbul. This means somebody in the Roman empire knew how to carve statues of the Buddha

And also that somebody in Berenike was interested enough in the Buddha to purchase this statue and leave it as an offering at the Temple of Isis, another fascinating look at the religious syncretism of the Roman Empire.

3 comments:

  1. My first thought was that this must have come from India, but apparently not; the analysis says the marble was quarried near Istanbul. This means somebody in the Roman empire knew how to carve statues of the Buddha

    And also that somebody in Berenike was interested enough in the Buddha to purchase this statue and leave it as an offereing at the Temple of Isis, another fascinating look at the religious syncretism of the Roman Empire.


    The "somebody" in question need not have been interested in Buddha, per se.

    A Buddha statue made in India arrives in the west via trade. Perhaps all the information people have about it is "Made in India / Far To The East" and "Some Sort of Religious Figure". Some local gets it at a decent price, maybe keeps it in their shop out of a simple liking for it, or perhaps a hope that it might bring good fortune.

    Curious customers inquire about buying it, despite it not being for sale - enough that the owner thinks, "Hey, why not just get copies made and sell those?" Sources some (relatively) local stone for a reasonable price, finds a craftsman, and sees some success with sales. Perhaps some local buys one and, knowing basically nothing about it, thinks it sort of resembles Serapis, and so offers it at the temple of Isis.

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  2. @Verloren

    The article has an interesting suggestion: "An Indian trader (or traders) likely acquired this figurine as a votive offering to dedicate at the Isis Temple." So one can imagine another possibility, that the trade was enough of a thing, and leaving votive statues at temples (in this case, for a safe journey) enough of a common custom, that someone local produced statues to serve precisely that traffic.

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  3. Indeed, one would expect that there was probably a colony of Indian traders living in Berenike--not enough to have their own public temple, it would seem, but with roots enough, perhaps, to develop a relationship with one of the local establishments.

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