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[German version] (Σακαστανή/ Sakastanḗ: Isidorus of Charax, Stathmoí Parthikoí 18 = GGM 1,253). The land on the middle course of the Etymander (Helmand), between Arachosia and Drangiana, occupied since the 2nd cent. BC by Sacae, also called Paraetacene by Isidorus of Charax. When the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares conquered the Indian land of the Saces, it appears that he also occupied Arachosia and Sacastane. Ardašīr (Ardashir [1] I), the first Sassanid king (224-241), conquered the land of Sacast…

[German version] [1] City in Bactria A city in Bactria, named only by Arr. Anab. 3,29,1, apart from Bactra (today Balch) the greatest city of this land, and probably identical with the present-day Tashkurgan [1]. In the castle of A., Alexander left behind a garrison in 329 BC. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography 1 Atlas of the World II, Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, 1959, pl. 31. [German version] [2] Mountain fortress near the Indus Mountain fortress near the Indus, allegedly conquered by Hercules and then by Alexander 328 BC (Arr. Anab. 4,28,1; Ind. 5,10; A…

[German version] A tribe of the Hilmend plain (Arr. Anab. 3,27,4) known from Alexander's campaign ( Alexander [4]). 3,27,4). Excavations uncovered Iron Age settlements with fire cult temples, as in Dahan-i Ghulaman, possibly the old Zarina drangiana. They were probably identical to the Εὐεργέται ( Euergétai) in Arr. 4,6,6 and Diod. Sic. 18,81. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography U. Scerrato, Evidence of religious life at Dahan-e Ghalaman, Sistan, in: South Asian Archaeology 1977, 1979, 709-733.

[German version] Finds of coins from the period of the Indo-Greek kings  Artemidorus [1], Peucolas and  Archebius (around 130 BC) and the Saka king Azes I (around 70 BC) prove that G. was an important centre in the Graeco-Bactrian period. The Buddhist monastery of Tapa Sardar (2nd-4th cents. AD) discovered closeby and buildings of the Islamic Ghaznowid dynasty of the 11th-12th cents. attest to the continuous importance of the region. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography F. R. Allchin, N. Hammond, The Archaeology of Afghanistan from the earliest times to the Timuri…

[German version] Iranian deity of water and fertility; the name means ‘unpolluted’, ‘spotless’. She is described very specifically in Yt. 5,126-129; presumably the description is of a statue. The animal seen as sacred to her was the beaver. First mentioned in Iranian inscriptions at the time of Artaxerxes II. According to Clement of Alexandria (Protrept. 5,65,3), Berossus (III) reported that Artaxerxes had had statues of A. erected in Bactria, Ecbatana, Susa, Babylon, Damascus and Sardes. A popular deity from the Parthian era, with …

[German version] (Ἀρμαουίρα; Armaouíra). City mentioned in Ptol. 5.12.5 M. and 8.19.11 N. on the left bank of the Aras, the Urartian Argistichinili. Castle and residence on the crest of a mountain, the city below it on the slope leading down to the River A.; first capital of the Armenian kingdom. Excavations have revealed Urartian material, as well as ancient Armenian strata, including a gold medallion picturing the goddess  Anahita (?). Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography A. A. Martirosjan, Argistichinili I, Archeologiceskie Pamjatniki Armenii 8, 1974.

[German version] [1] City in Boeotia (Νῖσα/ Nîsa). City in Boeotia, mentioned only in the Homeric catalogue of ships (Hom. Il. 2,508). In Antiquity, it was identified (Paus. 1,39,4-6) with Megara [2], the main port of which was called Nisaea, but this is unlikely. Evidence: Str. 9,2,14; Dionysius Calliphontus 102; schol. Theocr. 12,27; schol. Hom. Il. 2,508. Freitag, Klaus (Münster) Bibliography E. Visser, Homers Katalog der Schiffe, 1997, 279f. [German version] [2] City and fortress complex in Turkmenistan This item can be found on the following maps: Graeco…

[German version] (Οὔτιοι/ Oútioi, in Herodotus 3,93 and 7,68) and Yutica/Yutiyâ (Middle Persian, in the Darius Inscription of Bisutun 40,23), mentioned as a Persian tribe in the Fourteenth Satrapy. The U. contingent in Xerxes's army was under the command of Arsamenes, a son of Darius [1] I. It is suggested that their settlement area was in Carmania. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography H. Treidler, s. v. U., RE 9 A, 1185-1187 R. Borger, W. Hinz, Die Behistun-Inschrift Darius' des Großen, in: Id., W. H. Ph. Römer, in: TUAT 1.4, 1984, 419-450.

[German version] (Βάκτρα; Báktra). Commercial and residential town at the intersection of two caravan routes in north Afghanistan. Originally Ζαρίασπα ( Zaríaspa; Arr. 3,1,5,71; Pol. 10,49) or Zariastes (Plin. HN 6,48). Today densely populated and, therefore, only excavations at the edge of the tell.  Antiochus III besieged  Euthydemus in vain in 206 BC; the latter built up the Graeco-Bactrian empire from here ( Bactria). In 1966, a hoard find brought forth more than 170 Greek coins from the period before 380 BC. Inhabited and fortified until today. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Trei…

[German version] (Κύρτιοι; Kýrtioi, Lat. Cyrtii). Mentioned at Str. 11,523; 727 as nomads in northern Media and Persia. Pol. 5,52,5 mentions the C. as reserve troops of the Median governor Molon in the struggle against Antiochus III. Liv. 37,40,9 mentions them as opponents of the Romans in the battle of Magnesia (190 BC); at Liv. 42,58,13 they appear as Roman mercenaries with Callinicus (171 BC). On the basis of their name, they are seen as the ancestors of the Kurds. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] Inland body of water between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan; it receives hardly any precipitation and the only water supply is from the Syr-darja and Amu-darja. The area covered by water in antiquity was more than double the size than that in 1962. The areas abandoned after the departure of nomads moving to Bactria (140-120 BC) have become desertified since then, in the same way as the western and north-eastern parts of Chorezmia. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin)

[German version] Oval city site east of Lake Aral (800 × 600 m), with a citadel and six funerary buildings of the 4th-2nd cents. BC. Interpreted as the capital city of the  Apasiaci, abandoned in the late 2nd cent. BC. In the 3rd (?) cent. AD a rectangular fortification of the Khorezm state was built on the city site. Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) Bibliography S. P. Tolstov, Po drevnim del'tam Oksa i Jaksarta, 1962.