Hadda, AfghanistanFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The "Genius with flowers", Hadda, Gandhara. 2-3rd century CE.Muse Guimet.Haa(Pashto:) is aGreco-Buddhistarcheological site located in the ancient region ofGandhara, near theKhyber Pass, ten kilometers south of the city ofJalalabadin today's easternAfghanistan.Contents[hide] 1Background 2Works of art 3Buddhist scriptures 4Destruction 5Gallery 6See also 7References 8External linksBackground[edit]Some 23,000 Greco-Buddhist sculptures, both clay and plaster, were excavated in Haa during the 1930s and the 1970s. The findings combine elements ofBuddhismandHellenismin an almost perfect Hellenistic style.

TheBodhisattvaandChandeka, Haa, 5th century CE

History of Afghanistan

Timeline

Ancient[show]

Medieval[show]

Modern[show]

Book Category Portal

v t e

Although the style of the artifacts is typical of the late Hellenistic 2nd or 1st century BCE, the Haa sculptures are usually dated (although with some uncertainty), to the 1st century CE or later (i.e. one or two centuries afterward). This discrepancy might be explained by a preservation of late Hellenistic styles for a few centuries in this part of the world. However it is possible that the artifacts actually were produced in the late Hellenistic period.Given the antiquity of these sculptures and a technical refinement indicative of artists fully conversant with all the aspects of Greek sculpture, it has been suggested that Greek communities were directly involved in these realizations, and that "the area might be the cradle of incipient Buddhist sculpture inIndo-Greekstyle".[1]The style of many of the works at Haa is highly Hellenistic, and can be compared to sculptures found at theTemple of Apollo in Bassae, Greece.ThetoponymHaa has its origins inSanskrithaa n. m., "a bone", or, an unrecorded *haaka, adj., "(place) of bones". The former - if not a fossilized form - would have given rise to a Ha in the subsequent vernaculars of northern India (and in theOld Indicloans in modern Pashto). The latter would have given rise to the form Haa naturally and would well reflect the belief that Haa housed a bone-relic of Buddha. The term haa is found as a loan inPashtoha, n., id. and may reflect the linguistic influence of the original pre-Islamic Indian population of the area.Works of art[edit]A sculptural group excavated at the Haa site of Tapa-i-Shotor representsBuddhasurrounded by perfectly HellenisticHeraklesandTycheholding acornucopia.[2]The only adaptation of the Greek iconography is that Herakles holds the thunderbolt ofVajrapanirather than his usual club.Other attendants to the Buddha have been excavated which display manifest Hellenistic styles, such as the "Genie au Fleur", today in Paris at theGuimet Museum.[3]Buddhist scriptures[edit]It is believed the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts-indeed the oldest surviving Indian manuscripts of any kind-were recovered around Haa. Probably dating from around the 1st century CE, they were written on bark inGandhariusing theKharohscript, and were unearthed in a clay pot bearing an inscription in the same language and script. They are part of the long-lost canon of theSarvastivadinSect that dominatedGandharaand was instrumental in Buddhism's spread into central and east Asia via theSilk Road. The manuscripts are now in the possession of theBritish Library.See also:Gandharan Buddhist textsDestruction[edit]Haa is said to have been almost entirely destroyed in the fighting during the Civil war inAfghanistan.Gallery[edit] Head of the Buddha, Haa. Greek clothes,amphoras, wine and music, 1st century CE, Haa. Portraits from Haa, 3rd century CE. Decorativescrollsfrom Haa. The Greek godAtlas, supporting a Buddhist monument, Haa. Polychrome Buddha, 2nd century CE, Haa. Young woman, 3-4th century, Haa. "Laughing boy" from Haa. A sculpture from Hadda, 3rd century CE.There were also many works of art lost as a result of the civil war. One of the worst of the casualties was the loss of two statues. The Red Mountain range in Bamiyan that once housed two giant statues of the Buddha, on cliff faces, besides smaller structures of archaeological significance. The two big statues, dating back to the 5th or 6th century CE, were the largest of all Buddhist statues so far attested in the world. Only remnants of these statues were left behind.