Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

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delos13
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Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by delos13 »

I found this image, suspected to be that of Alexander (I guess because of the horns). I couldn't find much information about it but nevertheless I think it's worth sharing.

"Frescoes suspected to be those of Alexander the Great from Fayaz-Tepe (1-2 century AD) Termez. Author Ryoichi Sato."

Fayaz Tepe is a Buddist monastery of Kushan period in the Termez area. Termez is a city in the southernmost part of Uzbekistan. It was known to Achaemenids in the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great conquered Termez in 329 BC.
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Alexias
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by Alexias »

Interesting. That looks like a sideburn, but an earring? And a halo?
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by delos13 »

I didn't realize that white circle was a halo. It would be nice to read a description of this piece by somebody who is familiar with iconography of this art.

As for the earring.....who knows, maybe it is not Alexander but Hephaistion who, following the famous phrase, is Alexander too and as such can be depicted with horns. The earring, however, was a symbol of Hazarpatish. :)
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by system1988 »

Πάντες άνθρωποι του ειδέναι ορέγονται φύσει
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by Argyraspid »

The most intriguing part of this fresco are the horns. They look like a later addition, maybe to justify the labelling "Alexander the Great"? Beside the horns, I fail to see which elements could tie the picture to Alexander anyway.
The ruins of Kempyr Tepe are being presented as being those of Alexandria-on-the-Oxus or Alexandria Oxiana, which was till now linked to the site of Ai Khanoum. Both cities are on the Oxus River and were built in the 4th century BC. It seems plausible that they were built by Alexander (if not, very soon afterwards). Adding a picture of Alexander to the site of Kempyr Tepe makes it an obvious favorite.
So many questions remain unanswered, unfortunately!
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by Susa the Great »

Image

Oh.My.God.

It is most surprising! Uzbekistan, it Must be Alexander with the Aries horns! He had been there, and, being the maelström he was, he surely had lingered.

I have searched further. I found another picture of this wall painting in Livius.org. This one is more damaged, and it makes me think that the pic posted here by delos13 means only one thing: conservators have been overmanipulating the fragmented frescoe. Drat! Conservators might do this, it is not the done thing IMPO. And it does confuse us in that the right horn is original. In my file picture it is possible to see the horn which is the original, plus the one which has been added recently (OMG if I could have been that one conservator, I'd never do that... but then it is a professional debate going round and round and getting nowhere like most arguments).
The horn is a later addition indeed – the left horn. We see that the conservators have completed the left horn for clarity sake. But the right horn is impressively original and fading. It is a crime what they did after this Livius Picture was produced. Tsk. Reminds me of that Spanish Christ restored by a pious lady...
As for the earring, well, the depiction will of course follow the art schemes of time/place, right? And halos are often used to depict gods, heroes and kings in art in general (just checking wiki).
Incidently, delos13, I didn’t understand that about earring and Hephaestion? Hazarapatish symbol, earrings? And no, no way that being H. That is very probably A stylishly depicted as an Asiatic king, with hairdressing and all!
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by delos13 »

Susa the Great wrote:
Incidently, delos13, I didn’t understand that about earring and Hephaestion? Hazarapatish symbol, earrings? And no, no way that being H. That is very probably A stylishly depicted as an Asiatic king, with hairdressing and all!
I read some time ago either here on Pothos or on Livius.org(I hope I am not confusing my sources) that wearing one earring was one of the status symbols associated with Hazarpatish. So I referred jokingly that the image might be that of Hephaistion because there is an earring in the left ear of the restored fresco and though Hephaistion was never depicted with horns, since he was Alexander too, it might be the image of Hephaistion. Of course, I wrote it as a joke.

Thanks a lot for providing an original image. I tried to find other versions of the photo or any info about the author mentioned in the article (Author Ryoichi Sato) but couldn't discover anything. I don't know if the picture I found is indeed a restored image or just author's vision.
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Susa the Great
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by Susa the Great »

I don't know if the picture I found is indeed a restored image or just author's vision
Oh, I hope the second option is the case here! Maybe he got a PhotoShop specially for his article.

Incidently, would that be possible for you to provide the link for this article you mention? Or at least the name of it?
Of course, I wrote it as a joke
Oh yes, I got the joke alright :)
But then Hephaistion would never be like Alexander in that fashion anyway. Opposite temperaments, never a Ram person, I feel - Hephaistion, I mean.
I was only curious about the Hazarapatish thing and earrings. I have a slight remembrance that those Aladdin viziers in movies wore earrings, but then it is Hollywood!
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by delos13 »

Susa the Great, it wasn't an article but an image from Pinterest, I just did a little research on the name of the site (Fayz-Tepe) to add to my post.

Doing additional research after you asked for the source, I came across website in Russian that I think provides explanation for the "retouching" of the original image. Here is translation:

"Since 2002, the Fayaztepa complex by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the UNESCO office in the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Trust Foundation from Japan has been designated a monument to the history of the old Termez. A grant was allocated for its conservation and partial restoration. And in 2004 - 2006, after the restoration work, the Fayaztepa complex became an open-air museum."

I think Mr. Ryoichi Sato (described as an author in the original Pinterest pin) maybe be somebody from that Trust foundation from Japan that participated in the conservation of the site so he applied his artistic vision to the original the fresco.

Here is the link to the above mentioned article in Russian if you want more information about the site. The English version of the site also exists but there is no information there so you have to employ Google translate. https://orexca.com/rus/monuments_termez_fayaztepa.shtml There are some photos of the site but none of the Alexander's fresco.

Interestingly enough, one of the sections of this site provide a link to the legends and fairy-tales of the area. One of fairy-tale is called "Horns of Iskander". It's an interesting mix of legend about Midas (and his long ears and the hairdresser that couldn't keep a secret) only in this particular legend King Midas is substituted with Alexander and the secret that the local hairdresser can't keep is not long ears of the kings but the fact that King Alexander has horns which he tries to hide under his long hair.
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Susa the Great
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by Susa the Great »

Hello Delos13,
Thank you for your trouble!

Ai ai ai.... What frightens many professionals is that some 'conservators' do apply their artistic vision over the object of their work. You see --- the quality of "ancient" somehow disappears for good. We don't have the actual painting any more, and if art historians would ever want to analyse those details, they will find them quite gone, because that Japanese guy thought that his personal take on such a treasure (being Alex or not) was more important that the original artist's intentions...

Anyways, I have heard about the Midas>Alex legend, but in Iran. Here is a link to one that is told in Afghanistan:

https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/ ... o-asiatic-

You can actually read the whole article -- if it interests you -- in Google Books:
https://books.google.com.br/books?id=gD ... rs&f=false

Oh I love this story!
Come live forever with me, or transpire / a flame alone on a funeral pire / We'll build an empire if we so desire, travel the world, and set it on fire.
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delos13
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by delos13 »

Susa the Great wrote:You can actually read the whole article -- if it interests you -- in Google Books:
Thank you so much for this interesting link. I ended up reading the whole article; I remember reading some of the stories in the past, but some were completely new (or maybe simply very well forgotten).

You are right, both Afghan and Uzbek versions about Midan/Iskander are very similar, no doubt both are variations of the same legend.
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Susa the Great
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by Susa the Great »

delos13 wrote:Thank you so much for this interesting link. I ended up reading the whole article; I remember reading some of the stories in the past, but some were completely new (or maybe simply very well forgotten). You are right, both Afghan and Uzbek versions about Midan/Iskander are very similar, no doubt both are variations of the same legend.
My pleasure!

I am always thrilled about his presence imprinted in Asia!

Here there is a link to a picture which shows Buddha, Alexander and a sitting figure, inside a hut (identified as maybe Confucious). But I have this idea that that might very well be the Gandhara version of Alexander meeting Diogenes. Wouldn't that be just grand?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... ater&ifg=1
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delos13
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Re: Frescoes suspected of Alexander the Great

Post by delos13 »

Thank you, Susa the Great, very interesting. I never saw this image before. I read through the comments too, quite informative.
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