[INDOLOGY] Sanskrit inscription in Egypt?

Tue Dec 9 13:20:12 UTC 2025

Matthew took the words out of my mouth!  Congratulations, Divya.  This is happily anticipated!

John
___________________________________________
John Nemec, Ph.D.
Professor of Indian Religions and South Asian Studies
Department of Religious Studies
323 Gibson Hall, 1540 Jefferson Park Avenue
University of Virginia
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+1 (434) 924-6716
nemec at virginia.edu
https://virginia.academia.edu/JNemec

Take a look at my new book:
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/brahmins-and-kings-9780197791998?cc=us&lang=en&
________________________________
From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Sent: Tuesday, December 9, 2025 8:18 AM
To: Divya Kumar-Dumas <dk4338 at nyu.edu>
Cc: Indology Mailing List <Indology at list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Sanskrit inscription in Egypt?

Dear Divya,

Thank you for sharing information about your fascinating and valuable project. I look forward to learning more of the book - for which, congratulations - in due course.

best regards,
Matthew

Matthew T. Kapstein
Professor emeritus
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris

Associate
The University of Chicago Divinity School

Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein

https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1

https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949

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On Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 at 1:30 PM, Divya Kumar-Dumas via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
We have a book coming out on this subject next year to be published by Brepols. It will be called « Moving (Indian) Images in the First Millennium » (or something similar) and is the product of a seminar series I designed and co-organized at NYU-ISAW in 2021-2022 called « Indian Ocean Figures that Sailed Away<https://isaw.nyu.edu/research/io-figures> ». The supporting website is active if you’d like to learn more.  Please look out for the book which features essays from participants in the series.

All best wishes,
Divya

--
Divya Kumar-Dumas, PhD<https://arthistory.umd.edu/directory/divya-kumar-dumas>
Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Art History & Archaeology
University of Maryland, College Park
Pronouns: she/her

Research Associate | Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), NYU | kumar.dumas at nyu.edu  <https://isaw.nyu.edu/people/affiliates/research-associates/divya-kumar-dumas>
Managing Editor | Gardens of the Roman Empire  <https://roman-gardens.github.io/people/>

On Mon, Dec 8, 2025 at 11:12 PM Michael Brattus Jones via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
There was a cover article on this in the July/August 2024 issue of Smithsonian magazine. It mentions both the statue and the inscription, with photographs.

Using the link below, I seemed to be able to access the full text of the article along with at least some of the photos, without triggering the paywall for their subscribers’ archive. I assume the physical copy would be widely available at libraries in any case.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hidden-ancient-egyptian-port-reveals-180984485/

Enjoy!!
Mike B. Jones

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 2, 2022, at 10:15 AM, Richard G. Salomon via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:

Thanks to Charlie and all the others who responded to my query about the Sanskrit inscription from Egypt. I don't have time right now to look closely at it, but this does seem to be the real deal. Very interesting!

Rich Salomon

On Sat, Jul 2, 2022 at 12:30 AM Charles DiSimone via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
Dear Rich,

The talk alluded to in the Facebook post Madhav appears to be here<https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/GandharaConnections/webcasts> in session 5 of the Gandharan Art in its Buddhist Context: international workshop: Dr Shailendra Bhandare (Ashmolean Museum), and Martina Stoye (Museum für Asiatische Kunst Berlin, SMB, SPK)Indian Dedications at Berenike on the Red Sea. There's a video available but I have always found the Gandhāra Connections website to be very finicky and have not been able to get it to play on my computer but only on my phone. Hopefully you have more luck!

All my best,
Charlie

Dr. Charles DiSimone
Department of Languages and Cultures
Ghent University

On Sat, Jul 2, 2022 at 9:24 AM Asko Parpola via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
Excavations have been carried out at Berenike from the early 1990s under Steven Sidebotham, who in 2011 published the following book:
Sidebotham, Steven E., 2011. Berenike and the ancient maritime spice route. (The California World History Library 18.) Berkeley: University of California Press. xviii, 434 pp., ill.
Steven E. Sidebotham is Professor of History at the University of Delaware, email ses at udel.edu<mailto:ses at udel.edu>

Best regards, Asko

On 2. Jul 2022, at 1.23, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:

Dear Rich,

     I see a March 29 message on FaceBook by Shailen Bhandare:

"The recording of our presentation on interesting "transcultural" findings from the excavations at Berenike is now on-line. I present an exciting discovery - the first ever Sanskrit inscription found in Egypt, dated in the reign of Roman Emperor Philip 'the Arab'! It is a dedicatory inscription left by a Kshatriya named Vasula, and undoubtedly of a Buddhist nature as indicated by its colophon. Thanks again to Steve Sidebotham and Team Berenike!"

Shailen Bhandare will be the best source of information on this topic.

Madhav

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

On Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 1:13 PM Richard G. Salomon via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
Dear colleagues,

Some weeks ago I saw a reference on Facebook to the recent discovery of a Sanskrit inscription in Egypt, said to be dated to the reign of the Roman emperor Philip "the Arab" (244-249 CE). But I haven't been able to find any further information about this. Has anyone heard any more about this?

Rich Salomon

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