[INDOLOGY] Sanskrit inscription in Egypt?

Tue Dec 9 13:40:29 UTC 2025

A hearty congratulations, Divya.

Though outside my regional area of expertise, the Berenike material, Helgö
Buddha, and other South Asian images found "west of Afghanistan" constitute
something of a hobby fascination of mine. I'll be eagerly awaiting the
publication of the book.

*Sincerely, *

*Westin Harris, PhD*

Resident Scholar in Himalayan Cultures

Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

Review Editor

Nidān: International Journal for Indian Studies

https://ucdavis.academia.edu/WestinHarris

On Tue, Dec 9, 2025 at 7:29 AM 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> 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/
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.smithsonianmag.com_history_hidden-2Dancient-2Degyptian-2Dport-2Dreveals-2D180984485_&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=1wbo7cyG-JNoXCRmefTJBg&m=LzvuC9SPEZxHYuxsbVmB5nrmCDt7wrWJSst0OuH2N2NMdJMijkgSvttY4-DsswBv&s=nXwPESlE61xrzlhoYUJx1uAek46i-lB-QYxrkc5wdgI&e=>
>>
>> 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> 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> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Rich,
>>>
>>> The talk alluded to in the Facebook post Madhav appears to be here
>>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.carc.ox.ac.uk_GandharaConnections_webcasts-3Ffbclid-3DIwAR1Annmu8GN0F8gkN1BYeB5FPXkXtQk0wQnJNWp8ljuMFEfYi9RwBJUq-5FNQ&d=DwMFaQ&c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&r=1wbo7cyG-JNoXCRmefTJBg&m=LzvuC9SPEZxHYuxsbVmB5nrmCDt7wrWJSst0OuH2N2NMdJMijkgSvttY4-DsswBv&s=UfTdhpbszF97NP_YSKZkj389AGYCFb9xVBnFULBmj30&e=> 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> 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 <ses at udel.edu>
>>>>
>>>> Best regards, Asko
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 2. Jul 2022, at 1.23, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <
>>>> 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> 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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>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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