Thanks for this link, Mike.

In one of the articles cited at the end, also on Berenike,
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/buddha-statue-found-berenike-egypt-180982075/?itm_source=related-content&itm_medium=parsely-api
William Dalrymple is cited as saying that this was the only known Buddha image discovered west of Afghanistan.

However, the Helgö Buddha, found in Sweden and dating to about the 6th c. is also a well-known, if somewhat later, example. https://brentnongbri.com/2023/05/05/the-helgo-buddha/

(The so-called "Buddha bucket" found with the Oseberg ship burial is of uncertain interpretation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseberg_ship)

My question to the learned members of the list, though, is whether they may know of other first-millennium Buddhas or related artifacts found "west of Afghanistan," besides the ivory goddess found at Pompeii and now in the Naples museum that has been mentioned in earlier posts. 

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

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.

On Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 at 5:13 AM, Michael Brattus Jones via INDOLOGY <indology@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@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@list.indology.info> wrote:
Dear Rich,

The talk alluded to in the Facebook post Madhav appears to be here 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@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@udel.edu

Best regards, Asko


On 2. Jul 2022, at 1.23, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <indology@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@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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