TheAy-Khanoum plaque is an ancientGreco-Bactrian disk discovered at thearchaeological site ofAy-Khanoum inTakhar Province,Afghanistan. ThisHellenistic city served as a military and economic center for the rulers of theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destructionc. 145 BC. Rediscovered in 1961, the ruins of the city were excavated by theFrench Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA) untilan outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan during the late 1970s. Among the structures excavated by the archaeologists was a sanctuary called the 'Temple of Indented Niches', (French: "temple à niches indentées"; alternatively "temple à redans", meaning 'Stepped Temple')[1] in which the disk was found. The disk is held in the collection of theNational Museum of Afghanistan inKabul.
This disk, depicting the Greek goddess Nike driving a chariot drawn by lions and accompanied by the Greek goddess Cybele, was described as "remarkable" by theMetropolitan Museum of Art on account of its "hybrid Greek and Oriental imagery".[2] Made of silver, the disk combines components of Greek culture, such as thechlamys all the deities wear, with Oriental designmotifs such as the fixed pose of the figures and thecrescent moon.[3] It has been described as "the most important work [of] the Greco-Oriental style".[4]
The disk was excavated from one of the southern storage rooms of the Temple of Indented Niches during the 1969 DAFA excavation campaign. It had been hidden between the bases of two large jars against a wall.[5] It is made ofsilver, and engraved withgold details:[6] a figure normally identified as the Greek deityCybele traverses a rocky landscape in a chariot pulled bylions and guided by a winged goddess of Victory; meanwhile, one priest holds a parasol over Cybele, while another burns incense upon a stepped Oriental altar towards which the chariot travels. Above these figures are shown theSun asHelios, theMoon, and a star.[7][8]
The disk has been attested as an example of a blended Hellenistic and Oriental artistic style. DAFA's lead archaeologistPaul Bernard noted that the iconographic elements—the representations of Victory and Helios, and the robes of the goddesses—were predominantly Greek in origin. However, the image displays no sense of perspective, with the characters displayed either in profile or head-on, which derives from Oriental tradition.[6][9] However, some aspects of the disk have been disputed, especially with regard to what it shows about Ai-Khanoum's religion.Claude Rapin believed that the disk in fact showed the Egyptian goddessIsis, not a Victory, whileHenri-Paul Francfort theorised that the disk displayed an actual religious event in the city.[10][11]