The recent discovery illuminates the extensive trading ties between Rome and India.
A Buddha figure measuring two feet tall was found in Berenike, an ancient Egyptian harbor city.
The relic, according to William Dalrymple of the New York Review of Books, is the first Buddha ever discovered west of Afghanistan. It offers fresh evidence of trade between ancient Rome and India and is made of Mediterranean marble.
Researchers uncovered the two-foot-tall Buddha statue in Berenike. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Researchers believe it was created in Alexandria somewhere in the second century C.E. based on stylistic features. According to Google Translate, the sun's rays form a halo around the statue's head, "which indicates his radiant mind," according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
According to the antiquities ministry, Berenike, which was established in the third century B.C.E., eventually grew to be one of the major ports in Roman-controlled Egypt. For many years, the city was a hub for the trade of semi-precious metals, textiles, and ivory before it was finally abandoned around the sixth century C.E.
Other objects found during recent Berenike excavations also seem to indicate a similar blending of cultures. One of these is a Sanskrit inscription from the time of Phillip the Arab, an emperor who succeeded Marcus Julius Philippus. He was emperor of the Roman Empire from 244 to 249 CE. He was born in what is now Syria.
These discoveries are a part of a growing body of information demonstrating the close ties between the Roman Empire and its prehistoric Indian counterpart. They also assist illuminate the special function Egypt performed, which was "centrally located on the trade route that connected the Roman Empire to many parts of the ancient world," according to the ministry of antiquities.
Researcher collaboration between American and Polish teams has resulted in the Berenike excavations. The American team is led by historian Steven Sidebotham of the University of Delaware, while Mariusz Gwiazda, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw, is in charge of the Polish team.
Sidebotham, who had a strong commitment to the project, began working there as soon as excavations got under way in 1994. Since then, he and his colleagues have carried on their research into the past of the now-deserted port on the Red Sea despite the shifting forces of political turmoil and budget shortages.
For instance, Ann Manser of the University of Delaware Research journal reported in 2011 that archaeologists discovered a jar containing 17 pounds of black peppercorns imbedded in the courtyard floor of a Berenike temple in 1999. They originated in the first century and were exclusively grown in southwestern India at the period.
"You hear a lot about globalization today," Sidebotham said to the journal, "but there was a 'global economy' linking Europe, Africa, and Asia during the first century of the Christian era, and the city of Berenike is a perfect example of that."
