Jandial

Coordinates: 33°45′52.1″N 72°49′43.7″E / 33.764472°N 72.828806°E / 33.764472; 72.828806
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jandial

Reconstitution
The Hellenistic temple with Ionic columns at Jandial, Taxila.
Jandial is located in Punjab, Pakistan
Jandial
Shown within Punjab, Pakistan
Jandial is located in Pakistan
Jandial
Jandial (Pakistan)
Jandial is located in Asia
Jandial
Jandial (Asia)
Coordinates33°45′52.1″N 72°49′43.7″E / 33.764472°N 72.828806°E / 33.764472; 72.828806
TypeTemple
History
Founded1st or 2nd century BCE
Site notes
ArchaeologistsSir John Marshall
Official nameTaxila
Criteriaiii, iv
Designated1980
Reference no.139

Jandial near the city of

Taxila in Pakistan is the site of an ancient temple well known for its Ionic columns. The temple is located 630 meters north of the northern gate of Sirkap.[1] The Temple was excavated in 1912–1913 by the Archaeological Survey of India under John Marshall. It has been called the most Hellenic structure yet found on Pakistani soil.[2]

Temple structure

The Temple is considered as a semi-

pronaos and an opisthodomos at the back.[3] Two Ionic columns at the front are framed by two anta walls as in a Greek distyle in antis layout. It seems that the temple had an outside wall with windows or doorways, in a layout similar to that of a Greek encircling row of columns (peripteral design).[4]
The dimensions of the Temple were around 45 x 30 meters.

Greek Temple
.

However, inside the Temple, between the naos and the opisthodomos, there is a heavy wall with stairs, which has led some authors to consider that it was designed to support a

Magian temple.[5][6]

Besides the

Hellenistic.[7][8] It seems to have disappeared with the weakening of direct Greek presence in India, to be exclusively replaced by the numerous instances of Corinthian art that can be found in the Indo-Corinthian capitals of Gandhara.[9]

Construction

Ionic column and capital and Ionic molded base of anta at Jandial.
Conjectural restoration of the Jandial Temple.

The Ionic capitals of the Jandial temple seem to be a rather provincial and dry version of the Ionic Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.[10] However the design of the bases is quite pure, as are the wall moldings. Also the drums are finely joined with dowels. All this suggests work which was done under Greek supervision, or maybe by Greeks directly.[11]

Dating

The Temple may have been built in the 2nd century BCE under the

Asia Minor,[14] or from Greece or an architect trained in Greek techniques.[15]

Alternatively, it may have been built under the

Besnagar.[18]

A coin of the

Indo-Scythian ruler Azes I was found in the rubbles of the Temple, which may suggest that construction occurred during his reign.[19]

The Jandial Temple may have been the one visited by Apollonius of Tyana during his visit of the subcontinent in the 1st century CE.[20]

"

Porus. And they saw a Temple, in front of the wall, which was not far short of 100 feet in size, made of stone covered with stucco, and there was constructed within it a shrine, somewhat small as compared with the great size of the Temple which is surrounded with columns, but deserving of notice. For bronze tablets were nailed into each of its walls on which were engraved the exploits of Porus and Alexander."

— "Life of Appolonius of Tyana", Philostratus 2.16-20[21]

Gallery

  • Survey of 1912–13. Remnants of additional pillars can be seen in the front.
    Survey of 1912–13. Remnants of additional pillars can be seen in the front.
  • Survey of 1912–13. Decorative details are visible on the capital.
    Survey of 1912–13. Decorative details are visible on the capital.
  • Jandial is located just to the north of Sirkap.
    Jandial is located just to the north of Sirkap.

Jandial D

On another mound (Mound D),a little to the west of Jandial, foundations of another temple (Jandial D) which may have been built in the 2nd century BCE under the Greeks as well, were excavated in 1863–64.[22] The temple which has a plan very similar to Jandial had a large front porch measuring 58 feet. Between Jandial and Jandial D ran most probably the ancient high-road to Gandhara.[23]

Sources

  • "Notes on Ionic Architecture in the East" Benjamin Rowland, Jr., American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 489–496 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America [24]

External links

References

  1. ^ "The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [1]
  2. ^ "The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans", John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1 janv. 1967 p.129 [2]
  3. ^ "The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [3]
  4. ^ Rowland, p.492
  5. ^ "The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [4]
  6. ^ "The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys" Rafi U. Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011 p.62 [5]
  7. ^ "Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka" Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Brill Archive, 1969, p.23 [6]
  8. ^ Rowland, p.495
  9. ^ Rowland, p.496
  10. ^ Rowland, p.492
  11. ^ Rowland, p.493
  12. ^ "The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys" Rafi U. Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011 p.62 [7]
  13. ^ "Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka" Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Brill Archive, 1969, p.23 [8]
  14. ^ "The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys" Rafi U. Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011 p.62 [9]
  15. ^ Rowland, p.491
  16. ^ "The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [10]
  17. ^ Rowland, p.493
  18. ^ Rowland, p.495
  19. ^ Rowland, 494
  20. ^ Rowland, p.494
  21. ^ Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 2.16-20
  22. ^ Sir John Marshall: A Guide to Taxila, p.89. Cambridge 1960
  23. ^ Sir John Marshall: A Guide to Taxila, p.85. Cambridge 1960
  24. ^ Notes on Ionic Architecture in the East
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