page_title: Begram ivories
section_title: Dating, attribution, influences and parallels
hierarchical_section_title: Begram ivories / Dating, attribution, influences and parallels
caption_attribution_description: English: Secret Cabinet in the Museo Archeologico (Naples)
context_page_description: The Begram ivories are a group of over a thousand decorative plaques, small figures and inlays, carved from ivory and bone, and formerly attached to wooden furniture, that were excavated in the 1930s in Bagram, Afghanistan. They are rare and important exemplars of Kushan art of the 1st or 2nd centuries CE, attesting to the cosmopolitan tastes and patronage of local dynasts, the sophistication of contemporary craftsmanship, and to the ancient trade in luxury goods.
  They are the best known element of the Begram Hoard. The Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan conducted excavations at the site between 1936 and 1940, uncovering two walled-up strongrooms, Room 10 and Room 13. Inside, a large number of bronze, alabaster, glass, coins, and ivory objects, along with remains of furniture and Chinese lacquer bowls, were unearthed. Some of the furniture was arranged along walls, other pieces stacked or facing each other. In particular, a high percentage of the few survivals of Greco-Roman enamelled glass come from this discovery.
context_section_description: The rarity of parallels has resulted in disputes as to the origin and date of the ivories, although the stratigraphy would suggest a date no later than the 2nd century. The building itself in which the ivories were found has been dated to the 1st century CE.
  The Pompeii Lakshmi, a caryatid found in the Via dell'Abbondanza in Pompeii with a Kharosthi fitter's mark provides further evidence of long-distance trade in Indian furniture decorated with ivory. This could also mean that she might have originated from the northwestern region of India, and manufactured in local workshops around the area of Gandhara. 
  There is therefore a possibility that these ivories were made locally in the northwest regions on India, and should be dated to the early 1st century CE.
caption: Indian art also found its way into Italy, within the context of Indo-Roman trade: in 1938 the Pompeii Lakshmi was found in the ruins of Pompeii (destroyed in an eruption of  Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE).
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