Dilbarjin
Coordinates: 37 ° 1 ′ 21 ″ N , 66 ° 31 ′ 35 ″ E
Dilbarjin or Delbarjin ( Persian دلبرجین Dilbarschin ) is the modern name of an ancient city in present-day Afghanistan . The remains of the city date from the Achaemenid period to the era of the Indo-Sassanid kingdom (approx. 600 AD). The city experienced its heyday under the Kushana . The city was square with a round citadel in the middle. It was surrounded by a wall (approx. 390 × 390 m) equipped with towers and dated to the Kushana period. During this period the citadel in the center of the city was also fortified. Over time, however, these lost their military character and were converted into residential quarters. Residential buildings were also found outside the wall. In the northeast of the city was a temple complex, of which six construction phases could be distinguished. It may have been built during the Greco-Bactrian period, but it shows few Hellenistic style elements. The pictures of the Dioscuri , painted in a purely Hellenistic style, from the second century AD are an example of the long survival of Hellenistic traditions in this area. The temple was perhaps first dedicated to them, but then to Shiva . Another small temple was dedicated to Hercules / Vahram . There was also a Buddhist sanctuary outside the city walls. Other finds are remains of sculptures and coins. There were inscriptions, almost all in Bactrian . However, they were mostly so destroyed that they could not provide any historical information. Evidence of local ceramic production was found.
literature
- Warwick Ball, Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan: Catalog des sites archéologiques d'Afghanistan , Paris 1982, pp. 91-92