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Gods’ Shadows. Anthropologies of (Divine) Kingship in Central Asia: Persia, Greece, India, and the Steppes: ca. 330-150 BCE

Descrizione del progetto

Ridefinire il potere nell’antica Asia centrale

L’Asia Centrale ellenistica, spesso considerata un semplice punto di transito sulla Via della Seta, ospitava il sofisticato Impero battriano. La ricerca accademica tradizionale si basa spesso sul concetto obsoleto di Oriente contro Occidente, non riuscendo a cogliere la complessità dell’ideologia battriana. Il progetto GOSH, sostenuto dal programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, si propone di colmare questa lacuna applicando un quadro antropologico comparativo allo studio della regalità sacra. Analizzando il linguaggio visivo delle monete antiche e confrontandolo con fonti del Vicino Oriente e dell’India, il GOSH supera l’influenza di Alessandro Magno per rivelare una rete dinamica di potere plasmata da tradizioni interconnesse. Questo approccio offre spunti di riflessione sulla storia globale, sulla teoria politica e sulla politica spirituale delle antiche monarchie.

Obiettivo

The Gosh project will develop a comparative anthropological framework to investigate Central Asian kingship, roughly modern Afghanistan, Northern Uzbekistan, Western Tajikistan, Eastern Turkmenistan, during the Hellenistic period, aiming at replacing outdated binaries that rely on shopworn dichotomies (Greek/Oriental, East/West), or leave the vast extent of Central Asia embedded in ‘Silk Road’ narratives of transit and exchange merely linking other ‘core’ regions of ancient Afro-Eurasia. World-historical, comparative research on kingship does not engage with Central Asian material, particularly coins, a key source on Baktrian ideology of power. Specialists in the region overlook the potential of the social sciences (especially anthropology) for their agendas. By focusing on the Hellenistic Baktrian Empire (ca. 330-150 BCE), I seek to bridge this divide, offering a new methodological framework for approaching Central Asian kingship comparatively across disciplinary boundaries and scholarly traditions. I aim to do so by comparing the coins’ visual vocabulary and titles with Near Eastern (particularly Achaemenid), Indic, and steppic sources on the ideology, rhetoric, visual cultures, and performances of kingship to redress the focus on Alexander’s model, showing how Baktrian monarchy emerged out of the interplay of multiple distinct but interconnected traditions. The project draws on anthropological theories of sacred kingship to examine the role played by religious and cultic traditions in shaping royal self-representation and driving cultural and political change, contributing to the scholarship of global history, political theory, and anthropology. GOSH will present a revisionist theory of the spiritual politics of Baktrian kingship based on a new empirical understanding of its visual cultures. Beyond ethnic affiliations and cultural divides, Baktrian kingship is reframed as part of a dynamic network of power, ideological interplay, and cultural exchange.

Campo scientifico (EuroSciVoc)

Parole chiave

Programma(i)

Argomento(i)

Meccanismo di finanziamento

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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(si apre in una nuova finestra) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF

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Coordinatore

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Contributo netto dell'UE
€ 276 187,92
Indirizzo
GOWER STREET
WC1E 6BT London
Regno Unito
Regione
London Inner London — West Camden and City of London
Tipo di attività
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Collegamenti
Costo totale
Nessun dato

Partner (2)