The Buddha's golden reliquary urn of Bimaran

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; British Museum; Wiki edit 

Greco-Buddhist gold art of Afghanistan, the Bimaran Reliquary (britishmuseum.org)

 

The Golden Bimaran Urn
BritishMuseum.org; edited by Wisdom Quarterly

The soapstone casket containing the urn

This golden urn and these items were found buried in a stone casket found in Stupa No. 2 at Bimaran, Gandhara, near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.

When it was found by the archaeologist Charles Masson during his work in Afghanistan between 1833 and 1838, the stone casket contained coins.

The piece was dated as having been created or buried in the 1st century AD, which is when the coins are thought to date from, on the assumption that those coins were interred in it in the first place, when they were almost certainly added later when it was re-interred after its precious relics were looted. 

Rare Buddha pose, light dress (BM/W)

The priceless gold, jewel-studded, cylindrical relic container set with almandine garnets bears a frieze with one of the earliest depictions of the Buddha from the northwest region of Gandhara (ancient India).

The reliquary was found inside an inscribed steatite (soapstone) casket. The inscription records that the reliquary contained some of the actual bones of the Buddha. [See "Bones of the Buddha" (PBS TV) on "Vethadipa" and Cremating the Buddha's body (sutra)].

• VIDEO: Two Buddhist Specials on PBS

The PBS special "Bones of the Buddha" explains the discovery of some of the relics (WQ)

 

Relics can look like pearls (mahastupa.org)

However, when found in the 19th century, the lid of the reliquary and the bones were missing. The relic was deposited with small burnt pearls [a good description of genuine relics], beads of precious and semi-precious stones, and four Azes II coins. The coins, and thus the reliquary, can be dated... More
 
Evidence of the Buddha's Ukraine connection

The Buddha reclining into final nirvana (paranirvana), Gandharan art (wiki)

 

Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, all around Kapilavastu (wiki)

The outrageous claim by a Ukrainian scholar that the Buddha may have been Ukrainian is quite possible -- so long as one extends ancient Indo-Scythia to include faraway Crimea and Ukraine high in the north of Asia.
 
The Scythians might well be the Shakyas of later Sakkastan. But history here is very muddled by nationalistic Indian claims, Nepalese counterclaims, British archeological discoveries and deceptions, such as the Jonesian frauds detected by Dr. Pal.

In any case, this magnificent relic container suggests that Siddhartha Gautama came from far north of India, somewhere west of the Indus river. If that is not the case, it is hard to imagine why people under a Gandharan/Indo-Pakistani king would have been involved in re-interring the Buddha's relics rather than plundering the treasure.

Whose coins were they?

The British Museum (britishmuseum.org)

(WIKI) King Azes II (reigned circa 35-12 BCE) may have been the last Indo-Scythian king on the northern Indian subcontinent (now Pakistan as of 1947's Partition).

However, due to new research by R.C. Senior (2008, "The Final Nail in the Coffin of Azes II," Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society 197, 2008, pp. 25-27), his actual existence is now seriously in doubt, and "his" coins and so on are now thought to refer to those of Azes I.

Gandhara/Bactria/Afghanistan (Boonlieng/flickr)

After the death of Azes II, the rule of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India and Pakistan finally crumbled with the conquest of the Kushans, one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi who had lived in [Greco-Persian] Bactria for more than a century, who were then expanding into India to create a Kushan Empire. Soon after, the Parthians invaded from the west. More

And what it all goes to show is that history is a mess, just as the Buddha spoke of countless empires, kingdoms, and republics that rose to glory to invariably crumble. Even a "world monarch," or chakravartin, ruling in accordance with dharma in the noble/warrior-caste ideal, is not exempt from this revolving cycle. Who were these world ruler?

Saka/Shakya princess tomb found (photos)

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, CC Liu, and Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly (ANALYSIS of 2013 report from TANN/TengriNews.kz via Archaeology News Network/Facebook.com)

The golden Sage of the Shakya reclining into final nirvana (Chris&Annabel/Chngster/flickr)

The Saka [Scythians, Tajiks] were a pastoral-nomadic people like the Shakyans, who were agrarian warriors when Siddhartha lived among them. Below, Princess/Queen Tomyris defeats Cyrus the Great in battle. Gold and red Saka princess gear and head wear.

Queen Tomyris by Alexander Zick

Golden Woman (Issyk Kurgan)

Sakas with Dragons artifact. Dragons or  nagas were associated with royals (wiki)

Saka princess tomb (TANN/yk.kz/archaeologicalnewsnetwork/Ра-меси-су Мери-Амон)

Gold feted bones of ancient Central Asian princess, a Saka, Scythian, possibly a Shakyan

.

Formerly Buddhist nations of Central Asia

KAZAKHSTAN, Central Asia - Kazakh archaeologists have discovered a tomb of a “Saka[n] princess,”  reports the expedition head Timur Smagulov. The tomb was found during road maintenance in the district of Urdzhar, East Kazakhstan Oblast.

 

The burial site of a high-ranking young woman was discovered during reconstruction of Taskesken-Bakty Road in Urdzhar.
 
An expedition team composed of professors and students from Semipalatinsk and Pavlodar Institutes discovered the stone tomb-chest [a reliquary or urn like that containing "The Buddha's Bones" found entombed in a burial mound] with remains of the young woman at the depth of 1.7 meters under a burial mound [possibly a Buddhist stupa, which were reserved for royalty and saints, chakravartins and arhats].

The uncremated remains or ashes and bones of a ruler? (Ра-меси-су Мери-Амон)

.

The artifacts found in at the burial site certify that the woman was from a distinguished tribe. According to archaeologists, golden head wear that looks like a Kazakh Saukele (the national headgear of Kazakh women, Saule being a common female name from prior to Islamization) was the most valuable research item found.

 

Kazakh eagle huntress/princess (BBC)

“The pointed golden head wear with zoomorphic ornaments has the top that looks like the arrows and is decorated with a spiral made of golden wire and jewels. A similar head wear used to be part of the official costume of the Saka tribe chieftains. It is quite possible that the woman was a daughter of a king of Saka Tigrakhauda tribe,” Timur Smagulov explained.
 

Ukrainian hair queen (W)

According to him, it is quite possible that young Tomyris, who later became a warrior-queen, used to wear similar head wear.

According to the expedition’s members, ceramic and wooden vessels, as well as bones of a sacrificial lamb, were also discovered in the tomb. Pieces of blue and green clothes still clung to the woman’s remains. Golden earrings and a stone altar were found next to her head. 

 

Caryatid, Crete, Greece (Acropolis Museum)

“According to the preliminary information, the tomb of the 'Urdzhar princess' is dated 4th or 3rd century B.C.,” Smagulov said.

He also notes that a similar tomb was discovered under the Issyk burial mound (called "Golden Man"). [If there were an Aryan "invasion" from the north, which there likely was not, it may have been roaming nomadic Central Asians coming into ancient Indus River Valley Civilization and/or modern India.] More (Tengri News, June 3, 2013)

Golden Man is a Woman
(Issyk Kurgan) Situated in Eastern Scythia just north of Sogdiana, the kurgan contained a skeleton, possibly that of a Scythian [Shakyan] woman, warrior's equipment, and assorted funerary goods, including 4,000 gold ornaments. Although the sex of the skeleton is uncertain, it may have been an 18-year-old Saka (Scythian) prince or princess. The richness of the burial items led the skeleton to be dubbed the "Golden Man" or "Golden Princess," with "Golden Man" subsequently being adopted as one of the symbols of modern Kazakhstan. A likeness crowns the Independence Monument on the central square of Almaty. Its depiction may also be found on the Presidential Standard of Nursultan Nazarbayev. More

News

• Greece’s Caryatids getting extreme makeover
• Tomb dating back to 1100 B.C. found in Egypt
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• Persian Cyrus Cylinder of Cyrus (Korosh) the Great
• VIDEO: Cyrus Cylinder on tour in Los Angeles 2013 
• VIDEO: Shamans and Afghans (Central Asia)
• PHOTO: The "Sun Emperor" of the Solar Dynasty?
• Story of the Buddha's Lineage (Rhys Davids Jataka)
• Indigenous Buddhist Europe/Russia: Kalmykia
• Buddhism in Europe, Siberia, and Asian Russia 
• The "Western Paradise" (as Afghanistan)
• The Buddha was born and raised in Afghanistan
• VIDEO: The Buddha's Bones found in India (PBS)
• The Eurasian Eagle Huntress (Kazakh in Mongolia)

Egyptian conservator cleans limestone at newly-discovered tomb circa 1100 B.C., Saqqara archaeological site, 30 kms (19 miles) south of Cairo (AP/Amr Nabil/ANN).

"Heavenly Bodies" - Catholic relics

Pat Macpherson, Xochitl, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

(Thamesandhudson.com) Q&A with LA-based art historian Dr. Koudounaris, expert and author on European ossuaries and charnel houses for both academic and popular journals. Now he is bringing these saints out of the darkness for the first time.

 

Dr. Paul Koudounaris* signed Heavenly Bodies earlier this month at La Luz de Jesus art gallery. Koudounaris gained unprecedented access to the relics of Catholic "catacomb saints," a rare set of historical artifacts. They were hidden for over a century because Western attitudes toward the worship of holy relics and death itself changed. Some of the ornamented skeletons appear in publication in his book for the first time (105 illustrations, 90 in color). Where did they come from? 

 

Pope and boy (TIME)

The 17th- and 18th-century jeweled skeletons photographed for Heavenly Bodies are the finest works of art in bone ever created -- with the exception of Tibetan bone works in Nepalese lamaseries. Unlike the anonymous bone piles photographed for The Empire of Death, these holy skeletons are meant to have distinct identities -- as magnificently glorified holy people. In each case, constructing them from skulls, femurs, ribs, jewels, gold, and silver creating a kind of personality. Sometimes these skeletons are touching and poignant, sometimes bizarre and surreal, even grotesque.

• Science discovers new body part
• The Body in the Eyes of Science
• Science adores relics in "BodyWorld 2" 
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• Bodies? 46% more rapes in US military this year
  (Pauline Jelinek, Huff Post) Reports of sexual assaults in the military increased by an unprecedented 46 percent during the last fiscal year, the Pentagon said Thursday. It wasn’t possible to know whether the spike represented an increase in assaults, an increase in the percentage of people reporting them, or both. More

*Dr. Koudounaris explains: “The closest I can come to bringing the actual Heavenly Bodies to my viewers and readers is this photo show, which presents them in up to live-sized reproductions. This show also provides me with another opportunity: a chance to cull my own personal favorites from among the thousands of photos I took. These are not always the same images shown in the book; rather, it is my own personal selection of what I consider the finest and most expressive decorated skeletons.”

Enlightened relics remain (photos)

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Nyanaponika Thera (The Llife of Sariputta); Lu Mountain Temple; SGV Tribune; Camerabhai (flickr.com) 

Relics (concretions) are multiplying! Others are being revealed and moved by devas. Lu Mountain Temple (MahaStupa.org) has a vast collection to rival the Tibetan Relic Tour (maitreyaproject.com) being prepared for Kushinagar (CB).

 

The Relics of Sariputra and Maha Moggallana

Sariputra's shariras (Camerabhai/flickr.com)

On Sanchi Hill in Bhopal are the remains of ten Buddhist burial shrines (stupas), which are among the oldest buildings still standing in India.

 

By their architectural features and sculpture they have always been recognized as belonging to the high noon of Buddhist art, the characters in which their numerous inscriptions are written placing them at about the period of Emperor Asoka, that is, some time around the middle of the third century B.C. 

 

Some are well preserved, while others have been reduced over the course of centuries to mere mounds of earth and stone. It was in one of these, the now famous Third Stupa, that Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1851 discovered the sacred body relics of the Buddha's chief male disciples, Sariputra and Maha Moggallana.

At about the same time, more relics of the two great arhats were found enshrined in a stupa at Satadhara, about six miles from Sanchi.

 

On sinking a shaft in the center of the burial mound on Sanchi Hill, Cunningham came upon a large stone slab, more than five feet in length, lying north to south. Beneath the slab were found two boxes of gray sandstone, each with a brief inscription in Brahmi characters on the lid. The box to the south was inscribed Sariputtasa  or "(relics) of Sariputta," while the one to the north bore the legend Maha-Mogalanasa, "(relics) of Maha Moggallana."

Gold Sivali statuette (left), relics under glass, meditators, and Mahayana deities, August 2013 (Ron Fu/SGV Tribune/photos.sgvtribune.com)

  

A bhita in Bangladesh (Archbd)

The southernmost box contained a large flat casket of white steatite more than six inches broad and three inches in height. The surface was hard and polished. The box, which had been turned on a lathe, was a beautiful piece of workmanship. Around this small casket were some fragments of sandalwood believed to have been from the funeral pyre. Inside it, besides the relics, various precious stones were found. This casket contained a single bone relic of Ven. Sariputra, the male monastic disciple "foremost in wisdom," not quite one inch in length.

 

The stone box to the north enclosed another steatite casket, similar but slightly smaller and with a softer surface. Inside it were two bone relics of Ven. Maha Moggallana, the larger of them being less than half an inch in length.

 

Each of the two steatite caskets had a single ink letter inscribed on the inner surface of the lid, "Sa" for Sariputra on the southern and "Ma" for Maha Moggallana on the northern. In Cunningham's words, "Sariputta and Maha Moggallana were the principal [male] followers of the Buddha [counterparts to the two chief female disciples Khema and Uppalavanna], and were usually styled his right and left hand disciples. Their ashes thus preserved after death the same positions to the right and left of Buddha which they had themselves occupied in life" (Bhilsa Topes, p. 300). This is explained by the fact that the Buddha customarily sat facing east.

A documentable growing cluster of sacred relics (shariras), glass-like beads, cremation remains of the Buddha and/or enlightened monastics (Ron Fu/photos.sgvtribune.com)

  

Close up of relic cluster (LMT)

In the reliquary at Satadhara, one of a group which Cunningham noted was called locally "Buddha Bhita" or "Buddha Monuments," he discovered two caskets of pale mottled steatite. These were inscribed, like those at Sanchi, "Sariputtasa" and "Maha Mogallanasa" respectively. 

 

This stupa showed signs of having been violated by robbers, but the bone relics had been left undisturbed. Cunningham, a very capable archaeologist, has left a detailed account of everything his excavations brought to light in these and other stupas, and it is thanks to him that the authenticity of the relics is established beyond all doubt.

 

The relics from both sites were moved to England and placed in the Victoria and Albert Museum. But some discrepancies between Cunningham's description of the caskets and the actual boxes in which the relics were deposited gives reason to believe that he, or someone else, transferred the relics from Sanchi to the caskets discovered at Satadhara, and what became of the Sanchi steatite caskets is not known for certain.

 

The sacred relics were preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum until 1939, when the Maha Bodhi Society approached the British government with a request that they be returned to India. The request was at once granted, but owing to the outbreak of World War II that year, the actual transfer was delayed for reasons of safety until Feb. 24, 1947. More

 

Lu Mountain Temple, San Gabriel Valley, suburban Los Angeles (mahastupa.org)