Houghton-Lorber SC 283A
Weight: 5.16 g
Diameter: 19 mm
Die Axis: 7h Obv: Indian humped bull with bearded human face charging right on exergue line, dotted border.
Rev: Anchor flukes upwards, BASILEWS SELEUKOU reading downward in two lines on right, ANTIOCOU reading downwards on left, circled D in outer left, Brahmi (?) letter (pa?) in outer right. This remarkable coin type is known from a single example, first documented in by Houghton and Lorber (2002) in Seleucid Coins. Apparently acquired from a source in Pakistan around the turn of the twentieth century, for reasons detailed below this coin is attributed to the Baktrian Mint at Ai Khanoum during the co-regency of Seleukos I Nikator and a his son Antiochos I Soter in the period 292-281 BC. The co-regency dating is unequivocally indicated by the legend in the names of both kings. The coin is remarkable for two reasons. Firstly, as far as known by the author, it is the sole example of the man faced bull iconography bearing the body of the Indian humped back bull, a reflection of its association with one of the easternmost river systems known to the Greeks, the mighty Oxus River (the present day Amu Darya). Secondly, the coin bears a mint control in the left field that appears to be in local Indian script, possibly a local variation of the Brahmi letter pa. This is the earliest known occurrence of an Indian script mint control accompanied by a Greek control, the circled Ä, on an essentially Greek coin. This unique coin (SC 283A) appears to be amongst the first and the largest denomination in series of co-regency (Seleukos/Antiochos) bronze issues from Ai Khanoum. The rest (SC 284-SC 288) all carry a right charging Indian humped back bull, but for the smallest denomination (SC 288) which caries a standing humped back bull. No man-faced bull is present on the smaller denominations, although within the iconographic association it might be that the Indian hump backed bull is to be considered yet another portrayal of the Oxus river god. Associated with this coin there is an anepigraphic issue (SC 284) of the same large denomination bearing a charging humped back bull. The existence of the associated anepigraphic coin suggests that this coinage was inaugurated in the earliest period of the co-regency perhaps as early as 290 BC, with some uncertainty as to the appropriate legend at the time it was inaugurated. Antiochos I took up his role as viceroy in the east and was resident in Ai Kanoum from around 293/2 BC (Grainger 1990 Seleukos Nikator Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom). Amongst his works was the expansion of Ai Khanoum into a major Seleukid administrative centre, plus the establishment of an associated mint. Although a small minority of scholars remain steadfast in their opinion that coins like this originated from the Baktrian mint at Baktra/Balkh, the evidence for an Ai Khanoum origin is compelling, as detailed by Kritt (1996) in Seleucid Coins of Bactria. The circled delta mint control and the thick, beveled edge fabric of this coin clearly place it as a product of the mint at Ai Khanoum. Further evidence for the Ai Khanoum origin of this coin is to be found in this coin's iconography of a river god, or man-faced bull, bearing the body of an Indian humped back bull. Ai Khanoum sits at the confluence of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus) and Kokcha Rivers. Baktra/Balkh on the other hand sits about 75 km to the south of the Amu Darya, located on a drainage outwash fan delta adjacent to the northern foothills of the Hindu Kush, on the edge of the desert which separates it from the Oxus. The outwash fan is fed by the seasonal melt water of Balk River, the course of which is located 12 km west of the location of ancient Bactra/Balkh. This seasonal river feeds irrigation canals in the area around Baktra/Balkh before it disappears into the desert sands that loop around the outwash fan, 25 km north of the ancient city. In contrast, Ai Khanoum sits at the confluence of two major permanent rivers that are both subject to major flood each spring, due to melt water influx from the eastern Himalayas (Oxus River/Amu Darya) and the Hindu Kush (Kokcha River) respectively. Why should the man-faced bull, or Oxus River God, be placed on an inaugural issue of bronze co-regency coinage issued by Antiochos I from his newly established mint at Ai Khanoum? The answer is to be found in the setting of the ancient city. The city is adjacent to an extensive and fertile flood plain that was a site of agricultural irrigation from the pre-Achaemenid period. About two kilometres to the north of Ai Khanoum are the remains of the circular Iron Age fortress of ancient Kuhna Qal'a which was partially destroyed by a massive Oxus River flood some time in the centuries preceding Greek occupation of the area. The remaining site of ancient Kuhna Qal'a has a double semi-circular encircling wall and a high citadel on its NW quadrant. The further northwest portion of the ancient fortified city was washed away by the Oxus in pre-history. The remains and relationship of this ancient city to the later foundation of Ai Khanoum and the Oxus river course are clearly visible on satellite imagery. Ancient Kuhna Qal'a was eroded by the changing course of the Oxus with the northwestern portion completely removed by the river, which is now constrained against the mountain range defining the western side of its valley. A catastrophic ancient re-alignment of the river is evident in the geometries of the riverbank, flood plain and archaeological remains at this point. Unfortunately our knowledge of this site remains largely based on the interpretation satellite imagery. The French Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan surveyed, but did not excavate the ancient site at Kuhna Qal'a prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, so its significance remains underappreciated. The catastrophic river flood which partially destroyed ancient Kuhna Qal'a was probably associated with a major glacial melt dam burst at the upstream river source, which caused the Oxus to carve a new channel through the fortress as the river re-located from the east to the west side of its river valley. Subsequently, the remains of ancient Kuhna Qal'a were re-occupied in Achaemenid times and undoubtedly provided the inspiration for the foundation of Ai Khanoum, initially by Alexander III the Great, then to be greatly expanded to become the Seleukid satrapal capital of Baktria by Antiochos I between 292-281 in his role as viceroy of the east, during the reign of his father, Seleukos I. In the context of Ai Khanoum there is more than ample archaeological/historical context for the presence of a sometimes angry and enraged Oxus river god. Thus the portrayal on this coin of a vigorously charging Indian humped back man-faced bull, or river god. It is highly probable that at the time of the Greeks in Baktria the oral tradition of the region included reference to the destruction of ancient Kuhna Qal'a by the Oxus. Even if not the case, the evidence remained for the Greeks to see, only a couple of kilometres from the Ai Khanoum city gate across the fertile irrigated fields of the Oxus flood plain. Any wonder then that when Antiochos I arrived to take up his role as viceroy in the east he paid attention to the mood of the River God? | 
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