Week 1 --- Introduction
ARTH 699 The Art of Greater Gandhāra Prof. Robert DeCaroli Wednesday: 4:30 – 7:10
Robinson B 333
Course Description/Objectives: Situated between India, Persia, and the Greco-Roman world, the region of greater Gandhara (stretching from India to Afghanistan) has produced artwork that blends influence and ideas from many cultures. Although the region reached its cultural peak in the 1st – 5th century CE, its cultural legacy persists to the present. Gandharan artwork produced in the early centuries of the Common Era has drawn exceptionally intense interest from collectors and museums and remains one of the most famous periods in world art. This course will examine the origins of the region’s material culture, explore the ways imperial and religious power were displayed, and examine the role of trade in the exchange of ideas. Additionally, we will look at the rediscovery of the region by Europeans in the 19th century and the part this art played in debates over colonial control. To do this, the work will be approached thematically with weekly sessions centered on specific topics and specific sites. Office Hours (Robinson B 371D) Wednesday 1:30 – 3:00 or by appointment Email: [email protected] Course Requirements:
Participation Paper Topic Proposal Research Paper (15-20 pages) Site Presentation Research Presentation
10% 10% 50% 20% 10%
The class meetings will consist of seminar-style discussions on specific topics. These meetings will form the core of the course material so it is strongly advised that you attend class consistently. ALL students are expected to participate in class discussions. In addition to a Research Paper each student will be expected to present an archaeological site or museum collection to the class. This presentation will be 15 minutes in length and will be accompanied by a two page research and a bibliography. The sites are listed alongside the weekly topic in the class schedule below. All students will need to turn in a Paper Topic Proposal, in which the subject of the research paper is discussed and bibliographic information is provided. The Research Paper will involve independent research. All students have the option to turn in a rough draft of the paper before the final draft is due. More information on all of these assignments will be provided during the term.
Grading Policies: A 100-93% A92-90% B+ 89-87% B 86-83% B82-80%
C+ C D F
79-77% 76-70% 69-60% 59% and lower
Attendance is necessary; much of the material will only be presented in class lectures and discussions. You are responsible for keeping up with the material and for getting notes for missed classes. This class is a seminar centered on the discussion of assigned texts. A student’s class participation grade will be evaluated not according to the amount of talking that student does, but rather according to whether that student contributes thoughtfully and constructively, based on a careful consideration of the class readings. Obviously, students cannot contribute to class discussion if they are absent; consequently, repeated unexcused absences will be reflected in their participation grade. Make-up times and extensions will be given ONLY in cases of emergencies or illnesses with proper documentation (doctor’s note etc.) In all other cases (family obligations, religious holidays, disabilities etc.), extensions may be granted if I am informed well BEFORE the deadline. Papers are due IN CLASS on the day specified in the schedule. Late papers will be marked down five points (half a grade) for every weekday and ten points (a full grade) for every weekend they are late. Papers will be handed back once in class. If you are not present on the day papers are handed back it is your responsibility to ask me for the graded assignment. Please shut off all cell phones and other electronic devices before class starts. Anyone using the phone during class (including for texting) will be asked to leave. Adherence to codes of academic honesty is expected on all assignments and in all testing situations. I take the Honor Code (as stipulated in the university undergraduate catalog) very seriously. This code is a simple expression of respect for the course, your classmates and yourself. Cheating and Plagiarism are forbidden (obviously). For those who do not know what Plagiarism is, it can be defined as: presenting, as one’s own the words, work or opinions of someone else without giving them proper acknowledgment. Plagiarism can also refer to borrowing the sequence of ideas, arrangement of material, or pattern of thought of someone else without giving them proper credit. Plagiarism can be avoided by proper use of footnotes.
Texts: John Strong. The Buddha: A Short Biography ($47.95?) October 31, 2001 | ISBN-10: 1851682562 | ISBN-13: 978-1851682560 Kurt Behrendt. The Art of Gandhara in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ($24.95) June 25, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0300120273 | ISBN-13: 978-0300120271 Llewelyn Morgan. The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Wonders of the World) ($14.09) ISBN-10: 0674057880, ISBN-13: 978-0674057883 St John Simpson. The Begram Hoard: Indian Ivories from Afghanistan ($15.95) July 20, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0714111783 | ISBN-13: 978-0714111780 Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. (National Geographic) May 20, 2008 ($30-$12.00) ISBN-10: 1426202954 Additional readings will be available on JSTOR, on Blackboard (MyMason), on reserve in the library, or available free through other online sources.
Readings and Lectures: (This schedule is subject to change) ----Readings need to be completed BEFORE the day under which they are listed---Week 1- 1/23 --- Introduction and Historical Overview Kurt Behrendt. The Art of Gandhara in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ($24.95) 2007. Gérard Fussman. "Southern Bactria and Northern India before Islam: A Review of Archaeological Reports" Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1996), 243-259 (JSTOR) You may also want to read the relevant portions of a survey text like Susan Huntington's Art of Ancient India. Even spending some time on Wikipedia could help provide background knowledge. Week 2 – 1/30 ---Buddhism in Gandhara Butkara I and II John Strong. The Buddha: A Short Biography ($47.95?) 2001 T.W. Rhys Davids The Questions of King Milinda (Milindapañha) Sacred Books of the East, vol. 35 (1890, reprinted Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992) 1-62 (please read further you have the time) http://archive.org/details/questionsofkingm028266mbp
Domenico Faccenna. "Reconstruction of a Sculptural Complex in the Buddhist Sacred Area of Butkara I" East and West, Vol. 56, No. 1/3 (2006) 177-194. (JSTOR) Week 3 – 2/6 -- Class Cancelled CAA Week 4 – 2/13 -- Colonial Concerns Taxlia (Paper Topic Proposal Due) Marshall, John H. A Guide to Taxila. 4th ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960) 1-58 http://archive.org/details/cu31924024121125 Alfred Foucher. “The Greek origin of the Buddha Image” in The Beginnings of Buddhist Art. L.A. Thomas and. F.W. Thomas trans. (Asian Educational Services; Facsimile of 1917 ed., 1994) -138. http://archive.org/details/beginningsofbudd025009mbp Benjamin Rowland. "Gandhara, Rome and Mathura: The Early Relief Style." Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, Vol. 10 (1956), 8-17 (JSTOR) Week 5 – 2/20 -- The Buddha Image Takht-i-Bahi J. E. van Lohuizen- de Leeuw. "New Evidence with Regard to the Origin of the Buddha Image" in South Asian Archaeology 1979. H. Hartel ed. (Dietrich Reimer Verlag: Berlin 1979) 373-400. (handout) Juhyung Rhi, "Images, Relics, and Jewels: The Assimilation of Images in the Buddhist Relic Cult of Gandhāra: Or Vice Versa" Artibus Asiae, Vol. 65, No. 2 (2005)169-211. (JSTOR) Week 6 – 2/27 - Treasure Hoards of Bactria Tillya Tepe/Begram St John Simpson. The Begram Hoard: Indian Ivories from Afghanistan ($15.95) 2011 . Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. (National Geographic) May 20, 2008 ($30-$12.00) 131-293. Peter Beaumont "The Begram ivories: rescuing Afghanistan's lost history" The Guardian (26 Feb 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/feb/27/afghanistan-begram-ivoriesexhibition-rescue Week 7 --3/6 – Cultural Exchange Ai Khanoum Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. (National Geographic) May 20, 2008 ($30-$12.00) 80-130.
Katsumi Tanabe. "Why Is the Buddha Śākyamuni Accompanied by Hercules/Vajrapāṇi? Farewell to Yakṣa-theory." East and West, Vol. 55, No. 1/4 (December 2005) 363-381. (JSTOR) Week 8– 3/13 Spring Break Week 9 – 3/20- Kuṣāṇa Art and Power Surkh Kotal/Mat John Rosenfield. "Prologue: Some Debating Points on Gandharan Buddhism and Kushan History" in Gandharan Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, Texts, P Brancaccio and K. Behrendt eds (UBC Press: Vancouver, 2006) 9-37 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgemason/docDetail.action?docID=10214500 Giovanni Verardi and Alessandro Grossato. "The Kuṣāṇa Emperors as Cakravartins Dynastic Art and Cults in India and Central Asia:History of a Theory, Clarifications and Refutations" East and West, Vol. 33, No. 1/4 (December 1983) 225-294. Week 10 –3/27 – Narrative in Art Peshawar Museum Robert L. Brown. "The Emaciated Gandharan Buddha Images: Asceticism, Health, and the Body," in Living a Life in Accord with Dhamma: Papers in Honor of Professor Jean Boisselier. Eilenberg, Diskul, and Brown eds. (Bangkok: Silpakorn University, 1997). 105-115. (handout) Behrendt, Kurt. "Narrative Sequences in the Buddhist Reliefs from Gandhara." In South Asian Archaeology 2001, edited by Catherine Jarrige and Vincent Lefèvre, vol. 2 (Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 2005) 383–92. (handout) Pia Brancaccio, Liu, Xinru "Dionysus and drama in the Buddhist art of Gandhara" Journal of Global History 4. 2 (Jul 2009): 219-244. http://search.proquest.com.mutex.gmu.edu/pqrl/docview/229002030/13B1EB 097E12DF080AA/1?accountid=14541 (Proquest) Week 11 – 4/3 – Deposits and Caches Bimaran/Sirkap K. Walton Dobbins. "Two Gandhāran Reliquaries" East and West, Vol. 18, No. 1/2 (March-June 1968) 151-162. (JSTOR) Ellen M. Raven "Design Diversity in Kanishka's Buddha Coins" in Gandharan Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, Texts, P Brancaccio and K. Behrendt eds (UBC Press: Vancouver, 2006) 286-302 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgemason/docDetail.action?docID=10214500 Richard Salomon "New manuscript Sources for the Study of Gandharan Buddhism" in Gandharan Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, Texts, P Brancaccio and K. Behrendt eds (UBC Press: Vancouver, 2006) 135-150. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgemason/docDetail.action?docID=10214500
Week 12 – 4/10 - Buddhist Sectarian Issues Lahore Museum Gregory Schopen. "On Monks, Nuns and 'Vulgar' Practices: The Introduction of the Image Cult into Indian Buddhism" Artibus Asiae, Vol. 49, No. 1/2 (1988 1989) 153-168.(JSTOR) Paul Harrison, Christian Luczanits, "New Light on (and from) the Muhammad Nari Stele1" presentation in the Special International Symposium on Pure Land Buddhism held at Otani University, Kyoto, on 4 August 2011. 1-72 (handout) Week 13 –4/17 - Icons and Iconoclasm Hadda/Mes Aynak Llewelyn Morgan. The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Wonders of the World) ($14.09) Deborah Klimburg-Salter. "Bāmiyān: Recent Research." East and West, Vol. 38, No. 1/4 (December 1988) 305-312 (JSTOR) Ann Marlowe. "Rescuing Afghanistan's Buddhist History" Wall Street Journal Sept 17, 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870464440457548225195578504 6.html Week 14 – 4/24 - Student Presentations Week 15 – 5/1 -- Student Presentations Final Research Papers Due
Robinson B 333
Course Description/Objectives: Situated between India, Persia, and the Greco-Roman world, the region of greater Gandhara (stretching from India to Afghanistan) has produced artwork that blends influence and ideas from many cultures. Although the region reached its cultural peak in the 1st – 5th century CE, its cultural legacy persists to the present. Gandharan artwork produced in the early centuries of the Common Era has drawn exceptionally intense interest from collectors and museums and remains one of the most famous periods in world art. This course will examine the origins of the region’s material culture, explore the ways imperial and religious power were displayed, and examine the role of trade in the exchange of ideas. Additionally, we will look at the rediscovery of the region by Europeans in the 19th century and the part this art played in debates over colonial control. To do this, the work will be approached thematically with weekly sessions centered on specific topics and specific sites. Office Hours (Robinson B 371D) Wednesday 1:30 – 3:00 or by appointment Email: [email protected] Course Requirements:
Participation Paper Topic Proposal Research Paper (15-20 pages) Site Presentation Research Presentation
10% 10% 50% 20% 10%
The class meetings will consist of seminar-style discussions on specific topics. These meetings will form the core of the course material so it is strongly advised that you attend class consistently. ALL students are expected to participate in class discussions. In addition to a Research Paper each student will be expected to present an archaeological site or museum collection to the class. This presentation will be 15 minutes in length and will be accompanied by a two page research and a bibliography. The sites are listed alongside the weekly topic in the class schedule below. All students will need to turn in a Paper Topic Proposal, in which the subject of the research paper is discussed and bibliographic information is provided. The Research Paper will involve independent research. All students have the option to turn in a rough draft of the paper before the final draft is due. More information on all of these assignments will be provided during the term.
Grading Policies: A 100-93% A92-90% B+ 89-87% B 86-83% B82-80%
C+ C D F
79-77% 76-70% 69-60% 59% and lower
Attendance is necessary; much of the material will only be presented in class lectures and discussions. You are responsible for keeping up with the material and for getting notes for missed classes. This class is a seminar centered on the discussion of assigned texts. A student’s class participation grade will be evaluated not according to the amount of talking that student does, but rather according to whether that student contributes thoughtfully and constructively, based on a careful consideration of the class readings. Obviously, students cannot contribute to class discussion if they are absent; consequently, repeated unexcused absences will be reflected in their participation grade. Make-up times and extensions will be given ONLY in cases of emergencies or illnesses with proper documentation (doctor’s note etc.) In all other cases (family obligations, religious holidays, disabilities etc.), extensions may be granted if I am informed well BEFORE the deadline. Papers are due IN CLASS on the day specified in the schedule. Late papers will be marked down five points (half a grade) for every weekday and ten points (a full grade) for every weekend they are late. Papers will be handed back once in class. If you are not present on the day papers are handed back it is your responsibility to ask me for the graded assignment. Please shut off all cell phones and other electronic devices before class starts. Anyone using the phone during class (including for texting) will be asked to leave. Adherence to codes of academic honesty is expected on all assignments and in all testing situations. I take the Honor Code (as stipulated in the university undergraduate catalog) very seriously. This code is a simple expression of respect for the course, your classmates and yourself. Cheating and Plagiarism are forbidden (obviously). For those who do not know what Plagiarism is, it can be defined as: presenting, as one’s own the words, work or opinions of someone else without giving them proper acknowledgment. Plagiarism can also refer to borrowing the sequence of ideas, arrangement of material, or pattern of thought of someone else without giving them proper credit. Plagiarism can be avoided by proper use of footnotes.
Texts: John Strong. The Buddha: A Short Biography ($47.95?) October 31, 2001 | ISBN-10: 1851682562 | ISBN-13: 978-1851682560 Kurt Behrendt. The Art of Gandhara in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ($24.95) June 25, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0300120273 | ISBN-13: 978-0300120271 Llewelyn Morgan. The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Wonders of the World) ($14.09) ISBN-10: 0674057880, ISBN-13: 978-0674057883 St John Simpson. The Begram Hoard: Indian Ivories from Afghanistan ($15.95) July 20, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0714111783 | ISBN-13: 978-0714111780 Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. (National Geographic) May 20, 2008 ($30-$12.00) ISBN-10: 1426202954 Additional readings will be available on JSTOR, on Blackboard (MyMason), on reserve in the library, or available free through other online sources.
Readings and Lectures: (This schedule is subject to change) ----Readings need to be completed BEFORE the day under which they are listed---Week 1- 1/23 --- Introduction and Historical Overview Kurt Behrendt. The Art of Gandhara in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ($24.95) 2007. Gérard Fussman. "Southern Bactria and Northern India before Islam: A Review of Archaeological Reports" Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1996), 243-259 (JSTOR) You may also want to read the relevant portions of a survey text like Susan Huntington's Art of Ancient India. Even spending some time on Wikipedia could help provide background knowledge. Week 2 – 1/30 ---Buddhism in Gandhara Butkara I and II John Strong. The Buddha: A Short Biography ($47.95?) 2001 T.W. Rhys Davids The Questions of King Milinda (Milindapañha) Sacred Books of the East, vol. 35 (1890, reprinted Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992) 1-62 (please read further you have the time) http://archive.org/details/questionsofkingm028266mbp
Domenico Faccenna. "Reconstruction of a Sculptural Complex in the Buddhist Sacred Area of Butkara I" East and West, Vol. 56, No. 1/3 (2006) 177-194. (JSTOR) Week 3 – 2/6 -- Class Cancelled CAA Week 4 – 2/13 -- Colonial Concerns Taxlia (Paper Topic Proposal Due) Marshall, John H. A Guide to Taxila. 4th ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960) 1-58 http://archive.org/details/cu31924024121125 Alfred Foucher. “The Greek origin of the Buddha Image” in The Beginnings of Buddhist Art. L.A. Thomas and. F.W. Thomas trans. (Asian Educational Services; Facsimile of 1917 ed., 1994) -138. http://archive.org/details/beginningsofbudd025009mbp Benjamin Rowland. "Gandhara, Rome and Mathura: The Early Relief Style." Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, Vol. 10 (1956), 8-17 (JSTOR) Week 5 – 2/20 -- The Buddha Image Takht-i-Bahi J. E. van Lohuizen- de Leeuw. "New Evidence with Regard to the Origin of the Buddha Image" in South Asian Archaeology 1979. H. Hartel ed. (Dietrich Reimer Verlag: Berlin 1979) 373-400. (handout) Juhyung Rhi, "Images, Relics, and Jewels: The Assimilation of Images in the Buddhist Relic Cult of Gandhāra: Or Vice Versa" Artibus Asiae, Vol. 65, No. 2 (2005)169-211. (JSTOR) Week 6 – 2/27 - Treasure Hoards of Bactria Tillya Tepe/Begram St John Simpson. The Begram Hoard: Indian Ivories from Afghanistan ($15.95) 2011 . Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. (National Geographic) May 20, 2008 ($30-$12.00) 131-293. Peter Beaumont "The Begram ivories: rescuing Afghanistan's lost history" The Guardian (26 Feb 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/feb/27/afghanistan-begram-ivoriesexhibition-rescue Week 7 --3/6 – Cultural Exchange Ai Khanoum Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul. (National Geographic) May 20, 2008 ($30-$12.00) 80-130.
Katsumi Tanabe. "Why Is the Buddha Śākyamuni Accompanied by Hercules/Vajrapāṇi? Farewell to Yakṣa-theory." East and West, Vol. 55, No. 1/4 (December 2005) 363-381. (JSTOR) Week 8– 3/13 Spring Break Week 9 – 3/20- Kuṣāṇa Art and Power Surkh Kotal/Mat John Rosenfield. "Prologue: Some Debating Points on Gandharan Buddhism and Kushan History" in Gandharan Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, Texts, P Brancaccio and K. Behrendt eds (UBC Press: Vancouver, 2006) 9-37 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgemason/docDetail.action?docID=10214500 Giovanni Verardi and Alessandro Grossato. "The Kuṣāṇa Emperors as Cakravartins Dynastic Art and Cults in India and Central Asia:History of a Theory, Clarifications and Refutations" East and West, Vol. 33, No. 1/4 (December 1983) 225-294. Week 10 –3/27 – Narrative in Art Peshawar Museum Robert L. Brown. "The Emaciated Gandharan Buddha Images: Asceticism, Health, and the Body," in Living a Life in Accord with Dhamma: Papers in Honor of Professor Jean Boisselier. Eilenberg, Diskul, and Brown eds. (Bangkok: Silpakorn University, 1997). 105-115. (handout) Behrendt, Kurt. "Narrative Sequences in the Buddhist Reliefs from Gandhara." In South Asian Archaeology 2001, edited by Catherine Jarrige and Vincent Lefèvre, vol. 2 (Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 2005) 383–92. (handout) Pia Brancaccio, Liu, Xinru "Dionysus and drama in the Buddhist art of Gandhara" Journal of Global History 4. 2 (Jul 2009): 219-244. http://search.proquest.com.mutex.gmu.edu/pqrl/docview/229002030/13B1EB 097E12DF080AA/1?accountid=14541 (Proquest) Week 11 – 4/3 – Deposits and Caches Bimaran/Sirkap K. Walton Dobbins. "Two Gandhāran Reliquaries" East and West, Vol. 18, No. 1/2 (March-June 1968) 151-162. (JSTOR) Ellen M. Raven "Design Diversity in Kanishka's Buddha Coins" in Gandharan Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, Texts, P Brancaccio and K. Behrendt eds (UBC Press: Vancouver, 2006) 286-302 http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgemason/docDetail.action?docID=10214500 Richard Salomon "New manuscript Sources for the Study of Gandharan Buddhism" in Gandharan Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, Texts, P Brancaccio and K. Behrendt eds (UBC Press: Vancouver, 2006) 135-150. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgemason/docDetail.action?docID=10214500
Week 12 – 4/10 - Buddhist Sectarian Issues Lahore Museum Gregory Schopen. "On Monks, Nuns and 'Vulgar' Practices: The Introduction of the Image Cult into Indian Buddhism" Artibus Asiae, Vol. 49, No. 1/2 (1988 1989) 153-168.(JSTOR) Paul Harrison, Christian Luczanits, "New Light on (and from) the Muhammad Nari Stele1" presentation in the Special International Symposium on Pure Land Buddhism held at Otani University, Kyoto, on 4 August 2011. 1-72 (handout) Week 13 –4/17 - Icons and Iconoclasm Hadda/Mes Aynak Llewelyn Morgan. The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Wonders of the World) ($14.09) Deborah Klimburg-Salter. "Bāmiyān: Recent Research." East and West, Vol. 38, No. 1/4 (December 1988) 305-312 (JSTOR) Ann Marlowe. "Rescuing Afghanistan's Buddhist History" Wall Street Journal Sept 17, 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870464440457548225195578504 6.html Week 14 – 4/24 - Student Presentations Week 15 – 5/1 -- Student Presentations Final Research Papers Due
