Tapa Shotor

Tapa Shotor
(Hadda)
Tapa Shotor seated Buddha, with Classical figures of Herakles (left, as Vajrapani) and Tyche (right, as Hariti), in Niche V2, 2nd century CE. Photographed in 1981 by Louis Dupree, before its destructions by the Taliban in 1992.[1][2]
Tapa Shotor is located in Afghanistan
Tapa Shotor
Shown within Afghanistan
Tapa Shotor is located in Gandhara
Tapa Shotor
Tapa Shotor (Gandhara)
Tapa Shotor is located in South Asia
Tapa Shotor
Tapa Shotor (South Asia)
Coordinates34°21′58″N 70°28′08″E / 34.366041°N 70.468981°E / 34.366041; 70.468981
TypeBuddhist monastery
History
Founded1st century BCE
Abandoned9th century CE
Head of a Buddha or Bodhisattva, facing (4th-5th century), probably Hadda, Tapa Shotor.[3][4]
Seated Buddha, Tapa Shotor (Niche V1).

Tapa Shotor, also Tape Shotor or Tapa-e-shotor ("Camel Hill"),[5] was a large Sarvastivadin monastery near Hadda, Afghanistan, and is now an archaeological site.[6] According to archaeologist Raymond Allchin, the site of Tapa Shotor suggests that the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara descended directly from the art of Hellenistic Bactria, as seen in Ai-Khanoum.[7]

In 1992 the Taliban looted and then set Tapa Shotor on fire.[1]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ZTSRH62 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Tepe Shotor Tableau. Hadda, Nangarhar Province. ACKU Images System". ackuimages.photoshelter.com.
  3. ^ Behrendt, Kurt A. (2007). The Art of Gandhara in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1-58839-224-4.
  4. ^ Boardman, George. The Greeks in Asia. pp. Greeks and their arts in India.
  5. ^ Vanleene, Alexandra. "The Geography of Gandhara Art" (PDF): 143. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Vanleene, Alexandra. "The Geography of Gandhara Art" (PDF): 158. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "Following discoveries at Ai-Khanum, excavations at Tapa Shotor, Hadda, produced evidence to indicate that Gandharan art descended directly from Hellenised Bactrian art. It is quite clear from the clay figure finds in particular , that either Bactrian artist from the north were placed at the service of Buddhism, or local artists, fully conversant with the style and traditions of Hellenistic art , were the creators of these art objects" in Allchin, Frank Raymond (1997). Gandharan Art in Context: East-west Exchanges at the Crossroads of Asia. Published for the Ancient India and Iran Trust, Cambridge by Regency Publications. p. 19. ISBN 9788186030486.