[CarrotAndStick]

Pinging.

[Eric_WA]

It is already a well documented fact that the Aryans who settled India and developed the Hindu civilization there originally arrived from Central Asia. Perhaps this shows that these same people may have migrated from Central Asia toward the north, bringing already formed Hindu ideas with them. Perhaps this also shows that Hinduism is older than originally speculated and did not have its oldest roots in the Indus Valley, as also widely believed. Very interesting information indeed...

[Dumb_Ox]

Any chance some Mongols brought the statue there?

[paudio]

International trades have been around for long, together with cultural exchange, etc. Finding an artifact in a location doesn't mean the ancient people living in that area adhered to the culture the artifact belonged to.

[Gengis Khan]

Ping!

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

How accurate--in your opinion--is PTI, anyway?

[SunkenCiv]

related:

Buddha statue from 6th c found in Viking hoard in Helgo, Sweden
Biblical Archaeology Review | March/April 2005 | "Worldwide" editor
Posted on 04/27/2005 2:26:07 AM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1391864/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks CarrotAndStick.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[indcons]

MEGA Ping

[chimera2]

Scythians of Ukraine were a Persian tribe from the Brahmin Afghanistan region. The Brahmin river-goddess Danu has been linked to "Dnieper Dneister Don" rivers of Scythians, and "Danube" of Celts, and Danaan of Ireland._John Koch. Advanced Welsh Studies. Uni.Wales.
(quote)"Analysis of ancient Sanskrit texts[11] and inscriptions[12] place the Kambojas, Gandharas, Yavanas (Greeks), Madras, and the Sakas in the Uttarapatha - the northern division of Jambudvipa (the innermost concentric island continent in Hindu scripture). Geographically, this area sat along, and was named for, the main trade route from the mouth the Ganges to Balkh, now a small town in Northern Afghanistan. Some writers hold that Uttarapatha included the whole of Northern India and comprised very area of Central Asia, as far as the Urals and the Caspian Sea to the Yenisei and from Turkistan and Tien Shan ranges to as far as the Arctic"_ (Dr S. M. Ali).(end quote).
Scythians spoke Saka language. IE Tocharians of NW China had
Hallstatt-pattern tartan-cloth, and Toch. "bramn.kte" meant
"Brahma god". Brahmin Shiva-Vishnu culture evidently reached the Urals with Sarmatian-Persians. That faith also apparently diffused to Celtic Ireland.
chimera2

[rmlew]

Amazing how the entire article fails to mention who lived there.

Staraya Maina was within what was called Volga Bulgaria or Great Bulgarian Khanate (as opposed to the Danube Bulgaria.)
The Bulgars, the ancestors of the modern Chuvash Tatars, had a large empire with 3 cities in the area: Bolgar (their capital), Bilyar, and Balymer.
The Bulghar Khanate was part of the Silk Road. They had extensive trade relationships with the Byzantines, Khazars, Muslims, and Varangians.
Whether Indian merchants or travelers came up the Volga by way or Muslim Persia, Kurdistan, Byzantium, or Khazaran-Atil this suggests a large trade route. The likely source was the Radanites, a network of Jewish merchants who had trade routes from Andalusia (Spain) to Sind (India) and Xin (China). Were I to further guess, I would assume that the traders came through Khazaria, which had a large Jewish population (some portion of its nobility, including some of my ancestors, converted sometime between 740 and 850CE). Trade would have gone through the Khazar capital of Khazaran-Atil, which was at the Volga estuary to the Caspian Sea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_Bulgaria

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazars

The Radhanite Trade Routes.

[Magnatron]

Some Mongol probably picked it up at a rest stop souvenir gift shop…

[M Kehoe]

My bad.

I was on my way to Kiev via Moscow and somehow drank too much vodka.

I had picked up the idol in Delhi, at the local souvenir kiosk for a hundred rupee. Got on the train in Mumbai, and had it with me then...

Next thing I know I'm in the hospital missing a kidney and my Vishnu idol was gone.

I'll never go back to Moscow.

5.56mm

[nicollo]

I’m just glad my Indo-European ancestors dumped cows as currency. Love my beef. So, as much as Biteme’s economy has raised the cost of meat, I’m glad I’m not eating my money.

That and pigs. Also glad that my European Christian ancestors were all good w/ the Lord but not so keen on kosher rules against rabbits and pigs (they can keep their camels, but, heh, maybe they’re tasty?).