#Quote Researchers have discovered a two-foot-tall #Buddha statue in #Berenike, an #ancient #Egyptian port city.

The #artifact is the first Buddha ever found west of Afghanistan, according to the New York Review of Books’ William Dalrymple. Made from Mediterranean marble, it provides new evidence of trade between #ancient #Rome and #India.

Based on stylistic details, the researchers think it was made in Alexandria around the second century C.E.

Founded in the third century B.C.E., Berenike eventually became one of the largest ports in Roman-controlled #Egypt, according to the antiquities ministry. Goods such as ivory, textiles and semi-precious metals passed through the city for many years, until it was eventually abandoned around the sixth century C.E.

Recent excavations at Berenike have revealed other items that suggest a similar cultural blending. Among them is an inscription in Sanskrit dating to the reign of the emperor Marcus Julius Philippus, known as Phillip the Arab. Born in what is now Syria, he ruled the Roman Empire from 244 to 249 C.E.

Such finds are part of a growing body of evidence that shows just how interconnected the Roman Empire was to its ancient Indian counterpart. They also help shed light on the unique role played by Egypt, which was “centrally located on the trade route that connected the Roman Empire to many parts of the ancient world,” says the antiquities ministry.