Ancient Buddha statue found in Egypt

Ancient Egypt is the home of many stone statues and sculptures, now including the Buddha

Why this ancient statue of the Buddha from Afghanistan (ancient Gandhara, Scythia, Central Asia) discovered in Egypt has stunned archaeologists (msn.com)

It's a long way from home. Since the first pharaohs ruled Egypt at the end of the 4th millennium BC, the country has worshipped a wide pantheon of gods and goddesses, but it has never, as far as we're aware, embraced Buddhism.

It raised a lot of eyebrows, then, when archeologists recently unearthed a two-foot (60 cm) tall Buddha statue while excavating a temple to the Egyptian Goddess Isis in the ancient port city of Berenike -- reportedly the first such statue ever found west of Afghanistan [where the Buddha was likely born, not Nepal as popularly thought, west of proto-India, because "India" did not come into existence until the Buddhist Emperor Asoka united disparate kingdoms and territories two centuries or more after the passing of the Buddha, circa 600 BC].

Founded in the third century BC and an important Red Sea hub, Berenike became particularly prominent after the Roman invasion of Egypt in 30 BC, and a steady stream of artifacts have been discovered there in recent decades.

• Garum Masala | William Dalrymple | The New York Review of Books (nybooks.com) In March 2022 a team of American archaeologists was excavating a temple of the Egyptian Goddess Isis at the ancient site of Berenike, on the shores of the Red Sea in modern-day Egypt, when they stumbled across a series of remarkable finds [such as an ancient Buddha statue]. Berenike is today a bleak and desolate spot....
• VIDEO: Gravitas: Ancient Buddha statue discovered in Egypt (msn.com)
• Mystery of 'impossible' ancient Egyptian statue may be solved (msn.com)

• smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/buddha-statue-found-berenike-egypt-180982075 Archaeologists Unearth Buddha Statue in Ancient Egyptian Port City Researchers have discovered a two-foot-tall Buddha statue in Berenike, an ancient Egyptian port city. The artifact is the first Buddha ever...
• livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/1st-century-buddha-statue-from-ancient-egypt-indicates-buddhists-lived-there-in-roman-times 1st-century Buddha statue from ancient Egypt indicates Buddhists A 1,900-year-old statue of the Buddha — discovered at the ancient Egyptian port city of Berenike, on the coast of the Red Sea — likely...
• buddhistdoor.net/news/archaeologists-unearth-ancient-buddha-statue-in-egypt Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Buddha Statue in Egypt Researchers in Berenike, Egypt, have discovered a 71-centimeter Buddha statue believed to date to the second century CE.
• jpost.com/archaeology/article-741997 Buddha statue uncovered in Egypt's Red Sea reveals ancient trade... In the Egyptian port city of Berenike, situated near the nation's southernmost point of the Red Sea, archaeologists have uncovered an...
• artnews.com/art-news/news/buddha-statue-uncovered-in-an-egyptian-port-city-sheds-light-on-trade-between-ancient-rome-and-india-1234666283 Buddha Statue Uncovered in Ancient Egyptian Port City A Buddha statue was found by archaeologists in the ancient Egyptian port city Berenike, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities...
• Scythia
• Sculpture