Comparative Analysis of Elephant Figurines in the City Museum Gorkhuttree Peshawar

Abstract

The cosmopolitan city of Peshawar is the most ancient living city in South Asia. Its origin may be traced back to 2nd or even 3rd millennium BC. Ecologically, it has enjoyed an ideal location at the entrance of Khyber Pass, a gateway to subcontinent which had been invaded by various nations. All these invasions left their impact on the life, culture, heritage, religion and architecture of the area. The archaeological site of Gorkhuttree is located at the heart of Peshawar City and occupies the highest place having huge deposits of the historic period. The site was earlier identified by Alexander Cunningham with the Kanishka Stupa, while Professor Dr. Ahmad HasanDani identified it with the place where the famous tower of the Buddha bowl once stood.The provincial Directorate of Archaeology and Museums undertook an excavation project at the site from 2003– 2011 and established a site museum named City Museum Gorkhuttree Peshawar. The excavation revealed the complete cultural profile of Peshawar City commencing from Indo-Greeks in the shape of stratums and antiquities mostly consisting coins, figurines, beads and pottery. The current paper deals with the selection of Elephant figurines found in the course of excavation which are now among the collection of this museum from different levels as well as the changing directions in the stature and the significance of Elephant figurines in the intersecting periods and also in the archaeology of Peshawar City.