and calendrical systems. The art historian John Boardman has also noted that Ai-Khanoum may have been one of the conduits for Greek art influencing the art of ancient India; the sculpture of the pillars of Ashoka may have been inspired by drawings of Greco-Bactrian buildings brought back to the Mauryan Empire by ambassadors. It is impossible to say whether inspiration came from Ai-Khanoum or other Hellenistic sites. The artwork of Ai-Khanoum does display innovative and original craftsmanship, such as the biggest faïence sculpture found in the Hellenistic world, which melded Oriental production techniques with Greek traditions of acrolithic statues. A statuette of Heracles found at the site displays artistic continuity with later Indo-Greek coinage, which depict Vajrapani as syncretised with the demigod and Zeus. Modern scholarship The discovery of Ai-Khanoum, even more than that of the nearby temple of Takht-i Sangin, was of fundamental importance to the study of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. Before its discovery, archaeologists such as Alfred Foucher had devoted careers to trying to find any physical confirmation for the existence of Hellenistic culture in Central Asia, but had continually failed. Apart from textual fragments in classical texts and a variety of coins with Greek inscriptions found throughout the region, there was a near-complete absence of evidence to support the theory. Foucher, who had found nothing during a difficult 18-month excavation in Balkh, gradually lost all hope, famously dismissing the hypothesis as the "Greco-Bactrian mirage". The discovery of Ai-Khanoum re-energised the discipline, and several Hellenistic sites have since been found throughout Central Asia. The historian Rachel Mairs has noted that the discovery of Ai-Khanoum did represent a sort of "turning point" in the study of the Hellenistic Far East, even if the primary pre-discovery questions were still asked after the excavations had been finished. Notes, citations, and sources Notes Citations Sources Primary Secondary Further reading Seleucid colonies Cities founded by Alexander the Great Populated places along the Silk Road Populated places established in the 3rd century BC 280s BC establishments Former populated places in Afghanistan Bactrian and Indian Hellenistic period Bactrian and Indian Hellenistic colonies Cities in Central Asia Hellenistic sites in Afghanistan Takhar Province Populated places disestablished in the 2nd century BC