Picture of the day

In archaeology, the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), also known as the Oxus Civilization, refers to a Middle Bronze Age civilization of southern Central Asia, existing in its urban phase from circa 2400 to 1950 BC. Most of the BMAC's urban sites are actually located in Margiana (modern Turkmenistan) on the Marghab River delta, and in the Kopet Dag mountains. There are a few later sites in northern Bactria, in what is now southern Uzbekistan, but these are mostly graveyards belonging to the BMAC-related Sapalli culture. A single BMAC site lies in southern Bactria, in the north of modern Afghanistan. Sites found further east, in southwestern Tajikistan, though contemporary with the main BMAC sites in Margiana, are only graveyards, with no urban developments associated with them. This BMAC statuette of a seated female is an example of a "Bactrian princess", dating to between the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC. It is made of steatite or chlorite and alabaster, with dimensions of 3+9⁄16 in × 3+11⁄16 in × 1+7⁄8 in (9.0 cm × 9.4 cm × 4.8 cm). The sculpture is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.Sculpture credit: unknown; photographed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art