Introduction

7 In oduc ion We a e deligh ed o p esen his issue o S udia He cynia which con ains he p oceedings o he con e ence ‘En angled Pas s and P esen s: Tempo al In e ac ions and Knowledge P oduc ion in he S udy o Hellenis ic Cen al Asia’ which ook place a he F eibu g Ins i u e o Ad anced S udies a he Albe Ludwig Uni e si y o F eibu g, Ge many, on Ma ch 24–26, 2022. This con e ence was he ou h mee ing o he ‘Hellenis ic Cen al Asia Resea ch Ne wo k’ (HCARN), which ollowed h ee success ul con e ences o ganized a he Uni e si y o Reading in 2016 (HCARN I, hos ed by Rachel Mai s, he ne wo k’s ounde ), a he Eu asia Depa men o he Ge man A chaeological Ins i u e in Be lin in 2017 (HCARN II, hos ed by Gun o Lind- s öm), and a he Cha les Uni e si y P ague in 2018 (HCARN III, hos ed by Ladisla S ančo) (see www.bac ia.o g). O iginally planned o 2020, HCARN IV in F eibu g had o be pos poned o 2022 due o he global COVID-19 pandemic. While he p e ious con e ence heme and p oceedings cen ed on i ual and eligion (now published in Linds öm ed. 2023, S udia He cynia 27/1), his edi ion shi s a en ion o di e se empo al in e ac ions and modes o knowledge p oduc ion in and abou Hellenis ic Cen al Asia, highligh ing he complex en anglemen s o a ious pas s and p esen s– bo h in an iqui y and mode ni y. Conce ns o he p esen p o oundly shape human unde s andings o he pas . And, in e sely, ou unde s andings o he pas ha e p o ound implica ions o he p esen . Such empo al in e ac ions a e especially ele an o he s udy o Hellenis ic Cen al Asia, which has a ac ed ab oad ange o schola s– a chaeologis s, his o ians, a his o ians, numisma is s, and linguis s– each con ibu ing new ideas, pe spec i es, and a ied sou ces and da a o he expanding body o esea ch in his ield. The su ge o schola ly and popula in e es in Hellenis ic Cen al Asia– e lec ed in he g owing HCARN communi y since 2016– is en angled wi h he ise o in e disciplina i y, he in eg a ion o new bodies o e idence, as well as wi h con empo a y expe iences o cul u al in e ac ion, global p ocesses, and iden i y cons uc ion, all wi hin shi ing geopoli ical landscapes. Indeed, knowledge p oduc ion in and abou Cen al Asia does no occu in a acuum bu is si ua ed in ama ix o unusually di e se and complex con ex s o he las cen u ies, shaped by a ious conce ns, con lic ing in e es s, and dis inc his o iog aphical adi ions. These con ex s ange om Russian Tu kes an and he B i ish Raj, o So ie Cen al Asia and he pa i ion o India and Pakis an, and om pos -So ie Cen al Asia and mode n A ghanis an, wi h i s ecen his o y o con lic , o Silk Road -inspi ed policy -making and de elopmen s a egies. The complexi ies o pas -p esen en anglemen s a e no con ined o mode ni y. In an iqui y, people in hei ‘his o ical p esen ’ simila ly engaged wi h and eimagined hei pas in di e en ways, using social and cul u al memo y o a ious pu poses– in e linked wi h isions o he p esen and he u u e. As humans ha e di e se expe iences o hei wo ld, ideas abou he pas and he (his o ical) p esen a e likewise no uni o m ac oss socie y, highligh ing he impo ance o conside ing mul iple pas s and p esen s. The con e ence aimed o explo e hese en anglemen s by examining a ange o empo al in e ac ions and hei impac on knowledge p oduc ion, wi h he goal o gaining aclea e pe spec i e on he sha ed objec i es o his ield, and i s u u e di ec ion. 8STUDIA HERCYNIA XXVIII/2 The 28 pape s and ou pos e s p esen ed add essed he heme om di e se pe spec i es. We would like o once again hank all o he p esen e s, who we e (in he o de o he p o- g amme): Rol S oo man, Milinda Hoo, Fiona Kidd, Vi o Messina, Ladisla S ančo, Ma in Ko acs, Ma c Mendoza, K is ina Junke , Aleksand Nayma k, Edwa d Ross, Jakub Ha lík, Ma iana Cas o, Da id Fallon, S e an Hä el, Razieh Taasob, Gun o Linds öm, Pa yk Skup- niewicz, Yue Minjing, Gunna Dumke, Olga Kubica, Ma ike an Ae de, Rishika Dhumal, Chan- d eyi Basu, Michael Iliakis, Wu Xin, Tomas La sen Høisæ e , Vik o Humennyi, Claude Rapin, Ma ia Riep, Lau en Mo is, Rachel Mai s, Ha iz La i y, Oli ie Bo deaux, and S e an Baums. Six pape s a e p esen ed in his issue. The i s , Rol S oo man’sa icle en i led ‘The Los Valley o Iskanda ’, examines how he i ula s o y by he 20 h -cen u y Ame ican pulp ic ion au ho Robe E. Howa d p esen s he idea o alos G eek ci y o ace in Cen al Asia. In doing so, i explo es he manne in which Classical G eece was con la ed wi h wes e n Eu ope in li - e a y ic ion, and he en anglemen be ween ic ion, Eu opean schola ship, and a el w i ing. Milinda Hoo’sa icle, en i led ‘Bak ians as Sel , Pa hians as O he ? The en anglemen s o No h -Eas e n inbe weenness in he s udy o Hellenis ic Cen al Asia’, in oduces he concep o inbe weenness o examine en anglemen s in ancien and mode n pe cep ions o he No h -Eas (Cen al Asia). Analysing geog aphical imagina ions o his space, he a icle explo es how meaning and iden i y was asc ibed o he Bac ians and Pa hians in ancien his o iog aphy– espec i ely, as pa o he wes e n Sel and no h -eas e n O he – and how hese ideas e e be a e in in e p e a ions o ma e ial cul u e ypologised as G eek a Ai Khanoum and Nisa. Ma c Mendoza’sa icle, ‘To Sogdiana and Back: Demodamas, he B anchidae, and Apollo Didymeus’, concen a es mo e on pe cep ions o he pas in an iqui y, e alua ing how he mas- sac e o he B anchidae was pe cei ed by bo h con empo a y w i e s and ci izens o Mile us. A guing ha Demodamas p obably w o e his own e sion o he e en , Mendoza conside s how i migh ha e been con eyed in Mile us. He concludes ha Alexande ’sdes uc ion o he ‘copyca sh ine’ in Sogdiana was pe cei ed as app op ia e eligious punishmen , and ha he cons uc ion o al a s o Apollo Didymeus a he edge o he oikoumene enhanced he epu a ion o Mile us. Aleksand Nayma k’sa icle, ‘The End o G eek Rule in Soghd. Ea ly Eu hydemus Imi a- ions om Bukha a’, also add esses he use o he pas in an iqui y. I econside s he da e o he loss o G eek con ol o e Sogdiana (usually hough o da e a ound he pe iod o he siege o Bac a, ca. 206 BCE) h ough ade ailed s udy o he ea lies Bukha an imi a ion coinages o he G aeco -Bac ian king Eu hydemus– a ia ions o which we e p oduced in he egion o some ou and ahal cen u ies. An in -dep h his o iog aphic e iew and new analysis o hese imi a ions indica e ha G eek ule ended in he egion du ing ca. 230–226 BCE, a ound he e ol o Eu hydemus. S e an Hä el’sa icle, ‘G eeks, I anians, and Kušān in Tokha is ān. Bac ian Iden i ies and he Kušān Empi e’, in es iga es how Kushan impe ial ep esen a i es engaged wi h pas I anian and G eek impe ial legacies in Bac ia, p ima ily h ough epig aphic and numisma ic ma e ial. In doing his, he obse es ha bo h I anian and G eek elemen s we e pe cei ed as ‘indigenous’ o he egion despi e an awa eness o cul u al he e ogenei y, and ha bo h a- di ions (along wi h a‘Kushan’ one) we e u ilised o shape Kushan impe ial iden i y. Finally, Claude Rapin’sa icle, ‘Red awing aMap o Alexande he G ea ’sEmpi e: Co - ec ing Old His o ical Geog aphical E o s’, is cen e ed on he mode n his o iog aphic econ- s uc ion o he geog aphy o Alexande ’scampaigns, pa icula ly in Cen al Asia. The a icle p esen s new maps and an accompanying syn hesis o he au ho ’songoing esea ch in o he iden i ica ion o he ou es and oponyms in ol ed. Fi s highligh ing he e olu ion o – and 9MILINDA HOO, LAUREN MORRIS di icul ies in– he p esen a ion o hese campaigns in adi e si y o a ailable maps and a lases since he 16 h cen u y, he a icle hen summa ises and isualises Rapin’ss andpoin and i s di e gences om ha o o he schola s. Se e al indi iduals and ins i u ions made his con e ence possible in he i s place. We would like o wa mly hank Si a on Reden o co -o ganising he con e ence wi h us and he g ea suppo du ing his p ocess. We a e also indeb ed o he F eibu g Ins i u e o Ad anced S udies o p o iding awonde ul enue and excellen logis ical suppo – wi h pa icula hanks on his no e o And ea No dlande and A ilio Fe a ese. We a e also deeply app ecia- i e o ou s uden assis an s, Ca e ina Scho e and Ma ius Rosi zka, o e ec i ely ensu ing ha e e y hing an smoo hly. We a e deeply g a e ul o he gene ous inancial suppo ha acili a ed he con e ence, including ag an om he Deu sche Fo schungsgemeinscha which enabled he pa icipa ion o se e al speake s, g an s om Humanismus Heu e and he F eibu g Insi u e o Ad anced S udies, and esou ces om he BaSaR P ojec , ‘Beyond he Silk Road: Economic De elopmen , F on ie -Zones, and In e -Impe iali y in he A o- -Eu asian Wo ld Region (300 BCE o 300 CE)’ (PI: Si a on Reden), which ecei ed unding om he Eu opean Resea ch Council unde he Eu opean Union’sHo izon 2020 esea ch and inno a ion p og amme (g an ag eemen no. 742645). We g a e ully acknowledge he gene ous unding om U ech Uni e si y Publishing Suppo o he publica ion o his issue. Finally, we a e pleased o exp ess ou g a i ude o he edi o ial boa d o S udia He cynia o hos ing hese p oceedings. Milinda Hoo and Lau en Mo is