Abstract
The discovery of the Greek city of Ai Khanoum located in the north-east of Afghanistan provided, after the unsuccessful excavations in Bactra of A. Foucher followed by those of D. Schlumberger, testimony of the presence of Hellenism in Central Asia. After his research, Foucher, disappointed, spoke of a ‘Graeco-Bactrian mirage’. The city is located on the left bank of the Darya-i Pandj river (the upper course of the Amu Darya) at the confluence with one of its tributaries, the Kokcha. In Uzbek, Ai Khanoum means ‘Lady Moon’ but we do not know the original name of the city founded in the Seleukid period under Seleukos I or Antiochos I. The refoundation of the city under the name of Eukratideia undoubtedly marks the intention of King Eukratides to confirm the rank of the city as a capital. It is on this occasion that a vast architectural program was launched.
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