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Balkh (; Persian/Pashto: بلخ ''Balkh''; Bactrian: βαχλο, ''ẞaxlɔ'') was an ancient city and centre of Buddhism, Sufism and Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan, since the latter's earliest history. Marco Polo described Balkh as a "noble and great city".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=City of Balkh (antique Bactria) )〕 The ancient city of Balkh was known to the Ancient Greeks as ''Bactra'', giving its name to Bactria. It was mostly known as the centre and capital of Bactria or Tokharistan. Balkh is now for the most part a mass of ruins, situated some 12 km from the right bank of the seasonally flowing Balkh River, at an elevation of about 365 m (1,200 ft). Outside the town was a large Buddhist monastery later known as Naubahar (or Nava Vihāra in Sanskrit). French Buddhist Alexandra David-Néel associated Shambhala with Balkh, also offering the Persian ''Sham-i-Bala'', "elevated candle" as an etymology of its name.〔David-Néel, A. "Les Nouvelles Littéraires";1954, p.1〕 In a similar vein, the Gurdjieffian J. G. Bennett published speculation that Shambalha was ''Shams-i-Balkh'', a Bactrian sun temple.〔Bennett, J.G: "Gurdjieff: aking a New World". Bennett notes Idries Shah as the source of the suggestion.〕 == Etymology == The name of province or country appears in Old Persian inscriptions (B.h.i 16; Dar Pers e.16; Nr. a.23) as Bāxtri, i.e. Bakhtri. It is written in the Avesta Bāxδi. From this came the intermediate form Bāxli, Sanskrit Bahlīka, Balhika ‘Bactrian,’, Armenian Bahl, and by transposition, the modern Persian Balx, i.e. Balkh"〔Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby, "The New international encyclopædia, Volume 2", Dodd, Mead and Company, 1902. pg 341〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Balkh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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