Oxus (god)

Oxus (Vaxš, Oaxšo) was an ancient Eastern Iranian god regarded as the divine representation of the Amu Darya. In Bactria he was also considered the king of the gods. Multiple different depictions of him are known from ancient Central Asian art. On an altar from his temple discovered in Takht-i Sangin he is depicted in the form of the Greek river god Marsyas presumably introduced by soldiers and settlers who arrived in this area during the reigns of Alexander the Great and the Seleucids. In Kushan art he was instead depicted as a Poseidon-like figure holding a staff and a fish. In Sogdian art he might have been depicted either as a horse or as a figure seated on a throne with horse protomes, though this proposal remains a matter of debate.

The earliest evidence for the worship of Oxus comes from Bactria from the Achaemenid period. He remained a popular deity in this area up to the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana. He was also worshiped in nearby Sogdia and Chorasmia. According to Al-Biruni he was still venerated in the last of these areas in the tenth century.