Memory Eternal, Viktor Sarianidi

We received the sad news from one of Viktor's colleagues at the Russian Academy of Science that Viktor passed away today. It is a great loss to the academic world and to us, his friends. It was a great pleasure to know him and it was of great benefit to learn from him. I feel very blessed to have been named by Viktor as the 'Mistress of Animals,' a Bactrian mythological figure. Since I had a lot of sheep and dogs when Viktor visited us twice here in America, he jokingly always referred to me as the woman of that myth. For those of you who may not be familiar with the name or his works, I will explain. Viktor (Victor) Sariganidi (Sarianidi) led the Russian excavations at the Bactria and Margiana sites in Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. I thought many of my readers would want to know of his passing. Memory Eternal, dear friend.