Located less than 80km from both sides of the Amu Darya, Termez and Balkh represent two different urban phenomena in the Greco-Bactrian world. Bactria was already an important town, capital of Bactria during the Achaemenid period whereas Termez was only one small urban center at the hellenistic period. The discovery of Hellenistic levels at Balkh seems all the more important that since 1924, the reality of a Hellenistic occupation in Bactres was actively sought. Excavations from 2005 on various sites in the city have shown this reality and thus made certain assumptions about the extent of the occupation and the timeline.