The local pottery production of Kibyra

2009 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 95-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Japp
Keyword(s):  
Ceramic Production ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Pottery Production ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
The City ◽  
Early Byzantine

AbstractSince 1995, the ancient city of Kibyra, situated in southwestern Turkey, has been investigated through historical, epigraphic and archaeological surveys. During the ceramic survey, an area inside the city was found where vessels with identical characteristics of surface and fabric were observed. This area is located in the northwestern part of the city close to the theatre. Together with numerous misfired pieces, these vessel fragments are suggestive of a potters' quarter. Based on historical evidence and ceramic comparisons, pottery production in Kibyra can be dated between the late Hellenistic and early Byzantine periods. Not only are the potters' quarter itself and the forms and types produced there of interest, but they also widen our knowledge of different ceramic production centres in the region of ancient Asia Minor. With the help of this material, archaeologists working on other sites will be able to recognise Kibyran pottery and provide us with information about trade connections between Kibyra and other regions.

Sardis

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clyde E. Fant ◽  
Mitchell G. Reddish
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Gediz River ◽  
The City ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Western Half

A city with a strong and vibrant Jewish community during the Roman period, as well as a center for the worship of Artemis and home to a significant Christian community, Sardis is an intriguing place to visit for anyone interested in biblical studies or ancient religious history. The partially restored 3rd-century-C.E. synagogue in the city is the largest known synagogue outside Palestine from ancient times. Ancient shops, a bath-gymnasium complex, and the Temple of Artemis provide glimpses of the life of this ancient city. Once the capital of the ancient Lydian Kingdom, Sardis (Sart) lies approximately 60 miles east of Izmir along the modern highway (E96/300) connecting Izmir to Ankara in the Hermus River valley (today called the Gediz River). Portions of the ruins of Sardis are situated adjacent to the highway and are easily accessible. The ancient city was built along the Pactolus River, a tributary of the Hermus, and at the foothills of the Tmolus Mountains. The city’s acropolis was strategically located atop a spur of the Tmolus Mountains. The Tmolus Mountains (or Mt. Tmolus) were, according to some ancient traditions, the birthplace of the gods Dionysus and Zeus. Sardis first came to prominence during the 1st millennium B.C.E. when it served as the center of the powerful Lydian kingdom, which encompassed most of the western half of Asia Minor. The Lydians supposedly were the first to develop a technique to dye wool and also to invent dice games, knucklebones, and other games. (Interestingly, archaeologists found a terra-cotta die in the ruins at Sardis.) Legend says that Midas, the mythical Phrygian king, was able to rid himself of his golden touch by bathing in the Pactolus River. As a result, the sands of the river turned to gold. Though legendary, this account points nonetheless to the enormous wealth enjoyed by the Lydian kingdom. The earliest Lydian rulers belonged to the Heraclid dynasty, which according to Herodotus (5th-century-B.C.E. Greek historian) lasted 505 years. They were succeeded by the Mermnad dynasty, of which the first king was Gyges (r. ca. 680–ca. 652 B.C.E.).

Hierapolis

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clyde E. Fant ◽  
Mitchell G. Reddish
Keyword(s):  
River Valley ◽  
Mineral Deposits ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Modern City ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Southern Side ◽  
The City ◽  
Holy City

Hierapolis is a popular tourist site, featured frequently on travel posters and tourist advertisements because of the adjacent spectacular calcified cliffs. Equally as impressive as the white cliffs, however, are the remains of the ancient city and the excellent museum at the site. Along with Colossae and Laodicea, Hierapolis was one of the major cities of the Lycus River valley. While Colossae and Laodicea are on the southern side of the Lycus River, Hierapolis (today known as Pamukkale) is north (or northeast) of the river. The site of the ancient city is approximately 12 miles north of the modern city of Denizli. The most striking aspect of the city, in ancient as well as modern times, is the sight of the calcified white cliffs, formed by mineral deposits from the water flowing over the cliffs. From these white cliffs, which can be seen from the ruins of Laodicea, approximately 6 miles away, Hierapolis derived its modern name of Pamukkale (meaning “cotton castle”). The date of the founding of the city of Hierapolis is uncertain. Because the earliest inscription found at Hierapolis dates from the reign of Eumenes II of Pergamum (r. 197–159 B.C.E.), the founding of the city has usually been dated to the time of the Pergamene kingdom. But because of an inscription in the theater that lists various tribal names, some of which are derived from the names of members of the Seleucid family who ruled parts of Asia Minor during the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.E. (such as Seleucidos and Antiochidos), the founding of the city should likely be moved back to the time of the Seleucid kings. Even the origin of the name of the city is uncertain. One tradition is that the Pergamene rulers named the city after Hiera, the wife of Telephus (son of Hercules and grandson of Zeus), the mythical founder of Pergamum. Another explanation is that the name means “holy city” (hieros in Greek means “holy”) and that the city was so named because of the temples located there. The latter explanation may have arisen after the mythological connection was forgotten.

Cyzicus

1902 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 174-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert de Rustafjaell
Keyword(s):  
Asia Minor ◽  
Good Fortune ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Considerable Controversy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The City

Whilst travelling in Asia Minor in 1900 I paid a cursory visit to the peninsula of Cyzicus on the Propontis, in ancient Mysia, and had the opportunity of examining the site of the ancient city, and the canal that has been the subject of considerable controversy in bygone ages, and about which the facts are still only partly ascertained. As the site appeared to promise results of peculiar interest, I applied for a concession to excavate it. I had the good fortune to obtain an Imperial Iradé in February, and began tentative operations in May.From the Admiralty Chart it will be seen that Cyzicus lies on the 30° long. east of Greenwich, and 40°22′ N. lat. and within easy reach of Constantinople. To Panderma there is practically a daily service of steamers, which leave Constantinople at sunset and arrive at about four o'clock the next morning. At Panderma a sailing-skiff takes one in about an hour across the bay to Yeni-Keui, the landing stage immediately outside the walls of the city.

Smyrna

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clyde E. Fant ◽  
Mitchell G. Reddish
Keyword(s):  
Asia Minor ◽  
Alexander The Great ◽  
The Third ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Major Route ◽  
New City ◽  
The City ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Of Greece

Izmir, the modern name for the city that once was known as Smyrna, is the third largest city in Turkey, with a population of around 3 million. Situated on the Aegean coast, it is Turkey’s second busiest port. Not only is Izmir an interesting place itself to visit, but the city also serves as a good base from which to visit several important sites in the area, such as the ancient cities of Ephesus, Sardis, Miletus, Didyma, and Priene. The ancient city of Smyrna, which according to some reports was the birthplace of Homer, was commercially successful due to its harbor and its location (approximately 35 miles north of Ephesus) at the end of a major route through Asia Minor. The earliest settlement at this location was in the first half of the 3rd millennium B.C.E. on a hill known as Tepekule in the Bayraklï suburb of the city. In the 10th century B.C.E., the first Greek colonists from Aeolia settled at Tepekule. They remained there until the end of the 8th century, when Ionian Greeks took over. Excavations at the site have uncovered houses from the 9th to the 7th centuries B.C.E. In the 7th century a temple to Athena was built. This temple was destroyed around 600 B.C.E. by King Alyattes of Lydia when he captured the city. The people of Smyrna rebuilt and enlarged the temple, but it was destroyed again around 545 B.C.E., this time by the Persians. An insignificant settlement in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.E., the site was finally abandoned. According to a story related by Pausanias (Description of Greece 7.5.1–3), the city was refounded by Alexander the Great, who was instructed in a dream to establish a new city on Mt. Pagus (now the site of the Kadifekale, or “Velvet Fortress”). The new city was actually not started until the beginning of the 3rd century by the Hellenistic ruler Lysimachus. During the subsequent centuries Smyrna, situated around the harbor, grew and prospered. By the 1st century B.C.E., Strabo was able to describe Smyrna as “the most beautiful of all” cities (Geography 14.646).

scholarly journals Three Unpublished Byzantine Lead Seals from Western Asia Minor (With an Appendix on an Amulet from Izmir)

2021 ◽  
pp. 160-167
Author(s):  
Ergün Laflı ◽  
Maurizio Buora
Keyword(s):  
Asia Minor ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Western Turkey ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
The City ◽  
Early Byzantine

This paper presents three formerly unpublished Byzantine lead seals and an amulet that were examined in the archaeological museum of Izmir (nos. 1, 3 and figs. 5a–b) and Akhisar (no. 2) in western Turkey. They date from the 7th to the 13th century AD. The seal of a Manuel apo hypaton (no. 1) reveals the relations between the court of Constantinople and the city of Smyrna in the 7th century AD. Another one of Ioannes hypatos spatharios (no. 2) comes from Akhisar (8th century AD). No. 3 is dated to the 11th and 12th centuries AD. A lead amulet at the appendix part (figs. 5a–b), which perhaps originates from the Early Byzantine period, bears the name of Sabaṓth.

Derbe

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clyde E. Fant ◽  
Mitchell G. Reddish
Keyword(s):  
Asia Minor ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
Stone Block ◽  
South Central ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
The Face ◽  
Concentric Circles ◽  
The Village ◽  
The City

One of the cities visited by the Apostle Paul during his travels, Derbe has almost vanished today. A few inscriptions, coins, and literary references and an unexcavated mound bear scant testimony to a city that was one of the early recipients of the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. The ancient city of Derbe was located southeast of Iconium (modern Konya) in the ancient region of south-central Asia Minor known as Lycaonia. Several sites have been proposed for the precise location of Derbe, most of them located near the modern town of Karaman. The location that has the strongest claim to being the authentic site of Derbe is the tumulus (mound) Kerti Höyük, which is situated approximately 15 miles northeast of Karaman (ancient Laranda) and near the village of Aşïran (Ekinözü). On the side of this mound in 1956, Michael Ballance discovered a white limestone block approximately 41 inches high, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches thick. The stone block is inscribed with a dedication by the council and the people of Derbe honoring Emperor Antoninus Pius. In the inscription, which has been dated to 157 B.C.E., the city was likely referred to as Claudioderbe, a special title given to the city during the time of Emperor Claudius. (Part of the face of the stone immediately preceding the word Derbe is broken off. The name Claudioderbe appears on 2nd-century-C.E. coins from Derbe.) Another inscription mentioning Derbe, this one from a tombstone from the 4th–5thcentury C.E., was discovered in the nearby village of Suduraǧi. This inscription, surrounded by five engraved concentric circles, mentions “the most God-loving Michael, bishop of Derbe.” Michael Ballance says he was shown this inscribed marble slab in 1958 and was told by the villagers of Suduraǧi that the inscription was found nearby at Devri Şehri, about 2.5 miles southeast of Kerti Höyük. Bastiaan van Elderen reported seeing the slab in 1962 and said that the people of Suduraǧi were adamant that the inscription came from Kerti Höyük.

Lystra

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clyde E. Fant ◽  
Mitchell G. Reddish
Keyword(s):  
Hard Core ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
The North ◽  
Stone Block ◽  
South Central ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Ancient Site ◽  
Roman Province ◽  
Central Turkey ◽  
The City

Few visitors seek out the ancient site of Lystra. Neither its unexciting location in the Anatolian plain nor its unexcavated mound offer much enticement except to the hard-core adventurer seeking to trace the route of the Apostle Paul. The ancient city of Lystra was located near the modern village of Hatunsaray, approximately 24 miles southwest of Konya in south-central Turkey. In 1885, about a mile north of Hatunsaray, on a mound called Zoldera (or, variously, Zordula), J. R. Sitlington Sterrett discovered a stone block approximately 3.5 feet tall and 1 foot thick. On the stone was the Latin inscription “DIVVM AVG COL IVL FELIX GEMINA LVSTRA CONSECRAVIT D D,” which uses the Latinized version “Lustra” for the name of the city. The discovery of this monument, erected to honor Caesar Augustus, who founded the Roman colony of Lystra, made identification of the site of ancient Lystra possible. Lystra was a part of the Lycaonian region of Asia Minor, an area bordering Phrygia on the west, Cappadocia on the east, and the ethnic Galatian region on the north. To the south were the Taurus Mountains. Earlier made a part of the province of Cilicia, Lycaonia was put under the control of Amyntas, an ally and client king of the Romans, in 36 B.C.E. When Amyntas died in 25 B.C.E., Lycaonia became a part of the Roman province of Galatia. Because the site of Lystra has yet to be excavated, little can be said with certainty about the earliest settlements on the site. The evidence of Hellenistic-style pottery and Greek inscriptions from the Roman period would suggest that at least a small village existed here during the Hellenistic period. Of the coins that have been found that originated from Lystra, none predates the time of the Roman colony, perhaps indicating that any pre-Roman settlement was not significant enough to issue coins. Emperor Augustus established Lystra as a Roman colony, likely in 25 B.C.E. at the same time that several other Roman colonies, including Pisidian Antioch, were founded. While all the colonies were established to help secure Roman control over Asia Minor, Lystra was likely founded specifically to suppress the Homanadenses and other mountain tribes in south-central Asia Minor who were hindering Roman control of the area.

Ephesus

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clyde E. Fant ◽  
Mitchell G. Reddish
Keyword(s):  
Wild Boar ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
General Area ◽  
Northern Slope ◽  
Port City ◽  
Alluvial Deposits ◽  
Western Turkey ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
The City

Often crowded with tourists, Ephesus is a must-see stop on any itinerary through western Turkey. Few archaeological sites in Turkey are as impressive as Ephesus. The excavated and reconstructed buildings bear eloquent testimony to this important and grand city of ancient Asia Minor. Strolling the streets of Ephesus, past fountains, statues, monuments, temples, a great library, residences, the agora, and the theater, the modern visitor can easily imagine the ancient city thronged with crowds engaged in the various activities of their society. Ephesus is situated near the Aegean coast, east and slightly north of the island of Samos and approximately 40 miles south of Izmir. The modern city of Selçuk is located in the general area of ancient Ephesus. In antiquity Ephesus was a major port city situated on the Aegean coast. Over the years alluvial deposits from the Cayster River, which ran near the city, filled in the harbor, and as a result, the site of the city today lies approximately 5 miles inland from the coast. In addition, Ephesus was the beginning point for the main highway that ran from the Aegean coast to the eastern part of Anatolia, which along with its harbor allowed the city to flourish as a commercial and transportation center. According to the geographer Strabo, the earliest inhabitants of Ephesus were a group of peoples called Leleges and Carians. Sometime around 1100–1000 B.C.E., a group of Ionian Greek colonists, supposedly led by the legendary Athenian prince Androclus, established a Greek settlement at the base of the northern slope of Panayïr Daǧï (Mt. Pion), one of three hills in the vicinity of ancient Ephesus. An ancient legend claims that Androclus chose this site on the basis of an oracle that said the city should be established at the site indicated by a fish and a wild boar. When Androclus and his companions landed on the coast of Asia Minor, Androclus joined some locals who were grilling fish. One of the fish, along with a hot coal, flipped off the grill.

Shusha and shushalı people. Historical truths based on reality

ANCIENT LAND ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 48-51
Author(s):  
Əli Umud oğlu Əliyev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Human Settlements ◽  
Cultural Center ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
The City ◽  
High Place

Historically, the capital of Karabakh was the ancient city of Shusha. The territories of Shusha are part of the historical lands of Azerbaijan - the Median state, Caucasian Albania. The first primitive human settlements in Azerbaijan were in the Karabakh region. The Azykh, Taglar and Zar caves prove this as historical evidence. So, Shusha is also the oldest settlement. There are various opinions about the origin of this name. It can be concluded that the choice of the location of the city of Shusha, which was established in Karabakh, was also associated with the traditional "height". That is why the city of Shusha was named Shusha because it was chosen by the Shusha ethnos and built on a high place. Keywords: Shusha, Pearl of Azerbaijan, Cultural Center, Shusha ethnos, Suz, Suziana, Shushanik, Er Shusha, Shusha inscriptions, Shavshad, Shushala, Elam culture, Shusha generation of Elam, language of Shusha ethnos

scholarly journals Late Antique and Early Byzantine Era Inscriptions at Assos

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tolga Özhan
Keyword(s):  
Asia Minor ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
The Third ◽  
Byzantine Era ◽  
Funerary Inscriptions ◽  
The City ◽  
Early Byzantine

In this paper, eleven new inscriptions are presented, which were found between 1981 and 2017 at Assos in the southern Troad, Asia Minor. Funerary inscriptions that can be dated to the Late Antique and Byzantine periods constitute the majority of the inscriptions found during the period defined above. The first inscription, carved on a lintel, is an acclamation of the Lord/ Emmanouel. The personal name Chrysogonos in the second inscription may have been the name of a stonecutter who worked in the quarry. The third inscription is the epitaph of the gravediggers of the Orthodox “Great Church”. By the phrase “Great Church” (μεγάλη ἐκκλησία), a cathedral must have been intended, located inside the city or its immediate surroundings. The fourth inscription presented here is the sarcophagus inscription of the heirs of an individual called Daniel. The fifthis the sarcophagus inscription of Theoktistos. The inscriptions nos. 6-10 from the oor of Ayazma Church include several sarcophagus inscriptions: No. 6 is of Bas(s)os, no. 7 is of Eutychianos, and no. 8 is of Onesimos, whose father’s name is uncertain due to a crack and damage on the surface of the stone. No. 9 is the sarcophagus of presbyter Anastasios, and no. 10 is the sarcophagus of Eugenios. The eleventh inscription is a fragmentary sarcophagus inscription.

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