Category: Turkey

Roman Shipwrecks off Elaiussa Sebaste/Mersin

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From the English edition of the Gazzetta del Sud:

Two ancient Roman shipwrecks, complete with their cargo, have been discovered by Italian archaeologists off the coast of Turkey near the the ancient Roman city of Elaiussa Sebaste. The ships, one dating from the Roman Imperial period and the other from about the sixth century AD, have been found with cargoes of amphorae and marble, say researchers from the Italian Archaeological Mission of Rome’s University La Sapienza. Both ships were discovered near Elaiussa Sebaste, on the Aegean coast of Turkey near Mersin, according to a statement issued by the Italian embassy in Ankara. Officials say the discoveries – led by Italian archaeologist Eugenia Equini Schneider – confirm the important role Elaiussa Sebaste played within the main sea routes between Syria, Egypt, and the Anatolian peninsula from the days of Augustus until the early Byzantine period. Elaiussa, meaning olive, was founded in the 2nd century BC on a tiny island attached to the mainland by a narrow isthmus in the Mediterranean Sea. Schneider has been leading the excavations since 1995.

There were other finds (not underwater) earlier in the month: Roman Bath From Elaissua Sebaste

Hellenistic Walls of Kerkenez Revealed

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One that was languishing in my email box … from Today’s Zaman:

The excavation of the Kerkenez ruins in the Central Anatolian province of Yozgat have revealed the original city walls dating back to the fourth century B.C.

The excavation was carried out due to support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Yozgat Museum Office. The excavation, which has been ongoing for 19 years, is being conducted by a team headed by Assistant Professor Abdülkadir Baran this year. Archaeologist Nil Dirlik stated that the Kerkenez ruins, located five kilometers away from the village of Şahmuratlı in the district of Sorgun, are among the most prominent ancient centers in Turkey.

She further stated that the excavation work will continue in the future, and next year they will host tourist groups, a move that is expected to make a big contribution to the economy of Yozgat as well as that of Turkey.

Residents of the village say they have a good relationship with the excavation team, which provides them with jobs and informs them about the importance of the excavation.

Assorted Finds from Turkey

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From Today’s Zaman:

Archaeological excavations at three locations in Turkey have revealed numerous artifacts from three ancient cities.

The excavations of the area, which have been ongoing for seven years, have also revealed an amphitheater, the first hospital in the historical Lycian region and the stoa of the ancient city. Assistant Professor from Akdeniz University İsa Turgut stated that they have cleared the area carefully from debris and plan to reveal the façade of the mausoleum next year.

Meanwhile, excavations being carried out at Enez Castle in the northwestern province of Edirne have resulted in the discovery of a 2,500-year-old urn, a 2,350-year-old bronze wine goblet and cultural ruins dating back to the fourth century B.C.

The mayor of Enez, Ahmet Çayır, stated that five houses around the area had been expropriated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Under the scope of nationalization, the ministry compensated the owners of the houses and demolished them to continue with the excavations.

A team of 40 started restorations in Hadrianopolis in Eskipazar, a district of the Black Sea province of Karabük, where illegal excavations had damaged the historic artifacts. The town was reportedly built by Roman Emperor Hadrian.

Assistant professor Vedat Keleş of Atatürk University told reporters that they are working to prevent further damage to the churches in the city and that the team has cleaned nearly 1 million mosaic tiles in two months.

Followup: Mosaic at Antiochia ad Cragum

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Some additional coverage to add to our previous post: Nice Mosaic from Antiochia ad Cragam (which we also corrected spellingwise to Cragum)

First, a video from the UNebraska folks themselves:


Alia (derived from the UNebraska release we mentioned in our previous post):

Phrygian and Lydian Inscriptions from Northwest Turkey

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Tip o’ the pileus to A.K. Eyma for passing along this item from Leiden University:

Linguists Alwin Kloekhorst and Alexander Lubotsky from Leiden University made a great discovery this summer. They deciphered a few dozen inscriptions on pot shards found in Daskyleion (North-West Turkey) as Phrygian and Lydian, and thus proved the presence of the Phrygians and Lydians in that area.

Sensational

Kloekhorst and Lubotsky’s find can be termed sensational. Previous excavations had already led to the supposition that Greeks and Phrygians lived in and around Daskyleion between the 6th and 3rd century BC, but now there is also proof of the presence of the Lydians. The kingdom of the Phrygians in the mid-west of the Anatolian Plateau had a rich mythology in which kings such as Gordias (of the Gordian Knot) figured. The Lydians are known as a rich people that in all probability invented coins. This means it has been proven for the first time that Daskyleion was a multi-ethnic town in that period. This is important, because we do not yet know for sure which languages were spoken in North-West Turkey before the Greeks began to settle there in about 800 BC.

Grin and bear it

When the Turkish archaeologists Kaan Iren (Mugla University) and Handan Yildizhan (Nevsehir University) found pot shards with inscriptions that they could not decipher their search soon led them to Leiden. Kloekhorst, who received a VENI grant in 2008 for his research into Hittite (a language related to Lydian), is known to be expert in the field of Anatolian languages (a sub-group of the Indo-European language family). For his part, Lubotsky is an authority in the field of the Phrygian language. At the request of the Turkish archaeologists they spent a week in Daskyleion in July deciphering the inscriptions. Kloekhorst says, ‘It was 35 degrees and there was no air-conditioning. It was certainly a case of grin and bear it.’

To Zeus

The best discovery, says Kloekhorst, is a small shard with ‘To Zeus’ scraped on it. ‘Most of the shards are very small,’ he explains. ‘The words are often broken into pieces, and you do find a whole word it is usually a name. The advantage is that Phrygian and Lydian each had their own alphabets. That is often our only guide: it’s how we know that it can’t be a Greek text.’ The discovery amounts to some thirty inscriptions. That may not seem much but for two extinct languages it is huge. Kloekhorst says, ‘In total we only have 150 Lydian fragments. That means that any new piece of text is welcome. They are the small pieces of evidence that we work with.’

New shards
The excavation house in the village of Ergili, where Alwin Kloekhorst and Alexander Lubotsky stayed and worked for a week.

The excavation house in the village of Ergili, where Alwin Kloekhorst and Alexander Lubotsky stayed and worked for a week.

At the request of the Turkish archaeologists Kloekhorst and Lubotsky are producing a book on the joint discoveries. An article will also be published in which they will reveal the discoveries. But it probably does not end there. ‘Whilst we were in Turkey,’ says Kloekhorst, ‘every now and then a new shard with an inscription would be found. I can easily see us having to return next year.’

The original article includes photos of some of the inscriptions and relevant links to the people involved.