Listed 11 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for wider area of: "IZMIR Province TURKEY" .
MITROPOLIS (Ancient city) TURKEY
EGES (Ancient city) TURKEY
Square building, at the north of the Agora, dating back to the 1st
century BC. The entrance was on the south side, and the remains of the building
suggest U-shaped rows of stone seats along the walls. Identification of the building
as a bouleuterion is based on an inscription on an architrave, typically stating
"Antifanis Apollonida Dii Bollaio kai Istia ollaio kai to damo", meaning that
Antifanes, son of Apollonides, (dedicates) the building to Zeus Boulaios (patron
of town-councils) and to Hestia Boulaia (patroness of the communal hearth) and
to the Dimos (the assembly of the citizens). The main proof is the dedication
to Hestia, whose cult, concerning public buildings, was mainly associated to the
bouleuterion or the prytaneion, holding within the symbolic communal hearth
This text is cited June 2004 from the Foundation of the Hellenic World URL below.
SMYRNI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Site: Smyrna
Type: Fortification
Summary: Fortification wall surrounding perimeter of earliest settlement
on tell, later including the expanded city within its circuit.
Date: ca. 850 B.C. - 350 B.C.
Period: Geom./Arch./Clas.
Plan:
Circuit wall consisting of lower socle zone surmounted by a mudbrick superstructure.
Bastions or towers flanked the north-east city gate; in the second construction
phase, a second city gate, of overlap type without towers, may have existed in
the south east of the city.
History:
Four major construction phases of the city fortifications are identified by the
excavators, Walls 1, 2, 3 and 4. Wall 1, the Middle Geometric wall dating to ca.
850-800 B.C., enclosed the tell which formed the earliest settlement of the peninsula
site. In the Late Geometric period, the wall was entirely rebuilt, with construction
covering the period ca. 775-725 B.C. Wall 2 collapsed suddenly in ca. 700 B.C.,
probably the result of earthquake. Throughout the seventh century B.C., the city
expanded beyond the original tell, and may have been largely unfortified. Some
repairs to the destroyed Wall 2 took place in the seventh century, although it
was not until the end of the seventh century that Wall 3 was completed. Wall 3
may have been built in response to the threat of attack from the Lydian King Alyattes,
who built a massive siege mound at the north-west of the fortifications, and captured
Smyrna in ca. 600 B.C. After the sack, the fortifications lay in ruins. Wall 4,
the final series of fortifications at Smyrna, dates to the fourth century B.C.
The site was abandoned in the third quarter of the fourth century B.C.
Sarah Cormack, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Smyrna
Type: Temple
Summary: Temple of Athena located on terrace near north-east gate
of Old Smyrna, adjacent to the north fortification wall.
Date: ca. 700 B.C. - 590 B.C.
Period: Archaic
Plan:
The reconstruction of the temple building itself is open to question. The excavators
reconstruct the cella building as peripteral, but only on the south and west sides,
with 6 x 11 columns. The eastern facade is reconstructed without columns. The
interior of the cella may have contained one or two rows of columns, although
there are no traces of column bases inside the cella (Akurgal 1983, fig. 75).
This reconstruction has been questioned, however; an alternative reconstruction
shows the temple with 8 x 14 columns, including columns across the east facade
(Kuhn 1986, fig. 10). The northern wall of the temple appears to have been without
a colonnade, resulting in a temple with a peripteros around only three of its
sides. A stepped ramp approached the temple at the east. At the south, the terrace
or podium upon which the cella building stood was extended in two separate sections
(the so-called east and west terraces). Between these extensions, an additional
entrance or propylon to the temenos was formed. Stoas are reconstructed as standing
on the east and west terraces, based on the evidence of foundation walls, but
there is no evidence for colonnades.
History:
At the beginning of the seventh century B.C., an area at the north of the city,
adjacent to the city wall, was reserved as a sanctuary to the goddess Athena.
Due to the slope of the land, an artificial terrace was constructed, with a curved
corner at the south-west. The excavators of the site identify the following construction
phases: Phase I dates to the late geometric period (725-700 B.C.); to this phase
belong a 5.5 m. long stretch of wall, and a ca. 3 m. wide ramp which may have
led to the altar of the late geometric temple. Phase II (the "sub-geometric podium"):
between ca. 675-640 B.C., a monumental podium was constructed. Differences in
masonry technique indicate that this phase can itself be divided into two distinct
sequences. Phase III (the "Orientalizing" phase): the excavators date the erection
of the cella building, and its colonnades at west and south, to ca. 640 B.C. At
about this time, the podium was enlarged at the south and west. The foundations
of a rectangular structure inside the cella building are interpreted as a cult
base. At ca. 620-610 B.C., two additional terraces were built at the south of
the temple, to accommodate dedications (votive columns and statuary). At this
time, the ramp of the late geometric period (at the south of the temple) was altered,
flanked with side walls, becoming the main entrance to the temenos. In ca. 600
B.C., the Lydian king Alyattes captured Old Smyrna, and the temple, which may
have been unfinished, was destroyed. Almost immediately after this destruction
phase, however, the temple was restored, and the west terrace was extended even
further to the west. Numerous votive deposits from the period ca. 600 - 550 B.C.
indicate that the temple remained a center of cult activity. A barricade wall
across the main entrance to the temenos is associated with the Persian conquest
of ca. 545 B.C. The absence of any deposits or associated finds suggests that
the temple was abandoned after ca. 545 B.C. An alternative theory (Kuhn 1986)
argues that there is no evidence for the existence of the cella building prior
to ca. 600 B.C., or its destruction during the Lydian sack; therefore, the entire
peripteral temple may date to the first quarter of the sixth century B.C., after
the sack of Alyattes.
Other Notes:
The dedication of the temple to Athena seems secure, based on the evidence of
a bronze votive bar found during the excavations. The bar preserves the following
inscription: ARENTENDANETHEKENTEATHENAEEIOINOTIMOSPROTARCHO. A problematic feature
of the temple and its architectural remains is the restoration of the tufa capitals
(or bases) with a convex above a concave element, and decorated with two tiers
of floral ornament of lotus buds and flowers. Once interpreted as column bases
(Wesenberg 1971), it was then argued that their upper diameter was smaller than
the lower diameter of the column shafts, and therefore they must have appeared
at the top of the shaft. Since, however, the lower diameter of these mushroom-form
capitals is greater than the upper diameter of the column shaft fragments, it
is argued that they must belong to some as-yet unidentified columns and did not
form part of the architecture of the cella building itself. If they did belong
to free-standing votive columns located, for example, to the south of the temple,
these votive columns must then have been far taller than the columns of the temple
itself. In fact, there is no evidence for free-standing votive columns beyond
the evidence suggested by the discovery of the mushroom-shaped capitals (or bases).
Kuhn 1986, 39-80 finds this explanation unacceptable and restores the mushroom-shaped
elements as column bases. Perhaps equally problematic is the origin of the Aeolic
capital type, with vertical volutes separated by a palmette. Parallels have been
sought in Hittite, Egyptian, Assyrian and Syro-Palestinian architecture; it seems
likely that the Ionian Aeolic capitals reflect some Near Eastern influence, although
a direct prototype cannot be identified.
Sarah Cormack, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
PERGAMOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Region: Mysia
Periods: Hellenistic, Roman
Type: Fortified city
Summary: Capital city of the hellenistic kingdom of Pergamon.
Physical Description:
The oldest section of Pergamon, the acropolis or upper
city, sits on an impressive steep ridge between two tributaries of the Caicus
river. The ridge is naturally fortified on all but the S side which slopes down
to the Caicus valley floor. The Caicus valley provides access from Pergamon to
the Aegean coast and the port town of Elaea in the W and the Persian Royal Road
to the E. The upper city, which was fortified in the 4th or 3rd century B.C. contains
the 3rd century Sanctuary of Athena, the oldest cult center of the city as well
as palace quarters, barracks, and arsenals. In the 2nd century B.C. the 10,000
seat theater, the library adjacent to the Sanctuary of Athena, and the Great Altar
of Zeus and Athena were added. In the 2nd century A.D. the monumental Trajaneum
was erected on what must have been an earlier unknown cult center. From the upper
agora a paved main street leads S and downslope to the middle city. The city of
Pergamon began to extend down the S slope in the 3rd century B.C. and during the
2nd century a massive building program completely transformed the entire lower
slope. The major construction in the area was the gigantic gymnasium complex which
extended down three large terraces linked by vaulted stairways and passages. The
complex encorporated three open training courts, a covered track or xystus, a
small theater or odeum, several shrines, and two large baths. Other major sections
of the middle city included the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore and, below the gymnasium
along the main street leading to the Eumenes' Gate, the lower agora. North and
E of the gymnasium massive terraces support the streets and houses of the residential
quarter. In the first half of the 2nd century B.C. Eumenes II strengthened the
entire fortification system of Pergamon and enclosed all of the middle city, which
extended almost to the base of the south slope, within the new walls. During the
Roman Imperial period the city continued to expand southward and spread over the
plain and the area occuppied by modern Bergama. The large Sanctuary of the Egyptian
Gods (the "Kizil Avlu"), numerous bridges, and remains of the Roman stadium, theater,
and amphitheater remain visible today.
Description:
The earliest material from Pergamon indicates that the
site was settled as early as the 8th century B.C. Because of its distance from
the sea, however, Pergamon was probably not a Greek settlement and little is known
about the earlier centuries. The city is first mentioned in history in 399 B.C.
and at that time it was in the hands of a local Greek tyrant. Pergamon emerged
as a power during the struggle for territorial control following the death of
Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. By the middle of the 3rd century Pergamon had
been established as an independent state under the leadership of the Attalid dynasty.
The power of the Attalids and the city grew as a result of successful battles
against the Gauls of central Anatolia and careful political alliances with Rome.
The peak period of Pergamene power and achievement was reached during the reign
of Eumenes II (197-159 B.C.). The kingdom had grown to include most of western
Anatolia and was rich in agriculture and industry. Noted industrial exports included
textiles, fine pottery, and "Pergamene paper" or parchment. The last industry
developed when Ptolemy, reportedly jealous of the growing fame of the library
in Pergamon, prohibited the export of papyrus from Egypt. Eumenes II enlarged
the city of Pergamon to include all of the southern slope and enclosed the city
with a new and stronger fortification wall. In addition to the major new constructions
in the lower city Eumenes also commissioned the Great Altar of Zeus and Athena,
the theater, and the new library in the upper city. In the 2nd century B.C. Pergamon
rivalled Athens and Alexandria as centers of Hellenic culture. The city possessed
one of the greatest libraries of antiquity, monumental gymnasia, and numerous
religious sanctuaries, including the Asklepion outside the city walls. Pergamon
was a haven for noted philosophers and artists and was the center of a major movement
in Hellenistic sculpture. The Attalids supported the arts and learning in Pergamon
and elsewhere and made major donations, such as the Stoa of Attalos II in Athens.
The last Attalid ruler, Attalos III, bequeathed the kingdom of Pergamon to Rome
in 133 B.C. During Roman rule the prosperity of Pergamon continued and the city
had a period of commercial expansion. The city itself expanded to the plain S
and W of the acropolis across the flat land now occuppied by modern Bergama. After
a slight decline in the 1st century A.D. Pergamon went through a second period
of greatness in the 2nd century A.D. New monumental structures were completed,
including the large (ca. 300 x 100 m) sanctuary to the Egyptian gods in the center
of the Roman city. The Sanctuary of Asklepios grew in fame and was considered
one of the most famous therapeutic and healing center of the Roman world. Galen,
after Hippocrates the most famous physician of antiquity, was born at Pergamon
and received his early training at the Asklepion. By the end of the 2nd century
A.D. Pergamon had become an important Christian center and the monumental Temple
of Serapis in the sanctuary to the Egyptian gods was converted to a church. Economical
decline, however, followed the weakening of the Pax Romana and Pergamon lost much
of its importance. In A.D. 716 the city was sacked by the Arabs and as a minor
provincial center changed hands several times in the Medieval period.
Exploration:
Excavations by the German Archaeological Institute have been
conducted almost continuously since 1878. During the earliest work at the end
of the last century major art works, including the entire Altar of Zeus and Athena,
were carried off to Berlin.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 272 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Region: Mysia
Periods: Hellenistic, Roman
Type: Sanctuary
Summary: A major healing sanctuary, second only to Epidauros itself.
Physical Description:
When the Asklepieion was first established at the beginning
of the 4th century B.C. the city of Pergamon was located ca. 3 km to the NE. By
the time the sanctuary had reached its peak in fame and monumental appearance
in the 2nd century A.D. the city of Pergamon had expanded until its SW edge was
ca. 500 m from the sanctuary. A colonnaded and paved sacred way, the Via Tecta,
linked the city to the sanctuary. The sacred way reached the center of the E side
of the temenos at a forecourt and monumental propylon. Along the eastern side
of the sanctuary the library is N of the propylon and the circular temple of Zeus
Asklepios (diameter 23.85 m) and the two-story rotunda treatment center (diameter
26.5 m) are aligned S of it. The two-story circular treatment center at the SE
corner of the rectangular temenos is counterbalanced by the theater at the NW
corner. The other three sides of the large central court (110 x 130 m) of the
sanctuary consists of stoas or colonnaded walkways. A complex of luxurious public
latrines at the SW corner of the temenos counterbalanced the library at the NE
corner. At the center of the W stoa there was an access to the adjoining gymnasium.
A vaulted subterranian passage led from the large treatment center at the SE to
the center of the temenos, where the sacred spring formed the nucleus of the sanctuary.
The central plaza-like area of the sanctuary also contained other fountains, mud
baths, and small temples and altars. It was at the nucleus of the temenos, in
the area of the sacred spring, that the earlier unknown cult center was located
and the original Hellenistic Asklepieion developed.
Description:
At ca. 400 B.C. the Pergamene Asklepieion was established
at the existing religious sanctuary of an unknown deity located at a spring ca.
3 km SW of the city. The early Asklepieion consisted of a number of temples, including
the first temple of Asklepios Soter, an early treatment building, fountain house,
and several altars. In the late Hellenistic period the sanctuary expanded to the
S and took the form of a large rectangular court surrounded by stoas, temples,
and an enlarged treatment building. A gymnasium and stoa was also constructed
to the W of the main complex. The fame and prestige of the Asklepieion grew rapidly
during the Roman period and reached a peak in the 2nd century A.D. when the sanctuary
gained the monumental appearance that is reflected in the remains visible today.
In addition to the monumental building program of the 2nd century A.D. and the
fame of the sanctuary as a spa and healing center, which was second only to the
original Asklepieion at Epidauros, the Pergamene Asklepieion was also renouned
as the school of Galen, the most famous physician of the Roman period. Even after
the introduction of Christianity at Pergamon, the Asklepieion continued to exist
as a medical and healing center.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
SMYRNI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Region: Ionia
Periods: Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Dark
Age, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Modern
Type: Fortified city and port
Summary: A major ancient port city and archaeologically important
for its Early Iron Age architectural remains.
Physical Description:
The original Early Bronze Age to Archaic period settlement
was at Bayrakli, on the NE side of the Gulf of Izmir. Excavations at this site
have found, in addition to the remains of an early temple of Athena, the rare
remains of houses and city fortification walls dating to the 9th through 7th centuries
B.C. There is no evidence for a city or single civic center during the Classical
period and in the Hellenistic period a new city was founded in the area of modern
Izmir, on and below Mount Pagus. Mount Pagus served as the acropolis and from
it defensive walls extended down to the shore. The 2nd century A.D. agora, which
is midway between the acropolis and the harbor, has been partially excavted. With
the exception of the agora, Roman theater, and sections of the Roman aqueduct,
little remains of the ancient city today.
Description:
The earliest settlement at Bayrakli, ca. 4 km N of later Smyrna,
dates to the Early Bronze Age or ca. 2500 B.C. The site was occupied by Aeolian
Greeks at ca. 1050 B.C. and, because of its location at the northern boundary
of Ionian territory, it soon became essentially an Ionian city. But it was not
admitted to the Panionian League until a much later date. The early Greek city
had defensive walls by the 9th century B.C. and its Archaic temple of Athena,
built at ca. 625 B.C. was the earliest known Greek religious shrine in Anatolia.
Smyrna was prosperious in the 7th century B.C. and may have been the birthplace
of Homer. The city was sacked by the Lydian king Alyattes at ca. 600 B.C. and
again by the Persians at ca. 545 B.C. During the Classical period Smyra was an
unimportant scatter of villages around the former city site and did not belong
to the Delian League. A new city of Smyrna was founded by Alexander the Great
between Mount Pagus and the shore in response to advice from an oracle. Smyrna
became a prosperous trade center and was known for its architectural beauty in
the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Under Roman control the city was favored by
different emperors, including Marcus Aurelius, who donated reconstruction funds
to the city after the earthquake of A.D. 178. Smyrna continued to be an important
city in the early Christian period and continued to thrive until thereatened by
the Arab raids of the 7th century A.D.
Exploration:
Smyrna was a center for exploration teams of the Society
of Dilettani in the mid 18th century A.D. Bayrakli was excavated by a joint British
and Turkish team in 1948-1951. The Smyrna agora was excavated by a joint German
and Turkish team in 1932-1941.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 3 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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