April 2022 in Turkish archaeology

Submitted by Iza on Sun, 05/01/2022 - 09:51

Possibly the most thrilling archaeological news from the area of Turkey in April 2022 was the discovery of a Hellenistic cremation tomb in Istanbul’s Haydarpaşa excavations. Moreover, the remains of an 8500-year-old wooden ladder were found in Çatalhöyük, one of the best-preserved Neolithic settlements in the world. Finally, the excavations revealed a huge underground city in southeastern Mardin province’s Midyat district.

Haydarpaşa - historical railway station in Istanbul

Nagidos

Submitted by Iza on Tue, 04/19/2022 - 16:07

The scant ruins of the ancient Greek city of Nagidos are situated on a hill above the town of Bozyazı, on the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia. They were excavated by a team of archaeologists from Mersin University who discovered the traces of settlement reaching back to the Hellenistic times, i.e. the 4th century BCE. At that period, when Nagidos was an outpost of Samos and Rhodes, as a small harbour founded to trade goods from Cyprus and Egypt.

Nagidos - view from the acropolis towards the island of Nagidoussa

Ambitions to be met

Submitted by Iza on Wed, 04/06/2022 - 17:03

Text by our correspondent from Didyma, Glenn Maffia.

My previous two articles have afforded me to espouse upon the relatively minor, inexpensive, tweaks to the appearance around the Temple of Apollo which shall enable visitors to better appreciate the elegant antique architecture that stands as a symbol to this growing vacation resort. Namely, clean the graffiti, smarten the surrounding abodes and secure the perimeter walls, whilst also officially opening the Sacred Road to the public.

Column base from the second temple in Didyma, now in the Excavation House. Photo credit: Glenn Maffia

Milion of Constantinople

Submitted by Iza on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 09:22

It is well known that all roads should lead to Rome, but when the capital of the Roman Empire was moved to Constantinople in the 4th century, this city also became the benchmark for measuring distances within the empire. While in Rome the role of the zero milestone was played by the Milliarium Aureum, or the Golden Milestone, in Constantinople it was assigned to the Milion. It was a monument from which all road distances to the cities of the Empire were measured. Nowadays, only very modest remains of this structure can be seen in Istanbul near the entrance to the famous Basilica Cistern.

This text is a fragment of a guidebook to Istanbul: "Byzantine Secrets of Istanbul".

March 2022 in Turkish archaeology

Submitted by Iza on Sat, 04/02/2022 - 10:44

March 2022 brought the discovery of a Rhodes shipwreck from the 3rd century CE in the depths of the Gulf of Fethiye and a 2,500-year-old graffiti featuring 21 ships in the basement of the civil basilica of the Agora of Smyrna. Moreover, eighty percent of the restoration work of the Imperial Harem section of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul was announced and the new project of the restoration of the Serpent Column that stands on the Hippodrome of the Constantinople was initiated.