June 2023 in Turkish archaeology

Submitted by Iza on Sat, 07/01/2023 - 12:23

The most important archaeological discoveries announced in June 2023 from the area of Turkey included a Pan statue from the Roman period that was recovered during excavation works carried out at Saraçhane Archaeology Park, where the Church of St. Polyeuctus is situated. In ancient Greek mythology, Pan was the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, rustic music, and companion of the nymphs. He was imagined to have the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun.

Moreover, massive structures were found beneath Zerzevan Castle, which served as a Roman garrison for centuries, and was located in south-eastern Diyarbakır Province. Zerzevan Castle was built in the 4th century by the Eastern Roman Empire as a military base on the ancient trade route. It was in use until 639 with the arrival of Arab Muslims at the beginning of the Arab–Byzantine wars.

Finally, the excavation works led by a Japanese archaeologist in Turkey's central Kırıkkale Province revealed new findings indicating the suggestion that Büklükale village was the first settlement of the Cimmerians, an ancient equestrian nomadic people, in Anatolia. The Cimmerians were an ancient Eastern Iranic nomads originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West Asia. They did not leave any written records, and most information about them is derived from Assyrian records of the 8th to 7th centuries BCE.

Ruins of the Church of St. Polyeuctus in Istanbul

Revisiting the Repatriation theme

Submitted by Iza on Sun, 06/25/2023 - 18:53

Text by our correspondent from Didyma, Glenn Maffia.

Another idle thought crossed my mind as I cogitated upon those ‘repatriations’ which I recently dwelt upon. That of worldwide Public awareness.

It appears that the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism's modus operandi is to generate a higher influx of foreign visitors to generate much needed revenue, to do so, they have identified ancient artefacts as a means to this end. Fine, that is their job. Though, does it necessarily unfold in that way? I propose here that it intrinsically does not necessarily do so.

Nereid Monument, a sculptured tomb from Xanthos in Lycia, now in the British Museum in London

Uzunköprü Bridge

Submitted by Iza on Fri, 06/23/2023 - 16:46

The Uzunköprü Bridge is the unique construction from the Ottoman period as the longest stone arch bridge in Turkey. It spans the banks of the Ergene river, a major left tributary of the Maritsa (Meriç), flowing entirely in the East Thrace region.

Repatriation of Anatolian Antiquities

Submitted by Iza on Wed, 06/14/2023 - 17:02

Text by our correspondent from Didyma, Glenn Maffia.

Upon initially reading reports of an investigation into the moral validity and legality of the acquisitions purloined by early German archaeologists during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, my initial thought was that if these antiquities were not indeed removed from their original locations at that time, they would have probably not survived into our current age.

The stone would have been invariably recycled into building materials for abodes, animal pens (plenty of evidence of that occurring in Didyma) or even burnt for the production of lime to be used in the aggregate for mortar.

The Market Gate of Miletus in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin

May 2023 in Turkish archaeology

Submitted by Iza on Thu, 06/01/2023 - 13:24

In May 2023, some 400 shops started to operate in the historical Uzun Çarşı, one of the symbols of the quake-hit southern province of Hatay. The archaeological excavations were carried out around the country, for instance in the southern province of Osmaniye's Kadirli district, where the mosaic depicting the Trojan War hero Aeneas was found in the ruins of a Roman villa. The excavations also began to unearth 2,600-year-old archaeological remains on the Sedir (Cleopatra) island in the Gulf of Gökova.

Moreover, the excavations were conducted for the first time in the ancient city of Mobolla, located in the Menteşe district of the western province of Muğla. In Istanbul, during the ongoing excavations in the ruins of Saint Polyeuktos Church, a 1,500-year-old underground passage has been discovered.

New cultural venues were opened in Turkey last month, too. The new building and exhibitions of Istanbul Modern, Turkey's first modern and contemporary art museum, was opened on May 4. The Culture and Tourism Ministry also restored the 140-year Alsancak Tekel (Monopoly) Factory in Izmir and transformed it into the Izmir Culture and Art Factory. Finally, within the scope of the "City of Museums" project, the Kuşadası Municipality is establishing a museum in the Güvercinada Castle and Historical Caravanserai.