Abstract This article investigates the political history of the Pergamene theatre with respect to developments in Greek theatre architecture and performance during the Hellenistic Age. Pergamon’s late Hellenistic theatre presents two distinctive features: a semicircular orkhēstra prefiguring Roman design, and a two-story wooden proskēnion that could be dismantled after performances. The article contextualises these features within broader Greek theatrical developments from the fifth to the second century BCE. By reconstructing various theatrical events – from dithyrambs to dramas and assembly meetings – the paper analyses how different scenic layouts articulated power relationships among actors, kings and audiences. The analysis reveals how scenic configurations were progressively refined from the Classical to the Hellenistic age in favour of individual actors and political leaders over the khoros and community representatives. The paper examines how Pergamon’s distinctive scenic layout embodied the socio-political dynamics of the Attalid autocracy while maintaining connections to Greek democratic theatrical traditions.
Abstract Eight architectural terracotta fragments uncovered during the 2021 excavations at Sinop are the focus of this study. These fragments, comprising lateral simae with revetment plaques and raking simae, are of importance, as they provide new insights into Archaic-period architecture and workshop practices in the city. The painted L-shaped lateral simae, with revetment plaques decorated with triangles, rectangles, bead-and-reel moulding and tongue pattern, and the probably painted raking simae, adorned with triangles and rectangles, exhibit close typological and functional parallels with architectural terracottas from Larisa in the Aeolis region. This suggests that the architectural terracottas used in a building constructed at Sinope may have been produced by a workshop based in the Aeolian region. These fragments, which can be dated to the last quarter of the sixth century BC, make it possible to form an idea of the appearance of the earliest roof of Sinope decorated with architectural terracotta elements identified to date.
Abstract The worldwide reception of Alexander the Great is remarkable, although the Turkish-speaking Greek Orthodox population of the Ottoman Empire is critically understudied in this context. This article addresses this shortfall by looking into a publication in Karamanlidika from 1843. It also analyses the largely unexplored Karamanli print culture in the first half of the 19th century. Published in Constantinople, this 336-page book is a translation into Karamanlidika of the Greek Phyllada tou Megalexandrou , translated by Agapios Papazoglou. Over 1,000 copies were pre-ordered by subscribers, with most of his audience being from Cappacodia and having Karamanli names. A few subscribers came from present-day Bulgaria and had mostly Slavic names and a handful from Cappadocia had Armenian names.Women and Muslims/Turks are manifestly absent from the list. This article employs historical methods, as well as textual and intertextual tools of research to investigate a book that falls within the worldwide legacy of Alexander the Great, and that was translated and published with a view to enlightening its audience, imbuing it with the virtues of logic and morality intended to make them better people and better Christians.
Abstract Urartian red glossy ceramics and Ottoman Tophane pipes share a striking similarity in colour and surface gloss. Yet the question of whether this resemblance has a common basis has remained unresolved. This article explores the origins of this similarity. It appears to have its origins in the looting of Toprakkale and the subsequent transfer of artefacts to Istanbul. The looting of Toprakkale (Van) – the royal residence of the Urartian Kingdom in the seventh century BCE – began in earnest in the 1800s, during which numerous archaeological artefacts were illicitly transported to Istanbul and subsequently dispersed to museums worldwide. Among these artefacts, the distinctively bright red pottery of Urartu attracted the attention of Istanbul’s elite and, it appears, eventually came to the notice of the craftsmen producing Tophane pipes. The Tophane craftsmen apparently studied these pieces – remarkable for their colour and luminosity – and ultimately sourced comparable raw materials from the Lake Van region. In doing so, the Tophane workshops developed a distinctive ceramic style inspired by Urartu, employing a slip preparation closely analogous to Urartian production methods, and catering to the tastes of the Ottoman elite.
Abstract This article examines the process that led to the establishment of the French Archaeological Institute in Istanbul in 1930, situating it within the broader context of French cultural diplomacy and inter-imperial competition in the late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic, as well as the scientific curiosity towards Anatolian and Turkish Islamic antiquities. The article argues that the creation of the institute was not a predetermined outcome but rather the product of a protracted negotiation involving French and Ottoman/Turkish governmental, diplomatic and scholarly actors. These negotiations were shaped by shifting political contexts, conflicting institutional agendas and the broader redefinition of Franco-Turkish relations following World War I and the Allied occupation of Constantinople. By tracing the evolving proposals for the establishment of an institute from the late 19th century through the 1920s, and by focusing on key figures such as Albert Gabriel, the study highlights how scholarly interests and cultural diplomacy were entangled with political sovereignty and national identity. The institutional negotiations examined here reveal not only the challenges of maintaining cultural influence in a changing geopolitical landscape but also provide a window into the broader dynamics of scholarly diplomacy, negotiation and institutional formation in the early 20th century.
Abstract In October 2021 the presence of ancient remains on a ridge below the 2000m summit of Kımıl Dağı in the Gerger district of Adıyaman province was reported to Adıyaman Museum. Investigations by archaeologists from the Museum revealed the existence of a previously unreported sanctuary belonging to the ruler cult of Antiochus I of Commagene. Two substantial limestone stelai recovered from the site have now been brought to the Perrhe Archaeological Park. One of the stelai carries a relief showing Antiochus shaking hands with a divine figure seated on a mountain peak. A long inscription recording the establishment of the sanctuary and a sacred law regulating its associated cult begins on the reverse face of the relief stele and continues onto a separate block and both faces of a second stele. In this article we provide a first publication and analysis of the inscription, and in the light of the information provided by it reconsider the significance of the relief. The novel features presented by the relief and the inscription raise new questions about the development of Antiochus’ ruler cult and the weight of local religious tradition in shaping its form which are explored in the concluding sections of the article.
Abstract This article presents a funerary inscription dated to the late second and early third centuries AD. It is currently held in the Antalya Necropolis Museum, but its exact provenance remains unknown. The text is carved on a richly decorated round altar, beneath a relief depicting a young man wearing a chiton and holding a torch in his left hand. The inscription identifies him as Glaukos, a foster child who died at the age of 17 during the enkrisis , the examination for admission to the ephebeia . This newly presented text provides two important new insights into the ephebeia of the Roman Imperial period. Firstly, it appears to be the first inscription to mention the age of admission. Secondly, it shows that candidates from gymnasium groups also underwent the enkrisis . The article further discusses the striking similarities between athletic and gymnasium training practices, which are also evident in the age limit for admission and torch races, and proposes a revised definition of enkrisis. Additionally, the article compiles and analyses inscriptions indicating the presence of epheboi and torch races in the regions of southern Asia Minor likely associated with this inscription: Lycia, Pamphylia and Pisidia. Lastly, the study examines the rationale for seeking the inscription’s most probable provenance in eastern Lycia or western Pamphylia.
Abstract Crescent-shaped objects (CSOs) are common in the Bronze Age archaeological contexts of Anatolia. Particularly for the Middle Bronze Age, these objects were routinely interpreted as loom weights for textile production. While arguments exist for different uses of CSOs, such as identity markers, receipts for goods, fishing net weights or pottery handles, incomplete data from a fully recovered archaeological context prevent further assertions for the Late Bronze Age. This article presents new data from the Late Bronze Age I (ca 16th century BCE) strata of the south-central Anatolian site of Konya Karahöyük, suggesting an alternative use for CSOs. Konya Karahöyük is a major Bronze Age hub in the Konya plain, with numerous examples of CSOs dating to the Old Assyrian Colony (OAC) period uncovered in previous excavations conducted at the site from 1953 to 1992. The new round of excavations, which started in 2022, yielded a significant collection providing an opportunity to reinterpret the functions of these objects. The CSOs found in association with pithoi and sealings in a grain and wine storage and preparation context offer evidence of CSOs used as administrative devices. We suggest that CSOs of the 16th-century BCE levels of Konya Karahöyük were utilised as a part of an administrative kit, conceivably accustomed to control time or check the capacity of grain and liquid containers. In the Late Bronze Age, a period marked by the advancement of centralised administrative systems, this new layer of evidence suggests that CSOs may have served a function distinct from their traditionally accepted role as loom weights, which dominates Middle Bronze Age interpretations.
Abstract This article explores late antique material evidence of Christianity in northern Mesopotamia, focusing on epigraphic and iconographic sources to trace its gradual integration into Roman society. Organised into two main sections, the study synthesises recent scholarship to contextualise these developments within the region’s commercial, military and cultural frameworks. Particular attention is given to addressing the imbalances in historical and archaeological visibility between urban centres and rural areas, drawing on findings from intensified research in northern Mesopotamia over the past two decades. The text provides a previously missing compilation of the region’s known late antique Christian inscriptions, paintings, carvings and mosaics. It discusses key themes, such as the interplay between Syriac and Greek as epigraphic languages, featuring the predominance of Greek inscriptions in cities like Edessa, Tella and Nṣībīn, alongside a gradual rise in Syriac epigraphy in rural areas by the sixth century. It also examines linguistic and symbolic markers of Christianisation, including the increasing use of crosses, monotheistic declarations and the adaptation of pre-existing visual motifs into Christian iconography. Finally, by integrating GIS data, the study delves into religious transformation’s spatial and socio-cultural dimensions in late antique northern Mesopotamia.
Abstract An imposing masonry structure with an arched statue niche in its façade overlooks the key north–south avenue in Aphrodisias known as the Tetrapylon Street. While this structure has traditionally been dated to the Early Imperial period, recent archaeological investigation has offered new insights concerning its chronology and function. This paper presents the results of this research. It is shown here that the structure was originally part of a larger bathing complex constructed when the entire Tetrapylon Street was renewed following a destructive earthquake of the later fifth century AD. Two components of the statue monument displayed in the building’s niched façade are also identified and discussed. Originally made in the first century AD, both components seem to have been recycled and reworked to commemorate a new benefactor involved in the late-fifth-century construction programme. They therefore provide a striking new case study that fits into the growing scholarly discourse on the long lives of ancient monuments in late antique Anatolia.
In the course of archaeological excavations at Metropolis between 1999 and 2004 when the hall of the city council (boule) was unearthed, an important inscription now referred to as the 'Apollonios Decree' was discovered on the bouleuterion terrace. This inscription decrees that a statue honouring Apollonios is to be erected 'in that part of the Agora where it will be the most conspicuous'. Ongoing excavations have revealed a concentration of sculptures in the same area, further strengthening the hypothesis that the Agora was located on the bouleuterion terrace. The present study was undertaken to better understand and interpret the functions of this part of the site based on the findings of excavations on the northern side of the bouleuterion in 2018. It also aims to ascertain if this is the area referred to in inscriptions as the place where public benefactors (euergetai) were honoured with boule-decreed statues, to determine if the statue dedicated to Apollonios of Metropolis was indeed located here, and to propose a possible location for the as-yet unidentified Metropolitan agora.
From the late ninth to the mid-seventh century BCE, the Urartian kings expanded their polity from the Euphrates to Lake Urmia. In this context, the question of Urartian legitimacy and how it was achieved is a key issue. Previous research has suggested that rulers primarily used visual representations to appeal to different segments of society, but this article explores how royal legitimacy was also pursued through religious rituals and festivals, starting from the so-called co-regency of I & scaron;puini and Minua (ca 820-810 BCE). By focussing on these rituals, which possibly reached a broader audience than visual representations, this study seeks to understand the roles of performance and religion in the early formation of the Urartian state.
Since the discovery of the TURKMEN-KARAHOYUK 1 inscription in 2019, Iron Age Anatolian scholarship has been energised by the appearance of a hitherto unknown kingdom in the Konya Plain ruled by 'Great King Hartapu'. While the historical context of Hartapu's inscriptions have undergone dramatic reassessment in light of the new text as well as the archaeology of the associated site Turkmen-Karahoyuk, little attention has been paid to the conditions that would have contributed to the rise of this kingdom in the first place. Although archaeological data remains scarce for south-cen- tral Anatolia during the early first millennium BCE, this article proposes several factors that likely played a role in the emergence of the kingdom: cultural and economic interaction with the Neo-Assyrian Empire, similar relations with Phrygia, emulative competition with its Tabalian peer polities and a propitious ecological setting at a time of significant environmental transformations. Interspersed with these arguments are reflections and anecdotes about Hartapu, and especially the way we represent Hartapu visually, that evoke how the effort we have spent on understanding political dynamics in Hartapu's kingdom has been disproportionately imbalanced toward Hartapu himself, with insufficient consideration having been given to longer term, structural forces. Such reflections lead us to reconsider the potentially disproportionately impactful effect of Hartapu's monuments in antiquity, and the extent to which Hartapu's kingdom in fact consisted of his own self-imaging.
This study is concerned with the evaluation of a recently discovered Aramaic inscription and other archaeological remains found at Rabat Fortress (in Tunceli, Turkiye). The Hellenistic period Aramaic funerary text was composed in memory of a local lord from Sophene's local political elite, with connections to the Orontid dynasty. This is the first known local Aramaic inscription from Sophene. The Aramaic inscription introduced in this study provides significant new information about the Hellenistic-period context for rock-cut stepped tunnels and single-roomed rock-cut tombs known across eastern Anatolia. The Rabat Fortress site provides corroborating evidence for the dating of the stepped tunnels that exhibit the same rock-cutting techniques in the same region to the Hellenistic and later periods in the rocky landscape. The inscription is rendered in a unique Sophene adaptation of the Middle Aramaic script extant on a corner block inside the Fortress. Its funerary context in rocky landscape and the inscription's script and content indicate that the local elite at Rabat Fortress used Aramaic, and the notion of Orontid lineage to connect with the kingdom of Sophene's central authority, which positioned itself between Hellenistic and Iranian traditions.
The practice of settling former soldiers in 'colonies' is well attested in Anatolia. The area of and around Pisidia received several such colonies during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, a phenomenon which must have had a significant demographic impact on the region. Building on previous research that has investigated the colonies of this region of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods, this paper collects the evidence for further settlements being planted on the various peripheries of Pisidia: first, in the territory of Apollonia, in the northern borderlands between Pisidia and Phrygia; second, on the Cillanaean Plain on the eastern fringes of Pisidia; and finally in Milyas, the territory on the southern boundaries between Pisidia and Lycia. It argues that significant groups of Lycian and Thracian ex-servicemen were settled in these areas, and suggests that this happened in a relatively short period of time between 36 BC and 25 BC, during the short reign of a local king, Amyntas. Sandwiched between the period of the Hellenistic poleis that preceded it, and the time of direct Roman rule that came after, the reign of Amyntas nonetheless left a lasting legacy on the landscape in the form of these new settlements.
Several anthropological and historical studies based on comparative research show that there is no universal concept of 'cleanliness' or 'hygiene' common to all cultures in all historical periods. Ideas about what is considered clean, the means used to keep persons, objects and places clean, and the frequency or appropriate timing of cleaning actions differ between cultures, and even within a given culture. The latter implies that, sometimes, these differences depend on social position, mainly because this position allows or prevents certain cleansing practices. In addition, the concept of 'cleanliness' may sometimes be intertwined with the idea of 'purity', and thus be related to religious beliefs and practices. The present article examines the concept of 'hygiene' for the case of the Hittites, and aims to do so from an historical perspective by reflecting on modern vocabulary related to hygiene, investigating Hittite terminology related to cleanliness and analysing textual sources. Archaeological evidence will be examined alongside the textual sources to establish correlations regarding locations and objects used for hygienic practices. The objectives are to investigate who practiced cleanliness and when in Hittite culture, how and where these practices occurred, and what objects were used, as well as how the Hittites understood hygiene and whether perceptions and practices varied by social group.
The Anatolian hieroglyphs SARMA and its variants were employed during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages to invoke the god Sarruma and as theophoric elements pointing to the same god in personal names. In this paper, these SARMA signs are analysed in order to understand the chronological development of the signs, to challenge the use of ligatures, phonetic indicators and phonetic complements with the sign, to determine the precise semantic value of the sign and whether a phonetic value can be confidently identified or dismissed, and finally to investigate how scribes creatively engaged with the sign in various usages and how readers interacted with the sign and its component elements. It will be argued that an increasingly complex phonetic conceptualisation of the sign grew alongside its semantic value, and that Iron Age scribes creatively juxtaposed signs and other graphic elements to evoke memories of the Hittite past and divine legitimation.
This study examines the maritime networks of Patara during the fourth and third centuries BC, employing numismatic and amphora evidence as proxies indicative of the city's significant role in ancient maritime routes. The two types of evidence offer perspectives on two different types of connectivity. The numismatic analysis focuses on the presence in Patara of low-value civic bronze coins minted by non-Lycian cities, thereby offering a window onto human mobility at the scale of the individual traveller, not necessarily the traders. In contrast, an examination of transport amphorae imported to Patara helps to reveal the extent of Patara's commercial connections. These findings enhance our comprehension of Patara's crucial role in ancient maritime networks, illuminating the interdependence of Mediterranean societies during this period. They demonstrate the complexity of these networks, suggesting that different kinds of networks operated simultaneously. This research contributes to the discourse on ancient maritime mobilities, considering the overlaps and interactions between different forms and scales of connectivity.
During archaeological excavations at Khovle Gora, in Georgia, in the early 1960s, a remarkable artefact was discovered in the form of a footwear-shaped vessel. The vessel strongly resembles an authentic leather boot, not only due to its colour, which results from a reducing firing process, and its smooth, polished surface, but also because of its decorative elements that imitate stitching. While this particular object, unearthed at level V of Khovle Gora, is a unique find both in Shida Kartli and in the wider context of Georgia, it belongs to a widespread tradition of footwear-shaped ceramic vessels, whose presence has been documented in settlements and burial contexts across Anatolia, the South Caucasus, Northern and Northwest Iran, and Mesopotamia since at least the Late Chalcolithic period. From a cultural perspective, the pottery found alongside the footwear-shaped vessel at Khovle Gora shows typical features of East Georgian pottery of the ninth-to-seventh centuries BC, implying a chronological placement within this time period. This article examines the morphology of the vessel, which incorporates typical elements of ancient, traditionally inherited elements of South Caucasian footwear, while also highlighting its differences from contemporaneous Urartian footwear-shaped vessels.
This study delves into the comprehensive examination of an anta capital discovered during the 2008 excavations at the ancient site of Alabanda in Caria, now housed in the Aydın Archaeological Museum. Employing a typological and stylistic analysis, the research attributes the capital to the latter part of the fifth century BC, emphasising its intricate architectural ornamentation and sculptural details that reflect significant artistic and cultural developments of the period. The capital features elaborate ornament bands and mythological reliefs, including depictions of Bellerophon-Pegasus and Chimera, and a griffin attacking a horse, which are analysed for their iconographic and symbolic significance within the broader Anatolian and Mediterranean contexts. The study also explores the potential original architectural setting of the capital, suggesting its use in a monumental tomb, a hypothesis supported by its dimensions and decorative complexity. Furthermore, the article discusses the role of such imagery in asserting local identities and engaging with wider Hellenic cultural and political themes, particularly considering the complex interactions between local Carian traditions and the dominant Greek culture of the period. The findings not only contribute to our understanding of Carian art and architecture but also highlight the region’s active participation in the cultural dialogues of the Classical world.
