This article presents a new example from Asia Minor of Polykleitos' famous athlete statues, which can mostly be traced through Roman-period copies. The statue, depicting a naked young man standing upright, was found in 2000 during a foundation excavation in the city center of U & scedil;ak province. The study first provides a detailed description of the statue and then discusses its typology and iconography. The statue, understood to be a copy of the Westmacott Epheb type, is thought to have been produced between the last quarter of the 1st century AD and the first half of the 2nd century AD, possibly for decorative use in an important public building (a Roman bath or theater) or in the house of an elite Roman based on similar examples. The Temenouthyrai copy stands out as the only known findspot copy from Asia Minor, apart from the Aphrodisias head and the Tarsus example (only a variant). With this study, the statue in question takes its place as a qualified example among the copies of the Westmacott Epheb type that have survived to the present day. This statue is a very close example of a model known for its dimensions and artistic craftsmanship, contributing greatly to the level of sophistication of the art of sculpture in the Roman province of Asia.
This study examines in detail, from a typological and iconographic perspective, a funerary stele found during rescue excavations in 2017 at the necropolis of Antioch ad Orontes. Apart from minor cracks and missing parts, the funerary stele is intact and is currently preserved in the Hatay Archaeology Museum. The aim of this study is to contribute to the literature on funerary stelae, to determine the formal characteristics of the stele, to conduct an in-depth typological and iconographical examination of the figures in the decorative area, and to identify their stylistic features. The form of the funerary stele is a schematic naiskos, like other examples. Made of fine-grained white marble, the stele reflects the facade of a naiskos in a schematic Ionic order. The ornamentation is preserved in a rectangular form, bordered by acroteria at the top, a pediment and architrave below, and a frame on the sides, with two lines of inscription on the molding below. Similar examples are known from Late Hellenistic steles found in the city of Antioch. The deceased woman and the other female figure beside her must have been depicted within a schematic temple, thus bestowing immortality upon them. In the decorative area, a woman, possibly the deceased, is depicted seated on the right, a variation of the Antiochian Tyche type, and opposite her, standing, is another woman of a variation of the Pudicitia type. Both figures are typologically derived from the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic periods. However, since these early types are used in funerary stele, which dates to the Late Hellenistic period, the classicism within the Hellenistic period becomes apparent. Because it was not found in a specific stratum during excavation, the funerary stele has been dated to between 150-100 BC, primarily using analogy in sculpture. It has been determined that the funerary stele reflects the stylistic characteristics of the Late Hellenistic period of the region.
This study examines the marble sculptures discovered during the excavations of the Tralleis Bath-Gymnasium complex, focusing on their typological, iconographic and stylistic aspects. According to information recorded by Strabo, the Gymnasium of Tralleis, an ancient city in the Caria Region renowned for sculpture during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial Periods, dates back to the Hellenistic Period and was damaged in an earthquake that occurred in 26 BC. It was restored with the support of Augustus. Accordingly, in the ancient city of Tralleis, which was renamed Caesaria during the Early Imperial Period, a new program of sculpture was implemented alongside the architecture in different spaces such as the frigidarium, tepidarium, and caldarium that were added to the gymnasium structure, which was redesigned during the Roman Imperial Period. The artifacts discussed in this study are finds from the Bath-Gymnasium complex, which was added to the Hellenistic gymnasium structure in the 2nd century AD in the imperial plan type. Previous studies presented relief artifacts, which were particularly used to decorate the caldarium section. The majority of these reliefs are dated to the reign of Emperor Nerva and the period following it. The sculptural works examined in this study were the result of an architecture-related sculptural program, being found in different areas of the complex, which was redesigned in the Hadrianic period and the following years. The sculptural works is dated to the post-Nerva period of the Tralleis Bath-Gymnasium complex. The aim is to establish chronological continuity within the history of the structure. Small fragments of the draped female sculptures which is thought to be divine figures have been preserved. Iconographically, a Hygieia sculpture, associated with health and hygiene in the Bath, along with Satry and Pan sculptures linked to the water-related Bath in connection with the Nymphs, and a Venus Genetrix sculpture thought to have been used in niches or a related area within the space, have been evaluated typologically, iconographically and stylistically in this study. The Bath-Gymnasium artifacts of the Hadrianic period and the post-Hadrianic era of the 2nd century AD examined in this study are evaluated as part of a sculptural group and interpreted with the classicist approach. The sculptures of Hygieia, Aphrodite, Satyr, Pan, and the draped female are considered to be Roman Imperial replicas of Hellenistic models whose archetypes date back to the Classical Period. From a stylistic perspective, the prototypes of the sculptures of Hygieia and the draped female appear to have been produced toward the end of the 2nd century BC, a period when the influence of the Pergamene school, seen in Carian sculpture in Western Anatolia since the last quarter of the 3rd century BC, began to decline, and when stylistic interactions between the local sculptural tradition of Tralleis and the workshops of Kos, Samos, and Rhodes intensified.
Excavations conducted at the ancient city of Elaiussa Sebaste have demonstrated that the site was occupied from the Hellenistic period onward. Nevertheless, architectural arrangements and associated finds indicate that the city experienced significant transformation and growth during the Roman Imperial period. This development is further supported by the large number of oil lamps recovered in excavations and dated to the Roman Imperial and Late Roman periods. Detailed analysis of these mold-made objects has revealed that the assemblage comprises six distinct oil lamp types. Some of these correspond to well-known forms popular in the early centuries of the Roman Imperial period, while others belong to types widely attested in the region of Cilicia. Among the assemblage are lamp types frequently used at Tarsus. Although previous studies have noted the presence of locally produced lamps, the present study addresses the issue in greater detail through the examination of molds, an oil lamp kiln, and fabric morphology. In addition, this study identifies, for the first time, the presence of Cypriot-produced oil lamps at Elaiussa Sebaste, as evidenced by workshop names inscribed on lamp bases. The identification of these workshop names contributes to our understanding of commercial activities at Elaiussa Sebaste, particularly trade relations with Cyprus during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The scenes depicted on the oil lamp discus are decorative themes widely used in the Roman Imperial period and include erotic imagery, gods, heroes, animal representations, and motifs such as rosettes employed as standardized templates. At the same time, several discus scenes recovered at Elaiussa Sebaste appear to be unique and are not attested elsewhere.
The rock-cut tombs of Milyas have long been treated as a marginal extension of coastal Lycia, on the basis of a limited and uneven body of earlier observations. Drawing on thirty-nine tombs documented during the Elmal & imath; Archaeological Survey Projects (2019-2024), this article reassesses their geographical setting, typological range and chronological position. The distribution of sixteen necropolis sites shows that tomb placement follows a spatial logic tied to transit routes rather than nearby habitation, consistent with seasonal, transhumant occupation of the plateau. A coarse typology distinguishes Undecorated and Decorated tombs, including Lycian type fa & ccedil;ades, and a small group aligned with hybrid architectural traditions that combine local, Phrygian, Lydian and Lycian forms. Situated within the long fourth-century horizon of the Lycian rock-cut tomb tradition, the corpus nonetheless indicates activity both before and after the Periclean phase, revealing Milyas as an active centre of cross-regional interaction between Mediterranean and inland zones rather than a political or cultural periphery of Lycia.
