Byzantine Ephesus: Life in the city after Empire

The grand architectural monuments of Ephesus attest to its glory days as a sophisticated metropolis of the Roman Empire. But what happened when the Empire ended in the 4th century AD? Following recent excavation, Sabine Ladstätter and Michaela Binder reveal new evidence of life in the city during the turbulent days of Byzantine rule.

The Basilica of St John, on Ayasoluk hill in nearby Selçuk, was built in the 6th century AD, and is said to lie on the burial place of St John.

Visitors flock to Ephesus to see the impressive remains of flamboyant architecture commissioned by self-promoting emperors whose extravagant monuments reflected the glory of their triumphs, and trumpeted the long reach of Imperial power. 

Yet what they see belies the site’s long and colourful history which not only stretched back centuries to its Archaic origins, but continued forward in time, well beyond the disintegration of Imperial Rome. In particular, past study has largely ignored the period following the 4th century AD. Now new research by the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna at the Austrian Academy of Sciences can reveal how the people of Ephesus adapted to the eventful years of Byzantine rule.

In Late Antiquity, Ephesus faced both environmental and political challenges. In the 3rd century AD, a series of earthquakes left deep scars that are visible in the archaeological record, and certainly contributed to the economic decline of the city. Its troubles were compounded by the relentless accumulation of silt in the harbour basin and associated channels, with the maintenance of these waterways becoming a constant battle. 

Meanwhile, Constantine the Great adopted Constantinople as his residence and capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, lavishing money on major building projects to expand and embellish the city. As a result, resources in the form of private and public patronage, under Constantine and subsequent emperors, was now concentrated on the new capital, so Ephesus, the once great Imperial metropolis, had to reinvent itself as a regional centre, and look for alternative means of income. Fortunately, the Ephesians had a valuable asset: their large number of places of worship.

Plan of Ephesus during the Byzantine and Turkish periods.

The Church of St Mary – the venue of the Church Council – along with the Basilica of St John, the Cemetery of the Seven Sleepers, and the so-called Tomb of Luke were developed into major religious centres, attracting flocks of the faithful, and sealing Ephesus’s reputation as a centre of Early Christian pilgrimage. The financial advantages associated with these enterprises were enormous: not only did visitors require accommodation and provisions, but they also made endowments and donations. turkey Furthermore, this new-found pilgrimage industry not only brought economic revival to the region, but it also provided the motivation for increased efforts in creating a functioning network of roads and connections to the sea to guarantee viable visitor traffic.

For any port city, direct access to the sea is a prerequisite for commercial prosperity, and here Ephesus had a problem. The continuous and increased silting up of the harbour basin, compounded by contamination created by the city itself, meant the harbour required constant maintenance and cleaning to ensure unrestricted access for ships. This was a well-known issue since the early Imperial period, and up until the late 2nd century considerable manpower and technical ingenuity were employed to keep the problem at bay: a short channel linking the harbour basin with the sea was built during the early Imperial period, and was continually lengthened as the sea retreated. Archaeological evidence also shows that outer harbours were created where ships with deeper draughts could anchor. From there, people and goods would be transferred onto smaller craft that could safely negotiate the shallows of the channel.

This unique harbour landscape grew over centuries, and encompasses the large hexagonal harbour basin of the Roman Imperial Period, a long channel, signal towers, and at least two outer harbours. Clearly, the people of Ephesus did not shy away from the toil – nor from the considerable costs – required to maintain direct access to the sea, and thus enabled themselves to remain a competitive trading hub for as long as was possible.

An aerial view of the harbour of Ephesus and the channel providing access to the Aegean Sea.

Byzantine Ephesus: Life in the city after Empire

Rock tombs of Turkey's Şanlıurfa to open to tourism

Rock tombs nearly 2,000 years old, which have been unearthed in caves in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, are to be opened to tourists after excavations are completed. 

The historical city of Şanlıurfa, home to myriad civilizations in its millennia-old history, is a leading spot for faith and culture tourism in Turkey. 

Ancient caves were unearthed during restoration and environmental arrangement works in the city’s Kale Eteği and Kızılkoyun districts, where shanty houses had been previously built. Inside the uncovered caves a total of 113 rock tombs were found. 

A number of figures and four floor mosaics were discovered in the rock tomb chambers within the scope of the ongoing works, carried out in collaboration with the provincial culture and tourism directorates, museum directorates and the Şanlıurfa Municipality. 

Mayor Nihat Çiftçi said Şanlıurfa was a city of culture and had been home to many civilizations. Each excavation in the city unearthed artifacts from different overlaid periods, he added. 

“Restoration and environmental works have unearthed 72 caves in the Kale Eteği district and 61 in Kızılkoyun district. The caves have rock tombs inside. These rock tombs date back to the 1st century A.D, from the era of Edessa King Abgar. We have also found mosaics on the ground of the ancient tombs, depicting the figures of this era. Families that lived in this era were buried in tombs in these caves,” Çiftçi said.  

He added that they aimed to turn Şanlıurfa into a kind of “open-air museum.” 

“We will open the Kale Eteği area to tourism in three-four months. We always say that Şanlıurfa is a city of caves. These caves were settlements in the past. Therefore ancient civilizations left their traces in these caves. With their arches, gates, and floor mosaics, the caves show us the lifestyle, philosophy, richness, architecture and faith of this era. Our archaeologists want to continue works nonstop because they work manually. The works in Kızılkoyun have been continuing for six months. They need one more year of work there for more detailed examination,” Çiftçi said. 

Temple-like rock tomb

Şanlıurfa Museum archaeologist Bekir Çetin said the region was known as the necropolis (graveyard) of Edessa city, adding that they found rock tombs up to three meters underground. 

“The ones at that depth are better preserved. There is one rock tomb here, the entrance of which has never been opened. It looks like a temple. A similar one can be seen in the southwest Anatolia. The rock tombs here have two or three chambers. Their columns and decorations draw particular attention at the entrance of the rock tombs. In some chambers, one can see Triton, a mythological Greek god. This reveals that those rock tomb caves are important for Şanlıurfa tourism,” Çetin said.

Rock tombs of Turkey's Şanlıurfa to open to tourism

Huge Ancient Hidden Monument Found In Petra Using Satellites, Drones, And Google Earth

It seems the modern-day explorer just needs a laptop and Internet connection, rather than a bullwhip and a pair of binoculars.

Using satellite imagery, drones, and Google Earth, archaeologists have discovered the site of a massive monument “hiding in plain sight” at the Petra Archaeological Park in Jordan. Researchers Sarah Parcak and Christopher Tuttle recently published their findings online in The American Schools of Oriental Research.

Petra, once described as "a rose-red city half as old as time,” dates back to the fourth century BCE. Much of its past is well-documented, from its origins as an early camel caravan pit stop to its time under Roman rule. The World Heritage site is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites and has been studied by explorers since the early 19th century. So this discovery comes as a pleasant surprise to the researchers.

The archaeologists' high-tech eyes in the sky have shown that the structure is around 56 by 49 meters (184 by 161 feet). It also features an 8.5 by 8.5-meter (28 by 28 feet) building situated on a huge plateau. 

Much of the site still needs to be fully excavated, but the archaeologists have pieced together a fair amount of the monument's life.The discovery of pottery around the area suggests it could have been built by the Nabataeans, sometime around the second century BCE. It’s shape and structure suggests it could have been used as a public ceremonial platform, playing an important role in Petra's early history, its dabble with Christianity during the Byzantine period, and during the later Islamic periods. 

The exciting bit about this research is the use of “futuristic” techniques to look into the past. Not only has technology allowed archaeological excavations to save on money, labor, and time, it can lead researchers to even more subtle hints that would have previously seemed invisible.

Speaking to National Geographic, self-professed “space archaeologist” and co-author of the study Sarah Parcak explains: "Imagery from space shows us very subtle changes at a pixel level. We accentuate those differences on satellite maps by adding distinctly different colors to farmland, urban structures, archaeological sites, vegetation, and water. Then sophisticated computer algorithms tease out differences in a constant process of refinement. These extra eyes in the sky expose an entirely invisible world of lost cities."

She added: “Technology of the future is helping us save our past.”

Source : www.nationalgeographic.com

Huge Ancient Hidden Monument Found In Petra Using Satellites, Drones, And Google Earth