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The ancient city of Aphrodisias,
once the capital of the province of Lydia, is located near the
village of Geyre in the district of Karacasu 38 km south of
Nazilli.In ancient times, the attractive marble buildings of
Aphrodisias no doubt shone out, as they do now, from amidst the rich
vegetation of the Dandalaz valley with its almond, pomegranate and
poplar trees.
The wealth and cultural and political
importance of the city is clearly attested by the size and
magnificence of the buildings of which it is composed.The name
Aphrodisias is derived from Aphrodite, the goddess of nature,
beauty, love and plenty, and was one of the most famous cult centres
of the goddess. But this was not the original name of the city.
According to the historian Stephanus it was founded by the Lelegians
and was first known as Lelegonopolis.The name of the city was later
changed to Megalopolis, and later again to Ninoe after Ninos, the
King of Assyria.
The history of the city can be traced
back to the early bronze age and there is even clear evidence of a
chalcolithic culture prior to the 3rd millennium B.C. The use of the
name Aphrodisias began after the 3rd century B.C., in the
Hellenistic period.The spread of Christianity under the Byzantine
Empire and the gradual adoption of Christianity as the state
religion resulted in a marked change in the status of the city. The
cult centre of Aphrodite declined in importance, to such an extent
that the names Aphrodite and Aphrodisias were finally erased from
all the inscriptions. Efforts were made to change the name of the
city to Stavrapolis, the City of the Cross, but the local
inhabitants preferred to use Caria, the name of the province. Geyre,
the name of the modern village occupying the same site, is probably
a corruption of the ancient Caria, which occurred after the Turkish
occupation of the area. It seems very likely that in Turkish, Caria
was first pronounced Kayra, and that the "k" then changed to "g"
and the "a" to "e'. Like several other Roman and Byzantine cities,
Aphrodisias was very largely self sufficient.
Aphrodisias was one of the foremost
cities of the age, surrounded by fertile fields producing every type
of foodstuff. It also possessed a flourishing wool and cotton
industry, highly developed commercial, political, religious and
cultural institutions ,very fine tradition of arts and crafts,
world-famous schools of philosophy and sculpture and a large and
energetic body of citizens.
The decline of the city was hastened
by an unfortunate incident that took place in the 7th century. The
reign of the Emperor Heraclius (610-641 ) was marked by Arab raids
and incursions from the East, religious disputes, political and
economic pressures and a number of epidemics causing great loss of
life, but the final stroke was dealt by a devastating earthquake.
The damage caused to the buildings by this earthquake is still
plainly visible. Some of the most imposing buildings were destroyed
and remained unrepaired.
Very little is known of the history of
the city after the 7th century, sources of information being
confined to a few religious documents and lists of the names of the
bishops. Archaeological finds, however, would appear to point to a
short lived revival in the 11th century.
The incursion of the Seljuk Turks from
Anatolia between the 11 Th. and 13th century.
meant the end of the settlements that had survived the great
earthquakes. After the 13th century the whole province became
subject to the Aydın and Mentese Emirates. In the 15th and 16th
centuries the fertile soil of the area attracted new settlement and
the site of the ancient city of Aphrodisias was occupied by the
village of Geyre.
The Ruins, the
City Defense Walls and City PlaN
The first thing you see on approaching Aphrodisias from the
direction of Karacasu will be the city walls with the Ionic columns
of the temple of Aphrodite in the background. The ancient city is
locate on a level piece of ground inclining slightly towards the
south-west.
The construction of the walls is
thought to have been begun during the Gothic invasion in 260, but
the walls to he seen today date from the 4th century or later. No
trace has been found of any defense system of an older date, but
there may well have been a wall around the acropolis in the area
between the agora and the theatre.
After the destruction of the walls by earthquake in the 7th century
a fortress or observation tower was built here on the highest point
in the city. This was one of the first two areas of settlement. Of
the two excavation zones yielding prehistoric remains one is located
on this hill, on which a fortress or observation tower was built in
the 7th century, and the other of the site occupied by the temple of
Aphrodite.
The ancient acropolis was located on a hill 24 m high affording a
view of the whole city.
The remains found here indicate the
existence of a settlement in prehistoric times with seven separate
layers identified as belonging to the bronze and iron ages. Traces
have been found here of mudbrick walls on stone foundations and
architectural structures reminiscent of megaron type houses.
Here too were found fairly large jars
known as pithoi used for the storage of wheat and other provisions
as well as a considerable amount of pottery fragments. The finds
also include a number of stone implements, stone statuettes, figures
with the faces of owls and fat female idols as well as various
weight-measuring instruments. The excavation area known as Pekmez
Höyük to the east of the acropolis yielded pottery of the late
neolithic, late chalcolithic and early bronze ages, together with
two Kilia figurines.In the Late Hellenistic period the city
developed more particularly in the area surrounding the agora. There
is no question, however, of any genuine town planning. Neither the
Temple of Aphrodite nor the Sebastion conforms to any regular city
plan
The Temple of
Aphrodite
Located in the northern section, in ancient times the Temple of
Aphrodite formed the centre and nucleus of the city. All that
remains of the ancient temple consists of fourteen of the over forty
Ionic columns that once surrounded it and the foundations of the
cella section. Although the cult centre dates back to earlier times
the temple whose remains we see today was begun in the 1st century
B.C. and is thought to have been completed during the reign of
Augustus. The temenos (temple precinct) was completed in the 2nd
century during the reign of Hadrian. The building would appear to
have been what is known as an octastyle temple with thirteen columns
on each side and eight columns at front and rear. On some of the
columns are inscribed the names of the donors who presented them to
the temple. The discovery of several mosaic fragments belonging to
the Hellenistic period indicate the existence of an older temple on
the same site, but with the conversion of the temple to a church in
the 5th century all traces of the older building were erased. At the
same time, the walls of the cella containing the cult statues were
removed and the building enlarged by moving the side columns
outwards. Walls were added at the front and rear of the building to
form an apse and nave. An apse and an atrium were added on the east
and west. No cult statue was found in the cella but in 1962 a statue
was found immediately outside it bearing all the characteristics of
a cult statue. This statue, which is now exhibited in the museum,
displays a stiff, hieratic stance closely resembling the Artemis of
Ephesus. The goddess is wearing a long garment. One of the arms is
stretched forward. The reliefs carved on the bands of the garment
are very interesting. The sun god and moon goddess, the Three Graces
with Aphrodite in the middle, Aphrodite and three Cupids seated on a
goat with the tail of a fish are all symbols which frequently appear
on various copies of the cult statue.
Tetrapylon
One of the most attractive features of Aphrodisias is the ornamental
gate constructed in the middle of the 2nd century. The name
Tetrapylon refers to its being composed of four groups of four
columns. The entrance lies to the east. The front row of Corinthian
columns with spiral fluting look out on to a street with north-south
alignment. The second and third columns of this fourfold structure
are surmounted by a semicircular lintel with relief figures of Nike
and Erotes amid acanthus leaves. The process of repairing and
re-erecting the Tetrapylon columns was completed in 1990.
Odeon and
Bishop's Palace
The odeon, a building which differed from the theatre in being used
mainly as a concert hall and lecture room, is in a fairly good state
of preservation.Located immediately to the south of the temple, it
was constructed in the 2nd century A.D. There were originally a
larger number of tiers in the upper part of the buildings but these
are thought to have been destroyed in an earthquake.The orchestra
and stage building of the odeon were adorned with mosaics an statues
now preserved in the museum and the auditorium was covered with a
wooden roof. A fairly large architectural complex is to be found to
the west of the odeon. Constructed in the Late Roman period, part of
this building is thought to have later been used in the Byzantine
period as the residence of a governor or bishop. It would thus
appear that the temple and its environs preserved its status as a
religious and administrative centre into Christian times.
Agora
The agora, located between the temple and the acropolis was planned
in the 1 St. century B.C. for use as a market and popular meeting
place. It is composed of two Ionic porticoes over 200 m long and
running from east to west. The southern portico, which is known as
the portico of Tiberius, was systematically examined in the course
of the older excavations, while the 1937 excavations carried out by
the Italian team yielded extremely valuable friezes together with
inscriptions written in praise of the Emperor Tiberius.Recent
excavations conducted in the northern section, in the western
section near the baths of Hadrian and the gate of the agora in the
south-east yielded a large number of very fine specimens of the
skill of the Aphrodisian sculptors and stone-carvers. Most of the
reliefs consist of sacred or individual portraits surrounded by
wreaths or garlands, masks and mythological scenes.The monumental
gate of the agora is located at the eastern end of the Portico of
Tiberius. This ornamental entrance was erected in the middle of the
2nd century but in order to prevent the flooding that followed the
4th century earthquake it was converted into a nymphaeum and
connected to a water supply system to be used in controlling the
water flow.
This is thought to have been
constructed in the 5th century and to have suffered severe damage in
the 7th century earthquake. Among the scenes represented on the
reliefs in the niches on the Agora gate are to be seen the struggle
between the Centaurs and the Lapiths (Centauromachy), between the
Gods and the Giants (Gigantomachy) and between the Amazons and the
Greeks (Amazonomachy).
Baths of
Hadrian
The baths constructed in the 2nd century during the reign of the
Emperor Hadrian lie to the west of the Portico of Tiberius. This
complex consists of a large central hall, probably the caldarium or
hot room, surrounded. by four large rooms, the tepidarium,
sııdatorium, apoditerium and frigidarium (warm room, sweating room,
dressing room and cold room respectively).
It is a most imposing building with
all the requisite facilities, such as labyrinthine underground
service corridors, water channels and furnaces.
In the excavations conducted here in
1904 the French archaeologist Paul Gaudin unearthed a large number
of artistic works now preserved in the Istanbul Archaeological
Museum.
Theatre
Begun in 1966, the excavations in the theatre area yielded a great
deal of extremely valuable information regarding both the
prehistoric and historic periods in Aphrodisias as well as very well
preserved sections of the theatre building and a large number of
statues and reliefs of the highest quality.
The theatre building rests against the
eastern slope of the acropolis. Construction was completed in 27
B.C. but in the 2nd century A.D. certain structural changes were
made to make the theatre suitable for gladiatorial combats. The
stage building was enlarged and connected to the cavea, a room for
the wild animals was opened in the rear and some corridors were
added.
Following the collapse of the upper
sections of the cavea in the 7th century earthquake and the partial
filling up of the auditorium the Byzantine inhabitants covered the
orchestra and stage buildings with earth and built houses over it,
at the same time surrounding the acropolis with a wall.The most
interesting and remarkable of the finds discovered in the
excavations was the Zoilos relief. Zoilos was a manumitted slave of
Octavian who played an influential role in fostering good relations
between Aphrodisias and Rome and who succeeded in having the city
exempted from tax. The proscenion and logeion sections of the
theatre were presented by Zoilos as a gift to Aphrodite and the
citizens of Aphrodisias.
Sebastion
The Sebastion is a most remarkable discovery, not only as regards
the excavations in Aphrodisias but in the whole context of classical
archaeological excavation. When the building was first unearthed in
1979 it appeared to have no relation to any other building but, as
excavations were carried down to deeper levels, it became apparent
that this consisted of a temple dedicated to the cult of the Emperor
Augustus (Sebastos is the Greek equivalent of the Latin Augustus)
and its surrounding complex.
Of the temple only the foundations now
remain, together with a few column bases, Corinthian style capitals
and architrave blocks. In addition to the damage inflicted by the
earthquakes in the 4th and 7th centuries, the remains of the temple
also suffered from the use of the area for settlement in the
Byzantine and Turkish periods.
The temple, which was located at the eastern end of the Sebastion,
consisted of two porticoes 80 m in length composed of half columns
and a ceremonial way 14 m wide. At the western end there was a gate
or propylon opening on to the street. Excavations both inside and
outside the porticoes yielded a quite extraordinary quantity of
reliefs and decorative panels. The most remarkable of these included
depictions of the birth of Eros, the Three Graces, Apollo in Delphi,
Meleager, Achilles and Penthesilea, Nyssa and the child Dionysus.
There are also reliefs of some members of the imperial family and
mythological figures. Those identified include Augustus, Germanicus,
Lucius, Gaius Caesar, Claudius and Agrippa, together with Prometheus
and Aeneas fleeing from Troy. There is also a particularly
interesting group of reliefs symbolizing Claudius's conquest of
Britain and Nero's conquest of Armenia.
There are also a number of fragments
depicting the peoples of the various countries with which Augustus
had waged war or formed other types of relationships but these have
suffered severe earthquake damage.
It would appear from the epigraphic
evidence that the Sebastion porticoes were built during the reigns
of Claudius and Nero and were the gifts of two separate families.
Stadium
The Aphrodisias stadium is the best preserved of all the ancient
stadiums in the Mediterranean region. Located in the northern
section of the city it is 262 m in length and 59 m wide with a
seating capacity of 30,000. The ends of the stadium
are slightly convex, giving the whole a form rather suggesting an
ellipse. In this way, the spectators seated in this part of the
stadium would not block each other's view and would be able to see
the whole of the arena. The stadium was specially designed for
athletic contests, but after the theatre was damaged in the 7th
century earthquake the eastern end of the arena began to be used for
games, circuses and wild beast shows. During the Roman period the
stadium was the scene of a large number of athletic competitions and
festivals.
These competitions in the province of
Asia Minor were modeled on the Olympic and Pythian games in Greece,
and had the same name and organization as the Greek equivalent.
These shows were held with the
permission of Rome and the granting of such permission was regarded
as a signal honour. The games held in Aphrodisias were Pythian, not
Olympic. These were complemented by the Gordineia festivals held in
honour of the Emperor and with his special permission.
The Museum of
Aphrodisias
The Museum of Aphrodisias is one of the most outstanding museums of
western Anatolia. The monuments of unsurpassed value which have been
found at the excavations are displayed here.
Observing these finds and imagining them in their former places
suffice to grasp the splendor of these antique monuments which once
used to be. Especially the works of the sculpture school of antique
Aphrodisias show the level of development of this art. |
