New Issue of Istanbuler Mitteilungen, volume 73 (2023) [Open Access, DOI: https://doi.org/10.34780/ye60-e5a0].

CONTENTS INCLUDE

The Sultan Tepe Site and its Surroundings in the Western Lower Bakırçay Plain Investigating the Complex Layers of a Rural Residence in the Pergamon Micro- Region
Zeki Mete Aksan, Bernhard Ludwig, Güler Ateş, Annika Skolik, Fabian Becker, Ercan Erkul, Wolfgang Rabbel, Jörn Lang, Sarah Al Jarad, Felix Pirson, and Brigitta Schütt 

A rural site in the Pergamon Micro-Region, located in the western lower Bakırçay plain, has been discovered and investigated over the past two decades by two interdisciplinary research projects, involving archaeology, ancient history, geography and geophysics. Results of recent geophysical prospections and geographical analysis in combination with archaeological data from intensive and extensive surveys allow several hypotheses on the function of the site to be drafted and interpretations to be developed, even without excavations. The comprehensive analysis of magnetic anomalies, architectural elements, pottery finds and the geographical characteristics of the sites suggests different phases of occupation and use from the late Hellenistic to the Byzantine period. An extensive rural residence with an agricultural character, possibly a Roman villa, formed the key phase of the Sultan Tepe site in the western lower Bakırçay plain.

A Chronological and Functional Assessment of the Roman Imperial Bath- Gymnasium of Sagalassos (SW Asia Minor)
Bas Beaujean, Johan Claeys, Frans Doperé, and Jeroen Poblome

Between 1995 and 2014, the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project excavated large parts of a grand bathing complex situated within its lower city, immediately east of the Lower Agora. Because of its long-term use as a bathing facility – ranging from the 1st – 6th/7th c. A.D. – and the upkeep-intensive nature of such buildings, understanding its different phases is a complicated endeavour, often allowing for different hypotheses. Having concluded major excavations, this paper chronologically enunciates the archaeological datasets, describing the relative sequences of contexts and associated dating criteria, and their interpretation. Through a series of structural analyses (maps) and comparative efforts, the narratives which have formed through a variety of reports and publications can be re-evaluated. Next, we present the archaeological certainties and uncertainties of the Roman Imperial Bath-Gymnasium. Additionally, the building will be contextualized within the dynamic urban fabric of Roman Imperial, Late Roman and Early Byzantine Sagalassos. In that respect, we will present a recently discovered bathing facility east of the Upper Agora, and discuss its relations with the other baths. Last, we will use the results to highlight the potential of the Roman Imperial Bath-Gymnasium to contribute to wider debates.

Einige Reliquiare in Nord-Mesopotamia
Nergis Ataç and Guntram Koch 

In the Archaeological Museum of Diyarbakιr three reliquaries are kept, produced in the 5th/6th century, which come from Silvan – Martyropolis. Two consist of a dark red stone with numerous white veins, a serpentinite, ›Elaziğ vişne‹ (›Elaziğ sour cherry‹). Fourteen pieces of reliquaries immured in the walls of the Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Mary in Diyarbakιr seem to have been made from the same material. So far, no other sculptures made of this stone are known, neither from the Roman imperial period nor from late antiquity. The third reliquary consists of a light red limestone and is carefully worked too. Other limestone reliquaries are much simpler in terms of craftsmanship. The specimens in Mardin and in Şanlιurfa have antithetic animals as decoration as a special feature. A lid from Silvan with fine carving made of limestone is unusual.

An Archaeology of Emptiness. Haymana or the Prairie in Roman and Byzantine Times
Lucy Audley-Miller, Stephen Mitchell †, Philipp Niewöhner, Ali Vardar, and Levent Egemen Vardar

This paper presents the findings of an extensive survey in and around the modern town of Haymana in Galatia, central Turkey. The area is not known for any major ancient city, and the finds would seem to represent Roman and Byzantine life in rural Anatolia. An outstanding funerary relief of the Saokondarios family appears to be the earliest discovery and to represent the ancient Galatian dynasty of that name. Numerous later Roman tomb stones are also carved with figural reliefs, some in the shape of doorstones. A cave tomb of Pelagia was later engraved with Christian symbols and the attribute martyr added to the deceased’s name, suggesting that she was likened to, or identified with, the homonymous Diocletian martyr. Larger, communal cave cemeteries likely date from the Byzantine period. Early Byzantine architectural sculpture was probably employed in churches that are also attested by liturgical furnishings. The Hellenistic/Galatian hilltop fortification of Güzelcekale was rebuilt in later Byzantine times. Several other small and medium-sized hilltop fortifications with or without Galatian routes would also seem to have been (re?)built during the Byzantine period. The same is in evidence for several cave houses, some of which relate to the fortifications. The much larger fort of Taburoğlu Kalesi appears to have been newly built against the Arab invasions and could be identifiable with the bandon of Aphrazeia.

From Early Christian Region to Later Byzantine Hinterland: New Byzantine Marbles in the Archaeological Museum Kütahya
Philipp Niewöhner

This paper presents four dozen Byzantine marble carvings that the Archaeological Museum Kütahya acquired during the last two decades, since the publication of the museum’s earlier holdings. The marbles include architectural sculpture, mostly from the Early Byzantine period, and liturgical furnishings, also from later Byzantine times. The find-spots range widely across the huge catchment area of the museum, but the city of Kütahya and the district of Altıntaş each stand out for a cluster of finds. The paper provides an art-historical analysis and observes that, while some Early Byzantine carvings apply super-regional forms that are also known from other parts of the Eastern Roman empire, others and in particular liturgical furnishings are specifically Anatolian and attest to early Christian regionalism. This appears to have increased in the 6th century, as super-regional forms became rare. After a collapse during the Invasion period, Middle Byzantine stonemasonry followed different trajectories, certainly due to a lack of a major regional workshop and possibly in response to a new, aristocratic clientele that was oriented directly towards Constantinople instead of any regional centre, thus turning the formerly self-dependent region into an extended hinterland of the capital city.