Authors:Oğuz YARLIGAŞ Abstract: Herodotus is widely known in Turkish intellectual circles. Despite its superficiality, his is a very familiar name even for those with a high school degree, and anyone curious about him can benefit from the translations of his work that are available to the Turkish audience. Herodotus has been a common point of reference in the works of Turkish ancient historians and others who deal with that period, but works devoted to the critical assessment of the historian had been very scarce until recently. This picture of scarcity changed over the past decades as more and more studies in Turkish delved into Herodotus and his work. This paper aims to evaluate the recent Herodotean scholarship in Turkey, as well as to attempt to illustrate the tendencies of Turkish ancient historians who are interested in this subject. In this way, perhaps one can also understand the motives and habits of Turkish scholarship on Herodotus and his work, which are undoubtedly indispensable for the ancient history of Turkey. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Merve YILDIRIMTÜRK; Rıfat Eser KORTANOĞLU Abstract: Ancient Greek cities dedicated a variety of valuable objects to the gods in sacred areas. The means for protecting these objects were provided by the thesauros [treasuries] they had built on behalf of their cities and were also a votive offering themself. While only cultic objects were place in temples, objects that had been dedicated by citizens and cities were kept in the treasuries. The now-lost offerings were housed by treasuries that are mentioned in ancient sources and had been built between the 7th-3rd centuries BC. Dedicated by the Greek city-states to the sacred sites of Delphi, Olympia, and Delos, the function of these structures was to protect valuable dedications to the gods and to politically demonstrate the connection the cities had to these sacred areas. The architectural details of these buildings reflect the elements of the city-state that dedicated it. This study explains the origin and meaning of the treasuries that were constructed in the sanctuaries, as well as their architectural form and function, and discusses the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts that existed between the cities and sanctuaries through the example of one of the most striking treasuries from the Archaic period, the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi (525 BC). PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Atakan AKÇAY; Ahmet Emirhan BULUT Abstract: Kurul Fortress is located within the Turkish province of Ordu on the top of steep rocks rising from the nearby Melet River. It was heavily settled during the reign of Mithridates VI Eupator (120-63 BC), the last ruler of the Kingdom of Pontos. Despite fortress as a term specifically bringing to mind military functions at first, this settlement was also a cultic place where various gods had been worshipped starting in earlier periods. The unearthed storage structures containing hundreds of terracotta pithoi and amphorae in different sectors prove that Kurul Fortress had had the function of preserving agricultural products and commercial goods within the military and administrative hinterland of Kurul Fortress. Due to being located at a strategic point, Kurul Fortress presents a settlement model that took maximum advantage of the terrain, as much as the topographical conditions permitted. The configuration of Kurul Fortress’ settlements preferred to face both the western and eastern slopes of the narrow but long summit of the rock on which it is located. Because no later settlement existed on the site after the late Hellenistic period, relatively well-preserved architectural elements have survived to the present day. This paper aims to evaluate the settlement’s structures that were unearthed between 2010-2019, their possible functions, the materials that constituted the structures, the architectural texture, and the contemporary settlement of the region, which also shows similar architectural characteristics. This study is considered to be significant because it will create an opportunity for the settlements in the Kingdom of Pontos to be compared with its territory in terms of architectural features and will provide abundant information on what a settlement during the reign of Mithridates VI Eupator was like. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Hasan YILMAZYAŞAR; Zeliha GÖKALP Abstract: Although Karacahisar Castle has been the subject of many publications due to its importance in the founding process of the Ottoman Principality, the information about the history of the castle is extremely limited. The main reason for this situation is that sources which provide information about the castle are almost non-existent. In this respect, the coins are among the important findings discovered in the archaeological excavations in the castle. The subject of this study is the Byzantine and European coins found in the archaeological studies carried out in Karacahisar Castle (Eskişehir) in two periods, between 2011 and 2014 and 2019 and 2021. During the Karacahisar excavations, seven Byzantine coins were found, as well as four Midilli Lordships, one Wallachian Principality coin, and two Nürnberg coins. In this study, catalog information was provided and evaluated under the historical context of the Byzantine, Lesbos-Gattilusio Lordship, and Wallachian Principality coins, as well as the Nürnberg tokens found in the Karacahisar Castle excavations. The Byzantine coins discovered indicate a Byzantine occupation of the castle, with interruptions from the 7th to the end of the 11th century. The role of Karacahisar in the historical process of Eskişehir, which also includes the castle, is among the topics discussed in this study. European minted coins and tokens are the source of some important inferences in terms of medieval law, economics, and social history in the context of the coins being seized outside the country. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Okan SEZER Abstract: Apart from some controversial ones, kurgans are a model of grave architecture frequently used by ancient Eurasian societies in the steppes, with the oldest-known examples of kurgans dating back to the third millennium BC. Famines caused by climate conditions and erratic rainfall patterns led to migrations that triggered one-after another throughout particular periods. Kurgan became known by other societies as a result of these migrations happening toward certain geographies such as Anatolia and the Near East. The mode of societal interactions is not solely composed of migrations from north-to-south. Ancient Greeks’ activities on establishing colonies along the northern shore of the Black Sea are known to have started in the 7th-6th century BC for various social and economic reasons. During these centuries, certain cultural interactions took place with the nomadic horseman tribes that were gaining strength. Kurgans date back to the pre-Hellenistic period, with many found in the northwest of the Crimean Peninsula, located within the historical borders of Greater Olbia. This paper aims to bring together some of the kurgans that have been investigated by rescue excavations, to offer some suggestions for a model of the kurgan-centered society, and to evaluate possible further interactions between the nomadic horseman tribes and ancient Greek society in the context of kurgan architecture with existing suggestions. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Ali ÖZKAN Abstract: This study focuses on some of the new findings obtained during the surveys carried out in Tire, one of the cities in the Küçük Menderes ((Little Meander, called Kaystros in ancient Greek) Valley of which relatively little information exists, and its mountainous regions. In addition to the agricultural advantages from the fertile plains in this east-west running valley, it also has road networks beneficial for trade that connect the Lydia and Ionia regions, ending at the Aegean Sea. Previous studies on the region show castles and tower structures to have been built at strategic points since the Late Bronze Age to ensure the safety of these road networks. Because these defensive structures built were on the transportation networks connecting the cities of Ephesos and Sardis, they also took on an important mission against possible attacks that might threaten the cities. This study introduces a Hellenistic castle that was identified during the surveys as having been built at a very strategic point between Küçükkale village in the Tire District and Dampınar village in the Germencik district. In addition to this castle found on Mount Kartal, two churches dating to the Late Antiquity (6th century CE)-Byzantine Empire in were identified on the northern and southern slopes of Mount Kartal.Bonitai has been documented through inscriptions to be located in the countryside of Ephesos somewhere near Küçükkale and Büyükkale villages in Tire and was an important rural settlement located near Mount Kartal. The newly identified architectural sites have provided an opportunity to evaluate the immediate surroundings of the rural settlement of Bonitai with archaeological data. The settlement stands out in terms of its strategic location during the Hellenistic Period. During the Roman Empire, it became one of the most important rural settlements of Ephesos through its suitable agricultural conditions and network of roads passing through the region. The vitality stemming from agricultural production continued into Late Antiquity, with the church structures that had been built confirming this. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Emine AKKUŞ KOÇAK Abstract: During the excavations of Metropolis, which is one of the important settlements of Ionia, glass vessels in various forms belonging to the period from the Hellenistic to the Late Byzantine Period were found. The earliest of these consist of a finned bowl fragment, a mosaic bowl fragment, core-formed bottle fragments, a millefiori bowl fragment, and typical bowls of the Late Hellenistic-Early Roman Imperial Period. It is generally accepted that these typical bowls of the period were produced in the Syria-Palestine Region and spread to various regions from there. Thus, they were examined within the scope of a typology made within themselves. In this context, the “Grooved Bowls,” of which many examples are found in Metropolis, as well as the “Ribbed Bowls” and “Linear-Cut Bowls”, which are accepted as their successors, constitute the main groups of such works. Among the Metropolis finds, undecorated bowl fragments, which are understood to have been produced by the same method, were also found. Apart from these vessels, the cast glass dishes of the Early Roman Imperial Period found in Metropolis are important in that they are the latest glass forms produced in the casting technique. The glass vessels mentioned above have been encountered in almost every excavated sector of Metropolis, such as the acropolis, theater, stoa, perystill house, and Lower Bath-Palaestra. The intense presence of these glass vessels, which are considered among the imported forms, in the city is important in terms of contributing to Anatolian glass studies. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Fatih ÇONGUR Abstract: Refik Duru tarafından hazırlanan söz konusu kitap, Suna – İnan Kıraç Enstitüsü tarafından 2010 yılında basılmıştır. Eser, “Hacılar Olayları”, “Hacılar Mezarlığı’nı Arama Çalışmaları”, “Kazılarda ve Kazılardan Sonra Bulunmuş Eserlerle ‘Hacılar Çıkışlı’ Olarak Tanımlanan Yapımlar”, “Değerlendirme ve Yorumlar” ve “Hacılar Dosyasını Kapatırken” ana başlıkları olmak üzere beş bölümden oluşmakta, bazı bölümler alt başlıklara ayrılmaktadır. Kitap, birinci sınıf kağıda Türkçe basılmış olup, içerisinde yer alan bazı fotoğraflar renkli, bazıları ise, siyah beyazdır. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Esra KAÇMAZ LEVENT Abstract: In the early 1st millennium BC, Urartians built a powerful kingdom centered at Van Fortress overlooking Tushpa and ruled over Eastern Anatolia, modern Armenia, and northwest Iran. Apart from the Madır Burcu inscriptions at Van Fortress, little is known about the founding king, Sarduri I (r. 840-830 BC). His son and successor, Ishpuini (r. 830-820 BC), is accredited as the founding king of the Urartian Kingdom, because recognizable Urartian traits emerged in the archaeological record during his reign. Ishpuini’s religious, architectural, and military reforms were continued by his son, Minua (r. 810-780 BC), with Ishpuini’s search for a royal building program in particular culminating in the emergence of a royal architectural idiom with clear rules and standards under Minua’s reign. This study examines the differences in the topographical location and architectural elements of two excavated settlements at Anzaf that reflect the observable changes from the reign of the father to that of the son: the Lower Anzaf Fortress that is attributed to Ishpuini and the Upper Anzaf Fortress that was constructed by Minua, which lasted until the end of the kingdom similar to the royal architectural idiom created at this site. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Umut PARLITI; Erman AKYÜZ Abstract: The Kura-Araxes culture, one of the significant cultural phenomena of the Eastern Anatolian prehistory, originated in the second half of the 4th millennium BC with a sphere of influence that was pervasive in Transcaucasia and Northeast Anatolia including Çiğdemtepe until the end of the 3rd millennium BC. Çiğdemtepe Mound is situated within the borders of the province of Bayburt in Northeastern Anatolia among the Kura-Araxes culture, an area of research with few publications. Although the existence of Kura-Araxes culture in the Bayburt region was determined during surveys conducted in the 1940s, only the settlement records of the Büyüktepe Mound excavations carried out by Sagona in the 1990s are available. However, the excavations in this regard are not sufficient to illuminate the economic and cultural characteristics of the culture. Therefore, determining the material culture of Kura-Araxes through their dominant local features at Çiğdemtepe Mound is of great importance.The most significant artifact obtained from the Çiğdemtepe Mound excavations is the black-topped ceramic assemblage, the first of its kind to be documented in Northeast Anatolia. This type of ceramic group is known from Central Anatolia to be contemporary with the Kura-Araxes culture, and discovering this alongside the other finds at the mound is striking. Kura-Araxes ceramics are handcrafted and burnished with red inner and black outer surfaces, which has been attested across Transcaucasia. The black-topped ceramics from Central Anatolia have a black interior and a red-to-brown outer surface. Apart from the combination of these two cultural variations, which have exhibited dominant local characteristics extending to the East and West, the magnificent monumental architecture, other portable small finds, and stratigraphic details also stand out, revealing the transition of the area from the Late Chalcolithic Age to the Early Bronze Age and unveiling the cultural interactions, transformations, and developments that had occurred in the Early Bronze Age. Related archeological records consist of movable and immovable cultural assets, age analyses of charred wood samples, and literature reviews. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Gülnur SÜMER EROĞLU; Aylin Ü. ERDEM Abstract: Archaeological excavations since 2017 of Bayraklı Mound in Old Smyrna in the western trenches have presented significant evidence of the period between the end of the Early Bronze Age and the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. The trench is characterized by three archaeological layers, with Layer I providing some sherds related to anthropomorphic vessels containing stylized human faces and dating back to the transition from the Early to the Middle Bronze period. The anthropomorphic samples are represented by a small number of sherds with different forms and features.This article discusses the anthropomorphic vessel sherds from Layer I of the Bayraklı Mound in terms of their forms, decorations, and features and makes some comparisons with other Bronze Age sites in the West Anatolia Region. Accordingly, general interpretations have been made about the location of the Bayraklı samples in the West Anatolia Region. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Rabia AKARSU Abstract: The Çiğdemli Mound is located in the western part of Erzurum Plain, one of the largest plains of the Northeast Anatolia Region. It was uninterruptedly inhabited from the Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age. Traces are also found from the Middle Ages. In 1997, a short-term salvage excavation was carried out under the scientific consultancy of Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karaosmanoğlu. At the same time, a large number of ceramic materials were collected from the Çiğdemli Mound during the survey of the Erzurum Plain in 2001, again under the direction of Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karaosmanoğlu. This study makes evaluations of the Çiğdemli Höyük ceramic materials that have been determined to have come from all three phases of the Iron Age and to be very dissimilar in Eastern Anatolia and is thought to be able to shed light on future research to be done on this subject. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Hatice ÇORBACI Abstract: Moldmade Bowls with relief decorations on their outer surfaces differ in this way from other bowls of the Hellenistic period. This article aims to introduce a group of moldmade vessels preserved in the Eskişehir ETİ Archeology Museum. The study examines two moldmade bowls and a floral-decorated skyphos in the museum in terms of form, decorative, and production features. Typologically, the bowls belong to the early and late periods of the Hellenistic period. Meanwhile, the skyphos is an uncommon type, with the lower section in the form of an embossed Megarian Bowl, while the upper section is undecorated and rises straight up. The bowls and skyphos had been purchased, based on the inventory information. In addition to drawing and photographing these vessels, a catalog study was conducted regarding the earth and glazing properties, measurements, and bowl identifications. This study attempts to to arrive at a conclusion in terms of the possible production centers and dating by comparing the bowls and skyphos with other examples possessing similar characteristics. The Pergamon Bowl No. 1 and Skyphos No. 3 as appear in the catalog belong to sometime between the second half of the 2nd century BC to the end of the 1st century BC. The other bowl No. 2 was able to be dated to the second half of the 1st century BC. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Ömer Faruk GÖKER Abstract: During the sounding excavation the Tekirdağ Museum carried out in 2021 in the Karakaya locality near Tekirdağ-Osmanlı Village, a castle dating to the early Byzantine period as well as structural remains related to the castle were discovered. The aim of the article is date and understand the functions of the castle and its related structures. In this way, the article examines the layout and architectural features of the castle in detail, after which it evaluates the archaeological finds uncovered during the excavations and dates the castle. According to all these evaluations, Karakaya Castle has been concluded to have been built between the 5th-7th centuries AD for military purposes. Based on Building Number 1, which is understood to have been used as a weaving workshop, the castle is additionally understood to have not just been a military post but tohave also seen production and commercial activities carried out. PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
Authors:Leyla AYDEMİR Abstract: The status of sacred slavery, which emerged with devotion to a deity in Antiquity, brought some privileges and obligations at the same time. As temple service can change according to the deity to whom it is dedicated to, the forms of dedication that take place in different ways in various lands have caused both the social and legal status of the sacred slaves to change, as well as their duties. According to the general literature, sacred slaves sometimes accompanied priests and priestess in cult rituals, directed sacrificial ceremonies, at times took part in some tasks such as the operation of large temple lands and, the construction, and maintenance of temples, and sometimes acted as prostitutes and provided income for the temple depending on the socio-economic situation of the city where the temple was located. In this article, the conditions and criteria of all these situations will be evaluated in light of the ancient literary, epigraphic, papyrological, and modern sources by considering the terms hierodoulos and hetaira, which are used in the sense of sacred slave PubDate: Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +030
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