Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:51 AM Sayfa
conducted here in recent years have turned up a startling assortment of
mosaics, frescoes, statues, and other artefacts. Walking further along
Curetes Street, one comes to a temple, a funeral monument that was
built between 40-20 BC. Alongside this monument is a two-storied
structure built of half-columns that served as a gate house. At the place
where Curetes Street and Marble Road join is the building known as the
brothel, a complex of structures that was originally built in the 1 st
century AD, and later restored in the 4 th century. Mosaics have been
found in some of its chambers.
The street extending from the corner of the brothel as far as the theater
is known as Marble Road. Originally built in the 1 st century AD, it was
reconstructed in the 5 th century using the money donated by a man
called Eutropios, and it was then that the exterior was covered with
marble. Immediately opposite side of the Curetes Street turning to
Marble Road are traces of the foundations of a round funeral structure
dedicated to a heroic figure. The building was constructed during the
Hellenistic Period. At the foot of Mt. Panay›r is another heroon, built in
50 BC. Situated at the head of Marble Road, the structure of the Celsus
Library has recently been restored. The building was originally
constructed between 117-125 AD by Gaius Julius Aquilia, proconsul in
110, in the name of his father, Gaius Celsus Polamaeanus. The twostorey
library was surrounded by decorative columns, with statues
positioned between each of these columns. The interior measures
10.92x16.72 m. and contains rectangular niches into which papyrus
scrolls were stored. In the center is a large, arched niche that reached to
the upper floor. This niche probably housed a statue of Athena, the
patron goddess of wisdom and learning. The library was reached by a
broad staircase of nine steps measuring 21 m. wide. The reading room
was destroyed in a fire, though the facade remained intact. A
sarcophagus containing the body of Celsus is located in a large, central
niche on the lower floor.
North of the Library of Celsus is the square-shaped commercial agora,
three sides of which were enclosed by porticoes containing shops.
Resting against the slope of Mt. Panay›r is the great Ephesos
Amphitheater, which could seat an audience of 24,000. The work of
building the theater appears to have begun in the Hellenistic Period and
continued in stages, reaching its culmination during the reign of the
Emperor Claudius (98-117 AD). The lower two stories of the skene were
built during the reign of Nero, and the third was probably added around
the mid-2 nd century.
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