Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:51 AM Sayfa
Aphrodisias
Turning off the road from ‹zmir to Denizli toward Karacasu, one arrives at
the magnificent ruins of Aphrodisias. The site was once occupied by the
village of Geyre, which has been relocated. Excavations here have
unearthed numerous well-preserved ancient structures, including a
theater, odeium and sebasteium. Located in the foothills of Babada¤ on
the north eastern border of ancient Caria, Aphrodisias had been inhabited
at least since the Early Bronze Period. Excavations on the acropolis,
which was dug into a prehistoric habitation mound as well as those
conducted on Pekmez Hill suggest the area was inhabited as far back as
the Neolithic era.
The original name of the city here was Ninoe. It was not until Hellenistic
times that it came to be called Aphrodisias. The height of its prosperity
occurred during Roman times, when the city became one of the region's
cultural and artistic centers. White and blue-grey marble extracted from
quarries on nearby Mt. Babada¤ was skillfully crafted by artists from
Aphrodisias.
The earliest excavations at Aphrodisias were carried out by French
archaeologist Paul Gaudin in 1904-05, and were later taken up again in
1937 by Italian scholar Giulio Jacopi. It was not until 1961, however, that
the work was taken up systematically under the direction of Kenan T.
Erim. Through his diligent efforts, many sculptural works of incredible
artistic value were unearthed every year. Despite the recent, untimely
death of Professor Erim, his work at Aphrodisias is resumed by Prof. R.
Roland Smith today. Every season reveals new and startling examples of
sculptural antiquities.
Spread out over an area of 520 hectares, the city was encircled by a wall
3.5 km. long. Originally built in late Roman times the wall was damaged
and repaired on numerous occasions. As the region is seismically quite
active, material scavenged from other structures that had collapsed in
earthquakes was often used in these repairs. Turning left before the
museum, one comes first to the theater. On the right as one approaches
the theater are the recently excavated ruins of a sebasteium, which
consist of two three-storey arcades, each 80 m. long, running parallel to
Tetrapylon. To the east of the Temple of Aphrodite is the Tetrapylon,
one of the most interesting remainings in Aphrodisias.
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