KAZI SONUÇLARI TOPLANTISI 1. CİLT - kulturvarliklari.gov.tr

A singular find worth special mention is a lead medal bearing, on oneside, the image of Anubis and, on the other, the name Michael (Fig. 3). Theonly chronological clue provided by the layers from which it comes (again,Byzantine) is a terminus ante quem. The medal is probably not later than thefifth century A.D., introducing to those philosophical-religious ambits that,from the second century A.D., found especially fertile terrain in Asia Minorand enriching the small Gnostic dossier of Iasos: it can be added to theisopsephic inscription of one of the chamber tombs of the western necropolis.We now move towards the middle centuries of the empire and theopposite side of the agora (the south-east corner to be exact): the find of aninscribed block promises something new. In addition to the patron goddessof the city (Artemis Astias), the inscription of the eastern stoa, as is known,bears dedications to Hadrian and Antoninus Pius and the names of some ofthe dedicators. Although the incompleteness of the text leaves uncertaintiesas to the offices held and the nomenclature of the emperors, nevertheless itcannot date later than 138 A.D. However, on one of the three lines incisedon the recently discovered architrave block is mentioned an empress defined“mother of camps” (Fig. 4). This has to be Julia Domna, who received the titlein 195 A.D. after accompanying Septimius Severus on his eastern campaigns.Julia Domna had already been honoured at Iasos by one of the inscriptionsnow in Istanbul and had also received the honour at Labraunda. This makesthe new inscription some 50 years later than the other and leads us toreconsider both the architectural-decorative-ornamental aspect, if not of thewhole complex, at least of the stoa to which it belonged, and, more in general,a piece of historical information by now accepted. As regards the positionof the block in the architrave, its reworking raises numerous questions. Ifit did not move far from where it was found, it was used at the south-eastcorner of the portico. That would also reflect the progress of the constructionof the stoa, which began on the north (inscription of Hadrian) and continuedsouthwards, terminating with the name (perhaps) of the new (now) imperialcouple.224