KAZı SONUÇLARI - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

SCULPTUREIn addition to study of new finds, such as the gladiator stele mentioned above(Fig. 4), research on sculpture in 2001 focused on preparation of previously excavatedmaterial, especially portrait sculpture, for publication, and on conservation.Portrait Scu/pture ProjectA collaborative project to study, photograpf, and publish all the portrait sculpturefrom the site was begun in 1998. This project was pursued in 2001 with detailed researchand catalogue-writing, and continued new photography. The aim of the project isto study the character and use of public honorific statuary in a single well-preservedRoman city. Aphrodisias is remarkable not only for the preservation of its sculpture, butalsa because so many of the sculptures from the site were found in association withspecific architectural contexts, and with inscribed statue bases which record personalinformation about the person represented and the circumstances for the erection of thestatue.Portrait of Oecumenius: A good example is a portrait of a Roman governar calledOecumenius, which alsa illustrates how the result of new excavation complementthe ongoing study of sculpture from earlier seasons (Fig. 5). The body of Oecumeniuswas found in 1965, in association with its in situ statue base, set up against the backwall of the portico of the North Agara. The head was found in 2000, built into the constructiontili beneath a Middle Byzantine staircase in the Bishop's Palace, 45 away fromthe base and statue. While the costume and technical detailing show that the body isc1early Iate antique, the bearded head with its finely modulated portrait features seemsat first glance to be of 2nd-century date, perhaps Harrianic. The hairstyle and technicalrendering of the eyes alone show, however, that it too is Iate Roman. Only a smailpart of the neck remains, but this part joins the statue break to break. The result transformsboth head and statue. The statue is no longer a purely frontal image; the headturns markedly to the right, and once restored on the statue it takes on an immediateIate antiqoe appearance. The statue is atalı, slender, austere figure, wearing a longch/amys, a new government costume of the period.The monument has a fully documented connext. The statue base, reused froman earlier monument, is inscribed with a Iate verse epigram that tells us that Oecumeniuswas a governar, and that his statue was set up by the city counciL. Oecumenius isfurther described as a good lawyer, as fluent in both Greek and Latin, and as pure andincorruptible. In hairstyle, beardstyle, and costume, the figure is very like the courtierson Theodosius's obelisk base, which should give a broad date in the Iate 4th or early4th century.The statue alsa had a consealed inscription, on top of its head. Three letters areinscribed behind the hair crown, written from behind and from above very neatly: XMr("Christ was born to Mary"). These letters would most easily have been engraved bythe sculptor, standing on scaffolding before the statue was put up against the wall, andthey suggest that the sculptor was a Christian, marking his religion secretly on hiswork.This newly completed monument of the governar Oecumenius is thus an importantdocument for our understanding of Iate antique statue production and use.Scu/pture ConservationSculpture conservation in the 2001-season focused on a pair of statues from theTheater, on the southern edge of the city-center. These statues are portraits of two boxersof the 3rd century A.D., originally set up on either side of the stage of the Theater.329