For some reason (and I honestly don’t know how or why) I have missed all the excitement of the excavations of ancient Metropolis, located between the villages of Yeniköy and Özbek in Izmir. Work has been going on for many decennia and has intensified in the past twenty years – so how could I have missed this?
Anyway, my first awareness of Metropolis, which means the City of the Mother Goddess, came with the recent news when a 100 m2 Roman Bath was discovered (see article published in the Hurriyet Daily News). The excavations revealed mosaics and statues of both Zeus and Tyche, the goddess of luck, as well as several gladiators. Although this bath seems to be smaller than those found previously, it included a sports area also. Archaeologists think that it was built by Emperor Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century BC, but the aficionados will find many interesting remains of monumental buildings, like the theater, a Stoa lining the Agora, the Bouleuterion, the Gymnasium and several other baths.
Anyway, my first awareness of Metropolis, which means the City of the Mother Goddess, came with the recent news when a 100 m2 Roman Bath was discovered (see article published in the Hurriyet Daily News). The excavations revealed mosaics and statues of both Zeus and Tyche, the goddess of luck, as well as several gladiators. Although this bath seems to be smaller than those found previously, it included a sports area also. Archaeologists think that it was built by Emperor Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century BC, but the aficionados will find many interesting remains of monumental buildings, like the theater, a Stoa lining the Agora, the Bouleuterion, the Gymnasium and several other baths.
[picture from The Hurriyet Daily News]
To my surprise, the history of Metropolis goes back at least 5,000 years since ceramics belonging to the early and middle Bronze Age have been found. The Hittites also have left their traces in this city as their Kingdom of Arzawa had its capital at nearby Apasas, the later city of Ephesos. Some seals with hieroglyphic inscriptions similar to the Hittites are to support this theory.
Archaeologists generally agree that Metropolis is an ancient Hellenistic city, protected by Artemis – a unique and mysterious dedication in Anatolia.
Little is known of Alexander’s passage, except that there was a spring at which side he slept and dreamed about re-founding and rebuilding the city! Well, we know how fond Alexander was of rebuilding old cities and founding new ones! In any case, Metropolis was a city of art, which reached its cultural and economic apogee under the rule of the King of Pergamon.
During the Roman occupation, Metropolis covered a rather large area. The economy did not come so much from farming and agriculture but mainly from trade as it was set on the road to Ephesos.
The lzmir Archaeological Museum is bursting out of its seams with the huge amount of artifacts that have been removed from Metropolis. Another part of the treasures have found refuge in the Ephesus Museum, which is currently expanding.
High time to go back to that area for a more than close look!
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