The healing waters of Myra

Who would have expected to find healing waters in Myra?
 
As mentioned earlier, the excavations in Myra are hampered by modern Demre, which is built on top of the ancient city (see: Recent excavations in Myra and Andriake). As a result, expropriations are never easy, but this time, luck is on the side of archaeologists as a disaffected industrial zone has become available. The terrain is located about halfway between Demre and the ancient port of Andriake.

[Picture from tuerkei-antik]

The site made headlines with the discovery of a Nymphaeum from the 2^nd century AD, built over a natural spring which is rich in magnesium, iron, sulfur, and phosphorus. This, by itself, is rare enough to make it stand out among the usual water monuments. It is believed to belong to a ‘healing water complex” comparable to a modern wellness center. The water source, constantly bubbling from underground, lies directly beneath this Nymphaeum and is connected to the nearby Baths, aqueducts, and water cisterns.
 
The monumental construction from the days of Emperor Hadrian shows three separate arched entrance gates, both on the east and west sides. It combines architectural elements carved into the bedrock and walls of cut stone.
 
The Nymphaeum functioned until the 7^th century AD, i.e., when the harbor of Andriake silted up and fell into disuse.
 
The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism has an ambitious vision to create a major attraction park where visitors will be able to swim in the healing waters while exploring the ruins. It reminds me of the pool at the bottom of Hierapolis, where we can swim among the crumbled remains of the Nymphaeum and its marble portico, possibly belonging to the Temple of Apollo. The plan should be completed by the end of 2026.

Restoration of Hadrian’s Nymphaeum in Sagalassos

It is always a pleasure to return to Sagalassos where the first excavations started in 1989 by Professor Marc Waelkens from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium (see: Sagalassos in Alexander's campaign). 

Year after year, new buildings are being exposed while existing monuments undergo diligent restorations. The huge Antonine Nymphaeum is stealing the show after water started flowing black into the wide basin for the past fifteen years, reflecting the elegant statues that adorn this fountain. 

[Picture from Turkiye Today]

One level lower on the same hillside stands the Nymphaeum of Hadrian, discovered in 2002. It is hard to imagine that it has two levels of columns and statues of gods and prominent figures, just as the Antonine Nymphaeum. As yet, the water channels connected to the pool are visible between the six-meter-tall columns at ground level. The most striking elements are the reliefs of the Muses resting against the water basin. Archaeologists expect that water will flow again from the second level of the monument, as is the case at the Antonine Nymphaeum. They aim for this project to materialize within two years. 

Meanwhile, the steps in front of the fountain have been reinforced, and the scattered original stones have been put back into place. The fountain holds an inscription confirming that it was built between 129 and 132 AD in memory of Emperor Hadrian as commanded by Tiberius Claudius Piso.

Herodes Atticus, more than a name

Herodes Atticus is best known for his theater at the foot of Athens’ Acropolis. For most people, it is only a name to define this historic monument, forgetting who he was and what he achieved in life.

Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon, Greece, into a family of Athenian descent in 101 AD. He is known as an Athenian rhetorician and a Roman senator, spending time between Greece and Italy.

 

He was exceptionally wealthy and moved in the highest social circles. Emperor Hadrian, for instance, appointed him Prefect of the free cities in the Roman Province of Asia in 125 AD. A good year later, he was elected archon (high magistrate) of Athens. And in 140 AD, Emperor Antoninus Pius invited him to Rome to educate his adopted sons, the future Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. As a Roman citizen, he was appointed Consul of Rome in 143 AD.

 
When he was 40 years old, he married Appia Annia Regilla, a 14-year-old aristocrat related to the family of Antoninus Pius’ wife.
 
Herodes Atticus was a philanthropic magnate and patron of many public works. What comes immediately to mind is the theater in Athens, which he financed in 161 AD to honor his wife, Regilla. Watching a Greek play performed within these walls or attending a popular or classical concert is a gratifying experience!

However, thousands and perhaps even millions of visitors have left their marks on the white marble construction. It calls for an extensive restoration and conservation process that is expected to take at least three years. During that time, the summer Athens Epidaurus Festival will be relocated elsewhere.

 
The overall deterioration consists of cracks in the Pentelic marble due to the variations in temperature and rainwater infiltration. Another problem is the plants that root in crevices and hold water. The theater had been destroyed in 267 AD and was in ruins until the 1950s, when the seating area and orchestra were restored. These repairs are now in dire need of improvement and require a comprehensive conservation plan.
 
The list of buildings Herodes Atticus funded is quite extensive. The ancient Panathenaic Stadium in Athens,  with a capacity of 50,000 seats, for instance, was one of his projects executed in 144 AD. Elsewhere in Greece, we owe him the Theater of Corinth, the Stadium of Delphi, the Baths of Thermopylae, and a splendid Nymphaeum in Olympia.
 
I was very surprised to read Herodes Atticus' name and his wife’s in Olympia. The Nymphaeum stands at the entrance to the Stadium. The two-story-high back wall was filled with statues of Herodes Atticus and several Roman Emperors like Antoninus Pius, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and their family members. 

Most statues have been moved to the Museum of Olympia. Among them, I noticed Athenais, one of Herodes Atticus’ daughters. She married Lucius Vibullius Rufus, and the couple had six children, but only three survived to adulthood. The eldest daughter, Elpinice, was born in 142 AD and died in 165 AD. The son, Atticus Bradua, was born in 145 AD and was the only child to survive his father. Herodes Atticus was heavily disappointed by his son and left him nothing after his death.

 
Also exhibited in Olympia’s Museum is a life-size bull, which carries an inscription left by Regilla reading: "Regilla, priestess of Demeter offers the water and appendices to Zeus." This brings history to life!
 
Outside Greece, aqueducts donated by Herodes Atticus can be found in Canusium, Puglia region in Italy, and in Alexandria Troas, Asia Minor. In my blog post of February 2024, I mentioned the Baths and Gymnasium of Alexandria Troas built by Herodes Atticus in 135 AD. They were surrounded by vaulted corridors with marble walls, and water was delivered thanks to the aqueducts on the northeast side of town. Most of the building remained intact until it was destroyed by the severe earthquake in the winter of 1809-1810.
 

At the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, I encountered a statue of Polydeukes, also Vibullius Polydeukion, the adopted son of Herodes Atticus, dated to circa 150 AD. Wikipedia, however, mentions the boy as his pupil and lover in a relation resembling that of Hadrian and Antinous. Polydeukes died around 173-174 AD. His loss greatly affected Atticus, who built a Heroon in his memory.

 
Herodes Atticus lived to be 76 years old in 177 AD. Regilla had died in 160 AD, after being brutally kicked in the abdomen while eight months pregnant.  Her brother accused Herodes Atticus of having ordered one of his freedmen to beat her to death. At the trial that ensued, Herodes Atticus was acquitted by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his former tutor.
 
I’m sure we’ll look at the Theater of Herodes Atticus with different eyes next time we walk through Athens.

Tlos, history in progress

I am quite amazed to see this recent picture of Tlos’ Theater and Stadium. What an invitation to return! 

[picture from Hurriyet Daily News]

Tlos lies on a hill overlooking the Xanthos River, less than 50 kilometers north of the well-known port city of Patara. The site is off the beaten track for mass tourism, but in the wake of the excavations and restoration carried out by archaeologists over the past months, this will thoroughly change. 

There obviously was enough material piled up amid the overgrowth of the theater’s orchestra to reconstruct the building with original stone blocks (see: Tlos in the beautiful Xanthos Valley). Nowadays, we can rely on digitalization to do the work virtually before actually moving the stones. Only a small number of blocks were beyond repair and had to be replaced with new matching marble. The ultimate reward is to host live events in the renovated theater this fall (2025). 

Despite early estimates that the theater could seat a maximum of 4,000 people, it transpires that after restoration, it offers enough space to host 8,500 spectators. That makes the theater one of the largest of its kind! 

The next project will focus on Tlos’ Stadium, which I recall had seating on one side only. In the 2^nd century AD, the Romans added a pool to the Stadium, to be used for naval battles. It was lined with shops that opened onto the Stadium on one side and onto the adjacent Agora on the other side. The city’s earliest road ran alongside. It was approximately eight meters wide and had a paved sidewalk 1.5 meters wide. The vaulted shops have been cleared from the soil that accumulated over the centuries. They will be restored next year (2026) to display their original façade behind the columns that lined the street. 

[Picture from Arkadaslik Yachting]

It has been established that in the early 5^th century BC, Tlos was a small settlement nestled on the Acropolis. The surrounding slopes were mainly used as a necropolis, which is still very present. After Alexander arrived in Lycia, the people’s ancestral ways of living changed as they moved to the plain below. In the years and centuries that followed, the familiar Greek and Roman buildings appeared, as testified by the remains of these impressive structures. 

Like in other Lycian cities, much of Tlos has been destroyed by the massive earthquake of 141 AD, causing the southern part of the Stadium to collapse. Another severe earthquake occurred in 240 AD. The theater fared better since it was built on bedrock.

The Parthenon, a moment in time

Now is the moment to see the Athenian Parthenon (see: Experiencing the perfection of a Greek temple) free of scaffolding. This is the first time in the past 200 years.

Not for long though, as the plans are to start further conservation works next month!

Those who will be able to visit this treasure are among the happy few!

[Picture from GoodNewsNetwork]

A bust of Alexander dug up in the UK

The news is not entirely new, but digging up a bust of Alexander the Great in the UK deserves all our attention. The Daily Mail made headlines saying that a 2,000-year-old bust of Alexander was recovered from the gardens of Sutton Place, near Guildford, UK. This property once belonged to Paul Getty, who later built a copy of the Villa dei Papiri from Herculaneum in California. 

[Picture from Daily Mail]

It was the estate’s gardener who discovered this bust during restoration works in 1984. The property was owned by an American art collector, who had acquired it from Mr. Getty’s son in 1980. Apparently, this art collector did not know the value of the find, and the gardener was allowed to keep his find, which he did all these years. 

He recently had a clear-out and took his belongings to an auction house. There, it was thought to be an 18^th or 19th-century copy of the Roman god Hercules. 

Luckily, it caught the attention and interest of antiquity dealers, who recognized this 38-centimeters tall bust as a young Alexander, wearing the lion headdress. It was dated to the 1^st century BC, but apparently nothing transpired about its country of origin or the name of the sculptor. 

How or when it arrived in the UK remains a mystery. It must have been buried before Paul Getty owned the property, as he most certainly would have recognized an original Alexander. 

This beautiful bust was eventually sold for almost 400,000 GBP and could have reached a higher price had it not undergone some repair of its nose and headdress. 

Statues from antiquity always have a story to tell, but here we have nothing to go by. As the new owner may be a private party, the likelihood of getting a thorough analysis is very slim. 

Tombs in ancient Oxyrhynchus

The ancient site of Oxyrhynchus, south of modern Cairo, is best known for the papyrus remains that were discovered back in 1897 (see: City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish by Peter Parsons). It took many years to start deciphering the many bits and pieces, a process that is still ongoing, as detailed in my earlier post, Get involved with Oxyrhynchus.
 
This work is full of surprises. For instance, the 1922 reconstruction and translation of a poem by Sappho of Lesbos, who lived circa 630-570 BC. By 2005, the missing part of this poem had been found on a papyrus held at the University of Cologne. It is wonderful and unique to finally have a complete poem by one of the greatest lyric poetesses of antiquity.
 
By now, it transpires that 80 volumes of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri have been published, thanks to the relentless efforts of Professor Peter Parsons of the University of Oxford. The documents have largely contributed to a better understanding and knowledge of the history of Egypt and Rome.
 

More than a hundred years after the site was discovered, excavations are carried out by the Institute of Ancient Near East Studies of the University of Barcelona. It is hard to believe that Oxyrhynchus once was the third-largest city in Egypt, as it boomed under the Ptolemies, who ruled after the death of Alexander. It was Christianized with the rest of Egypt, as testified by the many churches and monasteries that were built. During Roman and Byzantine occupation, however, the city gradually declined. Life changed dramatically after the arrival of the Muslims in 641 AD, and Oxyrhynchus was eventually abandoned.

 
The discovery of the papyrus garbage dump slowly revived the general interest in this forgotten city. Since 2020, Spanish archaeologists have concentrated their efforts on the city’s necropolis. Each excavation season has its own harvest of tombs and grave goods. In 2023, for instance, six funerary complexes from Persian (Sassanid), Roman, and Coptic times and 16 individual tombs were discovered.
 

Last year, in 2024, a collection of 52 mummies from Ptolemaic times was exposed. Thirteen of the bodies had golden tongues in their mouth, a clear sign of preparation for the afterlife, and one had a gold plate on its fingernails. Precious gifts like scarabs, amulets of Egyptian gods, and a terracotta statuette of the god Harpocrates (the Greek and Roman version of the Egyptian child-god Horus) were also retrieved. Another tomb counted three burial chambers whose walls were covered with texts and colorful funerary scenes depicting several Egyptian gods. Also, four limestone sarcophagi have been found.

 
This all sounds very promising as the finds in Oxyrhynchus give new insights into life and death during Ptolemaic and Roman times.

[Pictures from the Universitat de Barcelona]

Restoring the Bath/Gymnasium of Tralles

A lot can happen in ten years since I last visited Tralles (see: A tentative visit to Tralles). 

Excavations in this ancient city have been carried out around its Baths/Gymnasium, the iconic three vaulted arches, which the locals call “the three eyes,” that caught my attention back in 2015. 

[Picture from Anatolian Archaeology]

After being closed to the public, Tralles finally reopened to the public in August 2025. For me, the place is hardly recognizable as all the trees and shrubs around the arches have been cleared, exposing a comprehensive layout of the Baths. The terracotta water or sewage pipes I noticed before are no longer visible, probably reburied appropriately under the floor. 

This is one of the largest Roman bath complexes in Anatolia, matching the importance Tralles had acquired at that time. 

This large complex is said to cover 40,000 square meters, i.e., having sides of 60 meters or something along those lines. The pool could accommodate up to 200 people. Archaeologists expect that after restoration, it will be refilled with water and thus recreate a mesmerizing picture of the premises. 

Romans would often visit the Baths on a daily basis, not only to refresh themselves during the hot summer months, but mostly to socialize and exercise. 

Plato’s Grave in Athens

According to the Greek Reporter, the Italian archaeologist Graziano Ranocchia located the site of Plato’s grave in the garden of his Academy in Athens near the sacred shrine to the Muses. 

[The archaeological site of Plato’s academy. Credit: Tomisti, CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikipedia]

This discovery is based on the latest deciphering of a carbonized papyrus from Herculaneum (see: Reading Papyrus scrolls from Herculaneum). The scroll revealed the history of the Academy by Philodemus of Gadara, a poet and philosopher who lived in Herculaneum. 

Plato's Academy included thinkers such as Theaetetus of Sunium (from Cape Sounion), Archytas of Tarentum, a Pythagorean scientist and philosopher, Leodamas of Thasos and Neocleides, both Greek mathematicians. 

The garden where Plato decided to establish his Academia was originally a sacred grove of olive trees dedicated to Athena, appropriately the goddess of wisdom, situated outside Athens’ city walls. 

Although Plato’s grave site has been established, nothing is said about whatever remains. Is there a tombstone or any kind of marker, something for us to see? After all, the garden is a large area. 

Wikipedia writes that “The site of the Academy is located near Colonus, approximately, 1.5 km north of Athens' Dipylon gates. The site was rediscovered in the 20th century, in modern Akademia Platonos neighbourhood; considerable excavation has been accomplished.” ... “the Peristyle Building (4th century BC), which is perhaps the only major building that belonged to the actual Academy of Plato”.

The modern Academy of Athens is Greece’s National Academy, established in 1926 based on the same principles as the ancient Academy of Plato. The main building in Greek neoclassical style is a landmark in the city and a clear reminder of ancient Greece.

Side and the restored Temple of Athena

The iconic picture of Side is the white marble remains of the Temple of Apollo, close to the harbor (see: Side didn’t put up any resistance to Alexander). For many years, it was thought to be the only temple in the area. 

The city had two major gods, Apollo and Athena, but only the Temple of Apollo was known so far. It was assumed that the Temple of Athena had to stand nearby, and recent excavations, some of which had to be carried out on private properties, have finally revealed its layout next to the Temple of Apollo. 

[Picture from Daily Sabagh]

Remains of the original columns surfaced and were used in the restoration of the sanctuary. The project was successfully completed in November 2024. 

The temples of Apollo and Athena are again visible, standing side by side, a rare occurrence in the ancient world, although not unique. At Side, Apollo was closely associated with the city’s name, while Athena was considered to be the chief goddess assuring the prosperity of trade in the harbor. 

The restoration of the Temple of Athena clearly emphasizes the historical and religious significance of ancient Side. 

To provide a richer understanding of the city’s importance, plans exist to undertake the restoration of the shiny Temple of Apollo that suffered from exposure to all weather conditions over the past centuries. A very tempting prospect!