Ongoing excavation of Aizanoi

Information about the continuous excavations in Aizanoi is very scant and the information is very scrappy. 

[Picture from Arkeonews]

The description of the findings remains vague. The latest is about the heads of Aphrodite and Dionysus but without the location where they were found or in what context. Down the line, I read that two Aphrodite and three Dionysus statue heads were discovered. No idea where or what happened to them. Also, a statue of Heracles has been found. 

In fact, except for these two heads, there is nothing to be added to my blog The magical site of Aizanoi posted in October 2021. 

Aizanoi has a lot to offer but it is sad that the news about ongoing excavations is not treated with more care.

Reading and decoding inscriptions

Today’s visitors will inevitably come across many inscriptions when visiting ancient sites or museums. Reading Greek or Latin is not for everybody, and understanding the meaning of the text and context is reserved only for the happy few. The stone or marble support has more often than not suffered from wear and tear, leaving the untrained eye to merely guess its value. 

We are lucky to find an explanation next to the inscription, rarely a full translation, as those are reserved for scholars. Well, the text may be boring, but it also may contain some exciting twists and turns. Yet, who wants to know? 

In antiquity, people would read the latest laws and decrees, regulations and agreements, peace treaties, manumission of slaves, grave markers, boundary stones, milestones, etc., as they walked through public spaces. Some of these texts are still in situ, particularly those engraved on the walls of still-standing monuments. The majority, however, has found a place in the museum for safekeeping and is often out of sight. 

The most familiar examples of inscriptions are those chiseled on grave steles, sarcophagi, and tombs. They also appear on the pedestals of statues lining streets such as Phaselis’ Harbor Street or Olympia’s road to the Stadium. Others serve to identify the deities, kings, and emperors that fill the sanctuaries and agoras, or the niches of theatres, stadiums, libraries, baths, Nymphaeums, and other public buildings. 

But some inscriptions will surprise many of us. 

For instance, this stele at the Louvre Museum holds the accounts of the Parthenon Treasury. The text covers both sides of the stele made of Pentelikon marble and illustrates how democracy works. Athens’ magistrates submitted the public accounts to the citizens for all to see. The front side, beneath a relief of the Sacred Olive Tree flanked by Athena and the people (demos), displays the expenses for military operations, religious ceremonies, and the Panathenaic festival held in honor of their patron goddess for 410-409 BC. The reverse side has the expenditures for 407-406 BC.

In Butrint, Albania, a striking series of inscriptions is carved on the outside walls of the Roman Theater of Buthrotum, as the city was called in antiquity. 

They are hard to read but worth our attention because these are manumissions, slaves who had gained their freedom for whatever reason. Their sheer number is mind-blowing!

As surprising and revealing are the Edicts on prices! Who would have thought that there were strict rules to define the prices of goods in antiquity! 

The first such example I encountered was at Ptolemais in Libya, proclaimed by Emperor Diocletian in 301 AD.

Also by Diocletian is the Edict on maximum prices for products and labor discovered in Halicarnassus, dated to 301 AD. The Emperor hoped to stave off a financial crisis and prevent inflation. 

Although this tablet was unearthed in Bodrum (the modern name for Halicarnassus), bits of similar Edicts were also found in Pergamon, Aizanoi, Aphrodisias, and Stratonikea. It is quite surprising to read that the Edict from Halicarnassus consists of 37 parts. Part 9, for instance, is about shoes and boots … 27 different kinds and sizes are listed!

Taxes are another matter that deserves attention. One such inscription that is hard to miss can be seen on Curetes Street in Ephesos, close to the Library. 

This tax law was written in the second half of the 4^th century AD, during the rule of Emperors Valentian I, Valens, and Gratian.

Less obvious is Alexander’s tax remission from the wall of the Temple of Athena in Priene, now exhibited in the British Museum in London. 

Alexander contributed to the cost of building the unfinished temple, and in return, he was allowed to dedicate it: “King Alexander dedicated the temple of Athena Polias”. 

This text was followed by a longer inscription setting out the terms of an agreement between Alexander and Priene under which the city was to be exempt from taxation. 

Not all inscriptions were written in Greek or Latin, and I find it fascinating to hunt for these exceptions. 

Having a closer look at Lycia’s sarcophagi strewn throughout the landscape, I discovered texts that seemed to be written in Greek but are in Lycian, as they contain several odd letters that do not exist in the Greek alphabet. Antiphellos and Limyra have good illustrations of Lycian texts.

Another case is to be found in Sillyum, some 25 kilometers northeast of Antalya, an often overlooked site, although the hillside is easily spotted in the otherwise flat plain of Pamphylia. 

It takes some detective work to locate the inscription in the Pamphylian language carved in the doorpost of a Hellenistic building – a very rewarding effort though!

The people of ancient Side also had a language of their own. A small inscription has survived and can be seen at the local museum located inside the remains of the Roman Baths.

After Alexander conquered Lycia and Pamphylia, Greek became the lingua franca, and the local tongues disappeared.

The magical site of Aizanoi

Aizanoi, regretfully, doesn’t make headline news - yet. Several years ago, I watched a program on TRT TV that showed many imposing monuments from Roman times at this site which was otherwise unknown to me. After that, I haven’t heard anything about further excavations or remarkable finds until today. The massive entrance to the Temple of Zeus has been re-erected, which rightfully makes it one of the best-preserved temples in Anatolia. 

As always, I like to put things in context. Looking at the map, Aizanoi lies roughly 200 km south of Bursa, in the heart of ancient Phrygia. The city occupies both sides of the Kocaçay River (Penkalas). The first settlements date back to 3000 BC, but what we see today are roughly the remains of the Roman city from the 2nd century BC. 

The Temple of Zeus indeed commanded the view, as it still does today, standing on its podium on top of a low hill. It measured 33x37 meters, counted 15 x 8 columns, and was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian. Thanks to an inscription on the architrave, the temple could be dated to the second quarter of the 2nd century BC. The inscription also mentions M. Apuleius as a benefactor of the city. 

The base of the podium of this temple is covered with vaults – an unusual and unique occurrence in Roman Anatolia. Archaeologists concluded that this was a double temple, with the one dedicated to Zeus beckoning us, and a vaulted underground space where the cult of Cybele was practiced. This goddess was worshipped under the name Metre Steunene in Aizanoi. However, more recent in-depth research has revealed that this temple could not be devoted to both Zeus and Cybele. Consequently, the underground space is thought to be a prophecy center or a mere storage room. Whatever its purpose, it is an odd construction. 

Opposite the temple are the remains of a small Bouleuterion, but its history remains unknown. The same problem applies to the Heroon and the Agora and surrounding Stoa because the remains were either reused on other structures or disappeared under the modern houses. 

Aizanoi counts remains of many monuments, among which a rare combined theater-stadium complex linked together by a large stage building. Its construction started shortly after 160 AD and was completed halfway through the 3rd century AD. Several inscriptions have been found in the stadium and the theater, and they confirm that the same M. Apuleius contributed substantially to building this complex. 

The excavations done between 1970 and 2011 have exposed two public Baths, a Gymnasium, a Macellum, five bridges, an ancient dam, a colonnaded street, and a large necropolis. 

One of the Baths stood between the theatre-stadium complex and the Temple of Zeus and included a Palaestra or Gymnasium. With its recognizable frigidarium and caldarium, the Bath has been dated to the end of the 2nd century AD. In the largest side room, a marble statue of Hygeia was found. Also, the water and heating pipes are still in situ. Despite its rich marble décor, it has been recognized as a precursor of the Turkish-style Bath. The Palaestra is located at the northeast end of the Baths. 

The second Turkish-style Bath built a century later was found northeast of the city center. Here a beautiful mosaic floor representing a satyr and a maenad has been exposed. 

[Picture from Arkeonews]

The circular Macellum of Aizanoi was built simultaneously with the first Bath and was used as a food market. Here, a copy of the Price Edict of Diocletian from 301 AD was found. The edict aimed to limit the severe inflation that followed the debasement of the coinage initiated by Emperor Nero. 

During recent excavations, remains of a colonnaded street have been uncovered over a length of 450 meters. This street had its own Stoa, which could be dated to ca. 400 AD. A pedestal carried a marble statue of a satyr dressed with panther skin stands at the very end of the Stoa. 

The Roman city of Aizanoi occupied both sides of the Kocaçay River and was protected against the rise of the water level by walls or dams made of large cut stones. Two of the five bridges are still used today. They both have five arches, and one of them still supports modern-day traffic. In between these two examples, we can recognize the remains of a bridge with three arches that fell in disuse. Further north, a low wooden bridge was used as a pedestrian crossing. 

The main bridge displays an inscription on the pedestal of the railing and tells us it was opened in September 157 AD. An illustrating relief shows the sea voyage undertaken by M. Apuleius as he paid for the bridge’s construction. It may be essential to mention that M. Apuleius represented Aizanoi in the Panhellion Union held in Athens from 153 to 157 AD. The new railing was installed in 1990. 

The large necropolis of Aizanoi reflects the size of the city. It includes a wide array of tombs, including door-shaped Phrygian tombs from the 2nd century AD. The typical tomb doors, which often bore the name of the deceased or donor, symbolized the passage to the other world. These tombstones usually showed bulls, lions, or eagles for the men and baskets of wool or a mirror for the women. 

In one of the tombs, archaeologists made a remarkable discovery. They found a “lykion,” a typical jar made to contain a precious salve to treat eye dryness which frequently occurred to soldiers traversing large stretches of dry lands or deserts (see: Eye cream from antiquity). 

[Picture from Daily Sabah]

More recently, they unearthed a jug containing an exceptional hoard of 651 silver coins from the days of Emperor Augustus. Remarkably, 439 coins were standard Roman silver denarii, but 212 were cistophorus coins typically from Pergamon. This is not surprising considering that Aizanoi was ruled by Pergamon until the kingdom was bequeathed to the Romans in 133 BC. 

Aizanoi started minting its first coins in the second and first centuries BC. During the days of the Roman Empire, the city grew wealthy thanks to the production of grain, wine, and wool. Aizanoi fell into decline in Late Antiquity.

Price list established by Emperor Diocletian

One would not expect to find rules defining the maximum price for goods and services in the year 301 AD, but this is exactly what happened.

On the 1^st of September 301, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict to this purpose containing as many as 1,400 items for raw materials and manufacturing goods as well as for services in order to curb the high inflation. It was posted all over his empire, and so far, it is known that, for instance, in Anatolia, parts of the decree have been found in Pergamon, Aizanoi, Aphrodias, Stratonikeia, and Halicarnassus.

The entire edict consists of 37 parts, and the Museum of Halicarnassus proudly exhibits part 9 and a bit of part 10. Today, Aphrodisias claims to have unearthed the complete list that was inscribed on the façade of the Civil Basilica. With restoration works in progress, archaeologists hope to reassemble the entire decree inside the building, where future visitors will be able to see it. It is written in Greek, but authorities plan to make the text available in Latin, English, and Turkish translations.

This will certainly shed extra light on the social and economic life of Diocletian’s days. The list mentions such a range of items as the travel fee from Alexandria to Rome, the ostrich fee, or the price for a rabbit’s belly fur.

Moreover, I remember having seen this edict of Diocletian in Ptolemais (modern Libya). It was found on the Via Porticata, the Monument Street, which corresponded to the Decumanus. The panel that was retrieved here is slightly damaged and is now exhibited at the local Museum of Ptolemais. There must be many other such places, but it is not easy to track them down.

Finding such legislation all over the Roman Empire clearly shows their widespread organizational skills. It makes me wonder whether such a law existed before, maybe already in Hellenistic times.

Eye cream from antiquity

It is not difficult to imagine that even in antiquity, soldiers who traversed large stretches of dry lands or deserts would suffer from xerophthalmia, i.e. eye dryness. Yet, it is far more difficult to accept that they knew how to treat their sore eyes.

Sifting through the grave gifts in ancient tombs can obviously be very rewarding but finding a jar that once contained this eye balsam is quite surprising.

It happened during recent excavation works in Aizanoi, in western Turkey. Here, archaeologists unearthed several tombs from the 2^nd and 1^st centuries BC and among the grave goods, they found a “lykion”, a typical jar made to contain the precious cream.

The salve was made using a plant that was common in Lycia until the end of the 18^th century. A similar plant is also known in India. This makes me wonder whether Alexander could have taken this remedy with him to India or if it had been imported to Asia Minor by his Macedonians on their way back home.

According to ancient sources, Romans used this eye cream while marching through Egypt.

[Picture from Archaeology News Network. Credit: AA]