The Harbour Necropolis of Ephesos

As was common in antiquity, the city of Ephesos was also surrounded by extensive cemeteries (necropoleis). From whichever direction a traveller approached the city, he/she first had to pass a city of the dead. The location of these places of burial on highly frequented transportation routes, and their highly visible presence permanently confronted the living with all of the uncertainties, expectations and individual beliefs regarding the afterlife which mankind has always associated with death. The tombs, however, served not only as monuments of commemoration; differences in their appearance, scale and decoration meant that they also represented a means of self-definition and documentation of social and hierarchical difference.

 

Although research into the ancient necropoleis of the Greco-Roman world at many sites has always been of primary importance, the systematic scientific involvement, detached from individual monuments, with the cities of the dead of the Province of Asia, in particular in Ephesos, represents as before a desideratum. With the exception of selective excavations – for example along the Stoa of Damianos, at the so-called State Agora, or in the area of intra-urban tomb monuments – and a number of rescue excavations, cohesive and extensive research into the necropoleis lying outside the Hellenistic-Roman city has until now been lacking.

 

In 2005 and 2007, the OeAI had to undertake rescue excavations to the south and north of the Harbour Canal, after robbers had attempted to excavate sarcophagi illegally. These illegal activities, which re-occur again and again in the winter months in a region far removed from the paths which tourists take, have already led to significant damage and a massive loss of information. It was therefore the express wish and decision of the Ministry for Culture and Tourism in Ankara, and the Excavation Directorate in Ephesos, in 2008 to begin systematic archaeological investigations in this necropolis to the west of the harbour basin, in order to study the extent, historical development, constitution, and appearance of this city of the dead, using modern scientific methods. For this project, it was possible to obtain substantial financial support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF-Project P22083-G19), which is supplemented by infrastructural support provided by the OeAI. The results of the planned project, which should continue until 2013, should be published in preliminary reports and finally in the series, »Forschungen in Ephesos«.

 

This first systematic exploration of an Ephesian necropolis, by means of an interdisciplinary cooperation with scientists from the areas of archaeology, antiquity studies, architectural history, geophysics, archaeozoology, geoarchaeology and anthropology, will not only shed light on the history of usage, the appearance, the extent, the topographical connections and the architectonic construction of this necropolis, but will also discuss fundamental themes such as burial customs and rites, and the social structure of the populace of the capital city of the Roman province of Asia between the poles of the pagan era and Christianity. As a foundation for selected excavation work, in addition to surface surveys the results of the geophysical investigations of the region by means of georadar and geomagnetic will also be brought in; these should provide detailed information regarding the development structure and the physical extent of the necropolis.

 

Since a complete excavation of the more than 450,000 m² large necropolis is not possible, the stratigraphic excavations are concentrated on larger, connected areas, which should offer a representative excerpt regarding chronology, structure and appearance of the individual tomb buildings and graves. The focal point of anthropological analyses is formed by questions regarding sex, age, familial relationships, nutritional patterns and causes of death of the deceased. In connection with the evaluation of the equipment/decoration, size, and structure of the graves, of the grave goods, and of probable epigraphic finds, information regarding the burial customs and social structure of the Ephesians should also be obtained. By means of contextual evaluation of the ceramic finds and small finds from the necropolis, which according to current knowledge was laid out at the latest at the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. and remained in use at least until the end of the 5th century A.D., the fundamental questions concerning the phases of usage and later usage should be clarified.

 

Finally, geoarchaeological investigations should provide explanation models for the complex silting-up processes as well as the fluctuating sea-level and groundwater level over the course of centuries, processes which made the laying out of the Harbour Canal first necessary.

 

Consequently, the project concentrates not only on an almost completely unstudied area of Ephesos, but also on a field of research in the Roman province of Asia which until today is not well established. The results of the investigations in the Harbour Necropolis should be understood as a significant contribution to and impulse for new research approaches in this region.

 

Duration of Project

2008–2013

 

 

Financing

Austrian Science Fund FWF

OeAI

 

 

Cooperations

 

 

Contact

Martin Steskal

Top