Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for destination: "SMYRNI Ancient city TURKEY".
Site: Smyrna
Type: Fortification
Summary: Fortification wall surrounding perimeter of earliest settlement
on tell, later including the expanded city within its circuit.
Date: ca. 850 B.C. - 350 B.C.
Period: Geom./Arch./Clas.
Plan:
Circuit wall consisting of lower socle zone surmounted by a mudbrick superstructure.
Bastions or towers flanked the north-east city gate; in the second construction
phase, a second city gate, of overlap type without towers, may have existed in
the south east of the city.
History:
Four major construction phases of the city fortifications are identified by the
excavators, Walls 1, 2, 3 and 4. Wall 1, the Middle Geometric wall dating to ca.
850-800 B.C., enclosed the tell which formed the earliest settlement of the peninsula
site. In the Late Geometric period, the wall was entirely rebuilt, with construction
covering the period ca. 775-725 B.C. Wall 2 collapsed suddenly in ca. 700 B.C.,
probably the result of earthquake. Throughout the seventh century B.C., the city
expanded beyond the original tell, and may have been largely unfortified. Some
repairs to the destroyed Wall 2 took place in the seventh century, although it
was not until the end of the seventh century that Wall 3 was completed. Wall 3
may have been built in response to the threat of attack from the Lydian King Alyattes,
who built a massive siege mound at the north-west of the fortifications, and captured
Smyrna in ca. 600 B.C. After the sack, the fortifications lay in ruins. Wall 4,
the final series of fortifications at Smyrna, dates to the fourth century B.C.
The site was abandoned in the third quarter of the fourth century B.C.
Sarah Cormack, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Site: Smyrna
Type: Temple
Summary: Temple of Athena located on terrace near north-east gate
of Old Smyrna, adjacent to the north fortification wall.
Date: ca. 700 B.C. - 590 B.C.
Period: Archaic
Plan:
The reconstruction of the temple building itself is open to question. The excavators
reconstruct the cella building as peripteral, but only on the south and west sides,
with 6 x 11 columns. The eastern facade is reconstructed without columns. The
interior of the cella may have contained one or two rows of columns, although
there are no traces of column bases inside the cella (Akurgal 1983, fig. 75).
This reconstruction has been questioned, however; an alternative reconstruction
shows the temple with 8 x 14 columns, including columns across the east facade
(Kuhn 1986, fig. 10). The northern wall of the temple appears to have been without
a colonnade, resulting in a temple with a peripteros around only three of its
sides. A stepped ramp approached the temple at the east. At the south, the terrace
or podium upon which the cella building stood was extended in two separate sections
(the so-called east and west terraces). Between these extensions, an additional
entrance or propylon to the temenos was formed. Stoas are reconstructed as standing
on the east and west terraces, based on the evidence of foundation walls, but
there is no evidence for colonnades.
History:
At the beginning of the seventh century B.C., an area at the north of the city,
adjacent to the city wall, was reserved as a sanctuary to the goddess Athena.
Due to the slope of the land, an artificial terrace was constructed, with a curved
corner at the south-west. The excavators of the site identify the following construction
phases: Phase I dates to the late geometric period (725-700 B.C.); to this phase
belong a 5.5 m. long stretch of wall, and a ca. 3 m. wide ramp which may have
led to the altar of the late geometric temple. Phase II (the "sub-geometric podium"):
between ca. 675-640 B.C., a monumental podium was constructed. Differences in
masonry technique indicate that this phase can itself be divided into two distinct
sequences. Phase III (the "Orientalizing" phase): the excavators date the erection
of the cella building, and its colonnades at west and south, to ca. 640 B.C. At
about this time, the podium was enlarged at the south and west. The foundations
of a rectangular structure inside the cella building are interpreted as a cult
base. At ca. 620-610 B.C., two additional terraces were built at the south of
the temple, to accommodate dedications (votive columns and statuary). At this
time, the ramp of the late geometric period (at the south of the temple) was altered,
flanked with side walls, becoming the main entrance to the temenos. In ca. 600
B.C., the Lydian king Alyattes captured Old Smyrna, and the temple, which may
have been unfinished, was destroyed. Almost immediately after this destruction
phase, however, the temple was restored, and the west terrace was extended even
further to the west. Numerous votive deposits from the period ca. 600 - 550 B.C.
indicate that the temple remained a center of cult activity. A barricade wall
across the main entrance to the temenos is associated with the Persian conquest
of ca. 545 B.C. The absence of any deposits or associated finds suggests that
the temple was abandoned after ca. 545 B.C. An alternative theory (Kuhn 1986)
argues that there is no evidence for the existence of the cella building prior
to ca. 600 B.C., or its destruction during the Lydian sack; therefore, the entire
peripteral temple may date to the first quarter of the sixth century B.C., after
the sack of Alyattes.
Other Notes:
The dedication of the temple to Athena seems secure, based on the evidence of
a bronze votive bar found during the excavations. The bar preserves the following
inscription: ARENTENDANETHEKENTEATHENAEEIOINOTIMOSPROTARCHO. A problematic feature
of the temple and its architectural remains is the restoration of the tufa capitals
(or bases) with a convex above a concave element, and decorated with two tiers
of floral ornament of lotus buds and flowers. Once interpreted as column bases
(Wesenberg 1971), it was then argued that their upper diameter was smaller than
the lower diameter of the column shafts, and therefore they must have appeared
at the top of the shaft. Since, however, the lower diameter of these mushroom-form
capitals is greater than the upper diameter of the column shaft fragments, it
is argued that they must belong to some as-yet unidentified columns and did not
form part of the architecture of the cella building itself. If they did belong
to free-standing votive columns located, for example, to the south of the temple,
these votive columns must then have been far taller than the columns of the temple
itself. In fact, there is no evidence for free-standing votive columns beyond
the evidence suggested by the discovery of the mushroom-shaped capitals (or bases).
Kuhn 1986, 39-80 finds this explanation unacceptable and restores the mushroom-shaped
elements as column bases. Perhaps equally problematic is the origin of the Aeolic
capital type, with vertical volutes separated by a palmette. Parallels have been
sought in Hittite, Egyptian, Assyrian and Syro-Palestinian architecture; it seems
likely that the Ionian Aeolic capitals reflect some Near Eastern influence, although
a direct prototype cannot be identified.
Sarah Cormack, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Region: Ionia
Periods: Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Dark
Age, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Modern
Type: Fortified city and port
Summary: A major ancient port city and archaeologically important
for its Early Iron Age architectural remains.
Physical Description:
The original Early Bronze Age to Archaic period settlement
was at Bayrakli, on the NE side of the Gulf of Izmir. Excavations at this site
have found, in addition to the remains of an early temple of Athena, the rare
remains of houses and city fortification walls dating to the 9th through 7th centuries
B.C. There is no evidence for a city or single civic center during the Classical
period and in the Hellenistic period a new city was founded in the area of modern
Izmir, on and below Mount Pagus. Mount Pagus served as the acropolis and from
it defensive walls extended down to the shore. The 2nd century A.D. agora, which
is midway between the acropolis and the harbor, has been partially excavted. With
the exception of the agora, Roman theater, and sections of the Roman aqueduct,
little remains of the ancient city today.
Description:
The earliest settlement at Bayrakli, ca. 4 km N of later Smyrna,
dates to the Early Bronze Age or ca. 2500 B.C. The site was occupied by Aeolian
Greeks at ca. 1050 B.C. and, because of its location at the northern boundary
of Ionian territory, it soon became essentially an Ionian city. But it was not
admitted to the Panionian League until a much later date. The early Greek city
had defensive walls by the 9th century B.C. and its Archaic temple of Athena,
built at ca. 625 B.C. was the earliest known Greek religious shrine in Anatolia.
Smyrna was prosperious in the 7th century B.C. and may have been the birthplace
of Homer. The city was sacked by the Lydian king Alyattes at ca. 600 B.C. and
again by the Persians at ca. 545 B.C. During the Classical period Smyra was an
unimportant scatter of villages around the former city site and did not belong
to the Delian League. A new city of Smyrna was founded by Alexander the Great
between Mount Pagus and the shore in response to advice from an oracle. Smyrna
became a prosperous trade center and was known for its architectural beauty in
the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Under Roman control the city was favored by
different emperors, including Marcus Aurelius, who donated reconstruction funds
to the city after the earthquake of A.D. 178. Smyrna continued to be an important
city in the early Christian period and continued to thrive until thereatened by
the Arab raids of the 7th century A.D.
Exploration:
Smyrna was a center for exploration teams of the Society
of Dilettani in the mid 18th century A.D. Bayrakli was excavated by a joint British
and Turkish team in 1948-1951. The Smyrna agora was excavated by a joint German
and Turkish team in 1932-1941.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 3 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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