Aphrodisias
Aphrodisias
Türkiye · Aydın
In brief
The city near Geyre is known for its marble quarries and sculpture production. Excavations provide detailed information about temples, public buildings, houses and workshops.
What was found?
- 1Temple of Aphrodite
The temple, one of the city's principal sacred buildings, was later converted into a cathedral. The building allows religious change to be traced through existing architecture.
- 2Sebasteion
This is a cult complex dedicated to Augustus and the emperors of the Iulius-Claudius dynasty. It shows the combination of Hellenistic, Roman and local artistic traditions within the same structure.
- 3Marble statues and sculpture workshop
The statues and the systematically excavated workshop document both the products and the working environment of marble production. They provide strong evidence for understanding the technical skills of local craftspeople.
- 4Inscriptions on the theatre's Archive Wall
Official documents concerning the city's status within the Roman Empire are preserved on the wall. They allow the city's political position to be examined directly through written sources.
- 5Head of Zeus carved on an architectural console
The bearded marble head found in 2024 is a high-relief part of an architectural console, rather than a freestanding statue. During cleaning, traces of brown paint were identified on the neck and black paint in the hair.
What does it point to?
The marble quarries, workshop and statues indicate the decisive place of stoneworking in the economy of Afrodisias. Cult buildings and inscriptions also show the relationship that local beliefs established with the Roman imperial order.
What did it teach us?
- Made it possible to examine Roman-period marble sculpture production through evidence extending from the quarry to the workshop and finished work.
- Documented the city's status within the empire through official inscriptions.
- Showed the effect of religious change on architecture through the temple's conversion into a cathedral.
- Added new evidence for the use of color in marble architectural decoration through pigments on the head of Zeus.
Images




Latest news / selected archive
In 2024, a monumental marble head of Zeus, also preserving traces of paint, was found in the area west of the North Temenos House.
Record
- Culture
- Carian, Greek and Roman
- First modern dig
- 1904
- Team / historical
- Bert Smith / Aphrodisias Excavations
- Coordinates
- 37.7083°, 28.7236°
Sources
Nearby excavations
- Laodicea on the Lycus 37 km
- Hierapolis 43 km
- Tripolis on the Meander 43 km
- Nysa on the Maeander 55 km
- Alabanda 66 km
- Stratonikeia 73 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
From beneath the soil: latest discoveries
- 2,600-year-old mudbrick structure identified beneath the city of Buto in Egypt
The walls of a large mudbrick structure identified through satellite and geophysical surveys were confirmed by a trial excavation. According to the researchers, a layer of sand placed beneath the foundations may have helped protect the structure in the waterlogged ground of the Nile Delta.
Heritage Daily ↗ · Excavation notebook - Celtic woman's grave containing jewelry and animal remains found in Germany
A woman's skeleton, heavy bronze anklets, a sapropelite arm ring, and the remains of a lamb or kid were found in the grave in Bavaria. According to the researchers, placing the animal in the grave as a food offering represents an unusual example of Celtic funerary practices in the region.
Arkeofili ↗ - Cupboard containing personal belongings, childhood amulets and coins found in Pompeii
Grooming items, 38 bronze coins and a necklace made up of at least 24 amulets were found in a cupboard in a house in Pompeii that had remained closed since the eruption in AD 79. The preservation of these objects together provides detailed information about everyday life and personal mementos in Roman times.
Arkeofili ↗ · Excavation notebook - Lead seal of a bishop named Stefan found in Croatia
Excavations on the islet of Lukovac uncovered a document seal bearing the name Stefan and the title of bishop in Latin. According to the researchers, the seal, tentatively dated to the 6th–7th centuries, offers rare evidence of early church administration in a region with limited written sources.
Heritage Daily ↗ - Roman-period sarcophagus of a child buried with toys found in Romania
A wheeled toy horse, a rooster-shaped rattle, jewelry and organic remains were recovered from a sealed child’s sarcophagus dating back approximately 1,800 years in the ancient city of Tomis. The preservation of wooden coffin fragments and the shroud also offers a rare opportunity to study child burials in Roman times.
HeritageDaily ↗ - Roman-period grave found in the seating area of the ancient theater in Gölyazı
A tile-covered grave dating to the 1st century AD and containing cremated human remains was uncovered in the theater of Apollonia ad Rhyndacum. Why the burial took place in the theater despite the city having a separate cemetery remains unknown; the find raises new questions about the use of public spaces.
Arkeofili ↗ - Marble portrait of Antinoos and 13 inscriptions found at Teos
A marble portrait of Antinoos and 13 inscriptions on reused stone blocks were found around the Temple of Roma and Augustus at Teos. The inscriptions shed light on the city’s political and legal relations, while researchers say the portrait and inscription fragments show that the temple was also connected to the cult of Antinoos.
Arkeofili ↗ · Excavation notebook - New prehistoric settlement identified on the shore of the Dardanelles
A newly published study presented Yaylatepe Höyük, identified during surface surveys in 2024, and its pottery spanning the end of the Late Chalcolithic to the beginning of the Late Bronze Age for the first time. According to the researcher, the settlement, which has a visual connection with Asartepe on the opposite shore, contributes to understanding prehistoric coastal connections along the strait.
Arkeoloji Dergisi ↗
All excavation sites (385)
Türkiye
- Acemhöyük
- Aizanoi
- Alabanda
- Alacahöyük
- Amos
- Ani
- Aphrodisias
- Arslantepe Mound
- Aspendos
- Assos
- Ayanis Fortress
- Aşıklı Höyük
- Barcın Höyük
- Blaundus
- Boncuklu Höyük
- Can Hasan I
- Carchemish
- Claros Sanctuary
- Clazomenae
- Domuztepe
- Ephesus
- Euromus
- Gordion
- Göbekli Tepe
- Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia
- Hattusha
- Hierapolis
- Iasos
- Kaman-Kalehöyük
- Karahantepe
- Karatepe-Aslantaş
- Kaunos
- Kibyra
- Knidos
- Kültepe-Kanesh
- Laodicea on the Lycus
- Letoon Sanctuary
- Limyra
- Magnesia on the Maeander
- Medieval City of Beçin
- Metropolis in Ionia
- Miletus
- Myra
- Nemrut Dağ
- Nysa on the Maeander
- Olympus in Lycia
- Oymaağaç Höyük — Nerik
- Patara
- Pergamon
- Perge
- Phaselis
- Priene
- Sagalassos
- Sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma
- Sanctuary of Labraunda
- Sapinuwa
- Sardis
- Sayburç
- Side
- Stratonikeia
- Tell Atchana – Alalakh
- Teos
- Tripolis on the Meander
- Troy
- Uluburun Shipwreck
- Xanthos
- Yenikapı – Theodosian Harbour Excavations
- Yeşilova Höyük
- Yumuktepe
- Zerzevan Castle
- Zeugma
- Zincirli Höyük — Sam'al
- Çatalhöyük
- Çavuştepe Fortress
- Çayönü
- Çukuriçi Höyük