Ephesus

Ephesos

Türkiye · İzmir

Ancient cityExcavation ongoingUNESCO · 2015
Approximate period300 BCE — 1,400 CEHellenistic–Byzantine; earlier and later settlements are in the other components of the UNESCO site See on the map ↓

In brief

The ancient city near Selçuk was an important port and administrative center in the Roman period. Excavations have uncovered monumental public buildings, elite residences and areas of everyday trade.

What was found?

  • 1Library of Celsus

    This is one of the Roman Imperial-period monuments uncovered through excavations. It represents the urban fabric of Efes, furnished with large public buildings.

  • 2Great Theatre

    This is the ancient city's large performance building. It documents the monumental spaces set aside for collective events in Roman-period Efes.

  • 3Early Byzantine shops and workshops

    Commercial premises preserved beneath a fire layer were found around Domitianus Square. They include a food preparation space, a storeroom, a tavern and a workshop connected to a sales area.

  • 4Gold solidi and copper coins

    Four gold solidi and more than 700 copper coins were found in the commercial premises. The coins helped establish that the buildings remained in use until 614/615.

  • 5Pilgrim flasks

    Approximately 600 small flasks were found in a shop selling goods to Christian pilgrims. These objects, which could be worn around the neck, show the connection between pilgrimage and local trade.

What does it point to?

The monumental buildings of Efes show the public life of the Roman port city, while the preserved commercial premises reveal its later everyday economy. Vessels, coins and pilgrims' objects in the shops indicate that food sales, crafts and religious visits came together in the same neighborhood.

What did it teach us?

  1. Showed that changes in the coastline affected the settlement's location.
  2. Documented the existence of a thriving commercial neighborhood in the Early Byzantine period.
  3. Made it possible to examine everyday consumption and the use of money together through commercial premises buried beneath the fire layer.

Images

Great Theatre of Ephesus 2024
Furkan Akkurt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
13.9 Terrace Houses in Ephesus
José Luiz · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Ephesus Celsus Library Façade
Benh LIEU SONG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Latest news / selected archive

In 2022, shops, workshops and rich assemblages of objects buried by a fire around AD 614–615 were discovered near Domitian Square.

Record

Culture
Ionian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine
Team / historical
Martin Steskal / Austrian Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Coordinates
37.9414°, 27.3406°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. whc.unesco.org
  3. oeaw.ac.at
  4. oeaw.ac.at

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