Administrators of late ancient era come to light

DENİZLİ - Anadolu Agency

The sculptures, which are made of marble and onyx, are 1.7-1.8 meters- high, the average size of a human. Most of the sculptures were found complete. AA photos

Excavations on the ancient city of Tripolis in the western province of Denizli’s Buldan district have unearthed seven life-size marble sculptures. The excavations have been carried out by Pamukkale University Archaeology Department.

Head of the excavations Bahadır Duman said the ancient city of Tripolis was located in the junction point of the Phrygia, Caria and Lydia regions during the Hellenistic era. He said they had been working for four months on the “road of pillared galleries” in the east side of a 2,500 square-meter market place. He said Anatolia had many sculptures from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries, but there were fewer from the 5th century.

“The ancient city of Tripolis is quite a lucky place in terms of sculptures. We have found fine artworks. We have completely unearthed one of the pillared galleries and begun its restoration. There are 25 pillars in this closed pillared gallery and all of them collapsed during an earthquake. They survived thanks to erosions. The floor of this gallery is covered with travertine. The pillars are nearly three-meters-high and were protected with a roof,” he said.

Duman said they had also found a multiple-stage platform in the continuation of the pillared galleries, estimating that people used to come to there for commercial purposes.

“Another interesting finding is, perhaps for the first time in Turkey, there are seven sculptures, found around the pillared gallery and marketplace. The sculptures are 1.7-1.8 meters-high, the average size of a human. Most of them were found complete. They are made of marble and onyx. We have discovered an important sculpture collection, unique in ancient Anatolian archaeology. We will find the rest of the sculptures during further excavations,” Duman said. According to their estimations, they will unearth 15-20 sculptures from the site, he added.

He said the sculptures dated back to the 5th century A.D., when the Roman Empire was still powerful in Tripolis. He said, “These are the sculptures of the administrators and notable people of the city. Some of them are the sculptures of religious leaders. We can say new information about the administrators of that ancient era has now come to light.”