Artifacts of Satala ancient city on display for first time

GÜMÜŞHANE

Military tombstones, milestones, inscriptions and war equipment that have been found during the excavations in the ancient city of Satala, where the Roman 15th Legion ruled for 600 years and served as a military headquarters in the northern province of Gümüşhane, are on display for the first time.

The Gümüşhane City Museum, which opened in 2006 and closed to visitors four years ago to undergo renovations, has been reopened recently after the completed renovation process.

“We are exhibiting artworks of all periods from 5,500 years ago,” said Serdar Okur, the museum director.

In the museum, approximately 1,200 works, including coins minted in the city during the Ottoman period, are exhibited. The other artifacts include military tombstones and milestones bearing traces of the Seljuk Turks’ entry into Anatolia, as well as the inscriptions and war equipment from the Urartian, Medes, Persians and Hellenistic periods, which have been unearthed during the excavations in the ancient city of Satala, where the Roman 15th Legion ruled for 600 years and served as a military headquarters in Kelkit district.

Some other findings found in Satala, where archaeological excavations have been carried out on an area of 25,000 square meters in the district, are also exhibited in the museum.

Stating that there are ruins in the museum that shed light on 3,000 B.C., Okur said, “Starting from 5,500 years ago, we exhibit the artifacts of all periods up to the Republican period in chronological order. The most important artifacts are the findings found in the ancient city of Satala. There are tombstones, milestones, inscriptions and war equipment and other tools used by the soldiers there.”

Stating that the items reflecting the social and cultural life of the city are also exhibited in the museum, Okur said, “Apart from this, we exhibit material and spiritual cultural items that reflect the social cultural life of Gümüşhane such as clothes, children’s toys, kitchen tools and local rugs.”

Ancient city of Satala

The archaeological excavations have been ongoing since 2017 in the ancient city of Satala, where the 15th Legion of the Roman Empire, also called the Apollinaris Legion, ruled for about 600 years.

The city is located in the eastern skirts of the Meşe İçi Mountains in the Sadak village.

The city was also a police station city established to protect the Euphrates border. There are hardly any finds bearing the characteristics of the Roman period.

The presence of the Urartians in the region has been architecturally proven with historical findings starting 50 centimeters below the ground.

A few tomb steles, baths, aqueducts and castle walls are visible on the surface. However, today’s settlement area is placed in most of the main city. Most of the walls remained under the present houses. There are aqueducts about 1.6 kilometers south of the village.