World’s oldest prophecy center operated till 8th century: Expert

İZMİR

New findings show that the ancient city of Claros, the world’s oldest prophecy center located in the eastern province of İzmir, has been actively used more than known, until the end of the 8th century, an adviser for the excavation team has said.

Until today, Claros was known to be “abandoned with the beginning of the rise of Christianity.”

“Historians assumed that citizens left the site thinking that the importance of Claros ended with the start of Christianity,” Onur Zunal, an expert consulting the excavation team, told the daily Milliyet on Aug. 30.

However, with the help of new findings, the team figured out that “Claros was used until the end of the 7th or the 8th century.”

Zunal did not mention what the “new findings” were but highlighted that “the abandoning of Claros has nothing to do with the occurrence or the rise of the Christianity.”

“The site was used as a sacred place for more than we knew,” he added.

Claros, located in İzmir’s Menemen district, is known as the world’s oldest oracle center.

The center, founded in 1907, is believed to have been established in the 13th century B.C. at the time of the Mycenae civilization. The center was dedicated to Apollo, the Greek God of prophecy.

The head of the Klaros excavations, Professor Nurdan Şahin, explained the system of the center in an interview in 2016.

“Representatives from delegations that governed the cities asked questions. When oracles came out of the room where they had fasted for 24 or 48 hours and where water was consistently boiling, the clergyman whispered the question in one oracle’s ear.”

“The oracle then reentered the room, broke the fast, washed his hands and face, and asked the question to God. He later told the answer, which he received through inspiration or revelation, to the clergyman. The answers that were about cities and countries were inscribed on tablets and the tablets were erected in front of the temples.”