Amphora Finds and Stamps - Myndos Excavations 2006-2013

A detailed paper (125 pages) in Turkish, by Gonca Gülsefa, research assistant at Uludağ University, on the amphora sherds excavated at Gümüşlük and available to read or download from academia.edu    

2006-2013 MYNDOS KAZILARINDA BULUNAN AMPHORALAR VE AMPHORA MÜHÜR BULUNTULARI

ÖZ

 Karia kentlerinden biri olan Myndos Antik Kenti, Antik yazarlarında sıkça bahsettiği gibi, Ege Denizi ile Akdeniz’in kesişme noktasında bulunmaktadır ve coğrafi konumu itibariyle önemli bir yapıya sahip kentlerden birisidir. 2006-2013 yılları arasında yapılan kazı çalışmaları sonucunda ele geçen 157 adet amphora par- çası değerlendirilmiştir. Bu amphoralardan 40 tanesi üzerinde ise mühür baskıları yer almaktadır. Bu parçaların ışığında, kentte hangi tip amphoraların kullanıldığı, kentin amphora üretimindeki yeri ve kentin ticari boyutu belirlenmek istenmiştir. Kazı çalışmalarında tespit edilen ve kökenleri belirlenerek gruplandırılan amphora buluntuları ve mühür baskılı kulpların, yerleşim alanlarında hangi dönemden itibaren ne oranda kullanım görüldükleri, üretilen ve tüketilen, ticareti yapılan malların ve bu alanların sosyo-ekonomik durumları tespit edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Amphora buluntuları içerisinde, İ.Ö. 6. yüzyıldan başlayarak, İ.S. 7. yüzyıla kadar olan dönemi kapsayan tipler yer almaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Karia, Myndos, Amphora, Amphora Mühürü, Dressel 2-4, Kos.

Amphora Finds and its Stamps which Were Found between 2006-2013 Myndos Excavation

Abstract

The ancient city of Myndos, which is one of the Carian cities, mentioned frequently by the ancient authors. It is located at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea. It has an important structure with its geographical location. 157 pieces amphora sherds are evaluated which were found during the excavations carried out between the years of 2006-2013. There are seal impressions on 40 pieces of these amphorae. In the light of these sherds, the types of amphoras which were used in the city, the position of the city in terms of producing amphorae and the commercial size of the city wanted to be determined. Also, of amphorae finds and seal impressions which are defined by the excavations and grouped by identifying their origin, from what period and what extent they were seen in the residential areas, the produced, consumed and traded goods and socio- economic status have been tried to be determined. Amongst the amphorae finds, there are types which are covering the periods from 6th century BC and 7th century AD. Keywords: Caria, Myndos, Amphora, Amphora Stamp, Dressel 2-4, Kos.

Myndos Excavations and Research 2004 - 2013

A collection of Myndos related papers titled Myndos Kazi ve Araştirmalari, Myndos Excavations and Researches 2004-2013, edited by Dr Derya Şahin, was published in 2016 and a number of the authors have been posting their papers over the last few weeks on academia.edu

All of the papers are in Turkish, below are links to two of them

Myndos Asar/Tavşan Adasi Geç Antik Dönem Kandilleri

Myndos Asar Island Late Antique Lamps

Dr Sinan Mimaroğlu of Mustafa Kemal University.

ABSTRACT

Myndos ancient city which was one of the ancient Caria cities in the ancient geography, is today located in Gümüşlük town of Bodrum district in Muğla province in southern Turkey. Locating right across Myndos ancient city Asar/Tavşan Island has a crucial place to protect the harbor of the city. Structural layers came to light as a result of the excavation digs belong to early Hellenistic period in Asar Island. Some settlement relevant to the topography of the island had been located around the church that built on the hill in the late antiquity and dates back to A.D. 5th. It is determined that new settling had been planned in a new placement settlement pattern on the old layers. It is considered that these unearthed place-ments settlement was were not for civil uses but directly related to the church and it is a monastery complex. historical findings empower the idea of the monastery complex. The last layer is composed of the fortification walls that date back to Late Byzantine period. Terra-cotta lamps dealt in this essay were found during the excavation carried out between 2009 and 2013 in Myndos city on Asar/Tavşan Island that protects the ancient city harbor. The most of lamps are Asia Minor type (Ephesos). There are only two African Red Slip type lamps. Terra cotta lamps indicate the presence of a trade in the Myndos/Asar Island. It is suggested that the lamps were in use between A.D. 6-7. th century depending on their analogy.

Academia.edu

Asar / Tavşan Adasi Ekmek Mühür Kalıbı ve Hacı Pulları

The Bread Stamp and Pilgrim Tokens from Myndos Asar / Tavşan Island

Dr Derya Şahin and Dr Emine Tok

ABSTRACT:

The subject of the study is the bread stamp and the two pilgrim tokens found at Myndos Asar/Tavşan Island during the excavation campaign of 2013. As a result of the evaluations made, it is determined that the descriptions on the bread stamp mold and the pilgrim tokens belonged to the saints martyrized for religion and they were used during the Eucharistic Liturgies. These findings, which also made the architectural pattern of the island more meaningful, indicate that the island was used as a cult center during the Early Byzantine Period.

Academia.edu

Tubaked.tuba.gov.tr

The latter is a direct link to a PDF and requires no login details.

Myndos Excavations to Recommence, Maybe.

A piece in Friday’s Haberler reporting on a meeting of representatives from across Muğla with the Deputy Minister for Culture & Tourism, appears to suggest that the recommencement of the Myndos excavations along with a number of other archaeological projects in the province, including the Bodrum Hippodrome, are under review.

http://www.haberler.com/tarihi-alanlarin-turizme-kazandirilmasi-8361030-haberi/

I wouldn’t expect to see any activity this year; by coincidence I received an email, on Friday, from one of the archaeologists who has worked on the Myndos project and as far as they were aware the excavations were still suspended.

Die Haefen von Myndos und ihre Handelseziehungen im Speiegal der Amphorenfunde. Ein Vorbericht

For those who read German, Professor Mustafa Şahin has posted a copy of a paper presented at workshop in Hamburg Feb 2014 titled Die Haefen von Myndos und ihre Handelseziehungen im Speiegal der Amphorenfunde. Ein Vorbericht on Academia.edu

There is an abstract in English which reads:

Between the Asar island and Kocadağ-Aethusa the archaeological excavations succeeded finding the port structure of ancient Myndos. The entrance was protected by these natural structures. As a member of the Dealian League, Myndos had a fleet of 200 ships. In the 5^th century BC the harbour was mostly used for military service. Strabo remarks only one port of Myndos. Later surveys during the 2005/6 campaign showed several new buildings. These structures seemed to belong to a second harbour. Remaining breakwater-structures were also discovered, lying beneath two newly discovered shipwrecks with Egyptian amphora. The expansion of the port-structure until late antiquity prove the importance of the harbour. Myndos seemed to be one of the important trading partners Mediterranean Sea.

I’m assuming the comment regarding a Myndian “fleet of 200 ships” is a typo, or error in translation. In the body of the text there is a reference to Herodotus 5.33, which, in the translations I’ve seen, only mentions a single ship from Myndos being a part of Megabates fleet.

Die Haefen von Myndos und ihre Handelseziehungen im Speiegal der Amphorenfunde. Ein Vorbericht on Academia.edu

Herodotus The Histories 5.33.2 - 5.35.1 on Perseus.uchicago.edu

The "Myndos" 1996 Hoard

One for the numismatists.

In 1996 a hoard reported to consist of coins from Myndos & Halicarnassus appeared on the German market, at around the same time two packages of coins, again from Myndos and Halicarnassus, appeared in commerce in London.

A copy of the report by A R Meadows and B Zabel The “Myndos” 1996 Hoard (CH 9.552) which formed part of Coin Hoard 9 (2002) Numismatic Society Special Publications 35 is available on Academia.edu. You may have to be a numismatist to appreciate the finer detail of the report but it does include a list of the c. 2nd century BC magistrates who issued the coins.     

The Myndos 1996 Hoard on Academia.Edu

Report on the Ancient Dock at Koyunbaba Quarry

An article by Asst Prof Oktay Dumankaya on an ancient dock associated with the Koyunbaba Quarry was published in the International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics 2(3) 38-46 (2015).

Stone from the Koyunbaba quarry was used extensively at Myndos and was also used in the foundations of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

The article is now available to read or download from Academia.edu

Koyunbaba Ancient Stone Quarry Dock

Fortified Entrance to the Eastern Harbour - PDF Download Available

Fortified Entrance to The Eastern Harbour at Myndos 

The article related to in the above post is now available to download as a PDF from Academia.edu

East Harbour Mole of Myndos

Başkan Dernek Kapattırdı - Update

For those, like me, who have to rely on software to translate Turkish to English, below is a link to Jack Snowden’s blog “Turkish News Tuhaf” which contains a translation of the article reporting the rift between the local association and Prof Şahin.

Turkish News Tuhaf Blog 

I’ve been in touch with an acquaintance who has close ties with the UU Archaeology team. In his opinion the withdrawal of support is not viewed as a serious issue, and will not affect future excavations. He also added that the biggest setback to work commencing on the theatre, referred to in the article, is that the proposed excavation site is on privately owned land.

Access to the archaeology on the mainland has been an issue since 2006. The excavations in 2005 & 2006 and the subsequent geophysical surveys strongly suggest that a considerable portion of the ancient city may still remain, relatively undisturbed. Unfortunately the majority of the features are on privately owned land and there seems to be reluctance on the part of the local landowners to grant access.

Latest Newspaper Articles On The Rabbit Island Excavations

There have been a number of articles in the Turkish over the past two days regarding excavations on Rabbit Island / Tavşan Adasi / Asar Adasi which may be associated with an end of (excavation) season press release.

The articles suggest that the island will be open to visitors next year, excavations started in 2009 and access has been limited since that date.

The newspaper reports also contain an apparent revised date for some of the human remains first uncovered in 2009. Early reports suggested that the grave constructions and artefacts suggested interment dates from the 5^th to the 11^th century A.D. however the latest press reports state that some of the remains date from the 3^rd century. 

I was only considering the origins of some of the remains earlier this week as I tried to compile a summary of the excavation reports for 2009-2011. It would be interesting if those now dated to the 3^rd century have been carbon dated as they most likely pre date the church which has previously thought to have been constructed in the 5^th or 6^th century.

The Roman persecution of Christians ended with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD and the Council of Nicaea issued the Nicene Creed in 325 making Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. 

Assuming that any Christian executed for their beliefs would have died before these dates raises several possibilities:

The church was dedicated to members of a local group who been punished for practising their religion prior to 313 and whose remains were reburied in the 5th or 6th century

The remains are “holy relics” which were interred in the church. This is was a known practice later in northern European churches where the remains of saints and other artefacts would be used to attract pilgrims.

That the present church is built on the site of an earlier 3^rd century church

The latter is fairly unlikely as it is difficult to believe that followers of what was viewed as an unofficial sect / religion would be allowed to construct a place of worship in such a prominent position. However that does discount the possibility that there was an active covert Christian community practicing in area before 313 AD.

As far as I’m aware there are no biblical references to an early 3^rd century Christian community in the area, however there are records of an active Jewish community at Myndos from as early as 139 BC and later around the 4^th to 6^th century AD

I’ve tried to contact UU regarding the dating of the remains, but I don’t hold out much hope of receiving a reply, past attempts to clarify dates etc have been disappointing.

Haberciniz 21-08-14


l

Chart of the Promontory of Boodroom with the Karabaghla Islands and the North Point of the Island of Kos ... by Francis Beaufort F.R.S. ... 1811

Chart of the Promontory of Boodroom with the Karabaghla Islands and the North Point of the Island of Kos ... by Francis Beaufort F.R.S. ... 1811: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO)

Possibly the first British naval chart of the Bodrum Peninsula, Beaufort a Captain at the time went on to become Hydrographer of the Navy.

Along with Boodroom some of the other anglicised pronunciations of Turkish place names include Biteh (Bitez) Kady –Kalassy (Kadikalesi) & Gumishlu (Gümüşlük ) 

TALES FROM THE BALCONY

To Bozdag and back

It was 23^rd of June 2010. Dave and I had decided see the recently identified late Roman marble quarry at the top of Bozdag Hill, which Dave had read a report about in Halicarnassian Studies. Some years before with Arif, we had climbed Bozdag on foot in a failed attempt to find remains of  Lelegian walls and foundations of a tower. Asking Arif the best way to get there was a bit of a no brainer, as we all remembered the difficulty we had climbing the 1 in 3 hill before.

    ‘We’ll go in my fathers car’ was Arif’s quick reply. ‘I’ll drive you to the top’

We couldn’t remember seeing anything like a road going up it, let alone a car.

So there we were in Arif’s dads old fiat 131, soon discovering there was no road but found ourselves bouncing up a loose dirt track that would have easily qualified as a stage in the WRC Rally of Turkey.

The trip to the top whilst full of bounce was uneventful.  The return trip however was to prove otherwise.

The journey down allowed me to film shots of the valley. The track from the summit ran into a road passing through the Munipicality refuse tip, which, as well as containing rubbish also held ramshackle building structures, a sort of shanty town for workers on the tip.

My camera was still running as we reached the tip area.  As workers saw us and the camera, people started remonstrating shaking their fists and shouting in Turkish, running alongside the car. Arif slowed down and attempts were made to snatch the video camera from the car. Arif stopped and got out of the car and started arguing aggressively with them. As the crowd and noise increased Arif pulled out his phone, made a call then passed it to the leader of the angry mob.

After the phone call, things were calmer, Arif returned to the car to explain that the people working/living on the tip thought we were an undercover film crew sent to film them. Arif’s phone call had been to the Jandarma, and the only way he could persuade the group to let us leave, was if we reported to the Jandarma station with one of the group’s leaders.

During the journey to the station, with Arif as an interpreter and using the maps and documentation we had, we tried to impress on the leader that we were only interested in the quarry. Arif said he seemed suitably impressed and had asked if Dave was a Professor. To which we all readily agreed, he seemed a little more impressed, as was Dave.

  

At the station I agreed to delete any footage of the tip that had caused offence. With everyone satisfied, we took the leader back to the tip. During the course of the journey the leader was chatting and laughing with Arif in Turkish. We just hoped that he was not about to try and raise his status with other members of his group by asking the Professor and his companions to have a glass of raki with them.

We had both seen Midnight Express, so the first beer on our return to Hera seemed like celebrating freedom.  

You can see a short video of the road trip to Bozdag and back (of course minus the angry crowd scenes deleted to appease the authorities ), at: Link To You Tube Video

New Page – Archaeological Survey 2004

Although certain areas of the village have been subject to a state protection order for some time there seems to have been no systematic or formal evaluation of the area until a survey was undertaken in 2004.

New page Archaeological Survey 2004  describes some of the areas and findings detailed in the survey report

52 Column Bases and the Stadium

Taken from 1837 Chart L1531 
Sourced from the UK Hydrographic Office (www.ukho.gov.uk)

Charles T Newton, the archaeologist who discovered the remains of the mausoleum of Halicarnassus, visited Gümüşlük in 1857.  Using the 1844 British Admiralty Chart 1531 as a guide Newton located the 52 column bases shown on the chart and commented that the outline of the stadium was visible but “nearly obliterated”.

In 2009 and following Newton’s example we obtained a copy of 1844 chart from the British Library and discovered that that some of the column bases may still be in situ. For photographs and a little more detail see the new page 52 Column Bases and The Stadium

TALES FROM THE BALCONY

Yilmos’s Birthday

       Over the years we have seen many waiters come and go at Hera restaurant. All have been memorable in many ways, but one stands out, Yilmos.

        If someone had a stills camera, he was anxious to be in the shot, if someone produced a video camera, it was as if someone had turned on the lights and shouted action. He was a natural performer with impromptu dialogue that could have been scripted by the wackiest writers.

         When you are a waiter in a sleepy fishing village in a small Turkish tourist resort, as Yilmos was. Talking to people who vary in nationality by the hour certainly increases your knowledge of other languages, but how do you use it? Well that’s where Yilmos was unique. To try and describe him a little more, let me take you back to the late 90’s when our stay at the Hera coincided with his Birthday.........

          Word had got around that it was Yilmos’s Birthday, no doubt fuelled by Yilmos. I met him on the way to my early morning swim.

           ‘Good morning Yilmos, happy birthday.

           ‘Why good morning good buddy, and remember günaydin is good morning in Turkish if you should want to speak as me fluent in other lingo. Don’t forget, have a slice of my cake tonight you and your good lady wife’

           ‘Sure Yilmos thank you’

           ‘No problem, and please, thank you in Turkish is teşekkür ederim, but please is lutven, not German but sounds same.

 My body is already hitting the water as he finishes. Being spoken to by Yilmos in his staccato style is like having words fired at you from a machine gun, and not always in the right order.

             My wife and I were the first to arrive in the restaurant on the evening.  A couple of drinks and a cigar for Yilmos.

            ‘How old is the Birthday boy then? My wife asks.

            ‘Is still nineteen my lovely Diane’

            ‘I bet we could double that’ we retort. Just then a family of four from the rear apartments arrive. A boy and a girl run round Yilmos saying in broken English happy birthday.  From Norway I thought.

            ‘Where are they from?’ my wife asks Yilmos.

            ‘Why Sweden’ he replied.  I am wrong.  The couple introduce themselves’

            ‘I am Theo from Norway and this is my wife Anna from Sweden.’ Half right Yilmos.

              Then what looks like a retired couple from the same apartments enter, he has a head of white hair and very striking white moustache . They sit at the table next to us and he introduces himself.

             ‘Good evening my name is Eric.’ It is the perceived voice of every retired English Colonel heard on stage and screen.

             ‘This is my wife Elaine, but they call us Eric and Ernie, she’s the one with the fat hairy legs’ he chortled.  I look down at her legs like a fool before returning the introduction.  Eric then moves to the Norway Sweden amalgamation and introduces himself as before.  As he gets to the fat hairy legs bit I notice Theo looks down.  Yilmos who has been taking all this information in, turns to Eric and asks.

              ‘What would Mr and Mrs Ernie like to drink?’ and I swear he looked at her legs.

              An American party arrives, three girls and a married couple. Across the restaurant  Sweden and Norway have made Yilmos a crown of flowers. My wife thinks he looks like the queen of the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  The family then sing to Yilmos Happy Birthday in their own Language. Yilmos is taken by surprise, but by swiftly looking at all of them in turn he manages to sing along using their words.

               The couple in the American party introduce themselves as Nancy and Matt. The rest of the evening, for some unknown reason Yilmos refers to them as Mercy and Max.

                  If you would like to see some snippets of the evening on film, please go to the following:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z2vE2k1_Qw

Yilmos was also always keen to send a message to anyone he knew who hadn’t turned up that particular summer. Two of these messages can also be savoured by going to the following:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6u3OS4dAdM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBaFebDLUIU

TALES FROM THE BALCONY

One enchanted evening

      It started out as the type of evening Gümüşlük delivers on a regular basis. Hardly a breeze was blowing from the sea, which was bathed in moonlight. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft lap of the waves landing on the beach just a few steps from Hera restaurant, soft music wafting from the jazz cafe down the beach, and the murmur of people talking while enjoying their meals and drinks. After visiting for nearly 20 years we try very hard not to take these evenings for granted.

      Hera regularly set tables on the beach next to the sea, which makes for a more secluded meal and for some people it’s very romantic.

      We had just finished our meals in Hera when Güven the waiter came past carrying a menu for a couple who had been seated at a table by the sea.

      ‘I am bringing romantic news with a meal tonight’ said Güven

       ‘What’s the news?’ we asked.

      ‘It is a secret, please do not tell’ Güven said. ‘After their meal he will ask her to marry him, I shall take him their drinks with a box that contains a ring’

       Discretely, my wife and I, along with Dave who had joined us sat waiting for the romantic news.

       The couples meal was coming to its romantic conclusion, dishes had been taken away and Güven passed us carrying a tray of drinks and a small box. The box was opened and, as the question was being asked, Güven pointed overhead, we all looked up into the night sky.

        A fireball of immense size had suddenly appeared, streaming behind it a fan like tail. It made its way across the sky toward the horizon before disappearing as if into the sea. Those who saw it that night had never seen anything so huge and so clear. Some of us wondered if it was a disaster involving an aeroplane.

        During that night, and the next day we enquired if anyone else other than those at Hera had seen it, no one had. We looked into all the local and national media, nothing. To this day we have never been able to find out what it was we had seen that night. All we know is that some couple had the most marvellous romantic evening, and I would guess, that no woman since has had such a cosmic display of light appearing in the night sky as she was being proposed to.

Gulsum Ken

Two pithoi burials in the Gümüşlük area excavated by staff from the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology

http://www.haberler.com/gumusluk-te-2500-yillik-mezar-bulundu-5800023-haberi/

Bodrum Museum have performed a number of “rescue” excavations of tombs and burials around Gümüşlük, but to date I have never managed to find any of their reports published online.

Gümüşlük October 1943

A while ago while running a Google search for some other village related info I found a reference to an allied warship, HMS Hurworth, which had sank off the Island of Kalymnos in Oct 1943. 

HMS Hurworth By Royal Navy official photographer

[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Following this lead I discovered that Hurworth was one of two ships that struck mines that night. The second ship, HHelMS Adrias, was badly damaged but managed to make its way to the neutral harbour of Gümüşlük as did some of the survivors from HMS Hurworth.

 HHMS Adrias By Royal Navy official photographer

[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

We’ve added a new page which contains a brief description of the events, and of the time Adrias was under repair in the village.

Ken has produced a short video, available on YouTube, to accompany the Bozdağ Quarry page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ez5rPO3Yo&feature=youtu.be

Sitting on the balcony at the Hera Apartments in the late 90s, discussing the lack of information available on the history of Gümüşlük & Myndos, started us off on the trail to find out more about the village, it's archaeology and it’s past.

Over the years we have accumulated quite a few snippets of information, some of which doesn’t appear in the current guide books, and we thought we’d start this blog to share the results with others who may share our interest in the history of the village.