New rooms, paintings unearthed at Smyrna

İZMİR

Excavations have uncovered previously unseen wall paintings at Smyrna. (AA Photo)

Archaeological excavations at the ancient city of Smyrna in İzmir’s historic city center have uncovered three new rooms dating to Late Antiquity, along with previously unseen wall paintings.

The discoveries were made during excavations at the Smyrna Agora. Three new rooms were identified as an extension of a mosaic floor uncovered last year. Two of the rooms were found to have mosaic floors while the third had a marble floor. The excavations also revealed wall paintings that had not previously been encountered around the Agora or the Smyrna Theater.

Professor Akın Ersoy, head of the excavations and a faculty member in the Turkish-Islamic Archaeology Department at İzmir Katip Çelebi University, said the newly uncovered rooms shared similarities with the Terrace Houses at the ancient city of Ephesus and may have served a public function.

“For the first time, we have found wall paintings in these rooms. We had never encountered them before at the Smyrna Agora or around the theater,” Ersoy said.

Ersoy said the rooms date to the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., during Late Antiquity, adding that major changes took place in the structure of cities following the division of the Roman Empire in 395 and the spread of Christianity.

He said the new discoveries provide further insight into Smyrna’s transformation during the period.

Excavations also traced part of an ancient water channel dating to the Roman period, which is believed to have carried water continuously for nearly 2,000 years.

Ersoy said Smyrna’s water needs during the Roman period were met through channels connected to springs, noting that the source of the channel, of which around 150 meters have been traced, has yet to be identified.