The conservation and restoration of five 1,300-year-old carbonized loaves of bread, one bearing a depiction of Jesus and others decorated with various motifs, has been completed following a two-year study in the capital Ankara.
The loaves were unearthed in 2023 during excavations at the ancient city of Topraktepe (Eirenepolis) in the central province of Karaman and date back to the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. They were transferred to the Ankara Regional Laboratory for Restoration and Conservation under the General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums at the Culture and Tourism Ministry.
One loaf features a Greek inscription reading “With gratitude to Holy Jesus” and an unusual depiction of Jesus known as the “Sower” or “Farmer Jesus,” distinct from traditional Pantokrator imagery. The remaining four loaves bear surface impressions in the shape of Maltese crosses. Researchers identified the breads as ornate barley loaves used in early Christian rituals (communion), describing them as the best-preserved examples found in Anatolia to date.
Carbonized after exposure to fire or high heat, the loaves retained their original shapes and will soon be presented to visitors following conservation by laboratory specialists.
Mustafa Cengiz Özduygulu, chemist and director of the Ankara laboratory, said analyses were conducted at the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority. “These breads may have been used for talismanic purposes,” he said, noting that wheat and rye loaves were found discarded inside their respective grain silos.
“Our view is that they were placed there to increase abundance or to protect against the evil eye or natural damage. The breads are unleavened and were produced using molds. For this reason, we are encountering such figured breads for the first time. We have not seen any comparable examples in the literature,” Özduygulu said.
He added that while amorphous breads previously found did not require conservation, the presence of figures made preservation essential. “After two years of R&D, we stabilized the loaves and made them suitable for public display,” he said.
‘We preserved the bread in its own moisture’
Restorer-conservator İlknur Elyıldırım said the excavation area was initially thought to be a bakery but was later identified as a granary. “At first, fragments arrived that could not be identified. The excavation team carefully lifted them with the surrounding soil and delivered them to us while still moist,” she said.
“Analyses showed they were bread. There had been no such studies in Türkiye, and our research showed none abroad either. We preserved the bread in its own moisture, carried out periodic checks and tested materials ourselves,” Elyıldırım said, adding that the work took nearly two years.
“Based on the results, we determined how and with which materials to intervene, completing conservation first and then restoration. We now know which methods to apply as more pieces continue to arrive,” she added.
