Das sogenannte Lukasgrab in Ephesos

The so-called tomb of St Luke, which is situated to the southeast of the State Agora of Ephesus, was examined in the 19th century for the first time. Because of a relief from the Roman Imperial period showing a zebu with a secondarily engraved cross over its hump, the monument was initially called the tomb of the evangelist. It was also ventilated that the monument served as a heroon, a polyandreion or a temple, which was remodelled into a church in the early Byzantine period. Due to the examinations of the years 1997 to 2004, these proposals have to be revised, though. In the course of systematic excavations the former function of the monument as a fountain could be determined. Not only the remains of the water supply and the standpipe, through which the water was transported onto the podium, but also the discharge in form of a drainage pool could be found. The dating of the complex to the mid-2nd century AD results from the stratigraphic findings as well as from the remaining building ornamentation. This can be directly compared to that of the Vedius Gymnasium (propylon and hall for the emporer`s cult), which is dated through inscriptions. The design of the building as a monopteros fountain shall be pointed out as well. This type of fountain was very popular especially in the 2nd century AD. More information could also be gained on the surrounding halls, which had fallen into oblivion in the course of the 20th century and had therefore always been discounted in the scientific meditations of the past decades. Especially to be noted is that the function of the ensemble quadriporticus - monopteros could be further narrowed down as well. Several epigraphic and building-typological clues point to an interpretation as a public marketplace; this is moreover backed by the findings. Here, the numerous animal bones, which were for instance recovered from the canals of the portici, shall be highlighted. In the 2nd half of the 5th century the monopteros was removed and a church was erected on the podium. Nothing remains from this centric building, however, because the ruin was probably used as a stone quarry in the post- Byzantine period. Sparse remains of polychrome painting prove that the crypt, which was installed underneath the apse in place of the eastern chamber sector of the fountain podium, used to be splendidly decorated (frescoes with scenes from the New Testament). Especially the design of the crypt, which possessed two separate entrances and a connecting staircase between the upper and the lower church, could point to an interpretation as a pilgrim church. Specific clues for the saint worshipped here were not found, though. According to a contextual analysis of the monument, the publication at hand also presents the results of the examination of the finds (precisely ceramics, epigraphy, numismatics, anthropology, archaeozoology).