The Harbour Necropolis of Ephesus

While the exploration of antique necropoleis has been a task of priority at many excavation sites since the beginning of archaeological field-work, systematic research on the Ephesian necropoleis is still a desideratum. Our actual knowledge is primarily based on rough observations that mainly go back to the 19th century, on rescue excavations in the course of building activities or the recovery of sarcophagi as a result of illegal excavations. Only in the areas of the necropoleis along the stoa of Damianos, on the Upper Agora and in the vicinity of churches have selective investigations been undertaken which have increased our knowledge regarding Ephesian burial customs. A comprehensive art-historical analysis of the Ephesian sarcophagi that have been found to date is currently being carried out, and is expected to result in far reaching insights into this subject. Since the year 2005 the applicant has undertaken three excavations in the area of the almost completely unexplored necropolis in the north and the south of the Ephesian harbour channel. This activity was necessary, as sporadically illegal excavations have taken place in this exposed area far away from areas frequented by tourists. These illegal interventions have repeatedly led to considerable destruction. It has therefore been the explicit request of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Ankara, and also of the Ephesian field direction, to commence systematic research in this necropolis in order to acquire knowledge about the historical development, the dimensions, the appearance and structure of the necropolis on the basis of proper scientific criteria. The first systematic exploration of an Ephesian necropolis by means of an interdisciplinary collaboration of scientists from different fields of archaeology, ancient history and natural science will not only shed light on the chronology, topography, appearance, structure and architectural composition of the necropolis itself, but will also clarify burial customs and rites and will lead to far reaching insights into the social structure of the population of the metropolis of the Roman province of Asia. The proposed project focuses on an eminent and almost completely unexplored area of Ephesus, where many questions regarding topography, chronology and the history and form of usage still remain unsolved. Therefore, the results of this project will certainly enhance our knowledge in these matters and will constitute a most welcome contribution to international research concerning the culture of the Roman provinces.

The largest cemetery of Ephesus, the Harbor Necropolis located to the west of the city, was the starting point for the development of a complete and diachronic documentation project of the Ephesian necropolis-landscape within the framework of the FWF-project. The goal was to study the key topic Death in Antiquity in all its facets and without any chronological limitations. The following aspects were particularly salient to our study: extent of the necropoleis, history of use of the necropoleis, typology of the burial architecture, development of the burial house types, structural organization of the necropoleis, staging of death, ritual, population and social structure, as well as state of health, life expectancy, cause of death, kinship and the origin of the Ephesians. In order to address these questions, a combination of methods were applied from the areas of Classical Archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, geoarchaeology, geophysics, archaeozoology, biological anthropology, biochemistry, and genetics. The Roman period offered the best evidence for concentrated burial areas. We currently estimate that Ephesus had at least 90 ha of densely built necropolis spaces with more than 1200 individual burial units. The burial units were used from the imperial period long into late antiquity and were repeatedly reused. On average the burial houses are 8 m in size and strikingly similar. There is very little difference in size, construction, and appearance of the burial houses making it difficult to demonstrate the social status of a person or an account of his or her life. It appears to have been the considerable effort regarding the laying in state, the funeral procession and the festivities that reflected the status of a person in society. An aim of our necropolis study was to better understand the social structure of Ephesian society and to answer questions regarding the ancient human and his or her environment. In collaboration with specialists in biological anthropology (analysis of human remains), genetics and biochemistry (DNA- and isotope analysis) important insights were gained into the living conditions during the Roman imperial period. The average life expectancy of adults was established to have been almost 40 years and simultaneously individual histories of illnesses of the Ephesians were compiled. Nutritional profiles demonstrated a striking majority of nutrition through terrestrial animals over vegetables or the exploitation of the sea. The results cover a wide chronological and topographic range and therefore reach far beyond the context Ephesus.