99 Items
Skande/Scandis
Large fort on the fringes of late antique Lazica and referred to in late antique sources as being a place of importance to the defence of the kingdom.
Type: Architecture
Tags: C4th-C6th, Defensive Network, Fortifications, Georgia, Georgian, Late Antique, Lazica, Procopius
Shorapani/Sarapanis
Serving much the same purpose as Skande/Scandis and contemporary with it. Shorapani/Sarapanis is also referred to in late antique sources and played a role in the conflicts to control Lazica.
Type: Architecture
Tags: C4th-C6th, Defensive Network, Fortifications, Georgia, Georgian, Late Antique, Procopius
Gonio/Apsarus
Gonio is a large rectangular fort originally built by the Romans who knew it as Apsarus. The fort has been used on and off ever since. Its strategic position has meant it's reoccupation and reuse has been frequent. Traces of modern use can be seen in the concrete gun ports built into the older defences.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Defensive Network, Fortifications, Georgia, Georgian, Late Antique, Roman
General views of Zalabiyeh and the surrounding landscape
These images were taken on a first survey visit to the site on 9th April 2010 and show the extent of the extant remains, evidence of looting and views over the river in the direction of Halabiyeh.
Type: Archaeological Excavation
Tags: Citadel, Deir ez Zor, Euphrates, Fortifications, Fortress, Halabiyeh, Landscape, Late Antique, Syria, Zalabiyeh
Fortifications, Zalabiyeh
The fortification of Zalabiyeh is recorded by Procopius who attributes the building of the defences to Justinian's reign. As with much of Procopius' testimony this claim must not be accepted out of hand. The remains of the defences show evidence of at least two major phases of building. The oldest phase is composed of ashlar faced walls with a rubble and concrete core, the later phase is made up of ashlars throughout. The later phase appears to have been only present in some of the towers and is certainly part of a renovation of the defences where some of the older towers needing replacing. These two different wall building techniques are mirrored across the river at the fortifications of Halabiyeh, Zalabiyeh's sister site. I have proposed that the site was not originally fortified by Justinian but was rather repaired during his reign and had older origins, potentially during the reign of Anastasius.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Anastasius, Citadel, Defensive Network, Deir ez Zor, Euphrates, Fortifications, Fortress, Halabiyeh, Justinian, Late Antique, Procopius, Syria, Zalabiyeh
Resafa City Gates and Walls
The impressively preserved city walls of Resafa are the subject of some debate when regards to their age and to who's reign their construction can be credited to. Scholars seem to be split as to whether they were constructed in the reigns of the Emperor Anastasius (491-518 AD) or the Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD). Procopius' attributes the first stone wall to the reign of Justinian. However this cannot be wholly accepted as fact as Procopius' accounts are occasionally deliberately misleading and sometimes wholly inaccurate. The most well preserved and impressive of the gates still extant is the Sura Gate on the north side of the city.
Regardless of which reign they were constructed in the defences do seem to be Late Antique. The walls, their covered galleries, the towers and gates were well preserved when I visited in 2010. As a result of the civil war their current condition is hard to ascertain.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Anastasius, C4th-C5th, C5th-C6th, C6th-C7th, C7th-C8th, C8th-C9th, Defensive Network, Justinian, Late Antique, Procopius, Resafa
South Basilica, Side
Situated towards the southernmost point of the peninsular that Side occupies this Basilica was built in the 5th century AD usurping and partly building over the sites of the older Temples Apollo and Athena. The large basilica was destroyed in the 7th century and a smaller church was built within.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Basilica, Byzantine, Church, Late Antique, Roman, Turkey
Late Antique Walls, Side
In Late Antiquity the city of Side had a much shorter, strategic line of defences built within its original line of Hellenic walls. These new defences incorporated the theatre as part of the defensive line. The triumphal arch attached to the theatre also became part of the defences and the arch's aperture was significantly reduced. The new defences were built primarily of spolia looted from derelict or abandoned buildings in and around the city. The clearest evidence of spolia use in the walls can be seen in the use of column drums usually included to add strength to the walls by tying the two outer faces together. The last image, in the background, behind the building covered in scaffolding (The temple of Tyche), shows the late antique part of the wall in front of the theatre.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Fortifications, Late Antique, Military Architecture, Turkey
Martyrium of St Phillip, Hierapolis
This church on the hills above and north of the city proper of Hierapolis is believed to be the martyrium where the remains of St Phillip were interred.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Church, Late Antique, Martyrium, Turkey
Temple of Aphrodite/Christian Basilica, Aphrodisias
Begun in the 1st century the construction of the Temple of Aphrodite was paid for by Aphrodisias’ most famous and wealthy citizen, Zoilos. In the 2nd century AD the temple had a colonnaded courtyard enclosure built around it. Around 500 AD the temple was converted into a Basilica church and was extensively rebuilt and remodelled into a building much larger than the original temple.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Basilica, Church, Greek, Late Antique, Roman, Temple, Turkey