Matiate is an archaeological site underneath the town of

Midyat Midyat (, , , ) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,241 km2, and its population is 120,069 (2022). In the modern era, the town is populated by Kurds, Mhallami Arabs and Assyrians. The old Estel neighborho ...

, in

Mardin province Mardin Province (; ; ; ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey. Its area is 8,780 km2, and its population is 870,374 (2022). The largest city in the province is Kızıltepe, while the capital Mardin is the second largest ci ...

, Turkey. It is assumed to have been in use for 1,900 years, at its peak to have been inhabited by up to 70,000 people and is considered to be the largest such system in the world.

Discovery

The tunnel system was discovered by chance in 2020 during renovation works in Midyat's old town. Construction workers unearthed a

limestone cave A solutional cave, solution cave, or karst cave is a cave usually formed in a soluble rock like limestone (Calcium carbonate, with chemical formula ''CaCO3''). It is the most frequently occurring type of cave. It can also form in other rocks, inc ...

which led to a tunnel and other caves. Subsequent large excavation works began and, by 2022, 49 rooms were made visible. The underground city was called Matiate after the ancient Assyrian name of the city of Midyat, which translates into "city of caves".

Extension

The town's origins date back to the 2nd or 3rd century CE and at its peak it is believed to have been inhabited by between 60,000 and 70,000 people. of tunnels and 49 rooms have been unearthed, but it is assumed that only 3% of the city has been discovered. Excavation works were performed in co-operation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Midyat's municipality and the Museum of Mardin and excavations would extend to the whole district of Midyat.

Function

Gani Tarkan, the director of excavations of Matiate, assumes that the cave system was used as a hiding place for persecuted people. During the Roman era, the Christian religion was persecuted and its adherents were known to have lived in similar underground cities throughout Anatolia. In the cave system there is a Christian church and a room with a

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

, which is assumed to be a Jewish

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. Water wells, silos, coins, lamps and bones of humans and animals were also discovered. Researchers assume it was used as a hiding place between the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

6th century The 6th century is the period from 501 through 600 in line with the Julian calendar. In the West, the century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the prev ...

. After the population returned to live above surface, it continued in use as a wine cellar and catacomb.

References

{{Ancient settlements in Turkey Archaeological sites in Southeastern Anatolia Ancient underground cities Former populated places in Turkey