The classical city of Metropolis ( grc, Μητρόπολις) is situated in western

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

near Yeniköy village in Torbali municipality - approximately 40 km SE of Izmir. Occupation at the site goes back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

period. It often is referred to as the "City of the

Mother Goddess A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or the natural world, ...

". The Hittite period is also attested. Classical,

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium i ...

, Roman,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

, and Ottoman periods are well represented at the site.

History

The earliest known settlement at the site is from the

showing evidence of contact and influence with the Troy I littoral culture (needed reference).

Late Bronze Age

An as yet undeciphered seal written in

hieroglyph A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...

ics similar to those of the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...

has been found in the acropolis of Metropolis. The Hittite kingdom of Arzawa had its capital

Apasas Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...

(later

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...

) some 30 km to the south west. During the Hittite period, the city was known as

Puranda Puranda was a Bronze Age city in Arzawa near the Astarpa river, in western Anatolia. After Mursili II took over Apasa during his invasion of Arzawa in 1322 BC, the Hursanassan, Surudan, and Attarimman refugees who had fled there moved into Purand ...

. The Mycenaean remains are also found. Bademgedigi Tepe is the archaeological site in the area with large amounts of local Mycenaean pottery, ranging from the 14th to 12th century BC, and later. A Mycenaean-age representation of a ship on a vase from Bademgediği Tepe is an important find that casts light on the development of ship technology and iconography on ceramic vessels.

Hellenistic Period

Metropolis was a part of the

kingdom of

Pergamum Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

and during this period the city reached a zenith of cultural and economic life. A temple dedicated to the war god

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war ...

, one of only two known such temples, has been located at this site. The city was noted by numerous classical authors including Strabo and

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...

, and described as a town in the Caystrian plain in

Lydia Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provin ...

, on the road from

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

, at a distance of 120 stadia from Ephesus, and 180 from Smyrna. Strabo relates that the district of Metropolis produced excellent wine.Strab., ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, a ...

'', XIV i, 15. The town was still noted by Byzantine authors such as

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

and Hierocles. What is visible today is primarily a Hellenistic city heavily Romanised, and with Byzantine remains laid across it – a church to the east of the city, and fortification walls laid across the city that connect to the Hellenistic defenses on the Acropolis.

Excavations

The city was first investigated through

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

field work from 1972 by Professor

Recep Meriç Recep may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (born 1929), Turkish footballer * Recep Akdağ (born 1960), Turkish physician and polit ...

from the

Dokuz Eylül University Dokuz Eylül University ( tr, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi) (DEÜ) is a university in İzmir, Turkey. It was founded in 1982 and is organized in 15 faculties. DEU is the first university which applied the problem-based learning method in Turkey, ...

, Izmir. Metropolis has been excavated since 1989. In 1995, archaeologists discovered a

marble seat of honor with

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

s in the Ancient Theatre. The original seat of honor is displayed at the

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

Archeological Museum and a replica has been placed at the theatre. In June 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of a well-preserved 1,800-year-old

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

statue of a woman standing on a

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

in Torbalı district. The head and two arms of the statue were missing. Büyükyıldırım, Oğuz,
1,800 Years Old Woman Sculpture in the Ancient City of Metropolis
', Arkeonews, June 16, 2021

Notes

Bibliography

Books *Aybek, S., Metropolis İonia I: Heykel, Metropolis'de Hellenistik ve Roma Dönemi Heykeltıraşlığı, İstanbul, 2009. *Aybek, S., Ekin Meriç, A., Öz, A. K., Metropolis: A Mother Goddess City in Ionia, İstanbul, 2009. *Aybek, S., Ekin Meriç, A., Öz, A. K., Metropolis: İonia'da Bir Ana Tanrıça Kenti, İstanbul, 2009. *Meriç, R., Metropolis, City of the Mother Goddess, İstanbul, 2003. *Meriç, R., Metropolis, Ana Tanrıça Kenti, İstanbul, 2003. *Meriç, R., Späthellenistisch-römische Keramik und Kleinfunde aus einem Scachtbrunnen am Staatsmarkt in Ephesos, Wien, 2002. *Meriç, R., Metropolis Kazılarının İlk 5 Yılı, İstanbul, 1996. *Meriç, R., Metropolis, İstanbul, 1992. *Meriç, R., Metropolis in Ionien: Ergebnisse einer Survey-Unternehmung in den Jahren 1972–1975, Königstein, 1982. Articles *Herling, L., Kasper, K., Lichter, C., Meriç, R., Im Westen nichts Neues? Ergebnisse der Grabungen 2003–2004 in Dedecik-Heybelitepe, Istanbuler Mitteilungen, 58, s. 13-65, 2008. *Meriç, R., “Metropolis”, W. Radt ed. içinde, Byzas 3; Stadtgrabungen und Stadtforschung im westlichen Kleinasien, 2006, s. 227-240. *Meriç, R., “Excavation at Bademgeiği Tepe (Puranda) 1999–2002: A Preliminary Report, Istanbuler Mitteilungen, 2003, s. 79-98. *Meriç, R., Mountjoy, P., “Three Mycenaean Vases from Ionia”, Istanbuler Mitteilungen, 51, 2001, s. 133-137. *Meriç, R., Mountjoy, P. (2002), “Mycenaean Pottery from Bademgedigi Tepe (Puranda) in Ionia: A Preliminary Report.” Istanbul Mitteilungen 52:79–98 *Meriç, R., Schachner, A., “Ein Stempelsiegel des spaeten 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr. aus Metropolis in Ionien”, Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, XLII/1-2000, s. 85-102.

External links

The Official Site of Metropolis ExcavationsKulturhistorisk Museum Universitetet i Oslo Metropolis PageFacebook Group of Metropolis Excavations
{{Authority control Tells (archaeology) Archaeological sites in the Aegean Region Former populated places in Turkey Greek colonies in Anatolia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Buildings and structures in İzmir Province History of İzmir Province Members of the Delian League Greek city-states Populated places in ancient Ionia Populated places in ancient Lydia Neolithic sites Torbalı District