Aeolic Capital from the Athena-Temple in Old Smyrna Old Smyrna is the modern name for the remains of

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 ...

before the town moved to its later place at

, modern Izmir. The ruins lie near Bayraklı, that was once a village, but is now part of Izmir. Old Smyrna was once close to the sea, but is now some hundred meters apart from it. The ancient Greek town was inhabited from about 1000 to 300 BC. There are some earlier remains too. Around 300 BC, people left the place and moved to Smyrna, about 4 km far away. The remains are well known from several excavations. It is one of very few ancient Greek towns whose development can be traced for over 700 years. According to ancient sources, Smyrna was founded by

Aeolians The Aeolians (; el, Αἰολεῖς) were one of the four major tribes in which Greeks divided themselves in the ancient period (along with the Achaeans, Dorians and Ionians).. Name Their name mythologically derives from Aeolus, the mythical ...

, but later conquered by Colophon and was therefore regarded as Ionian city. Around 600 BC, the city was conquered by

Alyattes of Lydia Alyattes (Lydian language: ; grc, Ἀλυάττης ; reigned c. 635-585 BC), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He ...

and became part of the

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 ...

n empire. 545 BC the city became part of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

. Around 330 BC, people left the place and moved 4 km apart from it. Archaeological excavations started 1930/31 under Franz Miltner. From 1948 to 1951 British-Turkish exacavations were guided under the direction of

John Manuel Cook John Manuel Cook, (1910–1994) was a British classical archaeologist. He was educated at Marlborough College, and went to King's College, Cambridge (1929–32). His older brother was Robert Manuel Cook, also a noted scholar of antiquity. Care ...

and

Ekrem Akurgal Ekrem Akurgal (March 30, 1911 – November 1, 2002) was a Turkish archaeologist. During a career that spanned more than fifty years, he conducted definitive research in several sites along the western coast of Anatolia such as Phokaia (Foça) ...

. Since 1967 there are further Turkish excavations. The archaeological excavations discovered a heavily destroyed temple for Athena, a massive

town wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

Smyrna, Fortifications (Building)
/ref> and several parts of the living quarters. Next to the town are also substantial ancient cemeteries.

Excavation reports

* Ekrem Akurgal: ''Alt-Smyrna I. Wohnschichten und Athenatempel''. Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara 1983 * John M. Cook, R. V. Nicholls: ''The Temples of Athena, Old Smyrna Excavation''s. London 1998, ISBN 0904887286 * J. M. Cook: ''Old Smyrna, 1948–1951''. In: ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'' 53/54, 1958/1959, S. 1–34. * R. V. Nicholls: ''The Iron Age Fortifications and Associated Remains on the City Perimeter'', in: ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', 53/54 (1958/1959), S. 35-137.

References

Ancient Smyrna