Posted on 07/23/2006 10:52:01 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
It seems a typical scene of urban decay: abandoned buildings, crumbling walls, trash and broken wine bottles.
Yet it's more than 1,500 years old. Engineers uncovered these ruins of an ancient Byzantine port during drilling for a huge underground rail tunnel.
Like Romans, Athenians and residents of other great historic cities, the people of Istanbul can hardly put a shovel in the ground without digging up something important.
But the ancient port uncovered last November in the Yenikapi neighborhood is of a different scale: It has grown into the largest archaeological dig in Istanbul's history, and the port's extent is only now being revealed.
Archaeologists call it the "Port of Theodosius," after the emperor of Rome and Byzantium who died in A.D. 395. They expect to gain insights into ancient commercial life in the city, once called Constantinople, that was the capital of the eastern Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.news.aol.com ...
I doubt they will take the archeological findings seriously. These artifacts are pre-islam, therefore of no value. If you think I'm kidding, a few years ago, the Turkish government, while digging to create a vast damn for future power generation came across villages of summer homes containing some of the finest examples of intact Roman-era villas (with hundreds of mosaic frescoes and floors), forums, amphitheatres, sewer systems, etc. The Turks determined it would take too long to excavate and despite pleas from Universities and museums through out the West, completed the damn project and now this ancient, intact, perfect example of a Roman city is under hundreds of meters of water, at the bottom of a huge lake. So much for the respect for antiquities or anything Western. They can go to he#*, along with the rest of the mohammedans.
Byzanti-ping!
ping
I wonder what the Turkish government will do with regard to this?
deny deny deny...and then figure out a way to make money off it.
When I was in Ephesus the tour guide never once mentioned Greek or any reference to Byzantium. It was Lydians, Romans, Romans Lydians all the time. When I asked about that omission, she replied that that the "yunanis" and "romans" (meaning Byzantium) had contributed to the "rich fabric" of culture of Turkey. Of course never once was the significance of Christianity in Ephesus ever mentioned.
They have yet to find the icons. :-)
This is an unfair slur. I've visited many pre-Moslem sites in Turkey, both Hellenic and Byzantine, and they are well-cared for. Worth a lot in tourist $$$ too.
GGG Ping.
Obviously they were interested in preserving those sites
for future generations and wanted to prevent looting.
/s
unfair slur??? You must be joking.
In fact, less than 5% ---and probably less -- of the pre muslim sites are preserved. In the interior the "museums" are a joke and most of the pre islamic heritage (churches, monasteries, towns, whole ancient communities for God's sake! - have been destroyed, stolen, sold, much of the art/Christian iconography-objects d'art-- resides abroad who knows where.
This is true of much of the muslim world.
Ancient city of Zeugma on the way to becoming an archaeological park
Turkish Daily News | Saturday, July 22, 2006 | unattributed
Posted on 07/22/2006 3:56:15 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1670563/posts
Thanks for the pings. I'll put the standard message on when I get home. Meanwhile, I'll mention that we've already had something about this I believe...
[sound of 'Civ wandering back into the archives]
Somewhere...
I didn't ping the following topic either, saying it wasn't the first, but I've been having difficulty finding it. Maybe I will ping this one as an update to the earlier stories (nice photos, after all).
Ancient Harbors Rise Again
ScienceNOW Daily News | 9 January 2006 | By Michael Balter
Posted on 01/12/2006 7:56:19 AM EST by flevit
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1556597/posts
Dig for metro station uncovers long-lost port in IstanbulThey're calling the find the "Port of Theodosius," after the emperor of Rome and Byzantium who died in the year 395, and say the items they're digging up here could shed significant light on the commercial life of this ancient city. The excavations are being conducted in the Yenikapi area... So far, the archaeologists have found what they think might be a church, an old gate to the city and eight sunken ships, which archaeologist Cemal Pulak says he believes were all wiped out by a giant storm more than 1,000 years ago... Meanwhile, wall sections that are believed to be part of the Constantine Wall were unearthed in the western part of the excavation site, said Karamut. He added that underground graves dating to the fourth century were also unearthed in the same region.
Turkish Daily News
Thursday, June 22, 2006
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Byzantine Underground City And Cistern Unearthed In Talas (Turkey)
Turkish Daily News | 1-3-2006
Posted on 01/03/2006 2:17:59 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1551206/posts
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