As in the previous year, the excavation work in 2019 focussed on two areas in the city, one on the southern slope and the other on the eastern plateau of Keber Tepe. In addition, an intensive survey was continued in order to determine the extent of the city and clarify the character of the buildings. Geophysical prospections were also carried out.
Excavations on the southern slope of Keber Tepe: the hillside church and a smithy
Parts of a three-aisled early Christian basilica were excavated on the southern slope of Keber Tepe in 2015 and 2017, and further research into this was the focus of work in 2019. Two large cuts were made to extend the already uncovered area to the east. The aim was to investigate the central nave and the side aisles up to the apse as well as parts of the apse itself. Similar to the results of previous years, the preservation of the church building varied greatly. Nevertheless, it was possible to gain far-reaching insights into the shape and chronology of the church. The eastern end of the nave was uncovered. As expected, the floor is covered with the same mosaic that was uncovered further to the west of the nave in 2015 and 2017. In the south of the building, parts of the chancel have been uncovered beyond the nave. Although this area in particular has been heavily disturbed by stone theft and robbery excavations, the findings nevertheless allow important conclusions to be drawn about the building history of the church. At least three construction phases can be distinguished.
Phase 1 (later 4th century AD): The nave and chancel were only separated by a step. Behind this was another mosaic that covered the space up to the base of the apse, where there appears to have been another step. However, the later remodelling has not yet allowed any precise conclusions to be drawn about the design of the apse.
Phase 2 (later 4th century AD): Probably at the same time as the installation of a new mosaic floor in the nave, the chancel was raised by placing two rows of large-format limestone slabs over the mosaic in the choir area. Apart from a central passageway, the altar area was fenced off. There is no evidence of the design of the asps during this phase.
Phase 3 (6th century AD?): The altar area was again raised considerably and was now 0.7 metres above the floor of the central nave. Two new rows of spolia steps provided access. The apse was decorated with a new mosaic. The choir area, on the other hand, appears to have been covered with marble slabs. Spolia were built into the southern apse wall to create a new threshold that provided access to the apse side room.
The mosaic floor from the first phase of the church’s decoration is well preserved in the eastern section of the northern aisle. Remarkable is a water channel that runs parallel to the stylobate, the column position that separates the side aisle and centre aisle, and appears to be part of the original furnishings. It ends in a rectangular basin set into the floor directly in front of the later ashlar wall. The question is whether this water installation served ritual purposes. A column base standing upside down next to the basin apparently served as a table. In a final remodelling phase, the column position was also added to the central nave in this area, although a door probably still allowed a connection. A horizon of destruction consisting of thousands of roof tile fragments is clearly visible in the northern aisle. Numerous fragments of glass lamps and window glass were also found. The finds date the final destruction and abandonment of the church to the 7th century AD.
Due to its proximity to the surface, only minor remains of the southern aisle have been preserved. However, the state of preservation improves towards the east, where the terrain rises significantly. Parts of the apse side room were uncovered here. It is wider than the side aisle and covered with a simple mosaic. The room opens onto the side aisle, with only a central pillar marking the transition. In view of the outstanding quality of the fragments of the mosaic decoration of the side aisle preserved further west, the simple decoration of the important apse side room is surprising. It is reasonable to assume a late remodelling phase.
In a search cut on the slope above the church, sections of two rooms of a building from the early Byzantine period were uncovered in 2015. A layer of fire debris indicated destruction by fire. A large number of metal artefacts were found, including many locks and keys. In order to investigate the building further, a cut was made that extended the search section to the east. Here it was possible to almost completely uncover two adjoining and interconnected rooms. Once again, large quantities of iron artefacts were recovered, including tools and tool fragments. In the western room, which had already been partially excavated in 2015, it was also possible to identify a furnace that still contained large quantities of charcoal. It is therefore clear that the building served as a forge. The majority of the iron objects were either old iron that was to be melted down again or newly forged objects. The smithy is probably also associated with numerous smithy slags that were recovered from the backfill of the church further down the slope. Numerous metal parts and other small artefacts were also found in the adjoining room to the east. A thick layer of collapsed wall stones and the large number of objects scattered across the floor in both rooms indicate that the entire building was destroyed by an earthquake in the 7th century AD.
Excavations on the eastern plateau of Keber Tepe
The Keber Tepe forms a flat plateau to the east, which is the largest flat area in the city centre. Parts of a Roman Imperial bathing complex were uncovered here during the 2017 and 2018 campaigns. The main aim of the work in 2019 was to completely uncover the area with the swimming pool in order to gain a better idea of the use of this relatively well-preserved feature and its destruction. Within a relatively large section, both the swimming pool and the surrounding corridor were excavated down to the north-west corner. The floor of the corridor is largely destroyed, remains of the mosaic are only preserved in the north. All the rising walls and a large part of the foundations have been lost through stone robbery. However, the brick wall surrounding the 25 m2 swimming pool is still well preserved. Access was via steps from the north. The water could be drained to the south via a pipe system. Numerous fragments of building components were again discovered in the backfill of the pool, which suggest a dating of the building to the 2nd century AD.
Another cut was used to further explore the south of the themed complex. Over large parts of the cut surface, a partly heavily destroyed bedding of cement was encountered, on which a partially preserved brick pavement once lay, which carried hypocausts. This confirms that the hot baths were located in the south. Overall, it can be said that the symmetrical structure of the complex was based on Roman models. The mosaic decoration and the building ornamentation date the baths to the 2nd/3rd century A.D. In the course of the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., the entire complex was systematically looted in order to obtain building materials. Even the foundations of the walls were largely looted, so that the building is only preserved in negative form. There is no evidence of any later use of the site.
In 2017, around 1,400 seal impressions from the Hellenistic and Roman eras were found in relocated layers to the east of the baths. This indicated that the city’s archives were located here. However, only the remains of foundations made of large ashlars were preserved from the buildings in this area. A new cut was made here to the east. The picture was similar to that of the neighboring area. Rough excavations had caused massive destruction, sparing only the lowest layer of massive foundations. Nevertheless, it was again possible to recover around 1400 seal impressions from the fill layers, many of which were stamped with official seals. Due to the concentration of finds in a small area, there can hardly be any doubt that the archive was located directly in this area. The analysis of the seal impressions promises to provide important information about the period of use and the function of the archive. The seal motifs can also provide information about the religious and cultural environment of the city.
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