From 20.08.2022 to 03.10.2022, the Directorate General of Monuments and Museums in Turkey and the Asia Minor Research Center of the University of Münster carried out excavation, restoration, documentation and finds processing work in Doliche.

The main objective of the 2022 campaign was to continue the investigation of the western part of the Roman city center on field 414. This 7250 square meter field was acquired in 2020 with funds from the University of Münster. It directly adjoins the Roman bath complex to the west, which had been investigated since 2017. Based on the results of the previous geophysical prospections, test trenches were dug on the new field for the first time in 2021. They revealed the remains of a monumental temple from the Roman period with a large apse in the west. The focus of the 2022 campaign was on further research into this important building.

The entire southern side room of the apse, the corridor between the apse and the side room and parts of the southern aisle of the cella were excavated. In addition, the foundation trench of the southern outer colonnade was excavated.

The dimensions of the side room are 2.9 x 5.2 m. The western rear wall and parts of the southern wall are carved into the rock. Massive ashlars lie above the rock. The south wall, which forms the outer wall of the cella, is 2 m wide. The room is connected to the apse by a corridor, which was walled up in a later phase of use. In the east, a door opened towards the southern aisle of the cella. The original decoration of the room has been completely lost. Above all, however, the floor is missing. Today, only the roughly worked rock floor is visible, which slopes down from east to west. In ancient times, the floor must have been much higher, as indicated by the threshold between the adjoining room and the cella, which is still in situ. In front of the threshold, parts of a mosaic floor were uncovered in the southern aisle of the temple. The mosaic shows geometric ornaments made of black and red tesserae on a white background. The main motif is a sequence of swastika meanders and square fields filled with a flower. The geometric pattern is framed by a wide diamond-shaped band, which is also decorated with flowers.

To the north, the mosaic ends at a foundation of ashlar stones set into the rock. This marks the course of the portico that separated the southern aisle from the nave. The original floor of the nave has not been preserved. As there are no traces of mosaics, not even the mortar bed of a mosaic, it seems certain that the floor of the nave was covered with slabs of precious stones, probably marble, which could be easily removed. The same applies to the apse, where the roughly smoothed rock floor is now exposed.

Finds of pottery, glass and iron tools indicate that the apse and the adjoining rooms were still in use in the early Islamic and middle Byzantine periods. By this time, all elements of the original decoration had been removed. The apse was divided into two rooms by a wall of rubble and spolia running east-west, the corridor between the apse and the southern side room was blocked off and the corridors connecting the apse and cella were closed off. This created a flight of separate rooms that were accessible from the east.

A 2.1 m wide foundation trench was dug into the rock 2.5 m from the south wall of the cella. The trench is in line with the foundation trench of the same width discovered 15 m further east in 2021. It can be assumed that this foundation supported a colonnade that surrounded the temple. After the temple collapsed, the ashlars of the foundation were removed and the trench was filled in again. Remains of a medieval settlement have been preserved in this area, which appear to be contemporaneous with the late reuse of the apse and the side room of the temple. Remarkable are the finds of numerous large architectural fragments, which will make it possible to reconstruct the building.

In the northwest corner of the cella, an area measuring 10 m by 5 m was excavated. Here, the northern side chamber of the apse, the northern cella wall, and the area north of the cella wall were examined. The situation reflects the southwestern edge of the temple. Like the southern side chamber, the northern side chamber is also 2.9 m wide and partially carved into the rock. To the south, it is bounded by a massive construction made of large ashlar stones that supported the roof of the apse. To the north, the 1.7 m wide cella wall closes off the side chamber. All elements of the room’s decoration, including the floor, have been removed.

North of the Cella wall, a section of the temple’s western rear wall running from south to north was uncovered. East of the wall, a shallow drainage channel carved into the bedrock and covered with stone slabs was found. It also runs from west to east and likely served to divert rainwater from the temple’s foundations. East of the channel, a wall made of spolia with unclear function was discovered, dating to the early Byzantine period or later. In front of the wall, the bedrock was vertically cut away. This section suggests that the foundation trench for the colonnade begins at this point.

A trench in the central part of the temple’s cella did not reveal any structural features related to the temple, as the bedrock is covered by only a thin soil layer of 0.7 m. However, the bedrock was roughly leveled to support the cella floor. After the floor, which apparently consisted of stone and marble slabs, had been robbed out, several cisterns were carved into the rock. Five cisterns were found in this trench. They were all completely filled in. Since the openings of the cisterns are very close together – between 1.5 m and 2 m apart – it must be assumed that the cisterns are interconnected underground and form a single large reservoir.

A 10 m by 2 m foundation trench running north-south was expected to provide information about the northeastern part of the temple. A row of ashlar blocks has been preserved. The foundation belongs to the eastern end of the temple and likely served as support for the cella wall. West of the foundation trench, a cistern was carved into the rock during the Middle Ages. East of the section, at a higher level, runs a medieval sewer line, and a kiln made of reused bricks was also uncovered.

Significant new insights were gained regarding the development of Doliche during the Roman Imperial period and Late Antiquity. The work has substantially expanded knowledge about the Roman Imperial-era temple discovered the previous year and brought important new findings to light. The results show that the temple is one of the largest in Southeast Anatolia. It is a three-aisled building that terminates in an apse to the west, flanked by side chambers to the north and south.
The total width of the cella measures 25.5 m; including an outer colonnade, the building must have been approximately 40 m wide. The length cannot be precisely determined, but the looted foundation trenches appear to belong to the temple, suggesting it was at least 60 m long. For understanding sacred architecture of the Roman period, this temple is of utmost importance. Analysis of the architectural decoration has shown that the temple was built during the Antonine period, i.e., around the mid-2nd century AD. The temple must have been destroyed in 253 AD during the Persian conquest of the city. Although most of the temple’s decoration has been lost due to extensive spoliation and reuse in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, portions of the original mosaic floor have been uncovered. And since few temple mosaic floors are known to exist, this represents a significant discovery.
It remains unclear whom the massive temple was dedicated to. However, the apse and the size of the structure suggest it was a temple for the imperial cult.

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