Archaeologists working in Ephesus, Turkey, have uncovered a new section of the ancient city: a business and gastronomical district dating to the early Byzantine period.
The discovery was made by researchers from the Archaeological Institute of the ÖAW (Austrian Academy of Sciences), who were carrying out investigations in Ephesus as part of a wider project looking at changes in the city between the time of the Roman Empire and later antiquity.
The 2022 season focused on Domitian Square – a public space directly adjacent to the heart of the Roman city, the Upper Agora. Here, excavations uncovered a small building, covering an area of c.170m2, which contained several shops and businesses.
The archaeologists had expected to find evidence that the large Roman square had been partly built over in later antiquity, but were surprised by the level of preservation revealed.
They discovered that the rooms had been covered by a thick destruction layer dating to AD 614/615, underneath which was a spectacularly well-preserved assemblage of objects, including thousands of pieces of crockery, among them amphorae filled with salted mackerel and whole bowls containing the remains of cockles and oysters, as well as other food remains such as pits from peaches and olives.
Also found were c.600 small ‘pilgrim bottles’, which could be worn around the neck and would have been sold to pilgrims visiting the important Christian shrines and churches in Ephesus. The excavations also uncovered four gold coins (solidi) and several cash registers containing over 700 copper coins.
These finds made it possible to determine the use of each room in the building, revealing that the site included a cookshop, a storage room, a tavern, a shop selling lamps and Christian pilgrim souvenirs, and a workshop with an adjoining sales room.
However, activity in the bustling business district came to abrupt end in the 7th century. The details surrounding the dramatic event that left behind the thick layer of burnt material are still uncertain. It is not believed that the damage was related to an earthquake as there are no signs of shifted walls or floors.
Archaeologists did find spearheads and arrowheads that indicate that the destruction may have been the result of a military conflict or siege, perhaps connected to the Byzantine-Sasanian Wars.
It has previously been observed that Ephesus experienced a sharp decline in city size and quality of life in the 7th century, and this new find may shed important light on why this was the case.
The well-preserved rooms and objects also offer a unique snapshot of life in the ancient city at the time, and Sabine Ladstätter, who has led the excavations at Ephesus since 2009, described the business district as ‘the most significant discovery in the city since the now famous hillside houses were found 50 years ago’.
