Journals / Anadolu / 2021 / Sayı: 47
The terrace basilica and other Christian cult buildings at Doliche
- Journal
- Anadolu
- Issue
- 2021 · Sayı: 47
- Pages
- 77–96
- DOI
- —
Abstract
In 2015, a new research project has started to explore the ancient city of Doliche which is located at the outskirts of Gaziantep. The project aims to investigate the urban development, urban life, and material culture of Doliche in a holistic and diachronic perspective. It is run by the Forschungsstelle Asia Minor, Münster University, in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry for Tourism and Culture, and it is. Among the main results of the first three campaigns was the discovery of a large early Christian basilica at a slope in the southern part of the of the city. By now, approximately one third of the building have been excavated. Pillaging, the extraction of stones for reuse, and erosion have caused substantial damage, but the remains of the church are still impressive, and they give important new evidence for the development of urban church architecture in late antiquity. The original basilica was constructed in the later fourth century, and it was finally abandoned in the seventh century. During the life span of the church, the layout and the decoration underwent important changes. The basilica has three aisles and an additional porticus running along its southern side. Two superimposed mosaic floors are preserved in the central nave, both of which display strictly geometric patterns. They can be dated to the second half of the fourth century. An interesting discovery is a raised platform in the central nave that was fenced off with screens. This is a bema, a rare architectural feature that is known from late antique churches of northwest Syria. Per town one church with bema existed, usually the most significant and largest. It`s precise function, however, is a hotly debated topic. Apparently, the clergy was seated there during parts of the service, facing the sanctuary. The presence of a bema in Doliche is a surprise. So far, bemata are almost exclusively attested in the territory of the Antioch on the Orontes. Doliche, however, is far from Antioch and none of the many churches in region around Doliche have a bema. The newly discovered bema raises questions about connections between the cities of Antioch and Doliche and sheds new light on the complex networks of ritual praxis in late antiquity. Of the apse, only a small section has been excavated, but it already offers valuable information about the building history of the church. Three different building phases can be distinguished. In the final phase, which can tentatively be dated to the late fifth or early sixth century CE, the floor of the apse towered 0,7 m above the nave and was covered with a mosaic showing a Nilotic scene fishes, birds, and lotus plants framed by bands of geometric ornaments. Particularly revealing was the further excavation of the northern aisle. Beneath up to 3,50 m soil the original mosaic floor that dates to the first phase of the church is still well preserved. A destruction layer with thousands of roof tile fragments that were part of a timber and tile roof covered the floor. The excavations also revealed later installations that changed the original layout and separated a large section of the northern aisle from the central nave. The basilica is not the first Christian cult building known from Doliche. Two rock churches are located in the area of the ancient necropolis. They can tentatively be dated to the Middle Byzantine period. Moreover, remains of another late antique church were discovered during construction work in the area of the modern village of Dülük in the 1950s, but no traces of it have been preserved.
Özet
Yukarı Dicle Vadisi ile Yukarı Habur Bölgesi arasında bulunan Tur Abdin dağ sırası üzerinde bulunan Tarin Mağarası yontmataş buluntuları Çanak-Çömleksiz Neolitik Dönem’in erken evrelerine ve Paleolitik Çağ’a tarihlenmektedir. Bir mağara ve terası üzerinde bulunan yerleşim yerinde yontmataş aletler dışında başka bir buluntuya rastlanmamıştır. Söz konusu mağaranın çevresinde ele geçen Çanak-Çömleksiz Neolitik Dönem yontmataş aletler Güneydoğu Anadolu’da daha çok höyükleşme konteksti üzerinden tanımlanan bu dönemin bölgede daha dağlık alanlarında bulunan mağaralarda veya mağara teraslarında da farklı bir model olarak yaşanmış olabileceğini düşündürmektedir. Ayrıca aynı bölgede bulunan derin vadiler içerisinde veya mağara teraslarında tespit edilen diğer yontmataş buluntu alanları Geç Epipaleolitik ve Neolitik Çağ’da söz konusu dağlık bölgede düşünüldüğünden daha yoğun bir yerleşmenin söz konusu olduğunu destekler niteliktedir.