Hadrianopolis IV: Early Byzantine mosaics and frescoes from northwestern central Turkey

by: Pataci, S. Lafli, E.

Description
Hadrianopolis is located on the principal western route from the Central Anatolian plain through the mountains to Bartın and the Black Sea, 3 km west of modern Eskipazar, near Karabük, in Roman southwestern Paphlagonia. Though small, it dominated a rich agricultural and vinicultural enclave on the borders between Paphlagonia, Bithynia and Galatia. Between 2005 and 2008, four survey, excavation and restoration campaigns were conducted on the site by Dokuz Eylül University. The 2005 surveys identified the remains of at least 24 buildings, many of which were paved with extensive mosaic floors. Following the publication of the inscriptions (Hadrianopolis I), glass (Hadrianopolis II), and pottery finds (Hadrianopolis III), the present volume is devoted to these early Byzantine mosaics and frescoes from this site, dated mainly to the 6th and 7th centuries AD. The most remarkable of these is the floor mosaic of the nave of the Basilica B, which displays personifications of the four rivers of paradise: Euphrates, Tigris, Phison and Geon.

AUTHOR
Dr Sami Patacı is a classical archaeologist at the University of Ardahan. He graduated from Ege University in 2003, and holds an MA (2007) and a PhD (2012) in Classical Archaeology from Dokuz Eylül University. He has been directing an archaeological survey in Ardahan, northeastern Turkey since 2014, and is the field director of the excavations at Ani on the Turkish-Armenian border in northeastern Turkey.

Professor Ergün Laflı is a classical archaeologist at Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir, chairs the Division for Medieval Archaeology and is the director of the Center of the Archaeology of Western Anatolia (EKVAM). He holds a first degree from the University of Ankara (1996), an MA from the University of Tübingen (1999) and a PhD from the University of Cologne (2003), all in Classical Archaeology. He directed the archaeological field project in Hadrianopolis between 2005 and 2009.

REVIEW
?It is important to know about the findings from Hadrianopolis. … Anyone interested in Byzantine mosaics and frescoes or in floor mosaics and wall paintings from the period will be interested in this book.? Professor Liz James, University of Sussex

Contents
List of Figures.................................................................................................................................................................... ix
List of Tables..................................................................................................................................................................xviii
List of Plates .................................................................................................................................................................... xix
Preface.............................................................................................................................................................................. xxi
Abstracts and Key Words in English, French, German, Italian and Turkish.......................................................... xxii
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 1
I Hadrianopolis in the Early Byzantine Period............................................................................................................... 7
Hadrianopolis and Field Research in Southwestern Paphlagonia................................................................................... 7
Hadrianopolis and Southwestern Paphlagonia in the Early and Middle Byzantine Periods........................................... 7
Find Spots of Mosaics and Frescoes in Hadrianopolis and Their Characteristics........................................................ 12
Baths A ..................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Baths B..................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Basilica A.................................................................................................................................................................. 13
Basilica B ................................................................................................................................................................. 13
The Apsidal Building ............................................................................................................................................... 13
The Domus ............................................................................................................................................................... 13
The Chora of Hadrianopolis..................................................................................................................................... 13
II Mosaics from Baths A.................................................................................................................................................. 15
Baths A.......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Tesserae and Mosaic Fragments Discovered in Baths A............................................................................................... 22
The Opus Sectile Pavement in Room 8......................................................................................................................... 24
The Mosaic Floor of Room 11 ...................................................................................................................................... 30
Parallels for the Mosaic of Room 11............................................................................................................................. 30
III Mosaics from Baths B ................................................................................................................................................ 51
Baths B.......................................................................................................................................................................... 51
The Mosaic Floor of Room 5........................................................................................................................................ 53
The Mosaic Floor of Room 2........................................................................................................................................ 55
Evaluation of the Mosaics from Baths B and Their Parallels....................................................................................... 55
IV Mosaics from Basilica A............................................................................................................................................. 61
Basilica A ...................................................................................................................................................................... 61
The Mosaic Floor of the North Aisle ............................................................................................................................ 61
The Mosaic Floor of the South Aisle ............................................................................................................................ 81
The Mosaic Floor of the Nave ...................................................................................................................................... 88
The Mosaic Floor of the Bema.................................................................................................................................... 105
The Mosaic Floor of the Narthex................................................................................................................................ 110
Evaluation of the Mosaics from Basilica A and Their Parallels – Border Designs..................................................... 114
Panels.......................................................................................................................................................................... 119
Animal-Scenes and Iconography ................................................................................................................................ 123
V Mosaics from Basilica B............................................................................................................................................. 151
Basilica B.................................................................................................................................................................... 151
Mosaic Floor of the North Aisle.................................................................................................................................. 151
Mosaic Floor of the South Aisle.................................................................................................................................. 163
Mosaic Floor of the Nave............................................................................................................................................ 171
Mosaics in the Apse and Bema ................................................................................................................................... 181
viii
Hadrianopolis IV
The Mosaic Floor of the South Aisle?s Second Phase................................................................................................. 188
Iconographic Analysis of the Mosaics of Basilica B .................................................................................................. 191
VI Mosaics from the Apsidal Building ......................................................................................................................... 209
Apsidal Building ......................................................................................................................................................... 209
Apsidal Mosaic............................................................................................................................................................ 209
VII Mosaics and Frescoes from the Domus..................................................................................................................211
The Domus.................................................................................................................................................................. 211
The Mosaic Floor of Room 1b.................................................................................................................................... 213
The Mosaic Floor of Room 6...................................................................................................................................... 215
Mosaic Fragments....................................................................................................................................................... 224
Evaluation of the Mosaics from the Domus and Their Parallels – Border Designs.................................................... 225
Frescoes of Rooms 3 and 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 229
VIII Conclusions............................................................................................................................................................ 237
Appendix: A Lead Plate with an Inscription in the Archaeological Museum of Izmir ........................................... 243
Tables............................................................................................................................................................................... 245
Plates ............................................................................................................................................................................... 267
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................................... 293

Hadrianopolis IV: Early Byzantine mosaics and frescoes from northwestern central Turkey

by: Pataci, S. Lafli, E.

• ISBN-13: 9781407315263 / 978-1-4073-1526-3
• ISBN-03: 1407315269 / 1-4073-1526-9
• Bar Publishing, Oxford, 2019