Reconstructing the Past in a changing Landscape. Reflections on the Area of Ephesus and other Sites in Western Asia Minor

Year 2018, Volume: 16, 75 - 90, 15.11.2018

Andreas Külzer

https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.479912

Abstract

Landscapes
are in perpetual transformation. This happens partly due to natural
causes, like climatic
changes or changes of soil quality, for example by salinization, partly
due to human beings and their interventions, just to recall deforestation, or the regulation of
rivers. Among
others, the establishment of settlements and the construction of roads are
common efforts to transform a natural space into a cultural landscape. –
Historical geography tries to reconstruct the former state of a landscape,
focusing on a special period, for example Late Antiquity or the Middle
Byzantine Period. The reconstruction focus on different aspects, by using
various methods, scientific approaches like geodesy and geophysics as well as
historical or philological approaches like the analysis of written sources or
archaeological data. Different time levels may appear in the picture presented
as research result; some places are connected with diverse ideas and traditions
during their history. Both the author and the reader of an academic study must
be aware of the fact that subjective interpretation is always an
important factor of each historical and historic-geographical work. Among other
places in Western Anatolia, the area of Ephesus is a good example to illustrate
this: a changing landscape and divergent interpretations of literary sources
and the local archaeological material offer different pictures of the
settlement conditions in that area during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Keywords

Ephesus, Late Antiquity, middle Ages, research methods, space

Değişen Bir Bölgede Geçmişin Rekonstrüksiyonu. Efes Bölgesi ve Küçük Asya’nın Batısındaki Başka Bölgeler Hakkında Düşünceler

Abstract

Peyzajlar daimi bir değişim içindedirler. Bu kısmen iklimsel
değişimlerden veya tuzlanma örneğinde olduğu gibi toprak kalitesinin
değişimleri gibi doğal nedenlerden dolayı olmakta, kısmen de ormanların yok
edilmesi veya nehirlerin düzenlenmesi gibi insanlardan ve onların
müdahalelerinden dolayı meydana gelmektedir. Diğerleri arasında, yerleşimlerin
kuruluşu ve yolların yapılışı doğal bir yeri kültürel bir manzaraya dönüştürmek
için olağan girişimlerdir. Tarihi coğrafya belli bir döneme, örnek olarak Geç
Antik Dönem’e veya Orta Bizans Çağı’na, odaklanarak bir peyzajın önceki halinin
rekonstrüksiyonunu yapmaya çabalamaktadır. Rekonstrüksiyon çeşitli metotlar
kullanarak – yani jeodezi ve jeofizik gibi bilimsel yaklaşımlarla birlikte
yazılı kaynakların analizi veya arkeolojik bilgiler gibi tarihi veya filolojik
yaklaşımlar – farklı bakış açılarına odaklanmaktadır. Farklı zaman kademeleri
araştırma sonucu olarak sunulan resimde kendini gösterebilir; bazı yerlerin
tarihleri süresince çeşitli fikirler ve gelenekler ile bağlantılıdır. Bir
akademik çalışmanın hem yazarı hem de okuyucusu sübjektif yorumlamanın her
tarihi ve tarihi coğrafik çalışmanın daima önemli bir etkeni olduğu gerçeğinin
farkında olmalıdır. Batı Anadolu’daki başka yerlerin arasında Efes bölgesi şunu
göstermek için iyi bir örnektir: değişen bir peyzaj ve edebi kaynakların farklı
yorumları ve yerel arkeolojik materyal bu bölgedeki Geç Antik Dönem ve Orta Çağ
süresindeki yerleşim koşullarının farklı bir resmini sunmaktadır.

Keywords

Ephesos, Araştırma Metotları, Uzay, Orta çağ, Geç Antik Çağ

References

• P. Brown, Authority and the Sacred: Aspects of th Christianisation of the Roman World. Cambridge 1995.
• H. Brückner – A. Herda – M. Kerschner – M. Müllenhoff – F. Stock, Life cycle of estuarine islands: From the formation to the landlocking of former islands in the environs of Miletos and Ephesos in western Asia Minor (Turkey). Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports 12 (2017) 876-894.
• A. Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, AD 395-700. Abingdon 2nd ed. 2012.
• M. Cassidy-Welch, Space and Place in Medieval Contexts. Parergon 27/2 (2010) 1-12.
• J. T. Clarke, Gargara, Lamponia and Pionia: Towns of the Troad. American Journal of Archaeology 4 (1888) 291-319.
• J. M. Cook, The Troad. An Archaeological and Topographical study. Oxford 1973.
• A. Dan, Die heiligen Kaystros und Kilbis im Byzanz der Makedonischen Zeit: Anmerkungen zum Parisinus Suppl. Gr. 247 Fol. 18r-v, in: A. Külzer – M. St. Popović (eds.), Space, Landscapes and Settlements in Byzantium: Studies in Historical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, Presented to Johannes Koder. Vienna - Novi Sad 2017, 75-112, 447-466.
• E. Doğer, İlk İskanlardan Yunan İşgaline Kadar Menemen ya da Tarhaniyat Tarihi. İzmir 1998. - Including a Map: Eski Menemen Kazası (Geç Kalkolitik - Cumhuriet Dönemi).
• J. Dünne – St. Günzel (Hgg.), Raumtheorie: Grundlagentexte aus Philosophie und Kulturwissenschaften. Frankfurt a.M. 2006.
• B. Geyer, Physical Factors in the Evolution of the Landscape and Land Use, in: A. E. Laiou (ed.), The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century. I Washington, D.C. 2002, 31-45.
• S. Hood, Isles of Refuge in the Early Byzantine Period. Annual of the British School at Athens 65 (1970) 37-45.
• J. Koder, The Urban Character of the Early Byzantine Empire: Some Reflections on a Settlement Geographical Approach to the Topic, in: The 17th International Byzantine Congress. Major Papers. New Rochelle, N.Y. 1986, 155-187.
• O Ette, Roland Barthes: Landschaften der Theorie. Konstanz 2013.
• D. H. French, Roman Roads and Milestones of Asia Minor. Vol. 3 Milestones. Fasc. 3.9 An Album of Maps. British Institute at Ankara. Electronic Monograph 9. [Ankara] 2016.
• D. H. French, Roman Roads and Milestones of Asia Minor. Vol. 4 The Roads. Fasc. 4.1 Notes on the Itineraria. British Institute at Ankara. Electronic Monograph 10. [Ankara] 2016.
• S. Günel, Vorbericht über die Oberflächenbegehungen in den Provinze Aydın und Muğla. Anatolia Antiqua 11 (2003) 75-100.
• L. Hopfgartner, Die Entdeckung des spätbyzantinischen und genuesischen Ephesos. Studi genuensi 4 (1962/1963) 17-81.
• J. Keil, Orthygia, die Geburtsstätte der ephesischen Artemis. Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 21/22 (1922-1924) 113-119.
• F. Kirbihler, Le Caÿstre et Éphèse. Un exemple d’interaction entre une rivère et ses riverains à l’époque romaine, in: A. Dan - St. Lebreton (eds.), Études des fleuves d’Asie Mineure dans l’Antiquité. II. Arras Cedex 2018, 133-160.
• J. Koder, Mönchtum und Kloster als Faktoren der byzantinischen Siedlungsgeographie. Byzantium and the North. Acta Byzantina Fennica 7 (1993-1994) 7-44.
• E. Kirsten, Möglichkeiten und Aufgaben der Historischen Geographie des Altertums in der Gegenwart, in: Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums 1. Geographica Historica 4. Stuttgart 1987, 1-50.
• J. Koder, Land use and settlement: theoretical approaches, in: J. F. Haldon (ed.), General issues in the study of medieval logistics: sources, problems and methodologies. History of Warfare 36. Leiden - Boston 2006, 159-183.
• J. Koder, Handelsgüter und Verkehrswege - Problemstellung, Quellenlage, Methoden, in: E. Kislinger – J. Koder – A. Külzer (Hgg.), Handelsgüter und Verkehrswege. Aspekte der Warenversorgung im östlichen Mittelmeerraum, 4. bis 15. Jahrhundert. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Kl., Denkschriften 388. Wien 2010, 13-24.
• J. Koder, Regional Networks in Asia Minor during the Middle Byzantine Period (Seventh-Eleventh Centuries). An Approach, in: C. Morrisson (ed.), Trade and Markets in Byzantium. Washington, D.C. 2012, 147-175.
• A. Külzer, Möglichkeiten zur Rekonstruktion historischer Landschaften: Die Historische Geographie, in: Ch. Gastgeber – Ch. Glassner – K. Holzner-Tobisch – R. Spreitzer (Hgg.), Fragmente. Der Umgang mit lückenhafter Quellenüberlieferung in der Mittelalterforschung. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Kl., Denkschriften 415. Wien 2010, 173-184.
• A. Külzer, Von Assos nach Pergamon und Ephesos: Betrachtungen zu den Straßen Westkleinasiens in römischer und byzantinischer Zeit. Asia Minor Studien 78 (2016) 185-204.
• A. Külzer, Streifzüge durch das Tal des Kaÿstrios (Küçük Menderes): Historisch-geographische Impressionen aus Westanatolien, in:
• A. Külzer – M. St. Popović (eds.), Space, Landscapes and Settlements in Byzantium: Studies in Historical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, Presented to Johannes Koder. Vienna - Novi Sad 2017, 195-214, 475-478.
• A. Külzer, Jenseits von Ephesos: Hafenanlagen an der kleinasiatischen Westküste in spätantiker und byzantinischer Zeit. Gateways: North meets East 3 (2016) [2018] 49-73.
• A. Külzer, Herbert Hunger und die Historische Geographie: Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft der Tabula Imperii Byzantini, in: A. Külzer (Hg.), Herbert Hunger und die Wiener Schule der Byzantinistik: Rückblick und Ausblick. Wien.
• A. Külzer, Aspekte der Christianisierung der frühbyzantinischen Provinz Asia. Asia Minor Studien.
• A. Külzer, Harbours, landing places and communication routes in Nortḫwestern Anatolia: The Gulf of Adramyttium (Edremit körfezi) in late Antiquity and Byzantine times, in: F. Daim – J. Preiser-Kapeller (eds.), Seasides of Byzantium: harbours and anchorages of a Mediterranean Empire. Mainz.
• S. Ladstätter – W. Prochaska – H. Brückner – F. Stock – S. Seren – C. Kurtze – N. Gail, Forschungen auf dem Kumtepe. Forschungen in Ephesos. Gesellschaft der Freunde von Ephesos. Information über den Stand der Ausgrabungen 1/2014, 1-4.
• S. Ladstätter, Hafen und Stadt von Ephesos in hellenistischer Zeit. Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 85 (2016) 233-272.
• H. Lefebvre, The Production of Space, translated by D. Nicholson-Smith. Maiden - Oxford 1991. Original version: La production de l’espace. Paris 1974.
• R. Meriç, Zur Lage des ephesischen Außenhafens Panormos, in: Komitee FS Hermann Vetters (Hg.), Lebendige Altertumswissenschaft. Festschrift H. Vetters. Wien 1985, 30-32.
• R. Meriç: Das Hinterland von Ephesos. Archäologisch-topographische Forschungen im Kaystros-Tal. Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes, Ergänzungsheft 12. Wien 2009.
• R. Meriç, Hermus (Gediz) Valley in Western Turkey: Results of an Archaeological and Historical Survey. İstanbul 2018. St. Mitchell, A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-641. The Transformation of the Ancient World. Oxford 2007.
• M. Müllenhoff, Geoarchäologische, sedimentologische und morpho¬dynamische Untersuchungen im Mündungsgebiet des Büyük Menderes (Mäander), Westtürkei. Marburger Geographische Schriften 141. Marburg 2005.
• Wissenschaftlicher Jahresbericht des Österreichischen Arcäologischen Instituts. Wien 2014.
• Wissenschaftlicher Jahresbericht des Österreichischen Arcäologischen Instituts. Wien 2015.
• Wissenschaftlicher Jahresbericht des Österreichischen Arcäologischen Instituts. Wien 2016.
• Ş. Pfeiffer-Taş, Suggestions as to the localization of the harbour of Ayasoluk and the Italian settlement during the Aydınoğulları dynasty from a new perspective, in: M. Sariyannis (ed.), New Trends in Ottoman Studies. Papers presented at the 20th CIÉPO Symposium Rethymno, 27 June - 1 July 2012. Rethymno 2014, 1087-1107.
• F. Pirson, Elaia, der (maritime) Satellit Pergamons, in: S. Ladstätter – F. Pirson – Th. Schmidts (Hgg.), Häfen und Hafenstädte im östlichen Mittelmeerraum von der Antike bis in byzantinische Zeit. Neue Entdeckungen und aktuelle Forschungs-ansätze. Harbors and Harbor Cities in the Eastern Mediterranean from Antiquity to the Byzantine Period: Recent Discoveries and Current Approaches. İstanbul, 30.5. - 1.6. 2011. I. Byzas 19. İstanbul 2014, 339-356.
• M. St. Popović, Historische Geographie und Digital Humanities: Eine Fallstudie zum spätbyzantinischen und osmanischen Makedonien. Peleus 61. Wiesbaden 2014.
• E. Ragia, Η κοιλάδα του κάτω Μαιάνδρου στη Βυζαντινή Εποχή, ca. 600-1300. Γεωγραφία και Ιστορία. Thessalonikē 2009.
• P. Scherrer, Von Apaša nach Hagios Theologos. Die Siedlungsgeschichte des Raumes Ephesos von prähistorischer bis in byzantinische Zeit unter dem Aspekt der maritimen und fluvialen Bedingungen. Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 76 (2007) 321-351.
• H. Schliemann, Reise in der Troas im Mai 1881. Mit einer Karte. Leipzig 1881.
• M. Steskal, Ephesos and its Harbors: A City in Search of its Place, in: S. Ladstätter – F. Pirson – Th. Schmidts (Hgg.), Häfen und Hafenstädte im östlichen Mittelmeerraum von der Antike bis in byzantinische Zeit. Neue Entdeckungen und aktuelle Forschungsansätze. Harbors and Harbor Cities in the Eastern Mediterranean from Antiquity to the Byzantine Period: Recent Discoveries and Current Approaches. İstanbul, 30.5. - 1.6. 2011. I. Byzas 19. İstanbul 2014, 325-338.
• F. Stock – A. Pint – B. Horejs – S. Ladstätter – H. Brückner, In search of the harbours: New evidence of Late Roman and Byzantine harbours of Ephesus. Quaternary International 312 (2013) 57-69.
• F. Stock – M. Kerschner – J. C. Kraft – A. Pint – P. Frenzel – H. Brückner, The palaeogeographies of Ephesos (Turkey), its harbours, and the Artemision - a geoarchaeological reconstruction for the timespan 1500-300 BC. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie 58 (2014) Suppl. 2, 33-66.
• I. (G.) Telelēs, Μετεωρολογικὰ φαινόμενα καὶ κλίμα στὸ Βυζάντιο. I-II. Athen 2004.
• I. G. Telelis, Climatic Fluctuations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East AD 300-1500 from Byzantine Documentary and Proxy Physical Paleoclimatic Evidence: A Comparision. Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 58 (2008) 167-207.
• P. Thonemann, The Maeander Valley: A Historical Geography From Antiquity to Byzantium. Cambridge 2011.
• E. Tok, Arvalya Basilica, in: A. Külzer – M. St. Popović (eds.), Space, Landscapes and Settlements in Byzantium: Studies in Historical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, Presented to Johannes Koder. Vienna - Novi Sad 2017, 373-384, 522-524.
• F. R. Trombley, Paganism in the Greek World at the End of Antiquity: The Case of Rural Anatolia and Greece. Harvard Theological Review 78 (1985) 327-352.
• M. Veikou, ‘Rural Towns’ and ‘In-between Spaces’: Settlement Patterns in Byzantine Epirus (7th - 11th centuries) in an Interdisciplinary Approach. Archeologia Medievale 36 (2009) 43-54.
• M. Veikou, Urban or Rural? Theoretical Remarks on the Settlement Patterns in Byzantine Epirus (7th - 11th centuries). Byzantinische Zeitschrift 103 (2010) 171-193.
• M. Veikou, Byzantine Epirus: A Topography of Transformation. Settlements from the 7th to the 12th centuries. Leiden - New York 2012.
• M. Veikou, Byzantine Histories, Settlement Stories: Kastra, ‘Isles of Refuge’ and ‘Unspecified Settlements’ as In-between or Third Spaces, in: A. Kioussopoulou (ed.), Οι Βυζαντινές πόλεις, 8ος - 15ος αιώνας. Rethymno 2012, 159-206.
• M. Veikou, Settlements in the Greek Countryside from the 4th to the 9th centuries: forms and patterns. Antiquité Tardive 21 (2013) 125-133.
• M. Veikou, Space in Texts and Space as Text: A new approach to Byzantine spatial notions. Scandinavian Journal of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 2 (2016) 143-176.
• M. Veikou, The Reconstruction of Byzantine Lived Spaces: A Challenge for Survey Archaeology.
• M. Veikou – A. Beihammer, ‘Spatial’ Identities: Literary Spaces and Human Agencies in Byzantine Smyrna through the Cartulary of Lembos Monastery (End of 12th - 13th Centuries), in: A. Külzer – M. St. Popović (eds.), Space, Landscapes and Settlements in Byzantium: Studies in Historical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, Presented to Johannes Koder. Vienna - Novi Sad 2017, 385-406, 525.
• M. Whitby, John of Ephesus and the Pagans: Pagan Survivals in the Sixth Century, in: M. Salamon (ed.), Paganism in the Later Roman Empire and in Byzantium. Cracow 1991, 111-131.