,,

-------.._ l932_F1:e~~

7IRST GENERAL REPORT ON THE EXCAVATIONS AT ANTIOCH ON THE ORONTES

MARCH***JUNE 19 32

G. W. ELDERKIN

1

The first campaign of excavation at Antioch

was nec~ssarily ono of organization and orientation.

Sinco there had boon no systomatic oxplorntion of the

city and its vicinity, the expedition lacked the ad­

vantage of previous soundings of the sito. Tho

selection of tho first area for excavation ~as made

by Mr. Fisher of the .A.mericnn School at Jerusalem

who uas field-director during tho first season. Ho

had nrrivod in Antioch well in advance of the rest

of tho stnff, which reached the city on March 16th,

and before that date had not only loasod tho land to

be excavated but had also rontod a house as head­

quarters in tho center of tho town. This house was

largo onough to accommodate all except one of the

members of tho staff besides affording space for

an office and a drafting room.

pletcly equipped by Mr. Fisher.

Tho latter was com­

The office served

also as n library in which were placed the archaeo­

logical books loaned by Princoton University and

members of the staff, and a fe~ ~orks purchased with

the funds of the expodition. All members of the staff

took their meals at headquarters for which as well as

2.

for their lodgings thoy paid out of thoir own funds.

Mr. Schirmer who ~as photographer of the expedition

provided his own transportation to and from the

United States besides supplying two cameras, the films

therefor and paying for tho development of the films .

THE MODERN TOWN OF ANTIOCH

Modern Antioch, a city of 35,000 inhabitants,

is beautifully situated at the foot of Mt. Silpius

(Fig. 1). The city suffers from congestion, its streets

being very narrow (Fig.2). An nir-plane view of the

city pieced together from government photographs by

Yr. Agle givos a good idea of the closely packed houses

(Fig. 3). It also shons that the anctent city has

bequeathed to the modern to~n its straightest streets

(Fig.4). In spite of cramped conditions in the town,

cembors of tho staff lived at headquarters without

danger to health. For visitors,, tho Hotel de Tourisme,

~ subsidized by the Sanjak, is very comfortable. Good

A

new roads cake Aleppo and Alexandretta readily access-

ible by cotor. The distanco to Beirut will be reduced

to 225 miles when tho new road by way of Latakia is

completed. This road is now open but b~tween ~ntioch

and Latakia it is not in good condition.

3

Antioch has as yet no archaeological ouseuo but

an old school building across the river - ~111 be re­

codelled this succer to serve as such.

~NCIENT MONUMENTS ABOVE GROUND BEFORE THE EXCAVATIONS

.Few-ancient oonuoents of large size were above

ground when the expedition began its work. Parts of

the walls of the ancient city , for the cost part on

Mt. Silpius, and dating froc tho tice of Justinian,

were the cost conspicuous of the ruins. Fragcents of

older walls crown the steep slopes of the countain to

the north of the town. These are polygonal but cannot

be earlier than the Hellenistic age (Fig.5). The ~ab

al Hadid (Fig.6) with its periods .of different con­

struction, is an icprossive ruin for those who clicb

the trail through the gorge of the Onopnictes. The

aqueducts finely hewn in the living rock which brought

water froc above tho Bab al Hadid to various parts of

the city are in part very well preserved (Fig.7).

Carved on the face of the countain near the course of

one of these aqueducts is the colossal Charonion (Fig.8)

which was the scene of one of the oinor excavations

of our expedition. There is literary authority for

dating this apotropaic cask in the tioe of Antiochus

4

Epiphanes. Farther to the north are the ruins of the

great circus (Fig.9). The sloping masses of masonry

~hich once supported .the ramps along the eastern side

have remained above ground throughout the centuries.

Somewhat to the east of the circus lies a temple ruin

of Roman date. Its walls of concrete rubble have been

stripped of their facing slabs.

THE PROTECTION OF ANCIENT RUINS AT ANTIOCH

Most of the ancient monuments nhich have survived

owe their existence to the fact that Roman concrete

offers a most stubborn resistance to the quarryman. For

centuries at Antioch the ancient ruins have boon

quarries for the natives. Today the peasant sinks deep

pits on his land and drags up the blocks which are often

nicely trimmed for his purpose. M. Claude Prost of

the Archaeological Service has haled offenders into

court and had them fined but the practice will continue

so long as the native believes he has a chance of es­

caping detection. Only this spring a gate in the

southern wall of Justinian's time ~as stripped of its

facing blocks. A ph~tograph (Fig.10) shows the trench

which was dug to get out the fine large blocks. Even

the few appearing in this picture have since been removed.

Another cause of destruction is the simple habit

of breaking something in tho excavations just for the

fun of it. To safeguard the mosaic found in a Roman

5 I

e house two night guards had to be eoployed. The icono-

elastic idiosyncrasy is still operative. Tho cayor of

the. city reported that during tho war a peasant in one

savage onslaught knocked off tho head of the oarble

statue of the Orator which had been transferred to the

court of the Serai for safe keeping (Fig.11).

This native disposition to quarry and shatter will

cake short work of any excavated conWJents which are

left upprotected over a long period of tioe and raises

the question uhether all icportant foundntions and walls

at Antioch should be covered up again .

THE LANDOWNERS

The landowners with uhon we have had to deal up to

the present are for the oost part Turkish and not at all

prone to underostiuate the value of their property so

soon as they realize that archaeologists would like to

investigate it. As an illustration of the extreoe

deuands of these proprietors the case of one Bereket:

cay be cited. This can wanted 500 Syrian pounds (~400)

a oonth for the privilege of sinking trial trenc~es in

his fields. Another Turk ca.oe to us several tioes with

a n invitation to dig on his property uhere arc the ruins

of a Rooan teoplo. The invitation was finally accepted

but with the request that the Turk cooe ni th us to the

site so that he oight know exactly where the excavations

6

were to be. This ho did and after the proposed excava­

tion had boon set forth in detail he gave his consent.

Soon nftor the work had stnrted he raised objections

~hich finally culoinated in a flat refusal to alloff the

~ork to proceed until he had boen paid or a contract

involving payuent had boon signed. Efforts to effect

n cooprooise were unavailing and the cxcnvation ~as

ab~ndoned . Nothing further was board froo this Turk

who oight have beon oxpected to deonnd the iooediate

rehabilitation of his field. About a oonth later the

trenches were filled in on pur own initiative. There

was one Turkish gentleoan who appreciating the scien­

tific purposes of our oission with great kindness allowed

us to dig in his land upon tho single condition that

tho trenches be filled in so soon as the investigations

~ere concluded . This was Nafi Bey, tho owner of the

forcer barracks of tho 28th Esquadrille. The only

effective weapon against exorbitant deoand is expropria­

tion. Proceedings to expropriate a field belonging to

the Turk Baroket have already been begun and it is hoped

that they will bo coopletod before the second season of

excavations opens in March 1933. During the cacpaign

just ended I thought it advisable to purchase a soall

parcel of land as the quickest oeans to our end. The

7 '

purchase was no.do through an agent in order to conceal

the i don ti ty of tho purchaeor.

LARGER FINaNCIAL ITEMS

There woro thirtoen weoks of excavation in the

lcas~d land ~here advanco work ended on June 4th. ~fter

that date a soall force of 30 oen was rotnined for gen­

eral cleaning up. In addition n gang of 30 oen was oc­

ployed until June 9th in a oinor oxcavation near the

city. The total nUDber of workcon ranged froc 68 to

437. These wore aloost entirely Arabs who norked froo

sunrise till sunset for a wage rnnging froo 25 to 32

piastres (20 to 25 cents) a day. The total aoount paid

to lo.bor was ·.4904.86 Syrian pounds (Syrian pound equals

80 cents). Of this a.count 4063.09 was paid to coODon

labor, and 841.77 to the foreoon. The latter were three

Egyptians who received o. oonthly ~age of 7, 8 and 17

Egyptian pounds and, in addition, their travelling ex­

penses froo their hooe in Kift noar Luxor, and a half

oonth's pay as bakhehish. One received his travelling

expenses back to his hoae while the othor two were trans­

ported at the Coooittee 1 s expense to Jerusalec where they

were engaged for other excavations. The total payoent

oade to these oen acounted to about one sixth of the en­

tire SUD expended for labor. These Egyptians bad long

been in the eoploy of Mr. Fisher and control l a rge gangs

of work:Den easily and effectively.

8

The second largest iteo of expense was 2200 Syrian

pounds paid for a le~ee for two yenrs on the land ~here

the principal excnv~tions were conducted. The parcel

of lnnd which I purchased cost 4?5 Syrinn pounds. The

abgregnte expenditure for lnbor nnd land aaounted to

7579.86 Syrian pounds out of a total expended at Jeru­

saleo (froo January 1932) and nt Antioch of 8555.38.

There were two autooobiles in service, one truck pur­

chased for 114 Palestinian pounds and the other a pass­

enger car rented in Jorusaloo for six oonths for 331.50

Syrian pounds. No light railway was used but would be

very useful in future operations.

9

LAND LEASED AND TERMS OF THE LEASE

The land leased by Dr. Fisher for the principal

excavations of the first cacpaign is about one oile

in an air line froo tho oodern town. It lies along

the Orontes and cooprises about 384,000 square oetres,

its oaxiouo longth being 880 oetres and its oaxioUIJ

width 620. The surface was covered with fragoents

of ancient pottery and occasional bits of glass and

onrble. In several places oasses of Rooan uasonry

projected above ground.

The lease of the land was drawn in Turkish and

French. The French version is here given:

Entre las soussigne~:

d•une part Docteur Fishor Chef de la oission des

Fouilles.

d'autre part Doctour Ahned Midhat Kousseiri par ,,

suite de la procuration qui lui a ote donnee par les

proprietairos le 16 Fevrier 1932.

Il a (t: convenu et arr'C)'te'co qui suit:

' I. Les terrains appartcnant a KHODJA Z~E SAFOUAT, ' ' ' ~ , a sea freres et a ses soeurs designes sur la carte du

/ Cadastre sous lea nuoeros 5?, 58, 60, 61, 62, 64 eont loue~ ~ Monsieur Fisher pour une pEf'riode de deux ans ~ coopter du 1 Mars 1932 au prix do ••••••••••••••••••••

, , , II. A 1 1 echeance de cette periode lee deux parties

contractantes pourront renouveler d'un cocuun accord la location des u~oes terrains dans les u$oes conditions et p;ur une dure'e ~ de'terciner laquelle ne pourrait ~re inferieure ~ deux ans.

, III. ~Les terrains loues par la Maison Princeton sont

destines a'~tre fouilles pour y d~couvrir des oonuuents antiques. Toutes antiquit(s uobilieres ou icoobili~res

10

decouvertes seront assujettis au regleoent sur les antiquitefs.

' IV. Apres les fouilles, le de reoettre en etat les terra~ns , ~

fouilleur est tenu ~

fouilles suivant ies regleoents sur lee antiquites~

v. Apr~s entente avec lea fouilleurs, le repre~ . ~

sentant du GouvernJoent et lee proprietaires du terrain, los pierres taillees ou non taillees que lee parties oentionn~es pl~s haut jugeront inutiles pour 1 1ensecble des fouilles pourront Stre nbandonnees au propri(taires du terrain.

du il

~

VI. Le fouilleur pourra peroettre au proprietatre terrain de cultiver sur telle partie du terrain ou no sera pas fait des fouilles iDDediates.

VII. Le,fouilleur aura la libre disposition de la caison situeo~a 1 1 0uest du ch~cp des fouilles pendant touto la duree du present contract.

11

THE EXCAV~TIONS

The excavations began on March 4th but there was

considerable interruption due to rain which accoopanied

by low teoperatures oade the first two weeks of our stay

very uncoofortable. It seeos wise to cake April 1st

the approxicate date for the resuoption of field work.

The cajor excavations in the leased area were under the

direction d Ur. Fisher with "r. Cacpbell as assistmt

director. The latter conducted the excavation of the ~

great Rocan hippodrooe and ~the Rooan villa. M. L~ssus,

I the representative of the Uusees Nationaux upon the staff

directed several cinor excavations outside the oain area

of operations. Mr. Agle the architect not onl7 drew all

the plans of the buildings discovered but served as ex-

pert photographer of the villa cosaic of which he also

oade water-color reproductions. Mr. Downey cade a cata-

logue in duplicate of all the objects discovered and

also conducted the excavation of the church at Daplme.

Mr. Schircer was photographer taking practically all the

pictures which illustrate this report and cooperating

with Mr. Agle in the difficult task of photographing

the Rooan cosaic in situ. After the departure of Mr.

Schiroer, a local photo g raphe r took the pictures neces-

sary to cooplete our pho t ographic record.

12

Tho first ioportant wall to cone to light belonged

to a structure of the shape of a stadiuo but which in

the reports is referred to as a palaestra or hippodrooe

"B". The wall was followed for oost of its extent but

the open (?) end lies buried under an orchard so that

the cooplete plan could not be ascertained (Fig.12). No

evidence of peroanent seats was discovered. The wal 1

of stone and brick was buttressed at intervals of 3. 600.

and on these short buttresses rested arches which in soce

cases are partly preserved (Fig.13).

..

13

In the oasonry at the eastorn entrance was found

a Latin inscription (Fig!l4) of which only a few letters

are lacking or outilatod o.t tho bel:;inning and end at the

lines. It is carved on a block of licestone which oay

have boen part of the architrave of soce building in the

vicinity. Ur. Seyrig was the first to recognize in the

inscription the ne.oe of L. Maecius Postucus. The restora-

tion of cissing letters is fairly certain save in the

reading TRIB PLEB of the last line. The text with the

restorations is as follows:

L MAECIO L FILIO POSTVMO X VIRO STL IUDIC TRI.B LEG XIII GEMINAE QUA.EST DIVI VESPASIAN! ET DIVI TITI

TRIB PLEB (?) PRAET FR~TRI .A.RVALI

This inscription we.a tho only icportant one found m d gives

us the cursus honoruc of L. Uaecius Postucus vho is cen-

tioned cany tines in the epigraphical records of the

Arval brothers (C.I.L. VI, 2051-2075). He was procagister

of the CQllege in 69 and 72 . In 69 he was the only Arval

brother for a period of several oonths (Pauly-Wissowa a.

v. Arvales Fratres). If the restoration TITI is corroct

the date of the inscription oust be S1Ubsequent to 81. In

another inscription oentioning an Arval brother (O.I.L.

IX 5533) the naces of Vespasian and T~tus are linked to-

gather as here proposed: fratri Arvali, allecto ab divo

Vespasiano et divo Tito inter tribunicios. The restoration

of TRIB PLEB is not certain but is suggested by the sequeDCt

quaestor, trib pl, praet in other in scr i pt ions of the saoe

sort. A glance at the photograph of the inscription shows

14

..

that the fivo lines ~ere approxiaately of equal length and

that the soaller size of the l etters in the throe lower

lines poroitted uoro words to the lino. The transcription

above does not show the approxioate equality in the length

of line.

Adjoinin~ tho "stadiuo" on the north is a large

Ronan bath "C" (Fig.15) tho largest and the cost elaborate

of the three which were discovered (Fig.16). It was built

of rubble doncrete with brick facing but has been exten­

sively plundered for building onterinls. The reoains of

two lioo-kilns sot up on the floor of the bath account for

the disappearance of uost of the uarble revetuent ond

sculpture ~hich once adornod this suoptuous bath. The uost

interesting features of tho building aro the octagons, t~o

apses and the extonsi ve provi s1 on for heating by the hyp>­

cnustic uethod (Fi g . 17). In the northern of the t~o oc­

tagons which ~oro on axis was an open pool. This pool

~hich served probably as the frigidariuo was surroun~ed

by a oarble pavouent and this in turn by a cosaic of

geocetric pattorns breatly diversified. Besides the geo­

cetric designs there nre sooe vases the largest of which

in yellow has a round body and spiral handles. ~bove it

is a double axe. These wosaics were discovered and ta.ken

up in the closinp, days of the cnupaiFn• too late to be

photographed . The catalo~ue nu.uber of this cosaic is 2055.

The bath and the 11 stn.diuu" are of tho late Rooan period,

the bath beint; the later of the t~o. Beneath the bath lies

15

another building the nature of which remains to be ascer-

tained. Under the southwest section of the bath was un-

covered a broad pavement of the first century A.D. com-

posed of heavy blocks about .ssm. thick, one of which

measured 1.14 x .som. It is in an excellent state of

preservation. The breadth of this pavement (4.30) sug-

gests that it is part of a Roman road but there are no

traces of wheel ruts upon it (Fig.18). In the next

campaign this pavement should be followed until its

function is clearly defined. It lies close to water level

where both in bath "C" and elsewhere abundant fragments

of Arretine ware have been found.

A mass of rubble masonry near the Orontes proved

upon excavation to be another Roman bath {A) of about

the same period but of secondary importance (Fi g .i9).

Hore just beneath tho surface was found a badly damaged

mosaic parts of which wore taken up (Figs.20-22). Another

Roman bath in this area of exercise and ablution• bath "B"

revealed considerable remains of a hypocaust (Figs.23-24).

Beyond the jypocaust is a small cemented pool to which

steps descend (Fig.25). In this pool was found a bronze

tripod (Fig.26). Several well preserved vases were found

in the ruins of this bath of which some are here illustrat~el..

(Figs. 27-29). It yielded also some mosaic (Figs.30-31).

16

Lying partly beneath bath "B" and very closo to water

lovcl at the time of exonvation was a Roman house of the

first century A.D. (Fig.32). In tho peristyle portions

of the columns still remain in placo. This house yielded

the finest troasu~e discovered during the season, a mo-

snic which decorated the floor of the triclinium (Fig.33)

Tho mosaic which measures 5 x 7 m. is in a good state

of preservation save vhere a lntor nall cut quit~ through

it destroying the upper portions of two figures, and wh~rc

a wide well covered by the mosaic caused a small part of

' it to sink. An excellent idea of the mosaic as a whole

is given by the composite photograph reproduced in figure

34. For this, the mosaic nas photographed section by ~

section by Mr. Agle with tho collaboration of ~r. Schirmer

and the many photographs then carefully fitted together

by Mr. Agle. The composite photograph is one fifth the

size of tho mosnic.

The three larger and two smaller panels which consti-

tute the figure decoration of tho mosaic arc symmetrically

arranged on the major axis of the floor forming as a whole

a T shaped group inverted for one entering the triclinium

from the door on the southern side. Tho three pnncls

which form the horizont~l bcr of tho T face the entrance,

while the other t~o ~ere to be soon from the opposite

17

or north side of tho room. Tho remaining p~rt of tho

rectangle is fillod in with a goomctric pattern which

was loss conspicuous whon the couchos of the triclinium

wcro in plnco. Tho group of throe panels facing the

entrance may bo called a Bacchic trilogy, tho centrally

placed symposium being flanked by single figures, one

a Satyr and the other a Bacchnnto (Figs.35-36). In the

symposium tho reclining figure holding a cup and thyrsus

is almos t ccrt~inly Bacchus. The light tone of his flesh

which is usual in the representation of female forms

moans thnt nn effeminate Dionysus is intended. Pompeian

paintings depicting tho discovery of Achilles among tho

dnughters of Lycomedes give Achilles a light flesh tone

to indicate thnt he was disguised ns n girl. In the

trilogy thoro is an nltcr~tion of male nnd female forms

which is probably intontional. At the extreme left is

a Satyr. Tho next £iguro, the first in tho symposium,

is a female flute-player. Then follow Heracles, the

effeminate Bacchus, a reclining Silonus and in tho panel

on tho right n Bacchnnto. Both the S~tyr and tho Bncchanto

look toward tho scene of tho symposium and thereby become

part of it like tho lateral panels of a triptych. Tho

unity of tho symposium is enhanced by the child th~t ob­

viously invites the attention of the drinking Heracles

to th0 r eclining Bacchus thus uniting the principal figures

of tho group. Yet in this nicely balanced and united group

primitive isocephalism still surv ivOs (Fig. 3?) .

18

The backgrou~of the Symposium v~rics in tone be­

coming vary dark on. the right in which direction the

shadows arc cnst. The purpose may have been to throw

the more important figures into higher relief. Thus the

d~rk form of Heracles is set against the lighter ground

while the light form of Bacchus is on a dark ground. The

uprai sc~ arm of Bn.cchus has behind it" both light and dark

tones and is consequently modelled chinstically ~ith light

and dark tesserne. A detail of this panel, part of the

figure of Heracles , is given in figure 38 .

The panel next to the symposium and to~ard the center

of the floor is the finest of all (Fig.39). In this

Judgment of Paris the three goddesses appear at the right

with Hera seated in the center . Athena with spear, helmet

and shield is easily identified. Hera intently regards

Paris who turns for a moment to speak to Hermes at his

side, thus bringing the latter into n well unified group.

The landscape setting of the scene is that of Hellenistic

relief and painting. Here as there tho column appears

near rock and tree. In the background are seen t~o diminu­

tive figures; one, Psyche at the left upon the rock; the

other, Cupid standing upon n column. Both gaze at the un­

usual scene be')::.ore them. In this panel ther~ is a striking

violation of scale. The bird in the tree in the upper left

19

corner, nlthough in the background, is as long ~s the

goat in the lo\1er right foreground. The cow beside Paris

is much too smo.11 like tho.t in tho nearly contemporary

Tellus relief of the Ara Po.cis. The head of Psyche is too

large. These defects do not however detract much from

tho charm of the work which reveals a pleasing harmony

of colors and good Hollonistic composition. The three

goddesses, o.nd Paris ~nd Hermes are shown in detail

photographs (Figs. 40-41). It was a happy idea of tho

mosaicist to surround this landscape with n border of vino

sprays ~hich carry no.ture into tho frame of the pic~~ro~ ~. ,- .

Perched upon the tendrils a.re v:irious living formsii_J;J>irds, ..... ";:

j

gr~sshoppors, chameleons (Figs . 42-43). A fine mnsk ~£

Bo.cchus (Fig. 44) centrally plo.ced in the upper border

of the scene is pleasingly ent.wined by tendrils of the

rinceau. Although this mask is in the border of the scene

of the Judgment of Paris it is set upside down with refer-

ence to tho.t picture and wo.s intended to ~e seen by those

who on entering the triclinium looked beyond the po.ncl

of the symposium towo.rd the adjacent scene . The mask of

Bacchus is thus the central acroterion of the symposium and

very approprio.tely chosen to be it, since Bacchus is the

most important figure in the drinking scene . The mo.sk is

20

nlso n transition~l figure obviating an abrupt break

bct~ccn two adj~cent panels which face in opposite direc­

tions . The artist who designed these mos~ics was cer­

tainly a Greek who continued good Hellenistic traditions .

The artistic kinship of his work ~ith Augustan rolief

and Pompeian fresco places him in the first century after

Christ, a date confirmed by the many fragments of Arre-

tine ~are found at the level of the mosaic and just below

it in tha villa. The fifth panel at the north ond of

the triclinium is only half preserved ( Fig . 45) . A later

~nll cut through and completely destroyed the upper por­

tions of the t~o seated figures one of which was n draped

female and the othor a nude mnle. Tho group hnd a beautiful

border of which a detail is given here (Fig.46). Beyond

it lies the wide geometric pattern which contributes much

to the effectiveness of tho mosaic as n whol e (Fig.47 ) .

After the mosaic had been carefully photographed

in situ from a "bridgen designed by Mr . Agle (Fig.48) it

was taken up in sections, set in plaster of pnris and

boxed. The ten boxes were removed to n storage room in

the basement of the local bank. An interesting fnct was

observed when the panel representing the Judgment of

Paris was turned over and cleaned down to the mortar cours~

21

upon nhich the tessernc were lnid. The central panel

had a distinct odgc which sloped invnrd 3nd downvnrd. The

panel had been let into its rinceau frnmo. A difference

in tho texture was also observed indic3ting as Mr. Fisher

pointed out that the panel and its border had been

scpar3tely made in the atelier of the mosnicist and then

brought to the house and laid. The cost of raising n

mosn~c is considcrablo, in this instance amounting to 125

Syrian pounds ($100). The details of this bill are given

in Appendix A.

In the villa which yielded the mosnic just discussed

uero found fragments of terracotta lamps some of which

were pieced together by Mr. Fisher. They hnve hnndles

in tho form of busts of Serapis alone or Sernpis and Isis

together (Fig.49). Tho red paint of the lamp proper hns

been extended to tho small busts . Somo cult image served

as tho prototYPo of these tiny figures which attest tho

popularity of the Ptolemaic worship at Antioch where it

rrns already established in Seleucid times. Some religious

motive may hnve dictated the placing of the busts of tho

deity upon the lamp.

THE ROM.\N HIPPODROME

A further site of excavation in tho main nren was the

hippodrome most of which hovcver lies outside the lc3sed

land. Mr. Campbell vas in ch~rge of this excav~tion and

submits the following report upon it.

22

THE HIPPODROME AT ANTIOCH

W. A. C~mpboll

One of the fen landmarks of ancient Antioch is the

ruin of the Hippodrome which is situated to the north~ost

of the modorn village. Of this monum~ntnl structure there

are loft only a number of the blocks of rubble concrete

rrhich supported the stairs leading up into the tiors of

scats. Tho rubbla concrete coros of the stairways exist

only on the long east side of the Hippodrome and on the

semicircular north side. Not a trace remains above

ground of the great arches, galleries and tiers of seats,

and even the rubble concrete of the stairrrays hns been

removed from the long west side and south sido . This

almost total removal of the masonry of such a tremendous

structure is a good indication of tho thoroughness ~ith

which ancient Antioch has been stripped of its monuments.

Even the significance of what is left of tho Hippodrome

has boon lost and the natives refer to tho remaining stair­

ways ns the "big blue stones« .

rn tho nirplnne photograph (Fig.SO) made of tho site

by the French Government the clements of tho Hippodrome

are more clearly defined than thoy are by ~ surve1 of tho

site made on tho ground. The st~ir~ays ~re , of course ,

plainly visible, but in addition to those it is also poss­

ible to soc the posit ion of tho foundations of the ~~lls

23

\7hi ch suppo rtod the groat .:irche s under the tic rs of seo. ts.

Tho foundations appear on the airplane photograph o.s

squo.res and oblongs. The spinn is ~lso fairly well marked,

o.nd what is very important, the nrcnn becomes lnrgor o.t

the beg.inning of the spino., so th~t the long sides arc ,.,;

not constructed along o. stright lino, but bow . slightly "

in the middlo. At the south ond uhere the stalls (co.rcorcs)

were locnted arc tno fragments of columns rrhich may be

romn~nts of the moto. socundo..

Thero are no well preserved hippodromes in existence,

and so it seemed ndvis~ble to cxco.vo.te the parts of the

Hippodrome at Antioch which nould m~ko a reconstruction of

the plan and superstructure possiblo. Because of difficul-

tics with landowners ~nd limited time ue hnve not been

able to carry this project through to compl~tion this

yeo.r, but we hope that next yonr enough of the Hippodrome

cnn be excavated to carry out our original intention. A

section along the en.st side between tuo of the best pre-

served sto.irno.ys uas dug to get the relation both in

plnn nnd elevation betuocn the stairs nnd foundntions ualls,

A largo area at the southeast corner (Fig.51) wns cxcnvnted

in order to reconstruct the join between n long side nnd

the cnrceres. Tho side of the co.rceres facing tho ~reno.

(Fig.52) wo.s lnid bnre; and n ·.trench w~s sunk on the long

24

west side (Fig.53) to check nith the d~tn guthcrcd from

the excavation of the enst side und to gut measurements

of the nidth.

All of these arens selected for oxcnvntion gave

vnlunble information nbout the Hippodrome {Fig.54). So

far we have been able to ascertain that its plnn was

similar to that of the Circus Mnximus in Romo. As was

visible on the airplane photograph (Fig.50) there arc

tuo long sides which nro not parallel but bou out in the

center . No generally accepted reason hns been given for

this peculiarity. It wns probably to enable the chnriots

to sprend out after they had rounded the corners nnd

also to force them into n more restricted area uhile they

ucrc turning the corners .at the ends of the spinn. Of the

t~o short ends the ono to the north was the semicircular

one and the south end whore the stalls ~ere situated (Fig.

52) wns only sl i ght ly curved . In the southeast corner of

the long cast side (Fig .. 51) is n large set-off in the

foundation wnll which probably m~rks the position of an

entrance. Tho foundation walls from which the plan uns

reconstructed nre of an exceedingly h~rd rubble concrete,

levelled off and bonded together with courses of bricks .

Under tho foundation unlls nre other u~lls uhich d~te in

the first century A.D. but these hnve no connection with

tho Hippodrome.

25

The uidth of the ~ron~ i s 73.72m; the total width of

the strueturo is 126.14m. Until further excavations are

mode tho exact length cannot be measured , but ~n opproxi­

mato l eng th of the arena is 500.82m, and of the uholc

Hippodrome, 560~. In order to complete tho plan it will

bo necessary to excnv~te the north end uith its porta

triumphalis through ~hich entered tho triumphnl procession

(pompn circensis), and tho south ond uhero we oxpcct to

find tho positions of the stalls and a l~rge, monumental

cntrtmce flanked by tuo touers. The spina should also

be cxcava ted.

In elevation the Hippodrome looked somewhat like

one of our great, modern football stadia. There uoro

tiers of scats set off from the arena by a podium and

divided horizontally into throe main divisions. Tho

first two . divisions were banks of seats separated . by a

nide aisle to facilitate tho circul~tion of crowds; the

third division tt as ~ gallery around the top supported

by red gran~to columns from Sina i. Tho seating capacity

was about 80,000. This tremendous superstructure was

supported by n system of 1rches; the tiers of seats were

supported by ~rches transverse to the main axis of the

arena, nnd the galle ry by longitudinal arches. Stair­

ways placed at frequent intervals gave access to the

2 6

Hippodrome and led up to the wide aisle uhich divided the

tiers of seats horizontally. As mentioned nbovo some

of the massive cores of rubble concrete of these stairs

still exist. All of them have boon cracked nnd shifted

from thoir foundations by enrthqunkcs. Tho outer wall

of the Hippodrome was brokon up into tno stories of ar­

cndos surmounted by tho gallery nith its columns of rod

granite. The construction throughout seoms to have been

of a hard rubble concrete fncod nith large blocks of

limestone.

Trial trenches vore sunk beyond the e~st and west

walls of the Hippodrome to get some clue as to nhnt was

immediately beyond it. From the information these

trenches gnvo us it is safe to infer that a street ran

parallel to tho long east side, and that adjoining the

wost side (Fig.53) ~as a residential district of small,

inferior houses.

This year's excavation has nlso mudo it possible to

work out the chronology of the area. Bene~th the founda­

tions of the Hippodrome are nalls which dnto in the first

century A.D. It is impossible to go beyond the depth of

this first century A.D. level because water seeps into the

trenches. A power pump ~ill have to be used to reach

the levels of earlier periods. Above the first century

stratum is the Hippodrome which seems to d~te in the early

fo~rth century A.D. The Hippodrome ~as destroyed and

27

abandoned in the great earthquake of 526. After this

date small houses were built i~ and around it making use

of its large blocks of stone. These houses were burned

in the early seventh century, probably in the invasion of

the Arabs. The district was still used as a residential

section in the early Arabic period. A number of Cufic

inscriptions, coins, and house walls were found at this

level. Above the Cu~ic stratum are late Byzantine house

walls and above them late Arabic dwellings.. After this

long history the Hippodrome area has become a marshy

pasture land with poor, stony grain fields around it.

28

THE MONUMENTS DISCOVERED

It is a singular and lamentable fact that thirteen

weeks of excavation at Antioch brought to light very

little sculpture and very few inscriptions. That in

ancient times there was such deficiency is unbelievable.

The later authors cite many works of sculpture. The

disappearance of plastic and epigraphical monuments is

to be explained in part by the limekiln which did its work

so thoroughly in the excavated area that pieces of marble

of large size rnrcly turne~ up . The limekilns in bath

"C" have al ready been menti bned and others were uncovered.

So far at Antioch no statue or relief in marble has beon

found completely preserved or half preserved in our

excavations. Even the fragments that survive can be

counted for each category on the fingers of one hand.

Inscriptions at Antioch are as rnre apparently below

ground as they aro above. One Latin inscription nearly

complete was found. Of the four fragmentary inscriptions

turnod up by the spado two certnihly and possibly three are

sepulchral, nnd this fact indicated t he presence of a

cemetery n ear by which had been raided for building mater­

i ul s . So~cwhat to the north of the circus graves have

been discov e red and thes e may have be e n the source of

our meagre epigraphical f rngmc nts. ~i fo~r ~r =~k inscrip-

29

tions one was handed i n , another was purchased fo r

tw en ty cents and the other t~o consist of only a few

letters. ~11 are of la t e date. Cne seems to contain

~ ~ roper name beginning with K~lli- and is of the third

century after Ca rist. The second small fragment dis-

covered comes from the site of house "L". It is part

of a g rav e stele bearing the name Juli( a) Domna. The

letter forms offer sovoral variations not listed in

Kaufmann' s Handbuch . Only three Latin inscription were

found two of which consisted of seven and eight letters .

The ·toxt of one of these bas already been g iven (p.13) .

The second roads: ssus ~ V.illf.XX(?)

This is a grave inscription (Fig.55).

Tho t~i rd reo.ds: RSIF OllI

I n this epigraphical statistic there have not

been included the Cufic inscriptions, of whi ch twelve

fragments were found, tho stamped Rhodian amphora handles ,

o.nd Arrotine fragments with names impressed upon them.

Ten of the Cufic inscriptions were discovered near the

circus, of which one is here shown (Fig.5 6) . It begin s

with the familiar wo rds of the Xoran: "In tho name of

Allah".

30

The report on the sculptures found is the same as that

for inscriptions: few, fragmentary and late. ~badly

mutilated marble female head was found hear the c ircus

(Figs.57,58). It is of the second century after Christ

and attests the survival at Antioch of the Scopaic tra-

dition. An unusual fragment of Roman sculpture came to

light in bath 11 0" (Fig.59). It consists of a circular

base on which two crocodiles are curved nlong tho edge.

Between their heads is a shell. On e~ch crocodile rests

a small human hand broken at tho wrist. The st~tue

represented a youth, probably of Egyptian type, poisod ~

on his hands above tho _c.opeed:ilcs, like the Egyptian

reproduced in Roinach , R;purtoiro de la Stctuairc Grccque

ct Romaine 1-535, fig.7. This Egyptian motive in sculp-

ture rocalls the Scrapie lamps in terracotta. ~t Antioch

ns at Pompeii there was an interest in tho E~ptinn theme.

A third fragment of sculpture (Fig.60) is a relief 20cm.

in length. It r epresents a goat charging a man qho holds

a shield. It belonged to a frieze of figures and may

be a pln7ful allusion to co~tests in the amphitheBtrc in

which . anima ls were tho victims. There remain to be no-

ticed two marble fragments, parts of an arm and a leg

(Fig.61). An illustration may be given ~t this place

of tho sepulchral reliefs which have been found in or

ne~r Antioch ~nd which from time to time are off cred

31

for sale there (Fig. 62). To judge from tho mortar ad­

hering to the back of these slabs they appear to have

been sot in othur blocks rather than to have been freo

standing monuments. The e xample illustrated is 3 l cm.

high . The date is the third century after Christ as is

shown by the forms of the Greek l ette rs nnd tho a r chitec-

. t ural framework . The horizontal nrchitrnvo bas horo

given wny to the arch as in sarcophagi of the third cen­

tury.

Tho most important bronze vases found are n basin,

and n jug which came to light in Rouse "A~. The bas i n

is in ve ry delicate condition nnd will need ca r eful

treatment nt the hands of museum experts. The jug which

is 16 cm. high is in n much better stnte of preservation

(Fig.63). Its heavily corroded handle was nicely cleaned

and found to end in a human bend. One is reminded of the

many bronze ~nsos in the m~seum at Nnples wbicb have

handles terminn.ting below in heads or masks, and which

are of the first century. Tho handle of the Jug from

.Antioch was found detached and in the illustration i s

seen temporarily restored to its place by means of n c ord.

The only gold jewelry discovered (Fig . 64) is a pnir of

earrings of very simple pattern. They come f rom t he

grave across the Orontes (Fig.69) ~hich ~ill be discussed

32

below.

Many vases of terracotta were found of Roman and lat­

e r date, somo in e xc ell ent state of pro servati on (Fi gs.

27-29). Terracotta. lamps woro numerous (Fig.65) but

examples with representations of human figuros upon them

are rnre. On one appears a Victory bearing a shield.

The finest Roman pottery discovered is the Arretine abun­

dant fragments of ~hich came to light in widely separated

areas, and regula·rly clo :;e to wa. ter level. Not only in

the principal field of oxcavations but in a. trial pit

sunk at the center of the modern c ity and in nnother

outside on the road to Aleppo this pottery occurred.

The vogue of it was clearly very groat . It is interest­

ing to note the popularity of this red varo at a time

when red was so popular in mural decoration at Pompeii.

Many b.:iskets of Arre tine a. ~e in the f"ield house at

A.ntioch. Some one must be found to g ive all his time

to the p i ecing together of those fragments. Fe~ glass

va.ses were found well preserved although fragments were

abund~nt. Two t iny glass vases are intact; two lnrger

examples nre s omewhat injured.

Hundreds of co ins ~e re discovered as was to be expected

from tho fact tha t many of them nre picked up in the fields

today. During the last weeks of the campaign the accumul~­

tion of coins had become s o great that n man was employed

33

to clean them. They are bronze n ith seven exc ep tions.

Of these four are silver a nd three billon. The earliest

piece (cat. no. 145?) bears the name and portrait of

n·emetrius Soter, the monogram of Antioch and the Seleucid

date 161 (B.C. 151) . The next in date is n silver donnrius

of Vespasian (cat. no. 1?18) s~ruck in the year ?O-?l. The

third is n coin of Gordian, 238- 244 (cat. no . 304). The

fourth silver coin (cat.no. 1353) is a "L8nentalar" which

W.'.lS struck in tho 7eaT' 1659' in the aetliorl~nde. On

the obverse is the inscription MO ·ARG•PRO.CONFQE.BELL·

GEL, Moneta Argentca Provinciae Confocderati Belgii Gclriac.

The obverse type is a helmeted man looking back~~rd . The

lo~er part of his body is concealed behind a large shield

on ffhich is a rampant lion. The marginal inscription on

the reverse is CONFIDENS DNO NON MOVETUR. This motto

surrounds a rampant lion. Oo!ns of this nnd similar

issues in the United Provinces came to be usea in Lcvantine

trade and were called by the Arabs Abukolb• Hthe father

of the dog~ because the Arab mistook the lion for a dog.

Of the billon pieces two were struck by the Crusaders,

one (co.t. no. 550) bearing the nnme Boamundus (Bohemund III,

1162-1201). It i& illustrated in Schlumberger, Kumism~tique

de l'Orient Latin, pl. III, 7. The second Crusader coin

(cat. no. 142) bas no inscription. The third billon . piece

is Arabic and is still to b e identified (cat. no. ~20).

Mr. A. G. Cotton is at work on the coins nnd will

continue this work during the fall. Toward the end of the

year , significant statistic s on the bronze coins should

be availo.ble.

34

In appendix 2 will be found a list of the various

impo~tant oi jects sto red in the basement of th e B~nquc

de Syrio. I ~ cntcd the storage room for ~n nnnu~l

rental of 1200 francs ($48). Although our headquarters

aro r cntod by the yaar I did not deom it ~ise to store

cvorything thero. Only heavy pieces or objects of

slight value wore loft at the field house and hondquarters .

Tho keys to the storago rooms at headquarters and the

bank ncre left in the care of M. Prost of tho Archaeo­

logical Sorvico so that in any dmcrgency he could havo

accoss to both tho objects discov~rod end tho othor

property of the e~podition .

35

MINOR EXCAVATIONS IN .• urn ?lEAR THE EODERN T')i'TN

In addition to th~ major opurations upon th ~ property

lensed for th~ society there ~ere minor excnv~tions Qt

· different sites in ~nd near the city. These were for

the most part trial trenches or pits from which uc hoped

to nsccrtnin the charact~r of the Romnn nnd Hellenistic

strata and tho dopth at ~hich they were buried. It seem­

ed desirable to get such information as a guide to future

operations even if it should be decided to continue the

excav~tions in the main field after the expiration of

our lease there. The number of these minor excnvations

t7.'.ls seven .

I - THE CHA.RONION

The Chnronion is the name given by Mnlalas to the

colossal rockcut bust not far from the shr ine of St. Peter

to the north of the modern to~n. According to Malnlas

it uas carved in the reign of A.ntiochus Epiphanes on

the advice of a diviner Laius in order to put nn end to

the p lague then afflicting the city. It served this

purpose after Laius hnd written something ~t the Charonion.

What he wrote and just where he wrote are still n mystery.

This npotropaic mask (Fig.66) has nln~ys been for the

most part visible and has been badly battered by some

iconoclast who destroyed eyes, nose und mouth. The re

had beon some excav~tion near th~ rock but much remained

36

to be done . Theyqu~rr1od nre~ beforu tho bust ~ns

cleared to the living rock. The site ~as never n snnct-

uary at ~hich votivo offerings woro made as the nam~ might

load ona to expec t. The excav~tion revealed that the

colossal bust rras nev e r finished . The right side ~as

carved first; the l eft shoulder and side uore very

roughly blocked out. ~ dacp cleft had been chisollcd in

the rock on this side prcp~rntory to b reaking off ~.

l arge mass of it, but this mass remains in plnco (Fig.67).

The neck too shous flnt surfaces ~hich nev ~ r received fin­

al treatment. On the right shoulder stands ~ ful l leng t h

figure draped nnd we~ring ~hat seems to have been a cala­

t hus but this figure is now b~dly ueathered . Its relntio~

to the principal figure is uncerta in. The ~idth of the

bust at the shoulders, the left one of which is vaguely

defined is 6.90m. The f~ce is 2m . high.

The Charonion is ~ t n ofold commentnry on its age. It

nicely illustrates the Hallenistic love of the grandiose

in art which mny h~ve been f o s terod to some extent by

Egyptian procedent . The unfinished stnta of the work

attests an obligation fo r gotten so soon as the plague

had ended . Once rel\eved of that affli ction there ~as

no pressing need to complete the figure of salvation.

37

II - THE ARE.A. BEHIND THE FREliCH MILITARY B.ARR .lCKS

The excavation of nn area outside t he ua.11 of Justini3n

was an unqualified disappointm~nt . I decided upon thi s

as a field of opera tion s bcc~us e n plain Romn n sarcophagus

was discovered by the French in grading the g round im-

mc~iately behind the ir barracks , o.nd becaus e literary

tradition placed th~ early Christian cometory out s ide

the Dnphnetic ga t e ~hich ~as one of tuo gates no t far

a.~ay . I uns so convinced of the desirability of the si te

thnt I purchased it for $380 so as to bo fr ee to cxcnvnte

it at once uithout restriction. For n ueek 40 n orkmon

thoroughly testod the are a uitb trenchos nnd pits but

a.lw~ys uith the same negative result . Although near

the city. the site h a d boon used nei ther for burial nor

building p u rposes. The solitary obJect found apart from

co in• was a. tiny bronze dove uith a. twig in its beak. A

modest hGnrd of bronze coins which lay l.20m. benonth the

surface cont~ined a coin of Honorius nnd n five nummin

-piece of Justinian. The Roman sarcophagus ~hich lured '

me into such nn unprofitable venture was npparently tho

most remote in n cemetery which l a y to the west nnd n ear-

er the modern rond to Daphne, and therefore within the

French barracks. Several neeks before the end of the

38

campaign I ~pplied for permission to dig in definite ~reas

~ithin the bnrracks but up to the timo of my departure had

not received writ ten permission but uas informed indire ctl;

that it ~ould be gr3nted.

III. THE EXCAVATION NEAR THE MOS~UE OF H~\.BI:B EL NADJAR

The president of the municipality very kindly gave

tho expedition tho privilege of digging on city-ovned

property near the mosque of Habib el Nadjnr vhich is in

the centor of the modern to~n . Mr. Lassus uas in charge

of the excnvation. At a depth of 5.75m. he uncovered

a Roman pavement b ordered by two curved stops (Fig . 68)

~hich may mark tho intersection of two streets . It

~as impossible to extend the excav~tion to verify this

probability. A number of the heavy blocks of this pave­

ment verc removed and the excavation continued until unt­

er was reached at n depth of em. At this level a

fragmcn t of s tnmped .A.rrc tine ware rra.s found r;hich at once

dnted the strQtum to the fi r st ce~tury A.D. The gre~t

depth of the Roman city at this point wns n surprise and

it ~us very interesting t o learn th.o.t the Roman level

here as in the principnl field of excavation extends

do~n to water. ~ significnnt result of this excavation

39

is th~t the Helleni s tic levels are belon wa ter in nt least

a portion of the mode rn toun. Calcul~tions by Mr. ~gle

shorred that the w~ter reached in this excavation is about

4m. above the Orontes. The depth of the virgin soil

belorr the modern town still remains to be nsc~rtnincd.

IV. ROMAN TOMBS ACROSS THE OROHTES

The area necr the bridge over the Orantes and a long

the road to Aloxandrctta was a Roman cemetery in the

third and fourth centuries. Excavations here revealed

three types of burials: stone sarcophagi of plain, thick

limestone slabs, tiled graves nnd rectangular tombs

built of rubble concrete. Three examples of the plain

sarcophagus which ~ere discovered by uo rkmen digging

trenches for n hous e .yiolded only the plainest type of

pottery. M. Prost of the Archaeological Service informed

me that these sarcophagi nt .Antioch are regularly devoid

of valuable content. Farther along the road nnd very

c lo se to the ne~ school ~ere found sovernl exwnples of

the tiled grave one of nhich nas very unusual (Fig.69).

This lay close to the ~nll of a large tomb of which mention

~ill b~ made p resentl y. Terracott~ slabs measuring . 60

x .58 formed the receptacle in ~hich t•o bodies lay in

remarkable position (Fig . 70). They are the b odies of a

man and his nife. The hoad of th e ~ife lie s upon the

shoulder of her husband ~ith their faces close together .

40

She has gone to sleep in her husband ' s arms . Such an inti-

mate grouping in burial is, 1 believe, without parallel;

approximations to it but much less drastic may be cited

from the sculptured groups upon sarcophagi of earlier

date. It is a dramatic record of marital devo~ion con­

tinued in the grave . A very careful sea rching of the

earth of this tomb by Messrs. Schirmer and Lassus was

re~arded with the discovery of a pair of gold earrings

of simple yet delicate design (Fig.64).

The tomb against which this tiled grave wns set

is the most imposing of all . It is a rectangle measuring

6.98 x 5.94m. The rubble masonr7 is facad ~1th small

limestone blocks arranged in a modified form of opus

reticulatum (Fig.71). This rev etmen t is l.76m. in hoight

but was laid in t~o sections, each being levelled off on

top. There is no opening through the exterior wall so

the entrance must have been through the vaulted roof

which however is not sufficiently preserved to show such

an opening. The western half of the tomb which was

vaulted apparently served as a chapel . In the west wall

is a niche. On the east side of the chapel are two graves

built in the solid masonry. One of these wa s exposed

to view before the excavation be gan . Nothing was found

in either grave . This tomb has been declared a national

41

monument.

V. EXCAVATION IN T!:lE roRMER Bli..RRACKS OF THE 28TH ESQ.U.ADRILLE.

This site nhich lies at the north~est corner of

the modern town near the river is the property of Nafi

Bey nho very kindly permitted us to dig there upon the

condition that ue fill in the trenches at the ~onclusion

of our investigations . A trench 30 x 4m. was dug . No

walls nor significant strata were found and at a depth

of 3m . water prevented further excnv~tion.

VI. EXCAVATION lrEAR THE RO.AD TO ALEPPO NORTH OF THE TOWN

North of the modern toun there nre extensive olive

groves but one open field invited investiga t ion uhich was

made nt a very slight cost . A well in the vicinity in-

dicated tha t wnter nas ll.50m. below the surface of the

ground. A pit 10 x lOm. was dug. At a depth of 5m.

two capitals, one Corinthian and the other with a cross

carved upon. it trere found. .\t ?m. a thick stratum of

black ash was reached in and near which were fragments

of large Arretine vases . The great number of these is

but a further proof of the popularity of this ware in

ancient Antioch. At a depth of a.asm. a stratum of

cement camo to light below which no objects of any sort

42

oero found . Virgin soi l uns reached at 9 . 03m . but

excavation was continued to a dep th of 9 . 80 m. Ap­

parentlY. nt thi s place there mis no Hellenistic stro. tum.

~broad foundation in the eastern p~rt of the pit ~hich

uas renchod at a depth o f fiv e meters consisted of seve ral

courses tho lowes t of ~hich rested on the hard pan.

This should be completely cleared another year for it

may belong to nn important building of the anc ient c ity.

~Y a rrangement uith the o~ners of the land the pit has

been loft open till n oxt se~son~.

VII. THE CHURCH AT DAPHNE

The si te of this church on the rocky s lopes above

Daphne seemed very promising. Several monolithic col­

umns projected from tho ground. It ~as natural to be­

lieve that underneath thq c hurch thero might lie buried

a Roman temple or even a Greek one. Sixteen days of

excavation laid bare the site uhich had been occupied by

o. Christian Church of mod~st size o.nd con·struction (Fig.72).

The plan is given in . fi gure 7 3 . On the slope a se ries

of ualls ~ore uncovered which supported n terrnce (?) be­

fore the church. Tho lo~c s t ~ppears in figure 74. The

~pses oere built nith ~n economy of e ff ort uhich l e ft

masses of living rock p r ojecting into them ( Fig.75). Ex-

43

cavation uithin the j~Vc rcv~~lcd different pavorac nt

levels • . Sev ~ ral capit~ls were found in the ruins. 'i'hc

better OX:l.oplcs nrc shov:n in figures ?6- 79 . No inscrip­

tions ucro found. The exc~v~tion uns in charge of Ur.

Douney.

--

•

44

SUMMARY

The results of the first sc~son's uork ~ t Antioch

arc for tho most pn.rt topographical. a Roman villa

of the first centur~, three Rom~n bnths, a hippodrome,

a st~diUm. (7) 3nd n modost church at Daphne . all of l~te

date, have been uncovered. The principal field of ex­

cavations has so far proved to be the recreation ground

of Roman Antioch. If it nns also such in the Seleucid

p e riod t he evidence lies under v~ter nnd beyond the

reach 0£ tho spade . Tho bed of tho Orontes seems to bave

risen since the Hellenistic age. As for tho minor ex­

cavations in and about the city they neither identified

any ~ncient monument nor brought to light any important

objects of art , vith the signal exception of the figured

mosaic, uhich is one of the most important archaeological

finds of 1932. They did howev~r make it clenr that

even the Roman city is deeply buried in tho region to

the north of the modern town along tho rond to Aleppo.

It is along this road, which lie s above its c ncient pro­

dccessor, that many buildings of diversified chnractcr

must lie. Nearor Mt. Silpius there is n c h ance tha t

~e shall find n Hellenistic stratum nbove ~atcr. Outside

the Bab Boulos lay the ancient cemetery ~hil c uitbin tho

45

l~rge enclosure of the French bnrr~cks is tho cnrly

Christi~n. Both of these ~rc~s must be thoroughly

searched if our program of excav~tion i s to be o bro3d

ono . My onn belief is th.:>.t the ereas n.djacent to the

Aleppo road offer the best possibilities of diversified

r esults rnnging from tho early He l lenistic to tho late

Christian period.

The contract rri th the or:ners of the le:isod lnnd

prescribes the refilling of nll excavated nrens. Somo

refilling ha s already been done but great mounds of earth

remain to be moved. Excavations in tno of the b~ths,

one of l'lhich is the great b~th "C" must be continued if

the oarlier structures bolo~ nre to bo completely investi­

gated. There remain oxtensivo areas in the lensed l~nd

~hich have not been sounded. As noted above. the land

lensed by Mr . Fisher for t~o yonrs contains 384, 000

square oeters of vhich only 16,500, -- and this is a

go;) no rous cal cul a ti on -- have been dug. · It is obviously

impossible to exc~vato the rccninder in one campnignJ

refilling tho neu cxcav~tions as well ~s the old .

APPENDIX I

Cost of r a ising the mos~ic from the Roman villa •

DATE

~pril 20

May 9

May 28

Mr,iy 29

If

n

May 30

fl

ila.y 31

June l

ti

June 2

" June 4

June 5

n

fl

June 6

If

II

Juno 7

June 8

June 10

SUPPLIES

~ridge for photography

4 kilos plaster

5 metros cloth

10 kilqs glue

20 dra.i s cloth

100 sheets paper

1 pair slippers

1 tin petroleum

5 kilo s glue

15 drn.is cloth

5 kilos glue

l primus

Wood, n~ils, ~ages for ca.rpen ter

15 dro.i s cloth

100 sheets paper

10 kilos glue

15 dra1s· c~oth.

42 ~ooden bo~rds

N~ils and porte rage

Wnges for carpenter

1 tin petroleuI:l

500 kilos plaster of pnris

.iMOUNT

18.15

.62

.45

2. 74

1.45

.so

• 30

.70

1.38

1.35

l.;38

2.00

23.05

1.35

.50

2. 76

' l.35

26.40

1.02

3.50

.70

16.85

~oo d . gluc , nails,paper , nnd labor 16.79 Toto.l LS 125.30

..\.PPEllDI X I I

1. Objocts stored in~ rooo nt the 130.nque de Syric • .An tioch

Boxos 1,2 , 3 cont~ining objects in tcrrncott~. metal, g lass and stone .

Tho mosaic of Villa "A" in 10 crates. Set in plaster o f paris.

Eleven sections of mos~ic set in concrete, from bath 0 A11 and "B".

Three sections of nosaic froo tho : octngon of bath "C", laid on boo.rds.

Circular mosaic from Villa "A" site. Battered head of oarble from Hippodrome "A" .

Crocodile base from bath "C" Bronze Roman tripod from bath "B" Bronze basin from bath "B"

2. Objects stored in the field house.

Ten marble and limestone capit~ls of lnte date . Two marble bases. One large storage jar. Tua sections of the mosaic from the octagon in bath ncq. Uine Cufic inscriptions .

3. Objects stored in room 2 o.t headquarters.

Five Greek inscriptions. ..\11 smo.11 fragments, mostly late.

Ttro Latin inscriptions. Both small fragments . Three Cufic inscriptions . Three late capitals. Terracotta vases and jars.

Rote : The coins have been to.ken to Princeton for study in nccordnnce with the contract under nhich the Committee exco.v~tes and ~ith the knonledge nnd consent of the Archo.eological Service of S;rrio..

Figure 1. Antioch from the west. Figure 2. A narrow street in Antioch.

Figure 3. Antioch from the air. Figure 4. Street in Antioch

Figure 5. A polygonal wall. Figure 6. Bab el Hadid, from the east

Figure 7. An aqueduct. Figure 8. Charonion.

Figure 9. Ruins of the Circus. Figure 10. Remnants of a Justinian Gate.

Figure 11. The Orator. Figure 12. Plan of the Palaestra.

Figure 13. Buttresses of the Palaestra. Figure 14. Latin inscription.

Figure 15. Bath C. Figure 16. Plan of Bath C.

A

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ft

I: ' I .. ., I

<t

u

Figure 17. Bath C, hypocaust. Figure 18. Single course of heavy blocks under Bath C.

I

r

1 / I I /..JI

Figure 19. Roman Bath A. Figure 20. Mosaic in Bath A.

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Figure 21. Mosaic in Bath A. Figure 22. Mosaic in Bath A.

• E:>ATH 1) bl H::. NI

t I t ~ D D QA 'W i<u '-A l.t 'llOO

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Figure 23. Plan of Bath B. Figure 24. Roman Bath B, hypocaust and (beyond) small pool.

Figure 25. Roman Bath B, small pool. Figure 26. Roman tripod from Bath B.

I

Figure 27. A Roman Vase from Bath B. Figure 28. A Roman vase from Bath B.

Figure 29. A Roman amphora from Bath B. Figure 30. Mosaic from Bath B.

--Figure 31. Mosaic from Bath B. Figure 32. Plan of the Roman Villa.

+

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0 . ' r :•

~. ~: . '

d

... ~

'

Figure 33. Mosaic floor in Roman Villa. Figure 35. Detail of mosaic: Satyr.

Figure 34. The Villa Mosaic.

'105AIC_[BOM R0'1AN VILL .. \ AT A~T IOCH

Figure 36. Detail of mosaic: Bacchan te. Figure 37. Detail of mosaic: Symposium.

Figure 38. Detail of mosaic: Heracles.

Figure 39. Detail of mosaic: Judgement of Paris.

Figure 40. The three Goddesses. Figure 41. Paris and Hermes.

Figure 42. Border of the Judgement of Paris. Figure 43. Border of the Judgement of Paris.

Figure 44. Mask of Bacchus. Figure 45. Detail of mosaic: Seated Deities.

Figure 46. Border of the fifth panel. Figure 47. Geometric border of the villa mosaic.

Figure 48. Agle's "bridge" over the mosaic. Figure 49. Terracotta lamps.

Figure 50. Photo missing. Figure 51. Photo missing.

Figure 52. Photo missing. Figure 53. Photo missing.

Figure S4. Photo missing. Figure SS. Latin inscription.

,_

Figure 56. A Cufic inscription. Figure 57. Roman marble head.

Figure 58. Roman marble head, profile. Figure 59. Sculpture fragment from Bath C.

Figure 60. A Roman relief. Figure 61. Sculptural fragments.

Figure 62. A sepulchral relief. Figure 63. Bronze jug from House A.

Figure 64. Gold earrings. Figure 65. Terracotta lamps.

Figure 66. The Charonion. Figure 67. The Charonion, detail.

Figure 68. A Roman pavement. Figure 69. Roman tile grave.

Figure 70. "Quam breve conjugium." Figure 71. Tomb wall facing of limestone.

Figure 72. View of the Church at Daphne from the east. Figure 74. Lower retaining wall of the Church at Daphne.

Figure 73. Plan of the Church at Daphne.

.... Ci I,,."' -<.-t' A'.

..., "" ....., :: • 9 ) £ C "" A

... ..

Figure 75. Apse of the Church at Daphne. Figure 76. Capitals found in the Church at Daphne.