The tetrapylon (monumental gate)

Aphrodisias was a town in Caria, now part of modern Turkey, about 230 km (142.5 miles) from Izmir, located beside the modern village of Geyre (see Google Maps). As its name implies, it was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Love. According to the Suda, before being known as Aphrodisias, the city had three previous names: Lelegon Polis (city of the Leleges), Megale Polis, and Ninoë. Aphrodisias - Temple of Aphrodite File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Aphrodisias - Temple of Aphrodite File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Location of Caria Caria (Greek Καρία; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was a region of Asia Minor, situated south of Ionia, and west of Phrygia and Lycia. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... A mile is any of a number of units of distance, each in the magnitude of 1–10 km. ... Shows the Location of the Province Ä°zmir Izmir from space, June 1996 Izmir (Turkish spelling Ä°zmir, contraction of its former name Smyrna), the second-largest port (after Ä°stanbul) and the third most populous city (2,409,000 in 2000) of Turkey, is located on the Aegean Sea near the Gulf... Birth of Venus (a. ... Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a god. A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger pantheon that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases... Suda (Σουδα or alternatively Suidas) is a massive 10th century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopædia of the ancient Mediterranean world. ...

The city was built near a marble quarry, which was extensively exploited in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and sculpture in marble from Aphrodisias became famous in the Roman world. Many examples of statuary have been unearthed in Aphrodisias, and some also survive from other parts of the Roman world. The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... Roman or Romans may refer to: History Ancient Rome Roman Kingdom (753 BC to 509 BC) Roman Republic (509 BC to 44 BC) Roman Empire (44 BC to AD 476) Roman citizen Byzantine Empire (330 to 1453), also known as the Eastern Roman Empire or the Empire of the Greeks...

The most recent excavations were begun by Kenan Erim under the aegis of New York University in 1962 and are ongoing, currently led by Professor Christopher Ratté (at NYU) and Professor R.R.R.Smith (at Oxford University). Previously the site was excavated in 1904-5 by a French railroad engineer, Paul Gaudin. As many pieces of monumental stone were reused in the Late Antique city walls, many inscriptions could and can be easily read by visitors to the area without any excavation; the city has therefore been visited and insciptions recorded repeatedly in modern times, already from the early eighteenth century. Kenan Erim (1929 – 1990) was a Turkish archaeologist. ... New York University (NYU) is a major research university in New York City. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ...

The site is in an earthquake zone and has suffered a great deal of damage at various times, especially in the 4th and 7th centuries. An added complication was that one of the 4th century earthquakes altered the water table, making parts of the town prone to flooding. An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from and is powered by the dynamic release of stored energy that radiates seismic waves. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... // Overview Events The Roman-Persian Wars end. ... Look up Flood in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Evidence can be seen of emergency plumbing installed to combat this problem. Aphrodisias never fully recovered from the 7th century earthquake, and fell into disrepair. Part of the town was covered by the modern village of Geyre; some of the cottages were removed in the 20th century to reveal the older city. A new Geyre has been built a short distance away. Plumbing, from the Latin for lead (plumbum), is the trade of working with pipes for water, drainage and natural gas. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Temple of Aphrodite

The Temple of Aphrodite was and still is a focal point of the town, but the character of the building was altered when it became a Christian basilica. The Aphrodisian sculptors became renowned and the school of sculpture was very productive; a lot of their work can be seen around the site and in the museum. Many full-length statues were discovered in the region of the agora, and trial and unfinished pieces pointing to a true school are in evidence. Sarcophagi were recovered in various locations, most frequently decorated with designs consisting of garland and columns. Pilasters have been, found showing what are described as "peopled scrolls" with figures of people, birds and animals entwined in acanthus leaves. The sculptors benefitted from a plentiful supply of marble close at hand. St. ... An agora (αγορά), translatable as marketplace, was an essential part of an ancient Greek polis or city-state. ... A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. ... The acanthus is an ornament in the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders that depicts or resembles foliage of the acanthus plant. ... Venus de Milo, front. ...

The stadium

Aphrodisias - The stadium File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Aphrodisias - The stadium File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Other buildings and discoveries

There are many other notable buildings, including the stadium which is said to be probably the best preserved of its kind in the Mediterranean. It measured 262 by 59 m and was used for athletic events until the theatre was badly damaged by a 7th century earthquake, requiring part of the stadium to be converted for events previously staged in the theatre. The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...

Excavations in Aphrodisias uncovered an important Jewish inscription whose context is unclear. The inscription, in Greek, lists donations made by numerous individuals, of whom several are classed as 'theosebeis', or godfearers. It seems clear through comparative evidence from the inscriptions in the Sardis synagogue and from the New Testament that such godfearers were probably interested gentiles who attached themselves to the Jewish community, supporting and perhaps frequenting the synagogue. The geographical spread of the evidence suggests this was a widespread phenomenon in Asia Minor during the Roman period. Sardis, (also Sardes) the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, the seat of a conventus under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times, was situated in the middle Hermus valley, at the foot of Mt. ... See New Covenant for the concept translated as New Testament in the KJV. The New Testament (Καινή Διαθήκη), sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, and sometimes also New Covenant, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written by various authors c. ... A Gentile refers to a non-Israelite; the word is derived from the Latin term gens (meaning clan or a group of families) and is often employed in the plural. ...

See also

• Alexander of Aphrodisias

Alexander of Aphrodisias, pupil of Aristocles of Messene, the most celebrated of the Greek commentators on the writings of Aristotle, and styled, by way of pre-eminence, o exegetes (the expositor), was a native of Aphrodisias in Caria. ...

External links

• Aphrodisias (NYU excavations)
• Inscriptions of Aphrodisias
• Article about Aphrodisias
• History of Aphrodisias, birth place of the goddess of love
• Virtual Tours of Aphrodisias