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Sykeon rediscovered? A site at Kiliseler near Beypazarı

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

David Barchard
Affiliation:
Independent scholar

Abstract

The Life of Saint Theodore of Sykeon gives a detailed picture of village life in later Roman Galatia, on the eve of the Persian and Arab invasions. Though known to be located near the intersection of a Roman highway and a river, the site of Sykeon remained unidentified in modern times. Earlier inability to locate it was attributable to mistakes made by 19th century historical geographers of Anatolia, but even after their errors were corrected by David French, the site could not be found. In September 1995 the writer and Peter Brown of Princeton University discovered a terraced slope, strewn with late Roman pottery, at Kiliseler near the village of Tahirler, south of Beypazarı. The site, and its geology, conform to the known characteristics of Sykeon, including its distance from neighbouring towns, and provide suitable settings for many of the events in the career of Saint Theodore, thus raising the hope that archaeology may now be able to supplement information available from the saint's Life.

Özet

Sykeon 'lu Aziz Theodor'un Hayatı istilalarının başlamasından çok kısa bir süre önceki Roma Galatyası'nın geç evrelerine ait köy yaşamı hakkında ayrıntılı bilgi vermektedir. Sykeon sit alanının bir Roma anayolunun bir nehirle kesiştiǧi noktada bulunduǧu bilinse de modern dönemlerde bu yerin nerede olduǧu bulunamamıştır. Bu yerin önceki girişimlerde nerede olduǧunun belirlenememesi 19. yüzyıl Anadolu tarihi coǧrafyacılarının yaptıǧı hatalardan kaynaklanmaktadır. Bu hatalar David French tarafından düzeltildikten sonra bile sit alanının yeri saptanamamıştır. Eylül 1995'te makalenin yazarı ve Princeton Üniversitesi'nden Peter Brown, Beypazarı'nın güneyinde Tahirler Köyü yanındaki Kiliseler mevkiinde bulunan ve Geç Roma dönemine ait seramik parçalarının bulunduǧu teraslanmış bir yamaç keşfetmişlerdir. Sit alanı ve bu alanın jeolojik durumu Sykeon'nun komşu kasabalara olan uzaklıǧı da dahil olmak üzere bilinen özelliklerine ve Aziz Theodor'un yaşamı boyunca meydana gelen olayların geçtiǧi yerlere uymaktadır. Böylece arkeolojinin yardımıyla Aziz'in hayatı ile ilgili yeni bilgilerin ortaya çıkarılması umudu doǧmuştur.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 2003

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