City of the Mother Goddess Metropolis

[Originally distributed by TurkC-L. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TurkC-L ]

[Photographs of finds at Metropolis can be found at:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?I5AF12C6A ]

x0x City of the Mother Goddess Metropolis

By NERMIN BAYCIN

Until a decade or so ago noone had heard of it. It was
not a lost city, only forgotten. Lying at the foot of a steep
mountainside between Izmir and Ephesus, it was almost entirely buried
under soil, yet enough remains were visible for European travellers to
note its existence in passing. A field survey by archaeologists in the
mid-19th century identified the city, but no one pursued the faint
trail. Two visits at long intervals, and then a deep silence prevailed
until the early 1970s, when it was rediscovered by Professor Recep
Meric, an archaeologist at Dokuz Eylul University.

EXCAVATIONS BEGIN

Professor Meric's interest was initially aroused not so much by the
faded dusty ruins themselves on their hilltop site overlooking Kucuk
Menderes Plain, but by the finds displayed in the nearby village. A
statue of a lion, grave steles, figurines, inscriptions, pottery
fragments and other objects showed that a magnificent city lay hidden
beneath the soil.

Five years of field research confirmed that Metropolis was a
major city of the Hellenistic Age (300-30 BC), which had stamped its
mark on future civilisation. This was a golden age of scholarship, art
and architecture, producing such spectacular masterpieces as the
Temple of Zeus at Pergamon.

THE THEATRE AWAITS ITS GUESTS

This rare example of a surviving Hellenistic city in Anatolia did not
have to wait long to see the light of day again. Professor Meric and
his team commenced excavations in 1989, at the spot where the ancient
theatre was thought to lie. As work progressed their excitement rose,
until finally the marble paving of the orchestra (the part of the
theatre where the chorus and actors performed) was revealed at a depth
of four metres. The steep gradient combined with the superimposed
layers of later construction all made excavation work at the theatre
extremely difficult. Erosion had caused the stones belonging to the
upper tiers of seats to slip downhill, and they lay in tumbled heaps.

All this is described in Professor Meric's new book,
`Metropolis, City of the Mother Goddess,' sponsored by Philip
Morris/Sabanci. Excavations eventually revealed one of the finest
theatres of the Hellenistic world, reflecting outstanding aesthetic
achievement and craftsmanship of the age in the tiers of seats
culminating in carved lion's feet, sacrificial altars, and magnificent
carved seats for the city's nobles. It was in an excellent state of
preservation, conveying the atmosphere of that distant time 2150 years
ago, when audiences of four thousand people watched plays here.

Restoration work began, and within eight or nine years the theatre was
able to seat 900 people. In the course of restoration and example of
the engineering skills of the people of Metropolis was revealed.

Foreseeing the damage that could be done by rainwater pouring down the
rocky slope on which the theatre was built, a deep drainage channel
with a system for precipitating silt had been dug along the upper wall
to divert and water to nearby fountains.

REMARKABLE EXAMPLES OF ANCIENT DESIGN

The theatre was not the only spectacular structure at Metropolis,
which had been designed down to the smallest detail for maximum effect
on its steep hillside site. With its sewerage and water systems,
streets extending in a grid from one side of the city to the other,
and in particular the grand flight of steps adorned with lion's feet
on either side leading up to the acropolis, the city is truly
imposing. The council hall where decisions about everything from the
price of bread and the city accounts, to the renting of land and
capital punishments, were taken, is one of the most impressive works
of architecture here. The facade was adorned with carvings, and within
were numerous statues of councillors and city notables. The carved
head of a woman and several torsos of statues found here are beautiful
examples of Hellenistic period sculpture. The council hall seating
around 350 people is still impressive today, despite the Byzantine
fortress wall built right through the centre in the 12th or 13th
century AD.

ANCIENT SPONSORS

The location of the agora was identified by means of an inscription
erected in memory of a citizen who was both hero and entrepreneur. The
stoa, a covered and colonnaded promenade with a view stretching to the
Kucuk Menderes plain in the distance, was a prestigious structure
where rich citizens who had made contributions to the city were
honoured. On each column of the 70 metre long stoa is inscribed the
name of one of these donors, whom Professor Meric describes as the
earliest known examples of what we know today as sponsors. During the
Hellenistic period public buildings which combined beauty with
functionality were built with the help of private donations. The city
reached the height of its splendour in the second century BC, and
unlike Ephesus, which was entirely covered by Roman period buildings,
it is the Hellenistic age which is mainly reflected today at
Metropolis. This is what makes the site of such importance.

Nevertheless, powerful and magnificent Rome did leave its
mark on Metropolis, with buildings like the bath, gymnasium complex
and public lavatory, and above all the Reception Hall next to the
theatre. This hall, where eminent guests who had come to the theatre
were feasted, is adorned with an exquisite mosaic pavement depicting
Dionysus, the creator of tragedy and god of wine, and other
mythological beings.

CITY OF THE MOTHER GODDESS

Metropolis means 'city of the Mother Goddess,' or Mater Gallessia,
after Mount Gallession behind the city, and was its protector.

Numerous figurines and coins portraying the Mother Goddess in a
seating position have been found in a cave five kilometres away from
the city. Metropolis was renowned for its agricultural products, wine
and marble, and situated at a strategic point on the road between
Izmir (the ancient Smyrna) and Ephesus. The latest finds have shown
that settlement here goes back to the 4th millennium BC, during the
Bronze Age.

A seal found on the acropolis and Hittite layers (2nd
millennium BC) at Bademgedigi 6 kilometres away provide strong
evidence that the latter site was the Arzawa city of Puranda referred
to in Hittite documents.