eastern atlas - Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes

Project	Geomagnetic test measurements to evaluate the conservation conditions of ancient building structures in the modern town of Hatay (Antakya, Turkey)
Location	Antioch on the Orontes , today: Antakya/Hatay, Turkey
Period	Hellenistic-Seleucid, 3^rd to 1^st c. BC
Methods	Geomagnetics, GPR
Client	Institut für Orientalische Archäologie und Kunst der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Prof. Dr. Gunnar Brands


View of the ancient urban area on Mt. Staurin (so called Epiphaneia)		Map of seleucid Antioch by W. Hoepfner (2002)		Eco-transportation of equipment on Mt. Staurin

OBJECTIVES Geomagnetic investigations to locate ancient settlement structures in "Epiphaneia", a part of the ancient city of Antioche. Geophysical test measurements to evaluate conservation conditions of ancient building structures in the modern town of Hatay (former Antioche) and in the ancient seaport of Seleukia Pieria (today Çevlik) .

Survey and results

Geomagnetic investigations on Mt. Staurin to locate a former part of Antioche called „Epiphaneia“ gave very good results. Furthermore a complex geophysical prospection using geomagnetic mapping and GPR was applied in two locations within the town of Hatay, but was less successful. One site is located close to the church of St. Peter, at the end of the Parmenios gorge, the other in an area called "Basileia" In both locations clear ancient structures could not be detected due to many modern interferences in the ground that either overlaid or destroyed the old ones.

Geomagnetic mapping on Mt. Staurin saddle (Epiphaneia)

	In Seleucia Pieria, the ancient seaport of Antioch, the GPR measurements yielded brilliant results. This is mainly due to ideal conservation conditions of the remanent structures since the area has been used as farmland only over centuries .
GPR measurements in Seleucia Pieria.		GPR timeslice in Seleucia Pieria.

COoperation partners Leipzig University of Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Weferling
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture

Mustafa Kemal Universitity, Antakya
Dr. Hatice Pamir
Department of Archaeology

Contact Cornelius Meyer (meyer@eastern-atlas.com )

LINKS Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Department of Oriental Archaeology and Art
(http://www.orientarch.uni-halle.de/dept/staff/brands.htm )