Epigraphic Finds

In the archaeological campaign conducted by the Forschungsstelle Asia Minor at Dülük Baba Tepesi significant epigraphic material came to light. To the initial stages of the sanctuary date back a fragmentary basalt stele with relief and Luwic-Hieroglyphic inscription and a fragment of a basalt basin on which very few Aramaic letters survive. Dedications to Iuppiter Dolichenus have been recovered, all of them belonging to the Imperial period. The popularity of the main sanctuary of Iuppiter Dolichenus in the Roman period emerges also from the huge number of small epigraphic fragments uncovered every campaign.

Particularly noteworthy are the epigraphic finds which relate to the Christian monastery later erected at Dülük Baba Tepesi and which are written in Greek and, more usually, in Syriac (Estrangelo script). They consist of a long and well preserved inscription recording the construction of the monastery; two damaged fragments belonging to an inscription found in the last campaign, recording building activity or restoration at the monastery; and another building inscription. The Syriac inscriptions cast light on a religious place and community of which very little is known, but which must have played an important role in the cultural life of the region.

Ansprechpartner:

Dr. Margherita Facella
Università di Pisa
Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche del Mondo Antico
Via L. Gavani 1
I – 56126 Pisa
m.facella[at]humnet.unipi.it