{{Short description|Ancient Roman city in Geyre, Aydın, Turkey}} {{other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox historic site |name = Aphrodisias |native_names = Ἀφροδισιάς |alternate_name = |image = 270px |alt = |caption = Temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias |locmapin = Turkey |map_relief = yes |map_alt = |map_caption = |image_map_size = 270 |coordinates = {{coord|37|42|30|N|28|43|25|E|display=inline,title}} |location = Geyre, Aydın Province, Turkey |region = Caria |type = Settlement |part_of = |length = |width = |area = |height = |builder = |material = |built = |abandoned = |epochs = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" --> |cultures = Greek, Roman |dependency_of = |occupants = Alexander of Aphrodisias, Chariton |event = |excavations = 1904–1905, 1962–present |archaeologists = Paul Augustin Gaudin, Kenan Erim, Christopher Ratté, R. R. R. Smith |condition = |ownership = |management = |public_access = Yes |website = [https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?SectionId=AFR01&DistId=AFR Aphrodisias Archaeological Site] |notes = |embedded = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | child = yes | ID = 1519 | Year = 2017 | Criteria = Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi | Area = {{cvt|152.25|ha}} | Buffer_zone = {{cvt|1,040.57|ha}} | Includes = Archaeological Site of Aphrodisias and Ancient Marble Quarries }} }} [[File:MapaTopográficoDeAsiaMenor-Caria.png|thumb|300px|Ancient cities of Caria|alt=Map of ancient cities of Caria]]
'''Aphrodisias''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|f|r|ə|ˈ|d|ɪ|s|i|ə|s}};{{refn|{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Aphrodisias |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322183943/https://www.lexico.com/definition/aphrodisias |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 March 2020 |title=Aphrodisias |dictionary=Lexico UK English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press}} }} {{langx|grc|Ἀφροδισιάς|Aphrodisiás}}) was a Hellenistic Greek city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Asia Minor, today's Anatolia in Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} east/inland from the coast of the Aegean Sea, and {{convert|230|km|mi|abbr=on}} southeast of İzmir.
Aphrodisias was named after ''Aphrodite'', the Greek goddess of love, who had here her unique cult image, the ''Aphrodite of Aphrodisias''. According to the Suda, a Byzantine encyclopedic compilation, before the city became known as Aphrodisias ({{circa|3rd century BC}}) it had three previous Greek names: ''Lelégōn Pólis'' (Λελέγων πόλις, "City of the Leleges"),<ref>For Greeks, "Leleges" denoted an ancient pre-Greek people.</ref> ''Megálē Pólis'' (Μεγάλη Πόλις, "Great City"), and ''Ninó''ē (Νινόη).<ref>Pleiades s.v. 'Aphrodisias/Ninoe', http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/638753/ (accessed 7 August 2021); see ''Suda Online'' s.v. Ninoe, [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?searchstr=nu+416] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924125246/http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?searchstr=nu+416|date=24 September 2015}} (accessed 25 December 2006); the elite of Aphrodisias linked their founding to the Assyrian ruler called in Greek Ninus, the eponymous founder also of Nineveh.</ref>
Sometime before 640, in the Late Antique period when it was within the Byzantine Empire, the city was renamed ''Stauropolis'' (Σταυρούπολις, "City of the Cross").<ref name="cath">Siméon Vailhé, "Stauropolis" ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', 1912 [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14283b.htm full text], citing Heinrich Gelzer, ''Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiæ episcopatuum'', 534. The name ''Tauropolis'', said to have been borne by the town prior to that of Stauropolis, is an error of several scholars, ''e.g.'' ''Revue des études grecques'' '''19''':228-30; the error 'Tauropolis' derives from inscription [http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004/inscription/eAla022.html IAph 42]: see discussion by Roueché at [http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004/narrative/sec-VI.html#VI.48 ALA VI.48]</ref>
In 2017, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/newproperties/|title=New Inscribed Properties|first=UNESCO World Heritage|last=Centre|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>
==History==
Aphrodisias was the metropolis (provincial capital) of the region and Roman province of Caria.<ref name ="ODB">{{ODB|last=Foss|first=Clive|title=Aphrodisias|page=128}}</ref>
White and blue-grey Carian marble was extensively quarried from adjacent slopes in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, for building facades and sculptures.{{cn|date=January 2025}} Marble sculptures and sculptors from Aphrodisias became famous in the Roman world. Many examples of statuary have been unearthed in Aphrodisias, and some representations of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias also survive from other parts of the Roman world, as far afield as Pax Julia in Lusitania.<ref>Peter Noelke, "Zwei unbekännte Repliken der Aphrodite von Aphrosias in Köln" ''Arkäologischer Anzeiger'' '''98'''.1:107-31.</ref>
The city had notable schools for sculpture, as well as philosophy, remaining a centre of paganism until the end of the 5th century.<ref name ="ODB"/> It was destroyed by earthquake in the early 7th century, and never recovered its former prosperity, being reduced to a small fortified settlement on the site of the ancient theatre.<ref name ="ODB"/> Around the same time, it was also renamed to ''Stauropolis'' ({{langx|el|Σταυροῡπολις}}, "city of the Cross") to remove pagan connotations, but already by the 8th century it was known as ''Caria'' after the region, which later gave rise to its modern Turkish name, Geyre.<ref name ="ODB"/><ref name="DOAKS">{{Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art|volume=2|chapter=Karia/Stauropolis|pages=167–169}}</ref> In Byzantine times, the city was the seat of a fiscal administrative unit (''dioikesis'').<ref name="DOAKS"/>
Caria and the neigboring settlement of ''Tantalos'' became the target of multiple Seljuk raids in the decades following the Battle of Manzikert, leading to a massive loss of population. Caria was sacked by the rebel Theodore Mankaphas in 1188 with Turkish support. It was sacked again by the Seljuks in 1197 and its population was captured and relocated close to Philomelion.<ref>Vryonis, Speros (1971). The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamisation from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: California University Press. p. 184</ref> The town permanently fell under Turkish control towards the end of the 13th century.<ref name ="ODB"/>
===Geological history=== The site is in an earthquake zone and has suffered a great deal of damage at various times, especially in severe tremors of the 4th and 7th centuries.{{cn|date=January 2025}} An added complication was that one of the 4th century earthquakes altered the water table, making parts of the town prone to flooding. Evidence can be seen of emergency plumbing installed to combat this problem.
The city of 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.
===Ecclesiastical history=== {{main|Stauropolis (diocese)}} Le Quien (''Oriens christianus'', I, 899–904) mentions twenty bishops of this see. In the 7th century Stauropolis had twenty-eight suffragan bishops and twenty-six at the beginning of the 10th century.
Stauropolis is also a Roman Catholic titular metropolitan see, under the name ''Stauropoli'' (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Stauropolitana'').<ref>{{Catholic-hierarchy|diocese|d3s58|Stauropolis|21 January 2015}}</ref>
==Buildings and structures== [[File:Aphrodisias - Tetrapylon 04.jpg|thumb|The monumental gateway or tetrapylon]]
===Monumental gateway===
A monumental gateway, or tetrapylon, stands at the end of a road that leads from the main north–south street of the town into a large forecourt in front of the Sanctuary of Aphrodite Aphrodisias. The gateway was built ca. AD 200.{{cn|date=January 2025}}
===Temple of Aphrodite=== {{main|Sanctuary of Aphrodite Aphrodisias}} thumb|The Temple of Aphrodite The Temple of Aphrodite was a focal point of the town. The Aphrodisian sculptors became renowned and benefited from a plentiful supply of marble close at hand. The school of sculpture was very productive;<ref>Kenan T. Erim, "The school of Aphrodisias, " ''Archaeology'' '''20'''.1:18-27.</ref> much of their work can be seen around the site and in the Aphrodisias 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 festoons 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 character of the temple building was altered when it became a Christian basilica. The building is believed to have been dismantled in c. 481–484 by order of Emperor Zeno, because the temple had been the focus of Pagan Hellenic opposition against Zeno in Aphrodisias, in support of Illus, who had promised to restore Hellenic rites, which had been suppressed during the Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire, to the temples that were still standing.<ref>Trombley, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HZefAwAAQBAJ&dq=statue+allat-athena&pg=PA145 Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529]''</ref>
===Bouleuterion=== [[File:Aphrodisias bouleuterion 4519.jpg|thumb|The Bouleuterion served as the meeting place of the city's administrative council (the Boule), and as a multi-purpose indoor theatre, concert hall and assembly space.]] The Bouleuterion (council house), or Odeon, is centered on the north side of the North Agora. As it stands today, it consists of a semicircular auditorium fronted by a shallow stage structure about 46 m wide. The lower part of the auditorium survives intact, with nine rows of marble seats divided into five wedges by radial stairways. The seating of the upper part, amounting to an additional twelve rows, has collapsed together with its supporting vaults. The plan is an extremely open one, with numerous entrances at ground level and several stairways giving access to the upper rows of seats. A system of massive parallel buttresses shows that the building was originally vaulted. The auditorium would have been lighted by a series of tall, arched windows in the curved outer wall. Seating capacity is estimated at 1,750.{{cn|date=January 2025}}
The available evidence indicates a construction date in the Antonine or early Severan period (late 2nd or early 3rd century AD). The ''scaenae frons'' (stage front) was certainly put up at this time, as the style of both sculpture and architectural ornament suggest. Statue bases terminating the retaining walls of the auditorium bore the names of two brothers, senators in the early Severan period, and two inscribed bases placed symmetrically against the exterior facade held statues of Aphrodisian benefactors, Claudia Antonia Tatiana and her uncle Lucius Antonius Dometinus, who were active at the end of the 2nd century.<ref>''Sculptures of the Bouleuterion''.<!--unidentifiable incomplete reference--></ref> Tatiana is known to have had close ties with Ephesus, and it is possible that the striking similarities between this building and the bouleuterion on the civic agora there, dated by inscription to the mid-2nd century, are due to some initiative on her part. We do not know what stood here before the 2nd century AD, but it is likely that the present building replaced a smaller one contemporary with the laying out of the agora in the late 1st century BC.
The bouleuterion at Aphrodisias remained in this form until the early 5th century, when a municipal official had it adapted as a ''palaestra'', recording his achievement in an inscription on the upper molding of the ''pulpitum'' (stage). ''Palaestra'' usually refers to a wrestling ground, but in the 5th century it could be used to describe a hall for lectures, performances, and various kinds of competitive displays, as suggested by a number of factional inscriptions carved on the seats. Numerous additional cuttings in the surviving seats, probably for poles supporting awnings, suggest that by this time the building had lost its roof. The orchestra was lowered and provided with a marble pavement, reused, perhaps, from the earlier phase.<ref>The architecture of the Bouleuterion is examined by Lionel Bier, ''"The Bouleuterion at Aphrodisias"'', ''Aphrodisias Papers'' '''4'''</ref>
===Sebasteion=== {{further|Reign of Augustus}} thumb|The Sebasteion The Sebasteion,<ref>''Sebastós'' is the Greek equivalent of Latin ''Augustus''.</ref> or Augusteum, was jointly dedicated, according to a 1st-century inscription on its propylon, "To Aphrodite, the Divine Augusti and the People". A relief found in the ruins of the south portico represented a personification of the ''polis'' making sacrifice to the cult image of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, venerated as ''promētōr'' ("foremother" or "ancestral mother"). "Aphrodite represents the cosmic force that integrates imperial power with the power of local elites", a reader of Chariton romance has noted.<ref>Douglas R. Edwards notes in, "Defining the Web of Power in Asia Minor: The Novelist Chariton and His City Aphrodisias" ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'' '''62'''.3 (Autumn 1994:699-718) p. 711.</ref> This connection between the goddess and the imperial house was also a particularly politic one at the time, as the Gens Julia – the family of Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, and their immediate successors – claimed divine descent from Venus/Aphrodite. [[File:Augustus and Victory - Aphrodisias (7471671280).jpg|thumb|upright|A Roman marble carved relief depicting a deified Augustus standing next to a {{lang|la|tropaion}} ('trophy') crowned by goddess Victory, with an Eagle of Zeus perhaps symbolizing his consecration, dated to the reign of Tiberius (AD 14–37), from the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias, now in the Aphrodisias Museum (Turkey)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cadario |first=Matteo |title=Augustus through the Ages: Receptions, Readings and Appropriations of the Historical Figure of the First Roman Emperor |date=2022 |pages=62–63, Figure 4 (of chapter pages 53–78) |editor-last1=Cavalieri |editor-first1=Marco |editor-last2=Assenmaker |editor-first2=Pierre |editor-last3=Cavagna |editor-first3=Mattia |editor-last4=Engels |editor-first4=David |chapter=Alcune osservazioni sulla memoria postuma di Augusto nelle immagini |location=Brussels |series=Collection Latomus |volume=366 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-4962-1 |doi=10.2307/jj.10574832.4 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.10574832 |language=Italian}}</ref>]]
===Stadium=== thumb|The stadium at Aphrodisias
The stadium was built in the 1st century AD<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Norwich |first=John Julius |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_World_Atlas_of_Architecture/LnlUPQAACAAJ?hl=en |title=The World Atlas of Architecture |date=1988 |publisher=Portland House |isbn=978-0-517-66875-7 |pages=149 |language=en}}</ref> 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 stadium measures<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyu.edu/projects/aphrodisias/home.ti.htm |title=New York University, Aphrodisias Excavations website |work=Stadium |access-date=26 December 2011 }}</ref> approximately {{convert|270|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}}. With 30 rows of seats on each side, and around each end, it would have had a maximum capacity for around 30,000 spectators. The track measures approximately {{convert|225|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}}.
As the stadium is considerably larger and structurally more extensive than even the Stadium of Delphi, it is probably one of the best preserved structures of its kind in the Mediterranean.
The meetings held in the stadium were based on those of Delphi, where artistic contests were more important that that of the Olympic Games. A large number of inscriptions at the site prove that there was persistent use up to the 3rd century AD. Later the eastern portion was converted into a circus to hold Roman gladiatorial games.<ref name=":0" />
==Archaeology== The first formal excavations were undertaken in 1904–5, by a French railroad engineer, Paul Augustin Gaudin. Some of the architectural finds (mostly friezes, pilasters and capitals) he discovered at the site are now in the British Museum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection|title=Collection|website=The British Museum|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>
Ongoing excavations were begun by Kenan Erim under the aegis of New York University in 1962.{{cn|date=May 2026}}
Turkish photojournalist Ara Güler (1928-2018), during his time with Magnum Photos<ref name="fh">{{Cite web |url=http://www.fotograf.net/Artist/araguler/ozgecmis/index.htm |publisher=fotograf.net |title=Ara Güler'in Hayatı |language=Turkish |access-date=4 December 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091129063216/http://www.fotograf.net/Artist/araguler/ozgecmis/index.htm| archive-date= 29 November 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name=magnum>{{cite web | title=Ara Güler, 1928-2018 | website=Magnum Photos | date=18 October 2018 | url=https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/ara-guler-1928-2018/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260226204438/https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/ara-guler-1928-2018/ | archive-date=26 February 2026 | url-status=live | access-date=24 May 2026}}</ref> in the early 1960s,<ref name=tas2019>{{cite journal | title=Ara Güler, 1928-2018| author=Orga, Ateş | journal= Turkish Area Studies Review (Bulletin of the British Association for Turkish Area Studies)| issue= 33 |date= Spring 2019 |ISSN= 1474-0125 | publisher=British Association for Turkish Area Studies |url=https://batas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/TASR-No33.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260525042239/https://batas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/TASR-No33.pdf| p=67–71 | archive-date=25 May 2026 | url-status=live | access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref> introduced the world to the ancient city of Aphrodisias.<ref name=miaexhibit2024>{{cite web | title=In the Footsteps of Ara Güler, the Eye of Istanbul | website=Loophole Magazine |first=Miloš |last=Antić | date=15 October 2024 | url=https://loophole.art/articles/ara-guler-mia | access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref><ref name=museum>{{cite web | title=Ara Güler | website=Ara Güler Müzesi | url=https://aragulermuzesi.com/tr/ara-guler | language=tr | access-date=24 May 2026}}</ref>
The excavations were being led by R. R. R. Smith (at Oxford University) and Katharine Welch of the NYU Institute of Fine Arts in 1993. The findings reveal that the lavish building programme in the city's civic center was initiated and largely funded by one Gaius Julius Zoilos, a local who was a slave of Gaius Julius Caesar, set free by Octavian.<ref>R. R. R. Smith, "The Monument of C. Julius Zoilos" ''Aphrodisias Papers'' '''2''' R. R. R. Smith, K. T. Erim (eds) 1993.</ref> When Zoilos returned as a freedman to his native city, endowed with prestige and rich rewards for his service, he shrewdly directed it to align with Octavian in his power struggle against Mark Antony. This ensured Octavian's lasting favor in the form of financial privileges that allowed the city to prosper.
In September 2014, drones were used to 3D map the above-ground ruins of Aphrodisias. In 2014 the data was being analysed by the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Hudson|first1=Hal|title=Air-chaeological drones search for ancient treasures|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329883.900-airchaeological-drones-search-for-ancient-treasures.html#.VC1hk_ldV8E|access-date=2 October 2014|issue=2988|magazine=New Scientist|date=24 September 2014}}</ref>
In March 2018, an ancient tomb was unearthed in an area where illegal excavations were carried out. The tomb was taken to the Aphrodisias Museum.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-tomb-found-in-illegal-excavations-in-aydin-129853|title=Ancient tomb found in illegal excavations in Aydın|date=5 April 2018|newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>
In 2020, two sarcophagi were found in an olive grove. There was a relief of Medusa on one of the sarcophagi.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/treasure-hunters-unearth-2-500-year-old-history-159844|title=Treasure hunters unearth 2,500-year-old history|date=9 November 2020|newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:The_Roman_theatre,_built_in_the_second_half_of_the_1st_century_BC_on_the_eastern_slope_of_the_acropolis,_Aphrodisias,_Caria,_Turkey_(18524445015).jpg|The Roman Theater (north) File:Aphrodisias,_stone_heads.jpg|Aphrodisias Stone heads File:Aphrodisias - Baths of Hadrian 01.jpg|Baths of Hadrianus File:Aphrodisias,_sarcophagi.jpg|Sarcophagi on site File:Aphrodisias Tetrastoon Theatre fringe 4430.jpg|Aphrodisias Tetrastoon File:Aphrodisias South agora and pool 056.jpg|South agora and pool </gallery>
===Inscriptions=== The quality of the marble in Aphrodisias has resulted in an unusually large number of inscribed items surviving in the city. As many pieces of monumental quarried stone were reused in the Late Antique city walls, many inscriptions could and can be easily read without any excavation; the city has therefore been visited and its inscriptions recorded repeatedly in modern times, starting from the early 18th century.
Upwards of 2000 inscriptions have been recorded by excavators under the aegis of New York University. Many of these inscriptions had been re-used in the city walls. Most inscriptions are from the Imperial period, with funerary and honorary texts being particularly well represented, but there are a handful of texts from all periods from the Hellenistic to Byzantine. A set of documents, aimed at portraying the grandeur and history of the city, was included in so-called "Archival Wall".
Excavations in Aphrodisias have also 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.<ref>Published by J. M. Reynolds and R. F. Tannenbaum, ''Jews and Godfearers at Aphrodisias'', Cambridge Philological Society Supplementary Volume 12, (Cambridge, 1987)</ref> 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.
===Frieze=== A frieze discovered in 1980 showing a bare breasted and helmeted female warrior labelled <small>BRITANNIA</small> writhing in agony under the knee of a Roman soldier with to the left and below the inscription <small>TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS CAESAR</small> is assumed to depict Britain subjugated by Rome.<ref>''Roman Britain'' By Timothy W. Potter and Catherine Johns, University of California Press, 1992 p. 40</ref>
==Aphrodite of Aphrodisias== thumb|upright|The Aphrodite of Aphrodisias The cult image that is particular to Aphrodisias, the ''Aphrodite of Aphrodisias'', doubtless was once housed in the Temple of Aphrodite.<ref>This section follows the dissertation by Lisa R. Brody, under the direction of Christopher Ratté, [https://web.archive.org/web/20030923074738/http://www.geocities.com/lisa_brody/diss.htm "The Iconography and Cult of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias"]; her upcoming book will present a catalogue of all surviving images.</ref> She was a distinctive local goddess who became, by ''interpretatio graeca'', identified with the Greek Aphrodite. Her canonical image, typical of Anatolian cult images, shows that she is related to the ''Lady of Ephesus'',<ref>Lisa Brody notes other images of similar formula: the Artemis of Perge, the Artemis of Claros, the Kore of Sardis, Zeus Labraundeus, and Jupiter Heliopolitanus of Baalbek.</ref> widely venerated in the Greco-Roman world as Artemis of Ephesus.
The surviving images, from contexts where they must have been more civic than ritual, are without exception from the late phase of the cult, in Hellenistic and Roman times. They are rendered in the naturalistic style common to their culture, which gave the local goddess more universal appeal.<ref>Lisa Brody suggests the refounding of Artemisias as a Greek ''polis'' about the second century BCE as a possible context for the recreation in Hellenistic terms of a postulated archaic image.</ref> Like the Lady of Ephesus, the "Aphrodite" of Aphrodisia wears a thick, form-disguising tunic, encasing her as if in a columnar box, always with four registers of standardized imagery. Her feet are of necessity close together, her forearms stretched forward, to receive and to give. She is adorned with necklaces and wears a mural crown<ref>In the third century BCE, artists began to place a mural crown on images of the goddess Cybele, who had been represented since Hittite times with a cylindrical ''polos''. The Artemis of Ephesus also wears a mural crown in Hellenistic-Roman images; such a substitution is likely also for the reinterpretation of the Lady of Aphrodisias.</ref> together with a diadem and a wreath of myrtle, draped with a long veil that frames her face and extends to the ground. Beneath her overtunic she wears a floor-length ''chiton''.
The bands of decoration on the tunic, rendered in bas-relief, evoke the Goddess's cosmic powers: the Charites, the Three Graces that are the closest attendants of Aphrodite; heads of a married pair (the woman is veiled), identified by Lisa Brody as Gaia and Uranos, Earth and the Heavens, over which this goddess reigns, rather than as Zeus and Hera; Helios and Selene separated by a pillar; the marine Aphrodite,<ref>The marine Aphrodite, known to Greeks as ''Aphrodite Pelagia'', to Romans as ''Venus Marina'', is not elsewhere represented riding the sea-goat.</ref> riding a sea-goat, and at the base a group of Erotes performing cult rituals.
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="160"> File:Relief_image_of_Aphrodite_of_Aphrodisias,_dedicated_by_Theodoros,_from_the_theatre,_2nd-3rd_century_AD,_Aphrodisias_Museum,_Turkey_(17194881282).jpg|Aphrodite of Aphrodisias originated in the Archaic period or earlier as a local Carian goddess File:Marble_head_of_a_goddess,_found_in_the_Hadrianic_Baths,_2nd_century_AD,_Aphrodisias_Museum_(16993498327).jpg|Marble head of a goddess, found in the Hadrianic Baths, 2nd century AD File:Relief_depicting_the_birth_of_Aphrodite_(Aphrodite_Anadyomene),_Aphrodisias_Museum,_Turkey_(19868596734).jpg|Relief depicting the birth of Aphrodite (Aphrodite Anadyomene), Aphrodisias Museum File:4542_-_Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Donna_-_sec._II_d.C._-_da_Afrodisia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006.jpg|Unknown Roman matrona, 2nd century AD. from Aphrodisias, now presented in Istanbul Archaeological Museum File:Museum_of_Aphrodisias_Sevgi_Gönül_Hall.jpg|Aphrodisias Museum Sevgi Gönül Hall. This hall contains items from the Sebasteion structure </gallery>
==See also== *Alexander of Aphrodisias *Chariton, whose novel ''Chaereas and Callirhoe'' reflects the power structure of Aphrodisias in the 1st-2nd century *List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey
==References== {{reflist}} ;Sources *{{Catholic|wstitle=Stauropolis}} [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14283b.htm] (Late Antique and Ecclesiastical History)
== Further reading == *Foss, C., S. Mitchell, et al. (2007), 'Aphrodisias/Ninoe', http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/638753/. *Erim, Kenan T., "Aphrodisias, Awakened City Of Ancient Art", National Geographic Magazine, 1972, June. *Erim, Kenan T., "Aphrodisias", Net Turistik Yayinlar A.S. (Istanbul, 1990). *Erim, Kenan T., ''Aphrodisias: City of Venus Aphrodite'' (New York: Facts on File, 1986). *Joukowsky, Martha Sharp, ''Pre-Historic Aphrodisias'' (Université Catholique de Louvain 1996) available at https://web.archive.org/web/20080709045224/http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/6582/Location/DBBC *L. Herbert, "Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Aphrodisias," in Calvin B. Kendall, Oliver Nicholson, William D. Phillips Jr., Marguerite Ragnow (eds.), ''Conversion to Christianity from Late Antiquity to the Modern Age: Considering the Process in Europe, Asia, and the Americas'' (Minneapolis: Center for Early Modern History, 2009) (Minnesota Studies in Early Modern History). *MacDonald, David, ''The Coinage of Aphrodisias'' (London: Royal Numismatic Society, 1992) *Oxford University, Aphrodisias Excavations website, available: http://aphrodisias.classics.ox.ac.uk/ (formerly at [https://web.archive.org/web/20120424211710/http://www.nyu.edu/projects/aphrodisias/home.ti.htm NYU Institute of Fine Arts] (Web Archive)) *Ratté, Christopher and R. R. R. Smith (eds), ''Aphrodisias papers 4: new research on the city and its monuments'' (Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2008) (JRA supplementary series, 70). *Reynolds, Joyce, Charlotte Roueché and Gabriel Bodard (2007), ''Inscriptions of Aphrodisias'', available http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/iaph2007, {{ISBN|978-1-897747-19-3}} *Roueché, Charlotte (2004), ''Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity: The Late Roman and Byzantine Inscriptions, revised second edition'', available: http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004, {{ISBN|1-897747-17-9}} *Roueche, Charlotte, Erim, Kenan T. (edd.) (1991), ''Aphrodisias Papers: Recent Work on Architecture and Sculpture'', Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series. *{{cite journal |last1=Welch |first1=Katherine |title=The Stadium at Aphrodisias |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=1998 |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=547–569 |doi=10.2307/506401 |jstor=506401 |s2cid=192950250 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/506401 |issn=0002-9114|url-access=subscription }}
==External links== {{Commons category|Aphrodisias}} {{wikivoyage|Aphrodisias}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20170825085258/http://www.muze.gov.tr/tr/muzeler/afrodisyas-aphrodisias-orenyeri Afrodisyas (Aphrodisias) Örenyeri] — official website *[http://thewotme.com/2012/12/aphrodisias-y-la-diosa-griega-del-amor/ Aphrodisias, the Greek goddess of love] *[http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004/index.html Inscriptions found in Aphrodisias] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100118134029/http://www.aphrodisias.info/english/ Aphrodisias] *[https://ancient-anatolia.blogspot.com/2011/02/sebasteion-aphrodisias-school-of.html Sebasteion: Aphrodisias School of Sculpture] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120430103719/http://www.turizm.net/cities/aphrodisias/ Monuments of Aphrodisias], summarised by Turizm.net, a Turkish travel guide *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050208014533/http://www.armory.com/~turkiye/turkey/ege/aphrodisias/aphrodisiashist.html History of Aphrodisias, birth place of the goddess of love] *[http://www.aphrodisias.org.uk/index.html The English Friends of Aphrodisias] *Images: **[http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/aphrodisias 370 pictures of the site and its museum] **[https://web.archive.org/web/20120315065307/http://www.sailturkey.com/panoramas/aphrodisias/ Virtual Tours of Aphrodisias] **[http://turkishtravelblog.com/aphrodisias-turkey-museum-antique-city/ Photos from Aphrodisias - 2015] **[https://acor.digitalrelab.com/index.php?s=filter=place_name:Aphrodisias%20(Turkey) Photos of Aphrodisias] at the American Center of Research * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0N01dQOpoQ Drone footage of the ancient city from July 2022]
{{Former settlements in Turkey}} {{Authority control}} {{World Heritage Sites in Turkey}}
Category:Aphrodisias Category:Archaeological sites in the Aegean region Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Category:Populated places in ancient Caria Category:Former populated places in Turkey Category:Aphrodite Category:Buildings and structures in Aydın Province Category:History of Aydın Province Category:Tourist attractions in Aydın Province Category:World Heritage Sites in Turkey Category:Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Category:Karacasu