23 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

2500-year-old ship graffiti sheds light on the history of Izmir in western Turkey

In the Smyrna Agora, which is one of the largest ancient agora in the city center of the world and has a history of 2,500 years; 21 ship depictions in the basement of the civil basilica, a commercial and judicial building, shed light on the past.

Ship graffiti drawn in the 3rd century is of great importance for our understanding of the ship technologies of the period.

The Agora of Smyrna was built by Greeks sometime in the 4th century BC and then rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius after the region was ruined by the earthquake. The Agora that you see nowadays started to take its shape in 1933 when the excavation of the site began.

The excavations revealed the commercial and judicial structure of the agora, which is one of the largest ancient period agoras of the world. Agoras were open spaces serving as meeting grounds for various activities in ancient Greek cities.

Civil basilica of the Agora of Smyrna.
Civil basilica of the Agora of Smyrna.

Akın Ersoy, a faculty member of the Turkish and Islamic Archaeology department of Izmir Katip Çelebi University, stated that the graffiti is one of the most concrete documents of the historical port city of Izmir.

He explained that after Alexander the Great, the king of Macedonia who overthrew the Persian Empire, a brand-new Izmir city was built in the area where the Konak district center is now located. Stating that the area was mainly chosen because of its ability to serve as a port, he said: “The city planners wanted to ensure Izmir’s participation in the Mediterranean and Aegean trade. Also, there are many public buildings in the center of the Ancient City of Smyrna such as the civil basilica. Some of the ship depictions that we encountered in the basement of the civil basilica are made with paint while others through scraping lines.”

“These third-century ship graffiti indicate that Izmir was an important port city. The founders of the city constructed this agora, taking into account the port facilities, for Izmir to grow into an important city and become what it is today,” Ersoy underlined.

Izmir Katip Çelebi University Turkish and Islamic Archaeology faculty member Akın Ersoy talks about the ship graffiti found in the basement of the basilica, Agora of Smyrna, Izmir, southwestern Turkey. (DHA Photo)

Highlighting that the graffiti depicts commercial ships rather than warships, “We assume that these ships were making commercial voyages in the Mediterranean in the second, third, and fourth centuries B.C. The materials were transported from Egypt and North Africa to the Aegean,” he added.

Smyrna Agora

In ancient times, each city had at least one agora. Some big cities usually had 2 agoras. One of them is the state agora, where state affairs are seen and various public buildings are gathered, and the other is the trade agora, where commercial activities are concentrated.

İzmir agora is located on the northern slope of Pagos (Kadifekale), where the ancient city of Smyrna was relocated in the 4th century BC. This building, surrounded by important public buildings of the period, is the state agora of the city.

DHA

Related Articles

A stone bathtub, which is considered to be the first example of ‘water birth’, was found in Ani Ruins

7 September 2022

7 September 2022

A stone tub was found in the large bath, whose birth was mentioned in a work by the Turkish scholar...

“Harbetsuvan Tepe”, the 10,000-year-old Neolithic Acropolis of Taş Tepeler

21 May 2022

21 May 2022

Harbetsuvan Hill is similar to the acropolises built on the hills near the ancient Greek cities. It was established in...

9,200-year-old Noongar habitation discovered at Augusta archaeological dig site

28 July 2021

28 July 2021

An archaeological dig in Augusta, in West Australia‘s South West, has uncovered evidence of Noongar habitation dating back an estimated...

The tomb of the “Bird Oracle Markos” was found in the ancient city of Pergamon

31 August 2022

31 August 2022

During the excavations carried out in the Ancient City of Bergama, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the...

Egypt opens King Djoser’s 4,500-year-old tomb after a 15-year restoration

15 September 2021

15 September 2021

Egypt on Tuesday showcased an ancient tomb structure belonging to the cemetery complex of King Djoser, a pharaoh who lived more than 4,500...

Collectors In The Prehistoric World Recycled Old Stone Tools To Preserve The Memory Of Their Ancestors

16 March 2022

16 March 2022

A first-of-its-kind study at Tel Aviv University asks what drove prehistoric humans to collect and recycle flint tools that had...

1900-year-old Child’s Nightgown with intriguing knots found in the Cave of Letters in the Judean Desert

5 October 2023

5 October 2023

The Cave of Letters in Israel is one such site that has yielded a large number of papyrus letters and...

Deer stone discovered in Kyrgyzstan

10 April 2023

10 April 2023

A deer stone was found in the Tarmal-Sai settlement in the Kochkor district of the Naryn region in eastern Kyrgyzstan....

Archaeologists unearth mosaic floors in the ruins of a building they believe is the lost Church of the Apostles

23 October 2021

23 October 2021

In the historical village of Bethsaida on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, archaeologists discovered mosaic floors in the...

An Urartian female executive grave was found at the Çavuştepe Mound

9 September 2021

9 September 2021

The grave of an Urartian, who was buried with his horse, cattle, and dog, had been found recently. Today, another...

Unique Gold Artefacts of Thracian Horseman Found in Bulgaria

23 August 2024

23 August 2024

The Topolovgrad Municipality posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday that during excavations at the site of a Thracian warrior’s...

1900 years old a rare mosaic was discovered in Durrës, Albania

6 November 2023

6 November 2023 1

In the port city of Durrës, on the Adriatic Sea in western Albania, a unique mosaic dating back 1900 years...

Rare 832 copper coins from the Portuguese era unearthed in Goa, India

11 November 2023

11 November 2023

In Sattari, Nanoda, in the state of Goa on the west coast of India, 832 copper coins that are believed...

Rare biblical ‘balsam tree’ found depicted on ancient Jerusalem amethyst seal

21 October 2021

21 October 2021

Archaeologists working in the Old City of Jerusalem have discovered an engraved amethyst seal in the Second Temple, thought to...

6,500-Year-Old Hunting Kit Discovered in West Texas Cave

5 April 2025

5 April 2025

A remarkable archaeological find in the rugged terrain of West Texas is transforming our understanding of the region’s prehistoric inhabitants....