Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 4th-century Roman fort in southeastern Turkey, confirming historical records of the fortress’ construction during the reign of Emperor Constantius II.
The remains of a Roman fort have been discovered at Hasankeyf, one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the world. Over 10,000 years, more than 20 cultures, including the Assyrians, Byzantines and Ottomans, built and lived in this settlement on the Tigris River.
When the Romans reached Hasankeyf, they erected a fort to guard their empire’s border with Persia. Although historical records mentioned the existence of the fort, and archeological excavations began as early as the 1980s, the fort was not located until this summer. It was unearthed by a team of researchers led by Zekai Erdal, an art historian from Mardin Artuklu University (Turkey).
The remains of a Roman fort, discovered in Hasankeyf
Erdal collaborated with experts in Roman architecture to identify the large, massive stones as the remains of the “opus isodomum” construction technique, frequently used by the Romans in their local public buildings, but rarely seen in the provinces of the empire.
Little is known about this ancient fort, once called Cepha, from the Aramaic word for “rock.” In the 350s, Constantius II built a series of fortresses, including Cepha, at strategic locations along the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire to protect the local population from Persian invasions. Although the Roman emperor Jovian and the Persian king Shapur II signed a peace treaty in 363, Cepha remained a Roman fortress and military outpost, scrie Live Science.
Archaeological excavations at Hasankeyf have brought to light artifacts from various historical periods. These include a clay figure representing an Iron Age horse, floral frescoes from the 13th-14th centuries and Muslim coffins from the Ottoman period.
What was found in the excavations?
In an excavation in 2023, the team led by Erdal discovered an 800-year-old “healing bowl” inscribed with spells used in folk medicine, as well as two rings made of bone and the semi-precious stone agate, which were probably used by archers in Middle Ages for finger protection.
The construction of the Ilısu Dam (also known as the Veysel Eroğlu Dam) on the Tigris River, completed in 2018, resulted in the flooding of a large part of Hasankeyf. Many of the ancient structures and artifacts have been relocated to the Archeoparc area to be preserved in an open-air museum. However, according to Erdal, only the lower part of the old Hasankeyf was flooded by the dam, while the upper part, which includes the citadel and the fort, remains intact.
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Source: www.descopera.ro
