Excavations Of Ancient Theater In 2,400-Year-Old City Of Smyrna, Turkey

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - Researchers excavating at the nearly 2,400-year-old ancient city of Smyrna, have recently unearthed  a part of the ancient city's theater, located on the side of Kadifekale,  the hill located within the urban area of the city of Izmir, Turkey as well as being the name of the ancient castle on top of the same hill.

They found terracotta figurines, which show the appearance of famous artists of the period – an expression of admiration and kept in the Smyrna Theater, during the excavations, reports Daily Sabah.

Smyrna figurines. Image credit: Dokuz Eylül University (DEU)/ via Daily Sabah

Smyrna figurines. Image credit: Dokuz Eylül University (DEU)/ via Daily Sabah

DEU Archaeological Department Assoc. Prof. Akın Ersoy, the head of the excavation at the ancient city of Smyrna, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the sides between Kemeraltı and Kadifekale are the last chain of İzmir's 8,000-year settlement history.

The theater had a capacity of nearly 19,000 people and was built in the third century B.C. The structure served for 700 years and hosted many plays and religious rituals.

Excavations at the ancient theater started in 2012 and revealed the first traces of the rivalry between cities, for example in form of many magnificent constructions in those times. As  Prof. Ersoy said that the size of the theater in Smyrna could compete with the size of the theater in Ephesus and the structure's features shed light on the social, cultural and political life of the period.

"This is a theater, and plays were performed here. We found pieces of many figurines at the archaeological excavations. It is clear that figurines of actors were kept by their fans like people have a photo or picture of the artists that they admire today.

"These kinds of figurines can be seen at theaters. If we think that there was no photo in the past, this was a way to keep a memory of admired people in those times. For example, the names of gladiators were written on the walls of the Smyrna Agora along with their paintings. It is understood that there were some people who loved and supported them. We can describe them as a fan club."

However, it's worth noting that the Smyrna Theater hosted not only art events but also social meetings and rituals. İzmir is one of the cities that hosted the first Christian communities, among others, one of the seven biggest St. Jean Churches built in West Anatolia. Polycarp, a 2nd-century Christian bishop of Smyrna and one of the leaders of the society, lived in the region in the second century A.D.

"There are Gods that Romans believed in in the second century A.D. during the Paganism period. They prayed to their Gods when there was famine. However, it did not work. The people wanted Polycarp to find a solution to this situation. He came to the Smyrna Theater to pray." Finally, Akın said that Polycarp was killed in later years.

Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer