The Second Life of Inscriptions in Late Antique and Byzantine Asia Minor: Some Remarks on the Reuse of the Inscribed Material

Abstract

Classical, Roman and Late antiquity inherited in the land of Asia Minor thousands of older Greek and Latin inscriptions on stone, of various content and purposes. With the collapse of the ancient world and the transition to the medieval period, this material lost its significance as conveyor of public and private texts and became incomprehensible to the viewers. In the meantime, contem­porary epigraphy followed a different orientation and acquired new values, in the service of Chris­tianity and the Eastern Roman imperial institutions.

Fortifications, public infrastructure and churches predominate in the building activity in the re­gion during this long period. Taking place primarily at ancient cities and sites full of earlier ma­terial, architectural production extensively reused spolia of various kinds and periods. These spo­lia included many inscriptions, which were embedded –intact or reworked– in various structures. The walls of Ankara, the churches of Ephesus and other monuments are representative of this practice, which was later exercised by the Seljuks and the Ottoman Turks too.  

The presence of inscribed spolia in Byzantine monuments of Asia Minor raises several questions about the attitude towards the written word in a society which was still using the same language, in a somehow changed form, but was sharing a different culture. Based on selected cases of reused epigraphic material from the Asia Minor, this article argues that inscriptions were treated mainly in practical terms. Being more or less incomprehensible by illiterate and literate Byzantines, in­scribed stones became raw building materials available to be recycled in fortifications, secular buildings and churches.

Keywords

• Inscriptions,spolia,reuse,Asia Minor

Bizans Dönemi Anadolu’sunda Yazıtların İkinci Hayatı: Yazılı Materyallerin Yeniden Kullanımına İlişkin Görüşler

Abstract

Klasik, Roma ve Geç Antik Dönem Anadolu topraklarına çeşitli içerik ve amaçlar barındıran, taş­lar üzerine yazılı binlerce Yunanca ve Latince yazıt miras bırakmıştır. Antik dünyanın çöküşü ve Ortaçağ’a geçiş ile birlikte, bu materyaller kamusal ya da şahsi metinleri taşımaları bakımından önemlerini kaybetmişler ve onlara bakanlar için anlaşılmaz hale gelmişlerdir. Bu süre içerisinde, epigrafi farklı bir yönelim izlemiş ve Hıristiyanlık ile Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu’na ait kurumla­rın hizmetinde yeni değerler kazanmıştır.

Tahkimatlar, kamu altyapısı ve kiliseler bu uzun dönem boyunca bölgedeki inşa faaliyetinde öne çıkmışlardır. Erken dönem materyalleri ile dolu olan antik kent ve alanlarının ilk olarak meydana gelmesinin ardından mimari üretim geniş ölçüde pek çok çeşitte ve pek çok döneme ait devşirme malzeme kullanmıştır. Bu devşirmeler çeşitli yapılar içerisine – hiç bozulmamış ya da yeniden işlenmiş şekilde – konmuş pek çok yazıtı içermektedir. Ankara’nın duvarları, Ephesos kentinin kiliseleri ve diğer anıtlar, sonradan Selçuklu ve Osmanlı Türkleri tarafından da kullanılan bu uy­gulamayı temsil etmektedirler.

Anadolu’nun Bizans Dönemi anıtlarındaki yazılı devşirme malzemelerin varlığı, bir şekilde deği­şik formda hala aynı dili konuşan fakat farklı bir kültürü paylaşan bir toplumda yazılı kelimelere karşı gösterilen tutuma dair pek çok sorun ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Bu makale, Anadolu’dan seçilen yeniden kullanılmış epigrafik malzemeler ışığında yazıtların çoğunlukla pratik amaçlarla kullanıl­dığını iddia etmektedir.  Okuma yazma bilen ya da bilmeyen Bizanslılar tarafından neredeyse an­laşılmaz olan yazılı taşlar, savunma yapılarında, sivil binalarda ve kiliselerde yeniden kullanılmak üzere ham inşa malzemesine dönüşmüşlerdir.

Keywords

• Yazıtlar,devşirme malzeme,yeniden kullanım,Asia Minor,Anadolu,Bizans Dönemi

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