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

Year 2019, Volume: 18 , 59 - 76, 15.11.2019

Georgios Pallis

https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.620882

Cited By: 2

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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