Rare Roman-Era Library Discovered in Ancient Turkish City of Stratonikeia

Ruins of the Ancient City of Stratonikeia. (Wikimedia Commons/Dosseman)

JAKARTA - Archaeologists are uncovering and restoring a rare ancient library in Stratonikeia, one of the most important cities in southwestern Turkey inhabited by the Carians, a people described by the Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC.

Located in Muğla and listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, Stratonikeia is one of the world's largest marble cities and is also known as the "City of Gladiators." Excavations at the site have been underway since 1977 and continue throughout the year.

Pamukkale University archaeologist and head of the Stratonikeia and Lagina excavation team, Bilal Söğüt, said the library is located at the intersection of four main streets in the city center.

Originally built in the Hellenistic era after the death of Alexander the Great, the site was redesigned during the Roman era, with the addition of mosaics to its structure, and remained in use until the 4th century AD, Söğüt explained, as reported by Daily Sabah by Anadolu Agency on August 6.

Inscriptions on the mosaics indicate the library was built by a master builder from Ephesus, he said, referring to a famous site along Turkey's Aegean coast.

"We have identified the entire history of this structure, how it changed since its construction, how it was restored after earthquakes, how people reused it, and how much value people placed on it in each period," he said.

"We have identified all the ancient library's parts to a certain extent. We also discovered columns and superstructure elements belonging to the courtyard area. In future periods, by reconstructing some of these columns, we want visitors to witness the grandeur of the ancient library," he added.

Söğüt's team has been excavating the site for approximately five years. During this period, they have uncovered parts of the library's entrance, a connecting passageway to the Southern Avenue, surrounding porches, a courtyard, the main reading room, and several adjacent rooms.

He said the building was damaged by a devastating earthquake around 610, which devastated the city and led to the library's abandonment.

"Thanks to the excavations, we made significant discoveries and realized that we were in a magnificent library. We now know the overall layout of the library. We also determined that this layout differs from that of any other known library in Anatolia and that it serves as a model for libraries in North Africa," he said.