Smyrna
Σμύρνη/Σμύρνα ( Ancient Greek) | |
Location | İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey |
---|---|
Region | Ionia |
Coordinates | 38°25′7″N 27°8′21″E / 38.41861°N 27.13917°E |
Type | Settlement |
Smyrna (
Two sites of the ancient city are today within İzmir's boundaries. The first, probably founded by indigenous peoples, rose to prominence during the
Localization
Old Smyrna was on a small peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus at the northeastern corner of the inner
The core of the late
Smyrna was at the mouth of the small river Hermus and at the head of a deep arm of the sea (Smyrnaeus Sinus) that reached far inland. This enabled Greek trading ships to sail into the heart of Lydia, making the city part of an essential trade route between Anatolia and the Aegean. During the 7th century BC, Smyrna rose to power and splendor. One of the great trade routes that cross Anatolia descends the Hermus valley past Sardis, and then, diverging from the valley, passes south of Mount Sipylus and crosses a low pass into the little valley where Smyrna lies between the mountains and the sea. Miletus and later Ephesus were at the sea end of the other great trade route across Anatolia; for a time they successfully competed with Smyrna, but after both cities' harbors silted up, Smyrna was without a rival.
The Meles River, which flowed by Smyrna, is famous in literature and was worshipped in the valley. A common and consistent tradition connects Homer with the valley of Smyrna and the banks of the Meles; his figure was one of the stock types on coins of Smyrna, one class of which numismatists call "Homerian." The epithet Melesigenes was applied to him; the cave where he was wont to compose his poems was shown near the source of the river; his temple, the Homereum, stood on its banks. The steady, equable flow of the Meles, alike in summer and winter, and its short course, beginning and ending near the city, are celebrated by Aristides and Himerius. The stream rises from abundant springs east of the city and flows into the southeast extremity of the gulf.
History
Hellenistic period
Smyrna is shut in on the west by a hill now called Deirmen Tepe, with the ruins of a temple on the summit. The walls of Lysimachus crossed the summit of this hill, and the acropolis occupied the top of Pagus. Between the two the road from Ephesus entered the city by the Ephesian gate, near which was a gymnasium. Closer to the acropolis the outline of the stadium is still visible, and the theatre was on Pagus's north slopes. Smyrna possessed two harbours. The outer harbour was simply the open roadstead of the gulf, and the inner was a small basin with a narrow entrance partially filled up by
The streets were broad, well paved and laid out at right angles; many were named after temples: the main street, called the Golden, ran across the city from west to east, beginning probably from the temple of Zeus Akraios on the west slope of Pagus, and running round the lower slopes of Pagus (like a necklace on the statue, to use the favorite terms of Aristides the orator) towards Tepecik outside the city on the east, where probably stood the temple of Cybele, worshipped under the name of Meter Sipylene, the city's patroness. The name is from nearby Mount Sipylus, which bounds the valley of the city's backlands. The plain towards the sea was too low to be properly drained, and in rainy weather, the lower town's streets were deep with mud and water.
At the end of the Hellenistic period, in 197 BC, the city suddenly cut its ties with King
In 133 BC, when the last Attalid king, Attalus III, died without an heir, his will conferred his entire kingdom, including Smyrna, to the Romans. They organized it into the Roman
Roman and Byzantine period
As one of the principal cities of
A Christian church and a bishopric existed there from earliest times, probably originating in the considerable Jewish colony. It was one of the seven churches addressed in the Book of Revelation.[6] Saint Ignatius of Antioch visited Smyrna and later wrote letters to its bishop, Polycarp. A mob of Jews and pagans abetted the martyrdom of Polycarp in AD 153.[5] Saint Irenaeus, who heard Polycarp as a boy, was probably a native of Smyrna.[5] Another famous resident of the same period was Aelius Aristides.[7]
After a destructive earthquake in 178 AD, Smyrna was rebuilt in the Roman period (2nd century AD) under the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Aelius Aristides wrote a letter to Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, inviting them to become the new founders of the city.[7] The bust of the emperor's wife Faustina on the second arch of the western stoa confirms this fact.[citation needed]
Polycrates reports a succession of bishops including Polycarp of Smyrna, as well as others in nearby cities such as Melito of Sardis. Of that time, the German historian W. Bauer wrote:
Asian Jewish Christianity received in turn the knowledge that henceforth the "church" would be open without hesitation to the Jewish influence mediated by Christians, coming not only from the apocalyptic traditions, but also from the synagogue with its practices concerning worship, which led to the appropriation of the Jewish passover observance. Even the observance of the sabbath by Christians appears to have found some favor in Asia...we find that in post-apostolic times, in the period of the formation of ecclesiastical structure, the Jewish Christians in these regions come into prominence.[8]
In the late second century, Irenaeus also noted:
Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna…always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp.[9]
Tertullian wrote c. 208 AD:
Anyhow the heresies are at best novelties, and have no continuity with the teaching of Christ. Perhaps some heretics may claim Apostolic antiquity: we reply: Let them publish the origins of their churches and unroll the catalogue of their bishops till now from the Apostles or from some bishop appointed by the Apostles, as the Smyrnaeans count from Polycarp and John, and the Romans from Clement and Peter; let heretics invent something to match this.[10]
Hence, the church in Smyrna was apparently one of the churches that Tertullian felt had real apostolic succession.
During the mid-3rd century, most became affiliated with the Greco-Roman churches.
When Constantinople became the seat of government, the trade between Anatolia and the West diminished in importance, and Smyrna declined.
The Seljuq commander Tzachas seized Smyrna in 1084 and used it as a base for naval raids, but the city was recovered by the general John Doukas.
The city was several times ravaged by the
Ottoman period
During the
In 1402, Tamerlane stormed the town and massacred almost all the inhabitants. His conquest was only temporary, but Smyrna was recovered by the Turks under the Aydın dynasty, after which it became Ottoman, when the Ottomans took over the lands of Aydın after 1425.[12]
Greek influence was so strong in the area that the Turks called it "Smyrna of the infidels" (Gavur İzmir).[13] Turkish sources track the term's emergence to the 14th century, when two separate parts of the city were controlled by two different powers, the upper İzmir being Muslim and the lower part of the city Christian.[citation needed][clarification needed]
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Smyrna was an important financial and cultural center of the Greek world.[
The region's most important Greek educational institution was the Evangelical School, which operated from 1733 to 1922.[14]
Post World War I
After the end of the First World War, Greece occupied Smyrna from 15 May 1919 and put in place a military administration. The Greek premier
The occupation of Smyrna
The Armenians, alongside the Greeks, played a significant role in the city's development, most notably during the age of exploration, where Armenians became a crucial player in the trade sector.[19] The Armenians had trade routes stretching from the far east to Europe. One most notable good the Armenians traded was Iranian silk, which the Shah Abbas of Iran gave them a monopoly over in the 17th century[citation needed]
The Armenians traded Iranian silk with European and Greek merchants in Smyrna; this trade made the Armenians very rich. Besides trade, the Armenians were involved in manufacturing, banking, and other highly productive professions.[19]
Agora
The remains of the ancient agora of Smyrna constitute today the space of İzmir Agora Museum in İzmir's Namazgah quarter, although its area is commonly referred to as "Agora" by the city's inhabitants.
Situated on the northern slopes of the Pagos hills, it was the commercial, judicial and political nucleus of the ancient city, its center for artistic activities and for teaching.
İzmir Agora Open Air Museum consists of five parts, including the agora area, the base of the northern basilica gate, the stoa and the ancient shopping centre.
The agora of Smyrna was built during the Hellenistic era.
Excavations
Although Smyrna was explored by Charles Texier in the 19th century and the German consul in İzmir had purchased the land around the ancient theater in 1917 to start excavations, the first scientific digs can be said to have started in 1927. Most of the discoveries were made by archaeological exploration carried as an extension during the period between 1931 and 1942 by the German archaeologist Rudolf Naumann and Selâhattin Kantar, the director of İzmir and Ephesus museums. They uncovered a three-floor, rectangular compound with stairs in the front, built on columns and arches around a large courtyard in the middle of the building.[citation needed]
New excavations in the agora began in 1996. They have continued since 2002 under the sponsorship of the Metropolitan Municipality of İzmir. A primary school adjacent to the agora that had burned in 1980 was not reconstructed. Instead, its space was incorporated into the historical site. The area of the agora was increased to 16,590 square metres (178,600 sq ft). This permitted the evacuation of a previously unexplored zone. The archaeologists and the local authorities, means permitting, are also keenly eyeing a neighbouring
The new excavation has uncovered the agora's northern gate. It has been concluded that embossed figures of the goddess
Economy
In the early 20th-century, Smyrna had a number of mills
Toponyms
Several American cities have been named after Smyrna, including
.See also
- List of ancient Greek cities
- Ionia
- Nea Smyrni
- New Smyrna Beach, Florida
- On the Quai at Smyrna (Hemingway story)
- Yeşilova Höyük
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-988145-1. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- ^ a b Pausanias, Description of Greece, 7.5
- ^ Eti Akyüz Levi, Dokuz Eylül University (2003). "The Agora of İzmir and Cultural Tourism" (PDF). The International Committee for Documentation of Cultural Heritage (CIPA), 2003 Antalya Symposium. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 5, 2009.
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- ^ Simply "the hill".
- ^ a b c Cross, F. L., ed. (2005). "Smyrna". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Revelation 1:11 and Revelation 2:8–11
- ^ ISBN 9783631662359.
- ^ Kraft, Bauer W.; Krodel, G., eds. (1996). Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity (2nd ed.). Mifflintown (PA): Sigler Press. pp. 87–89.
- ^ Irenaeus. Adversus Haeres. Book III, Chapter 4, Verse 3 and Chapter 3, Verse 4
- ^ Tertullian. Liber de praescriptione haereticorum, circa 208 A.D.
- ISBN 0-87169-114-0.
- ^ Aydin Dynasty at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Fensham, Florence Amanda; Lyman, Mary I.; Humphrey, Mrs. H. B. (1908). A Modern Crusade in the Turkish Empire. Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior. p. 43.
- ISBN 978-3-540-20352-0.
- ISBN 9781585670116.
- ISBN 978-0-19-929905-8.
- ISBN 9780674003132.
- ISBN 978-1-56000-927-6.
- ^ a b "Armenian trade networks".
- ^ Prothero, G.W. (1920). Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 111.
- ^ Prothero, G.W. (1920). Anatolia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 112.
- ^ "Google maps". Retrieved August 16, 2015.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-7103-0776-7.
- George E. Bean (1967). Aegean Turkey: An archaeological guide. Ernest Benn, London. ISBN 978-0-510-03200-5.
- Philip Mansel, Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean, London, John Murray, 11 November 2010, hardback, 480 pages, ISBN 978-0-300-17264-5
- Stillman, ed. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976.
- Turner, J. ISBN 978-0-19-517068-9.
- Milton, Giles (2009). Paradise Lost. ISBN 978-0-340-83787-0.
- Ilias Chrissochoidis, "The Burning of Smyrna: H. C. Jaquith's Report to Admiral Bristol," American Journal of Contemporary Hellenic Issues 14 (Summer 2023).
External links
- Foss, C., S. Mitchell, G. Reger, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies (August 2021). "Places: 550893 (Smyrna/Eurydikeia)". Pleiades. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Remembering Smyrna/Izmir: Shared History, Shared Trauma
- Association of Smyrneans
- Video footage of Smyrna before and after the Fire