The study of three small buildings at Balboura, set up by the city slave Onesimos and the wealthy Meleager near the southwest corner of the agora, is here concluded. Part I (AS XXXVIII (1988), 121–45) treated the exedra of Onesimos and his temple of Nemesis; here the exedra of Meleager and the associated inscriptions are presented. The numbering of the footnotes and figures, and the lettering of the sections continue on from Part I, and the same bibliographical abbreviations (ibid., 144–5) are used. It will also be necessary to refer to the city plan, state plans, restored plans, and restored elevations published there (Figs. 1–4).

Despite its regional hegemony over eastern Kilikia and a prominent role in three Roman civil wars, the house of Tarkondimotos has maintained little more than a shadowy existence on the fringe of historical accounts of the first centuries BC to AD. This paper collates the biographical and relational data of all known or conjectured members of the Tarkondimotid dynasty and its court, and places them within a historical context.

Franz Cumont's influential article on pagan angels in Revue de l’histoire des religions, published just over a century ago in 1915, remains the point de départ for work on that subject. The present essay offers a brief evaluation of some of its features, and then concentrates on Greek epigraphic evidence from Asia Minor in the Roman imperial period. Most of these texts were not published when Cumont wrote, or else he treated them briefly since his focus lay largely on ancient philosophical discussions about angeloi by both insiders and outsiders to the Christian movement; and geographically he ranged more widely than we have chosen to do. The main aim of the present essay, however, is to test the widely-accepted hypothesis of A.R.R. Sheppard (1980/1981) that Jewish influence on pagan notions of angeloi is visible in these inscriptions even though that influence was applied by non-Jews in a confused manner.

A large scale archaeological excavation was commenced in 1989, as part of the “Mamilla Project”, an urban re-development project carried out in the area to the west of Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem, Israel (Fig. 2). During the course of the first (1989) season, several complexes of buildings dating from the Late Byzantine and Early Ummayad periods were discovered. These buildings were part of the extra-mural quarters of Jerusalem at the time, and for the most part, were industrial and mercantile in nature.

In area A2 of the excavations (Fig. 3), a row of shops was discovered. Of particular interest was the shop comprised of rooms L164 and L153, which contained several different types of installations, including what appeared to be washing basins and a bread-oven (Pl. XXXV (a)). In this shop a large collection of diverse finds was discovered, including a sizeable amount of local and imported pottery, coins, glass and additional small finds. This assemblage was securely dated to the mid-seventh century CE, i.e. the terminal Byzantine period and the incipient stages of the Ummayad dynasty.

The text here chosen for translation can hardly be compared as literature with that presented in the preceding volume of this journal; it is, however, in some ways even more remarkable. It is a fictitious letter, purporting to be addressed by none other than Gilgamesh, the famous hero of the epic and legendary king of Uruk (Erech), to the king of another city, the name of which is only partly legible and appears to be hitherto unknown. Gilgamesh, who introduces himself as king of Ur, requests his correspondent to go to a certain mountain (or country) and send him various animals, precious stones, metals and other commodities, in quantities which are completely fantastic and absurd. They are apparently to be floated down the river to Babylon. The text concludes with threats of dire retribution if he should fail to comply with this request.

No less than three copies of this strange document have been found at Sultantepe: no trace of it has been discovered at any other site. It contains a number of specifically Assyrian grammatical forms; and its inappropriate use of the phrase “from the horizon to the zenith” to indicate the extent of a king's dominions (l. 4) is paralleled only in the annals of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III (745–727 B.C.).

The design of Justinian's domed cruciform Basilica of St. John on the hill of Ayasoluk, long an interesting, has now become an urgent question. Partly uncovered and published by Sotiriou in 1922, it was excavated more extensively by the Austrians and at last described and restored by H. Hoermann and edited by Josef Keil, with the aid of a grant from Dumbarton Oaks, in one of the most lavish Austrian volumes on Ephesus to be published to date. The seeming exhaustiveness and accuracy of this book have tempted certain syndicates to rebuild the church for the use of pilgrims to Ephesus, even though, when uncovered, it stood to a general height of merely 10 or 12 feet, about one-sixth of its original height, and even though Keil had set a wiser precedent for its treatment. “Auf grössere Wiederherstellungsarbeiten wurde, abgesehen von der Aufstellung einer Säule, verzichtet, weil solche Wiederaufstellungen erfahrungsgemäss den Anreiz zu schädigenden Umstürzen erwecken” (FE. p. 16).

During 1991 large-scale excavations at Sagalassos continued for their second season from 13 July until 5 September. The work was directed by Professor Marc Waelkens (Dept. of Archaeology, Catholic University of Leuven). A total of 42 scientists from various countries (Belgium, Turkey, Great Britain, Germany and Portugal) as well as 25 local workmen (supervised by Mr. Ali Toprak) carried out the work. The team included 20 archaeologists, 4 illustrators (supervised by G. Evsever and R. Kotsch), 4 architect-restorers (directed by Prof. R. Lemaire and Dr. K. Van Balen), 3 cartographers (directed by Prof. F Depuydt), 2 geologists (directed by Prof. W. Viaene), 2 geomorphologists (Prof. J. De Ploey and Prof. E. Paulissen), 1 archaeozoologist (Dr. W. Van Neer), 1 anthropologist (Dr. Chr. Charlier), 2 restorers for the small finds (directed by Miss K. Norman) and 1 photographer (P. Stuyven). The Turkish Antiquities Department was represented by Muhammet Alkan from the Sivas Museum, whom we thank for his help. Financial support came from the Research Council of the Catholic University of Leuven, the Belgian Fund for Collective Fundamental Research (F.K.F.O.), the Belgian Programme on Interuniversity Poles of Attraction (I.U.A.P. no 28), the National Bank of Belgium, the ASLK/CGER Bank, the tour operator ORION, the car rental company Interleasing, the restoration company E. G. Verstraete & Vanhecke N. V., Agfa-Gevaert films and the association “Friends of Sagalassos”.

Recent excavations conducted by Canadian teams at the site of Anemurium (Eski Anamur) on the coast of Rough Cilicia in southern Asia Minor have uncovered a number of substantial structures including an interesting group extending to the east of the largest baths of the city. This complex consists of several distinct areas clearly forming part of a unified plan (Fig. 1). Mosaic pavement of geometric design decorated much of the floor space of the building, which has now been identified as the palaestra of the adjoining Baths. The identification has been facilitated greatly by two inscribed mosaic panels that are worthy of special note.

The first was discovered in 1970 at the western extremity of a long narrow series of rectangular panels decorated in various geometric patterns. This formed the southern wing of a continuous corridor of mosaic, possibly roofed, that enclosed on three sides (north, east and south) the open-air courtyard of the palaestra. The western end of the area was closed by a wall separating it from a limestone-paved court beyond. Immediately in front of the inscribed panel an opening in the wall provided access to this court, probably one of several doorways communicating between the two areas. The doorway in question was subsequently blocked and the edge of the mosaic cut away on three sides to form a drainage system. This alteration was apparently associated with the isolation of the western end of the south range as a special chamber, perhaps a latrine. Considerable damage to the decorative border resulted from these modifications but, with the exception of a slight V-shaped break on the west side, the actual inscribed panel survives intact.

The Architecture of the Seljuk Turks, as well as proving to be their most lasting contribution to history, is also a contribution to the great architecture of world, both from the point of view of technical accomplishment and in its marvellously imaginative use of decoration. Thanks to the pioneering work of Halil Edhem and Max Van Berchem in Part III of their Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum (Cairo, 1910–17) [CIA.] and of their many successors our knowledge of the extant, and destroyed, monuments has been increased to the extent that a series of secondary studies, on relations between various groups of monuments in default of more precise details of the relationships between craftsmen and their patrons or employers, or, more ambitiously, general attempts to explain the high place which architecture so obviously held in the Seljuks' estimation, becomes necessary. Moreover, although the individuality of their contribution is comparatively well-known by this time, even in Western Europe, it is still obscure how the manifold influences which the Seljuks in their progress westwards through Persia and the Caucasus underwent were transmuted in Turkey into a style of such originality, strength and charm.

The following inscriptions provide evidence of the cult of Apollo at Oinoanda, a Graeco-Roman city of northern Lycia, and show that it included an oracle in the Roman Imperial period, and perhaps already in the Hellenistic period. The location of the sanctuary of Apollo cannot presently be identified.

A long-unpublished statue base for the emperor Constantius II was rediscovered at Oinoanda in 2010. It contains information that Oinoanda was a neokoros city, that is, having a special status in the imperial cult. The article attempts to trace the significance of neokoria and of images in the imperial cult in the fourth century AD, an era of rapid religious change when the Christianity of the emperors and many ordinary people co-existed with deep and widespread pagan traditions that flowed throughout Roman society.

This paper presents archaeological and analytical data on metal artefacts from Hüseyindede (Çorum, Turkey), dated to the Old Hittite period (ca 16th century BC). Hüseyindede, which is set in a rural landscape, demonstrates continuity in alloying traditions from the Early Bronze Age III (ca 26th/25th–22nd/21st century BC) and the Assyrian Trading Colonies period (20th–18th century BC) to the emergence of the Hittites. In addition to known alloying practices of the period, the site presents, for the first time, evidence of the existence of copper-nickel alloys, namely cupronickels, which so far have been documented only at the Late Bronze Age capital of the Hittites, Boğazköy/Hattuša. The Hüseyindede cupronickel objects now pinpoint the presence of this technology to regions spreading out from the Halys basin from the Old Kingdom Hittite period.

Although research is currently impossible on the ground, satellite photographs allow some further information to be gleaned concerning the region of the Tur Abdin, of crucial importance during the wars between the late Roman Empire and Sassanian Persia in the fourth to seventh century AD. This article examines the ancient sources and the reports of visitors to the area in the light of what is now visible to all via Google Earth and other suppliers of free satellite imagery. Apart from describing the remains of the fortresses and their role in defending an important redoubt against Persian attacks, it draws attention to the urgent necessity for proper ground surveys of what remains of the fortifications of various periods before these are completely destroyed by looting and reuse of building materials. Dams also present a substantial risk to some of the monuments discussed here.

The islands of the Dodecanese enjoy a favourable geographical position. They lie at one of the busiest and most important cross-roads of the eastern Mediterranean, and are readily accessible from all directions, including Asia Minor. In considering contacts with the latter, one has to take into account geographical factors such as distance, the nature of the terrain, and prevailing winds and surface currents. Geologically the Dodecanese form an extension of S.W. Asia Minor, known as Caria in historical times. This region is more or less cut off by mountains from the interior of the mainland, and land routes are either non-existent or very poor. The only direct route is provided by the port of call of Miletus which lies at the mouth of the Maeander (Grant 1969, 93). It is thus only natural for Caria to look towards the Aegean and the Dodecanese rather than elsewhere. Similarly, one should expect the Dodecanese to be in constant intercourse with the opposite coast. Indeed, the archaeological evidence seems to agree. The two areas appear to have shared a more or less common culture in prehistory (Dodecanese III, 178; Mee 1975).

The British Institute excavations carried out during the 1950s at Beycesultan by the head-waters of the Meander near modern Çivril (figs 1-3) may not now be of great moment in scholarly enquiry. The overriding reason for this is, of course, that no epigraphic material of any description came to hand. The excavations are, however, of note in connection with the progress and development of field archaeology - its aims and methods. They must be about the last large-scale Middle East excavations planned and executed according to traditional ideas of work whereby what constituted material for the archaeological record was taken for granted, and was reckoned such that it could be controlled by one or two experienced men in charge: both during the field work and in its publication. In this fashion, the Beycesultan excavations were fortunate. They were under the joint control of Seton Lloyd and James Mellart (fig 4). At that stage Seton Lloyd had been active for 25 years in directing a variety of important excavations in the Middle East (both in Iraq and Turkey), and was, by training, a talented architect. James Mellart, on the other hand, had already crammed into three or four years of intensive excavation and surveying work the accumulated expertise and confidence to assess in a most penetrating way broad regional issues as manifested in objects (‘finds’). Indeed a great deal of what became standard practice in the later 1950s and 60s evolved from his example. This combination of talents and energies was thus a highly favourable one and carried the work through to a very successful conclusion.

In May 1958, while looking for Classical remains in Eastern Pisidia, I copied the following honorific inscription in the town of Beyşehir, which lies at the south-east corner of the lake of the same name, anciently Karalitis. Its situation and surroundings are shown in Fig. 1.

The text is carved on a rectangular slab of yellowish limestone, exposed to view by the removal of wall plaster. This is probably one face of the shaft of a statue-base, which has been built into the outer corner of a shop facing on to the main square. The shop also forms an outer wall to the Şen hotel, and the inscription is said to have come to light during repairs to the hotel, some six years previously. The final letters of the inscription are slightly damaged on both sides, but otherwise it is complete. Rosette below. H. 0·78 m., W. 0·43 m., Th. unknown. Letters 3 cm. high.

This was the fourth season of excavation at Amorium in east Phrygia, and the team worked for four weeks, from 28th July 1991. Archaeological aims this year comprised the continued excavation of the Byzantine Church in the Lower Town, and more detailed study of the small finds, notably the pottery, glass, and inscriptions. Additional aims included the establishment of an official excavation-house (which is necessary by Turkish Law) in the village of Hisarköy, and the construction of a permanent storage depot there. The village of Hisarköy now consists of only about twenty mud-brick houses and two stone buildings, i.e., the cami and the school (which closed in summer 1991). This village was said to have been created in 1892, with about 32 houses, and its recent decline is linked particularly with the attraction felt by the inhabitants to the nearby town of Emirdaǧ. The local harvest takes place in July, releasing a large body of manpower for our excavation's needs in late July and August, as the villagers' families (who work in Eskişehir, Afyon and further afield) come home for their “vacation”. The declining local population does, however, mean that it is easier to find accommodation for the excavation team.

Early in 1970 David French asked me to try to find a solution to the problem of dealing with the large amount of very fine material which passed through his new archaeological sieving and flotation processes. The material was in fact graded from fine sand through silt to clay, and came from the end of the flotation boxes mixed with quantities of water. The resulting mud or slime then blocked up filters and overflows. Apart from the suspicion that one was thus missing very fine particles of archaeological interest, the discarded slime was slowing up and even threatening to stop the flotation processes.

The problem was thus one of separating quantities of very fine material from large quantities of water, and at the same time of separating fine organic material from particles of inorganic material–usually silicates.