Gephyra (May 2018)
Imported Hellenistic Stamped Amphora Handles from Tatarlı Höyük (in the Province of Adana-Turkey)
Abstract
Twenty two amphora stamps from the Tatarlı Höyük excavations in Cilicia (2008-2017) are the subject of this article. Tatarlı Höyük is situated in the Tatarlı village, formerly Yedigöz/Yedioluk, 24 km east of Ceyhan, Adana. It is one of the largest sites in Cilicia Pedias (Plain Cilicia), and is a flat-topped, wooded mound on a basalt outcrop, with a base measuring 350 m by 180 m and a height of 37 m. Located in the eastern part of the Çukurova, the mound was in a strategic position with its location on important trade routes.It was determined that eighteen of the twenty two stamped amphora handles in this study were of Rhodian origin. Nine of the Rhodian stamps belong to the eponyms, and seven to the fabricants. Only two of the Rhodian stamps are illegible. The second group from the Tatarlı Höyük are of Cyprus origin. One of two amphora handles in this group has a stamp in the Cypriot syllable, but it cannot be clearly read. On the other Cypriot example there is also a monogram or an abbreviation consisting of four letters. Only one Chian stamp was found. The name of the fabricant Ἱκέσιος, which is thought to have been active between ca. 250 - ca. 225 B.C., is read on this Chian stamp found at the site. Perhaps the most important example among the Tatarlı examples is the Cnidian stamp. On the stamp both the name of the eponym Λυσάνιος and the name of the fabricant Ἀριστοκράτης are recorded. The appearance of both these names together on the Tatarlı example raises questions concerning the published chronology of these names, as they have been dated to different periods in previous studies. In the context of this find, it seems the place of these two figures in the chronology may need to be revised. For this reason, a somewhat broader date range has been given to both the eponym Λυσάνιος and the fabricant Ἀριστοκράτης, the first half of the 2nd century B.C. These twenty two stamped amphora handles found at Tatarlı Höyük, a major mound site of Cilicia Pedias (Plain Cilicia), provide us with a body of information on this subject for the region. This material, in particular, provides important information not only for the dating of the settlement’s Hellenistic Period strata, but also concerning the spread and statistics of the amphora within Asia Minor’s Mediterranean geography.
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