Recent archaeological investigations in Ephesos have significantly expanded our understanding of the city during the 7th and 8th centuries CE. A growing number of securely dated find contexts, particularly from the Late Antique to Medieval City Quarter near St. Mary’s Church, Domitian’s Square, and the Clivus Sacer, provide unparalleled insights into the material culture of this transformative period. In several instances, furniture, household utensils, everyday objects, and even goods prepared for sale were abruptly abandoned due to sudden destruction events, preserving vivid snapshots of daily life. The numismatic evidence consists of dated coins of Heraclius, which permit a reliable dating of several coin finds to his regnal year 6. A small purse of gold coins – a most uncommon phenomenon for excavations in Western Asia Minor – is of special interest. To present a complete picture of Ephesos’ material culture, contexts dating from the 9th to the 10th centuries CE will also briefly be addressed. A holistic approach – combining contextual and interdisciplinary analyses of all artifact types, including biogenic remains – enables a comprehensive reconstruction of everyday and economic life. The variety of fine ceramics, amphorae, metal and glass vessels, cooking and storage utensils, along with the large quantities of animal bones and botanical remains found in situ, offers crucial insights into dietary habits, cooking practices, trade activities, and consumer behavior among residents, visitors, pilgrims, and passers-by. Beyond pottery, the assemblages encompass thousands of coins, luxurious furnishings, jewelry, clothing accessories, and Christian pilgrimage souvenirs, reflecting the rich material and spiritual culture of the city’s inhabitants. Together, these finds illuminate the social, economic, and cultural dynamics that shaped Ephesos from the 7th to the 10th centuries CE, revealing complex interactions between tradition and change during a pivotal era in the city’s long history.
The numismatic material is of great interest, as it represents by far the largest find from Ephesos so far. The five gold coins (published by Schindel and Schwaiger in 2025) can be compared to a single Byzantine solidus from the older excavations. The hoard of copper coins is almost three times larger than a similar…
Focusing on the period between the 7th and 10th centuries CE, the contribution investigates the urban transformations of Ephesos through a combined analysis of architectural remains and stratified contexts. Drawing on recent excavations in the Late Antique to Medieval City Quarter near St Mary’s Church, Domitian’s Square, and the Clivus Sacer, it explores how shifting…
This paper investigates the complex processes of transformation in Byzantine Ephesos by foregrounding the role of material culture as both evidence and agent of change. Once a flourishing metropolis of the Roman Empire, Ephesos underwent profound reconfigurations between the 7th and 10th centuries CE, shaped by shifting imperial structures, religious developments, environmental pressures, and changing…
This presentation aims to be an analysis of the trade connections developed by Ephesos with other Mediterranean regions from the 5th to the 7th centuries, based on the pottery record from different excavations in the ancient Late Antique and Byzantine city. The work developed by the Austrian Archaeological Institute during the last 25 years has…