GEPHYRA 12, 2015, 121-139

Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia

Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

Greek and Roman steles for funerary or commemorative purposes from Asia Minor were investi-
gated mostly by German scholars, such as Ernst Pfuhl, Hans Möbius, Johanna Fabricius, Stefan
Schmidt, Reinhold Merkelbach and Josef Stauber.1 The legendary publication of Pfuhl and Möbius
offers a firm base, but Cilicia is not very well represented in this book.2 It seems that Cilicia (map 1)
is not rich in terms of Greek and Roman steles and this type of commemoration was not very popular.
Previous archaeological excavations in necropoleis of Cilicia, such as Anemurium,3 Elaeousa-Sebaste,
Kelenderis, Nagidus, Soloi-Pompeiopolis or Tarsus, reported very few steles. Except the European
travellers of the 19th cent. Robert Fleischer was the first fellow who presented the sculptural richness
of Roman Cilicia.4 The dissertation of Ayşe Çalık Ross on the Roman Imperial sculpture of Cilicia in
1997 includes the pieces in the Museum of Tarsus,5 but not the steles. With this article we begin a
series of research papers, concerning the Greek and Roman steles from Cilicia, especially those kept
in the local museums, such as Tarsus, Adana and Alanya. In this series of articles we plan to deal with


Prof. Dr. Ergün Laflı, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, Edebiyat Fakültesi, Arkeoloji Bölümü, A-418, Tınazte-
pe/Kaynaklar Yerleşkesi, Buca, 35160 İzmir ([email protected]).

Mag. Dr. Eva Christof, c/o Institut für Archäologie der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Universitätsplatz
3/2, A-8010 Graz ([email protected]).
Abbreviations (alphabetically): Cent.: century; esp.: especially; fig.: figure; h.: height; h. o. ltr.: height of let-
ters; inv. no.: inventory number; p.: preserved; and w.: width. For the study of these objects at the Museum of
Tarsus four authorizations were issued by the Turkish General Directorate of the Cultural Heritage and Muse-
ums on 04/07/2007, numbered as B.16.0.KVM.200.11.02.02.14.01.222.11.(TA07.40/C), on 04/07/2007, num-
bered as B.16.0.KVM.200.11.02.02.14.01.222.11.(TA07.40/E), on 10/06/2005, numbered as B.16.0.KVMG.0.
10.00.01/707.1.(9)-80021 and on 09/12/2004, numbered as B.16.0.KVMG.0.10.00.01/707.1/14-030314. The
documentation has been done in 2006 and on 01/03/2013. Photos nos. 1-3b, 5 and 7-10 were taken by Peter
Grunwald (Berlin) in 2006 and nos. 4 as well as 6 by Dr Gülseren Kan Şahin (Sinop) in 2013.
The authors wish to thank to Prof. Nalân Eda Akyürek Şahin, the editor of Gephyra, for her kind invitation
to prepare this brief paper. We would also like to thank to Dr. Ilias N. Arnaoutoglou (Athens) and Prof. Dr.
Johannes Nollé (Munich) for their revisions of our text epigraphically. In our excursions in 2006 Dr. Jutta
Meischner (Berlin) was also present to whom we would like to thank for her support. This article has been
dedicated to the good memory of Professor Sencer Şahin (†) who was always a strong supporter of young re-
searchers.
1
PM 1-2; Fabricius 1999; Schmidt 1991; and Merkelbach – Stauber 2002.
2
For instance a Hellenistic stele with a little girl with a soft curly hairstyle from Tarsus, today at the National
Museum in Athens; inv. no. 1158: PM I, pl. 64, fig. 395.
3
Alföldi-Rosenbaum 1971, pl. L1-2; and Russell 1973, 327, no. 5, fig. 5.
4
Barker 1853; and Fleischer 1984.
5
Çalık 1997, 103f. A list of statues from the Museum of Tarsus: Op. cit., nos. 7, 8, 17, 23, 39-41, 57-58, 67-
68, 73, 81, 83-84, 89-90, 94, 103-104, 121, 137, 149, 150, 159 and 211. The only stele in her work is no. 253 at
the Museum of Silifke.
122 Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

the complete collection of steles in Cilicia both in iconographic and epigraphic aspects and create a
systematic corpus, based on their material, inscriptions, subject, iconography, typology, dimensions,
layout, proportions, techniques and quality of workmanship. Our intention is to present unpublished
steles and to revise formerly published steles. A base has already been established with the publication
of steles at the Museum of Hatay where a large number of pieces are kept.6 Recently a catalogue of
the sculptures at the Museum of Silifke has been prepared by Serra Durugönül which is a first step
towards a systematic cataloguing of the sculptural objects in Cilicia.7 Steles in the museums of Alanya
and Mersin are being edited at the present.8
As it is well known, Tarsus (Ταρσός) was the seat of a Persian satrapy from 400 B.C., the principal
town of Hellenistic Cilicia, the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia and the birth place of Paul
the Apostle. Located on the mouth of the river Cydnus (today Berdan/Tarsus Çayı) the city was sit-
uated on the junction of land and sea routes connecting the Cilicia Pedias, Central Anatolia and the
eastern Mediterranean. The countryside around Tarsus provided an excellent farmland.9 The ancient
city’s core was Gözlükule, a höyük site located in the southwest edge of the modern city. The Hellen-
istic and Roman city of Tarsus is located just north of Gözlükule; at the same time Gözlükule was in
use as a residential area, a necropolis10 and a workshop place for the local coroplastic production as
well as other manufacturers. Under Seleucid control Tarsus was largely influenced by Greek language
and culture and it became more and more Hellenized. In 67 B.C. Pompey, after crushing the Cilician
pirates, subjected Tarsus to Rome, and it became capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. In the
Roman period, the city was an important intellectual centre and when the province of Cilicia was
divided, Tarsus remained the civil and religious metropolis of Cilicia Prima. The city remained
largely pagan up to the time of Julian the Apostate (A.D. 361–363) who reportedly planned to make
it his capital. Since the 18th cent. Tarsus was an attractive place for researchers: the French Orientalist
Victor Langlois made an expedition to Tarsus and Cilicia in 1852-1853 in order to excavate at
Gözlükule, where he found numerous terracotta figurines brought subsequently to the Louvre. So far
the most important excavations in Tarsus were those run by U.S. American scholars at Gözlükule
before and after the World War II: Hetty Goldman has directed an excavation at Gözlükule in 1937-
1948 and published the results after 1950. Today Gözlükule is being re-excavated by a team from
Boğaziçi University, but very few finds of Hellenistic and Roman periods are published so far. Be-
tween the 1950s and 2010s only rescue excavations and coincidental finds are known from Tarsus.
During the construction of the Palace of Justice of Tarsus in 1943-1944 several mosaic panels of the
3rd-4th cent. A.D. have been found, but no steles. Also during the rescue excavations, cleaning and
restoration of the so-called “St. Paul’s Well”, a monumental tomb at “Köylü Garajı” (Domestic Coach
Station),11 the so-called “Mausoleum of the Prophet Daniel” and the Roman Bath (Makam) some
finds were collected, but no steles. Two important excavations in Tarsus did not provide any stele:
the Roman Temple at Donuktaş was excavated by a Turkish team headed by Nezahat Baydur between

6
Laflı – Meischner 2008; and Laflı – Christof 2014. Also Güven 2015.
7
Durugönül 2013.
8
Laflı – Christof in progress.
9
Welles 1962, 45-46.
10
Goldman 1950, 19-24, figs. 64-80.
11
Yurtseven 2008.

Gephyra 12, 2015, 121-139

 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 123

1982 and 1992.12 This temple was supposed to be the largest Roman temple of the ancient world and
today there is a survey project in its fundaments.13 A second and less known one is the excavation of
a Roman road and magazins at Cumhuriyet Meydanı (Republican Square), directed by Kâmil Levent
Zoroğlu in 1990s.14 These rescue excavations brought to light various finds of Late Antiquity of Tar-
sus. In the course of epigraphic surveys of Mustafa Hamdi Sayar in Cilicia not much about the steles
of Tarsus has been reported.
The necropoleis of Greek and Roman Tarsus are not known in detail15 and most of the burial evidence
consists of chance finds. Two recently published monumental reliefs of Men and of a Silen from
Tarsus are coming apparently from a necropolis area in Tarsus.16 Some more tombs are known from
the “Şelale” (waterfall) area, but no steles in situ. Other finds, such as the tomb at Köylü Garajı etc.
are singular.
In 1971 the Museum of Tarsus was founded in a building which was formerly an educational institute
(madrasa), built by Kubad Paşa, a Ramadanid ruler during the 16th cent. Prior to 1971 finds from
Tarsus were brought to Louvre, the British Museum, the Archaeological Museums of Istanbul and
Regional Museum of Adana. In 1999 the museum was moved to its present building which is in-
cluded in the city's social center known as "Cultural Complex of the 75th Anniversary of the Turkish
Republic". A new building for the Museum of Tarsus is now under construction.
Steles kept at the Museum of Tarsus were documented by Ergün Laflı and Emel Torum in 2013 with
the permission of the Museum of Tarsus. The provenance of the objects is mostly unknown, with the
exceptions of three steles from Antioch-on-the-Orontes and Seleucia Pieria in Hatay which have been
either donated to the Museum of Tarsus or brought by local sellers from the area of Hatay. No stele
is known from any excavations in or around Tarsus; all the finds in the museum come from non-
archaeological contexts: they were brought to the museum and purchased from local salesmen; there-
fore their provenance could be anywhere in Asia Minor. Also the excavations in other parts of Cilicia
do not provide any help about the use of steles in Greek and Roman Cilicia. In this article the steles
of Tarsian origin stored elsewhere (for instance at the collections of the Archaeological Museums of
Istanbul) are excluded. The total number of steles is 10; most of them are marble with the exception
of no. 1 that is of limestone. Five of the grave steles bear a Greek inscription. Only four of them belong
to the Hellenistic period (nos. 1-4); the rest date from the 2nd and 3rd cent. A.D. Only two of them are
votive steles (nos. 1 and 9) and an ossuary fragment (no. 10); the rest are grave steles. So far only no.
3 is known in epigraphic publications; the rest is unpublished. Seven steles are exhibited in the sculp-
ture hall of the museum; the remaining three are in the depot.

12
Baydur – Seçkin 2001: No stele was found in these excavations.
13
The temple is now being re-surveyed by Winfried Held (Marburg).
14
Zoroğlu 2001.
15
For a list of the ruins at Tarsus, cf. Hild – Hellenkemper 1990, 428-439. The authors consider that Hel-
lenistic and Roman Tarsus is almost entirely demolished: op. cit., 433-434.
16
Durukan – Durugönül 2009, 199f.

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124 Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

Map 1) Map of Tarsus, Cilicia and other quoted places in the text. Underlined places indicate cities with local museums (S.
Patacı, 2015).

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 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 125

Catalogue

No. 1. A limestone votive stele with double figures (fig. 1)

Inv. no.: 984-7-9.
Material: Limestone with a very porous surface.
State of preservation: Chips from the edges of pediment and bottom. Surface worn, weathered and
yellowed.
Provenance: Acquisition; perhaps from Rough Cilicia, i.e. the surroundings of Silifke.
Measurements: H. 32 cm; w. 20 cm.
Description: This remarkably shallow relief block shows two roughly worked figures, framed by col-
umns or pilasters in flat relief. The two figures depicted are two nearly identical female divinities in
a high girded, long chiton, with a helmet, a shield and a lance.17 Their appearance reminds the sphere
of war and can be interpreted as double Athenas. The pediment seems to be decorated with a moon
crescent.18 Over a long span of time double depictions of god-
desses are common in Asia Minor for Demeter, Athena, Arte-
mis and Cybele and according to Fahri Işık and other scholars
they originate in an older Anatolian Mother-Goddess.19 In the
Museum of Silifke two stone monuments of similar dimensions
are stored which share the standing figures in weapons.20 They
have been found in Olba (Uzuncaburç) and have been dated to
the 3rd cent. B.C. They can be interpreted neither as male war-
riors nor as grave monuments of soldiers, because they wear fe-
male dresses. An interpretation as double goddesses, probably
double Athenas, and a function as votives should be preferred.
The figures exhibit a rather local and simplified workmanship.
The drapery motif is comparable particularly to rock-cut reliefs
in Cilicia Tracheia as the composition and treatment are strik-
ingly similar.

Fig. 1 Dating: Late 3rd-early 2nd cent. B.C.

17
For double representations of a female goddess: Hadzisteliou Price 1971; and in Asia Minor: Fleischer
1984, 98-101; Işık 2013.
18
Crescents are common attributes on funerary steles from Cilicia Pedias: Çalık 1997, 90.
19
Cf. Işık 2013; Robert 1960, 178 f.; Helck 1971, 28 f.; Haas 1981, 5-21; Robert 1983, 559, note 30a; Lehmann
1988; Simon 1995 (not convincing); and Becker et al. 2012, 30-31 (divine dyads).
20
Durugönül 2013, 109-110, nos. 76-77 (with figs.).

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126 Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

No. 2. A grave stele with a banquet scene (fig. 2)

Inv. no.: 984-7-112.
Material: Fine grained marble.
State of preservation: The middle edge, right
upper corner as well as right corner of the stele
are missing. The heads of all three figures are
seriously damaged. Surface has some encrus-
tation on its lower and uppermost parts.
Provenance: Acquisition (?). Measurements:
H. 45 cm; w. 55,5 cm.
Description: The relief is framed by two sim-
ple pilasters, owns an architrave and shows a
row of akroteria at the front. Three figures are Fig. 2
spread in front of the empty background. On
the right side there is a male reclining hero and a seated woman, while the left side is taken place by
a naked male figure with hip-mantle, carrying a full cornucopia in one arm and a phiale, in the other.
The seated woman, dressed in a high girded chiton, carries a full cornucopia in her left hand too. Her
feet are far from touching the ground. The kline is almost entirely covered by cloth, but on the edges
both of its feet are visible. Both male figures are displayed with naked upper body. It seems remark-
able that all three persons are holding a round phiale. The heads are preserved only in outlines. This
scene used in heroisations of the deceased in Hellenistic and Roman Syria was also very popular in
Cilicia.21
Dating: The pictorial style of the relief and the comparison with other steles lead to a dating to the 1st
half of the 2nd cent. B.C.22

No. 3. Votive stele of a goddess, secondarily reused as a grave naiskos dedicated to a mother with three
children (figs. 3a-b)
Inv. no.: 980-67-1.
Material: Fine grained marble with heavy grey veins.
State of Preservation: Right corner of the pediment as well as some chips are missing on the surface.
Provenance: It was found in Seleucia Pieria in Samandağ, acquired on 10/11/1972 and brought from
the Museum of Hatay to Tarsus on 03/05/1980.
Measurements: H. 128 cm; w. 43 cm; h. o. ltr.: c. 1.5 cm.

21
On this scene in Hellenistic Asia Minor in general: Dentzer 1978, 69-71.
22
The figures share the same concept of the body e. g. with the relief PM I, no. 1109 pl. 167 (dated to the 1st
half of the 2nd cent. B.C.).

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 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 127

Fig. 3a

τρισσοὺς εὐώδεινος ἀφ’ Ἑρμιόνης λίπεν Ἄνδρων

2 κηδεμόνας, λεύσει δ’ οὐδένα γηροκόμον·
ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν ἐν Δήλῳ θάνε Πάμφιλος. Ἀνδρόμαχος δέ
4 νέρθε ‘Ρόδου, πάτρας δ’ ἔνδοθεν Ἑρμιόνη,
ἁ δὲ πολυθρήνητος ἐπέφθιτο ματέρι κούρα
6 Παμφίλη ὡραίων οὐκ ἐπιβᾶσα γάμων·
οὐδὲ καταφθιμένων αὑτὰ κονίς, ἄλλα γὰρ ἄλλα
8 γᾶ κατέχει, μνάμαν δ’ εἷς ἐφύλαξε τάφος.
Three “guardians” were what Andron begot from fertile Hermione,
but no one of them will take care of him in his old age. Pamphilos died
in Delos; Andromachos lies under (the earth of) Rhodes, while Hermi-
one (the wife) lies at home. The much mourned girl Pamphile died
(soon) after (her) mother, without “enjoying” a beautiful wedding;
and it is not the same earth that covers the deceased, but different soil
preserves each of them; and a single grave preserves their memory.
Epigraphic Comments: The text is similar to Merkelbach – Stauber
2002, 240 nr. 20/01/03. “Ἐπιφθίνομαι” is a very rare word. On line 6
„ὡραίων οὐκ ἐπιβᾶσα γάμων” indicates that Pamphile died as an
“ἄωρος”, i.e. before she matured. For this subject cf. e. g. Lattimore
1942, 184-187 § 48; and Vérilhac 1978/1982. On line 7 „AYTA“
means „ἁ αὑτὰ”. This stele serves both as a gravestone for Hermione
and her daughter Pamphile as well as a memory of the late Pam-
philos and Andromachos.
Description: High rectangular, pedimental stele with an unworked
lower part for fixation. An arched relief field comprises the figural
scene, under which a formerly published poetic Greek archaizing ep-
itaph with specific formulae23 runs. The figures are arranged in front
of the empty background in a way that a lot of free space remains
Fig. 3b

23
Probably Aeolic or Doric; cf. Dickie 1994, 117f.: “Kaibel long ago remarked that inscriptions for ephebes are
wont to speak in Doric. The practice is by no means confined to epitaphs for ephebes. Doric is found in grave-

Gephyra 12, 2015, 121-139

128 Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

above them. On the right side there is a woman seated on a stool without backrest, turned towards
three smaller scaled men approaching to her. The woman is given in a three quarter view; thus an
excellent deep view effect is achieved. She puts one arm across the body and supports the other arm
with the hand directed to her chin. Her hairstyle recalls Hellenistic Aphrodite types. Three figures,
graded by size, are dressed in an himation with a sling and reach up in size to the knees of the woman.
They are standing on the same pedestal, on which the woman rests her feet. Lots of chisel marks on
the surface.
Comparanda: A parallel is known at the Museum of Hatay: Laflı – Meischner 2008, 156-157, no. 17
(a female holding a child on her lap).
Dating: According to Merkelbach – Stauber the inscription is from the 1st cent. B.C.; iconograph-
ically, however, the stele should belong to the middle of the 2nd cent. B.C. The visual narrative of the
scene is that of a votive relief,24 showing a goddess and three worshippers. It is therefore highly prob-
able that the inscription was carved secondarily below the relief, and the votive relief was transformed
to a grave relief.
Bibliography: Dagron – Feissel 1987, 85, no. 41 and pl. 20; SEG 37, 1987, no. 1459; as well as Merkel-
bach – Stauber 2002, 240 nr. 20/01/03, 245, no. 20/03/06 (with a translation into German).

No. 4. Lower part of a grave stele of a girl with a dog (fig. 4)

Inv. no.: 07-2-1.
Material: Marble.
State of preservation: Its upper part was broken away in the middle. No. 4 is a lower fragment with
some chips which is being stored in the depot.
Provenance: Donation in 2005.
Measurements: P. h. 41,5 cm; w. 40 cm; h. o. ltr.: c. 2 cm.
Inscription: Two lines under the figural scene.

Δάμου θυγάτηρ Καλλίστρατου

2 χαῖρε.

Damous, daughter of Kallistratos,

fare well!

Fig. 4

inscriptions for children and young women. ... It may be that Doric was associated with the plangent tone of
lamentation.”. Also Catling – Kanavou 2007, 107.
24
Cf. several examples in Edelmann 1999.

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 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 129

Epigraphic Comments: The name of the daughter is Damous; for this kind of names cf. Schulze –
Wissman 1934, 309 and 384 f., note 11: “Die Namen in -οῦς sind die vulgären Fortsetzer der Nomina
auf -ώ, durch analogische Neuschöpfung erwachsen aus den alten Akk. auf -οῦν und zwar erwachsen
auf ionischem Sprachgebiete. Fast immer stehen den Fem. auf -οῦς Mask. auf -ᾶς zur Seite”. Also
Robert 1963, 381 f.; as well as Petzl 1982, 3 no. 4 (with further references). In this inscription the
nominative θυγάτηρ was used instead of the vocative θύγατερ. For using the nominative instead of
the vocative, see Svennung 1958 and Blass – Debrunner – Rehkopf 1979, 121f. § 147.
Description: The stele shows three female figures, of which just the girl on the right side is entirely
complete. This girl is approaching the woman in the centre, who is given in a bigger scale, and is
offering her something in the outstretched right hand, perhaps a bunch of grapes (?), while holding
a bird in the other hand close to the body. On the left side a servant or girl is depicted and between
her and the bigger scale central woman there is a little dog directed and looking upwards to the main
female figure. A dog usually accompanies a dead girl, not an adult.25
Dating: 1st cent. B.C

No. 5. A grave slab with a reclining woman (fig. 5)

Inv. no.: 980-6-1.
Material: Fine grained marble.
State of preservation: The slab is vertically broken through middle with some chips. There is also a
horizontal crack. Surface has some encrustations and is yellowed.
Provenance: Acquisition on 03/05/1980.
Measurements: H. 128 cm; w. 43 cm; h. o. ltr.: c. 2 cm.
Inscription: One line under the figural scene.

Δομν[ί]να· ἄλυπε χαῖρε.

Domnina, free of worry, fare well!

Fig. 5

Epigraphic Comments: The Latin personal name of Domnina (sometimes appears as “Δομνεῖνα”) is
often encountered especially in the epigraphical or historical sources of northern Syria as well as
Cilicia; cf. Gatier 1988, 228, inscription no. 5 (from Nisibis, today in Al-Hasakah; end of 2nd-early 3rd
cent. A.D.); and Rey-Coquais 1998, 199. Domnina can also refer to several Christian female saints in

25
Dogs depicted on grave reliefs: Schmidt 1991, figs. 1-3. Very similar for the simple framing of the grave
stone and the figural inventory: PM 1, no. 392, pl. 64; cf. also PM 1, no. 397, pl. 65. The main person of these
grave steles is always a girl.

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130 Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

the same area: Domnina of Anazarbus (died on A.D. 286), Domnina of Antioch on the Orontes (died
on A.D. 310) and Domnina of Kyra near Antioch (died on c. A.D. 450-460) are venerated as Christian
martyrs of Late Antiquity. A Domnina of around A.D. 166 in western Asia Minor was a doctor: Rein-
ach 1933, 313. A further doctor with the name Domnina is known in Latin epigraphic sources: Flem-
ming 2007, 259 and note 11. Latin and Semitic names are not rare on Antiocheian steles: Laflı –
Christof 2014, 169-170, no. 21 and note 14 (Rufina). A Δομνεῖνα is known from a funerary stele from
Elaeousa-Sebaste (today at the Museum of Anamur, inv. no. 2.938.90), dated to the 3rd-4th cent. A.D.:
cf. Laflı – Christof 2015, 195-196, no. 18.
For “ἄλυπε” cf. Tod 1951, 186 f. The word bears two distinct meanings, which we may term active
and passive, (a) causing no grief (or pain), and (b) suffering no grief (or pain). In prose epitaphs,
however, the word is to be taken in its active sense.
Description: The slab shows a woman, faced frontally, stretched out on a bed-couch, a kline. She
wears a long undergarment and a mantle which is pulled over her head as a veil. Her left hand is
holding a drinking cup. The figure’s head is too large in relation to the body, thus underlining the
importance of the head. The slab is framed by side bars, has a curved lintel as upper closure, and
disposes of two lateral akroteria. The kline which fits exactly into the space defined by the side bars
and was carefully detailed, has a high head and foot end. This foot shows three cylindrical elements
on each leg, as it might have corresponded to the real wooden furniture at the same time. In compar-
ison to the bulk of banquet reliefs and reclining heroes reclining heroines are seldom in Hellenistic
and Roman Asia Minor and this stele is in the most reduced form which shows just the essential
figure of the reclining banqueter. The form of the slab and the overall composition show strong sim-
ilarities with the stele of Epicharis from Chrysopolis/Skoutarion (Üsküdar) at the Archaeological
Museums of Istanbul26 and several steles of the Roman Imperial period from Antioch-on-the-Oron-
tes.27
Dating: Late 2nd-3rd cent. A.D.

No. 6. A stele of a man with a bundled scroll (fig. 6)

Inv. no.: 984-7-115.
Material: Marble.
State of preservation: Horizontally broken through lower part. Two joining fragments. Left anta of
the naiskos’ façade not preserved. Worn face. Stored in the depot.
Provenance: Acquisition.
Measurements: H. 34 cm; w. 25 cm; h. o. ltr.: c. 2 cm.
Inscription: One line under the figure. Typical phrases of the commemoration. Unfortunately, the
personal name should be in the lost part.

26
Cremer 1992, pl. 29, fig. on the upper right side (Archaeological Museums of Istanbul, inv. no. 5664).
27
Cf. Kondoleon 2000, 140 no. 29 (with fig.); evidently later in date: Laflı – Meischner 2008, 165-166, no.
31; and Laflı – Christof 2014, 170-172, 181 figs. 22-25.

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 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 131

[- - -] ἄλυπε χαῖρε.

[- - -] free of worry, fare well!

Fig. 6
Description: This stele with a flat pediment preserves a draped male figure in frontal view, processing
to the right, holding a bundled scroll in front of him and thus representing himself as an educated
person.28 The shoulders and head are parallel to the relief ground, but the feet faced three-quarters
proper left. The figure wore a typical himation.
Dating: Late 2nd-3rd cent. A.D. based on type and style.

No. 7. A banquet stele with the presentation of a wreath (fig. 7)

Inv. no.: 07-2-2.
Material: Limestone.
State of preservation: Right corner missing. Surface, especially faces, worn, yellowed and weathered.
Stored in the depot.
Provenance: Donation in 2005; perhaps from the surroundings of Byzantium.
Measurements: P. h. 59 cm; w. 56 cm.
Description: Rosette with six petals in a circle at the summit
of the pediment, lateral akroteria, a simple and plane phiale
in the pediment: a reclining male figure on a bed couch with
high upper and lower end, in a long garment, covering his
whole body, gazing frontally, presenting a wreath and hold-
ing a drinking cup in the other hand. A veiled woman, per-
haps in a protopudicitia type,29 in three quarter view seated on
the kline as well. From the left margin a female servant ap-
proaches, offering a rectangular box. In front of the bed couch
there is a round table with three animal legs, supporting some
drinking cups. All heads have a worn surface. Very character-
istic in this relief is the rendering of the tight and linear crin-
kles and the clumsy proportions of the bodies, e.g. the very
Fig. 7

28
For the meaning of book scrolls and the eagerness of education on steles in Roman Asia Minor: Fabricius
1999, 248-254; and Marek 2003, 149-160 with figs.
29
Cremer 1991, 87.

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132 Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

short upper body of the reclining man. The decoration scheme is typical for grave steles in Byzan-
tium.30
Dating: End of the 2nd-beginning of the 3rd cent. A.D.

No. 8. A naiskos stele of a reclining hero and his servant (fig. 8)

Inv. no.: 973-5-3.
Material: Marble with grey veins and calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
State of Preservation: Faces worn. Edges missing some chips.
Provenance: Acquisition on 29/05/1973; it was brought from the surrounding of Hatay.
Measurements: H. 44 cm; w. 35,5 cm; h. o. ltr.: c. 2 cm.
Inscription: Under the relief scene a Greek inscription with three lines is engraved.

Ἀντίπατρος Ἀρίστωνος
2 Ἑρμοκράτη Ἀρίστωνος
ἄλυποι χαίρετε.

Antipatros, son of Ariston

Hermokrate, daughter of Ariston,
Free of worry, farewell!

Fig. 8

Description: The rectangular stele has a simple frame and a simple pediment, decorated with a ro-
sette. The reclining hero, dressed in a fine draped dress lies on a kline holding a tiny cup in one hand.
On the left edge a servant figure in short dress with one arm crossed over the body, the other put to
the chin, although represented frontally, looks up to the recumbent hero toward the left.31
The execution of the relief is characterized by many narrow lines for the folds of the dress. The thick
mattress shows three engraved marks and the piece of cloth falling down from the kline is marked
with coarse engraved ridges. Some chisel marks on the surface.
Dating: Middle of 3rd cent. A.D.

30
Sayar 1982, 292-293, pl. IX, nos. 3-4; Fıratlı – Robert 1964, pls. 14-25; Karagöz 1984, p. 21, figs. 16-17; and
Fabricius 1999, 236 ss. F70, pl. 22b; F78, pl. 23a; F67, pl. 24a.
31
For the body language of slaves: Masséglia 2015, 196-204.

Gephyra 12, 2015, 121-139

 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 133

Bibliography: In 2010 this piece has been analyzed archaeometrically without any precise result in
the regards of its marble source: Demirkıran 2010, 52, sample no. 13.

No. 9. An usual votive stele with abstractions (fig. 9)

Inv. no.: 974-15-8.
Material: Phrygian (?) marble.
State of Preservation: Heads of three top figures missing. Chips on the yellowed surface.
Provenance: Acquisition on 18/07/1974; it was probably brought from the outside of Cilicia (Pisidia
or Phrygia?).
Measurements: H. 31 cm; w. 15 cm.
Description: Apart from the unworked lower part for fixa-
tion, this votive stele consists of three decorated parts: three
figures on the top, a portrait in the middle and four objects
at the bottom. At the top, three separate statuettes of deities
are presented, perhaps Leto (or Cybele?) in the middle who
was the mother of the twin gods Apollon and Artemis that
were placed in her long sides. Leto in the middle is depicted
larger than the other figures. These headless figures are
seated and dressed in a Greek peplos or chiton as the density
as well as arrangement of the thick vertical drapery folds
show. These emphasized broad and linear folds contribute a
classical element to this unique votive stele. The middle part
is being bordered by a possibly portrait bust of a female. Four
objects at the bottom enrich the scenery: in the right upper
corner a bucranium, at the middle a horizontal object with
lopsided grooves and in the bottom part an unknown trian-
gle object (a weight?) on the left and a mirror on the right.
Bucrania and mirrors are typical symbols at the grave steles
in Roman Asia Minor.
Fig. 9
nd rd
Dating: Late 2 -early 3 cent. A.D.

No. 10. A fragment of an ossuary with a pair of confronting Erotes holding a bunch of grapes over a
crater (fig. 10)
Inv. no.: 972-33-3.
Material: Fine grained marble.
State of preservation: Bottom of the panel through the level of Erotes’ knees is completely missing.
Surface heavily weathered, yellowed, with some encrustation. Chips on the surface. Heads of the Ero-
tes were damaged.
Provenance: Acquisition on 10/11/1972; it was brought from the surroundings of Tarsus.
Measurements: P. h. 28,5 cm; w. 62 cm.

Gephyra 12, 2015, 121-139

134 Ergün LAFLI – Eva CHRISTOF

Description: This decorative marble slab has a rectangular shape, perhaps belonging to the longer
edge, i.e. the primary viewing side, of an ossuary, a classical cinerary urn. It could also belong to a
thin revetment plaque and displays a high quality marble as well as skill. As its surface was smoothed
and polished, it was brought to a careful finish, providing a fine sheen which heightens the classical
effect of the scene. The panel shows a pair of confronting Erotes beside a belly crater, facing each
other and holding a bunch of grapes above it. The scenery with a sharp contrast was bordered by a
horizontally projecting lip on the top. The Erotes were represented nude and chubby, with two sets
of wings and cloaks that curve in opposite directions. Their heads are preserved only in outlines.

Fig. 10

Its Dionysiac content indicates its use as an ossuary. These scenes were popular in sarcophagi and
they are associated with Dionysiac celebrations for the promise of a blissful afterlife or reminded of
feasts held at tombs or imagery that adorned many homes and public spaces in Roman Asia Minor.
On its right side a “XP” is visible (h. o. ltr. c. 3 cm), perhaps in form of a christogram. Some further
secondarily carved graffiti are visible on the surface, especially on the right side of Eros on the left,
but not readable. They could be carved on the slab because of some later reworking. During the Hel-
lenistic and Roman periods chthonic Eros was one of the most popular figures in the coroplastic finds
at Gözlükule, at Donuktaş32 and in Tarsian terracotta productions. In Tarsus it is also common as
freestanding figures.33
Dating: Beginning of 3rd cent. A.D.

Conclusions
The Tarsus collection of Greek and Roman steles has a mixed character; nine unpublished steles
originate from various parts of Asia Minor. Three of them are certainly from Antioch; the rest could
be from anywhere. Both on Cyprus and in Syria the number of steles is significantly reduced which
is a similar case for Cilicia. It seems that the tradition of grave steles was not very popular in Roman
southern Asia Minor and eastern Mediterranean, except in large cities, such as Antioch-on-the-

32
Baydur – Seçkin 2001, pl. LXXIV, figs. 39-41.
33
Çalık 1997, 63-64.

Gephyra 12, 2015, 121-139

 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 135

Orontes, Zeugma or Edessa in the east. So far the only Greek Classical Attic grave steles with a con-
firmed context were found in Soloi in eastern Cilicia (today in the Museum of Adana);34 for the Hel-
lenistic and Roman periods there is almost no known stele in any archaeological context of Cilicia.
In future studies the marble sources of Tarsian steles should be determined archaeometrically.35

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 Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia 139

Kilikia Bölgesi’ndeki Tarsus Müzesi’nden Hellenistik ve Roma Dönemi Stelleri

Özet
Bu makalede tanıtılan on adet arkeolojik taş obje 2013 yılında Tarsus Müzesi’nde belgelenmiştir. Beş
adet stel Yunanca yazıt içermektedir. Bu çalışmada stellerin hem ikonografik ve hem de epigrafik
içeriği ele alınmaktadır. Amaç Kilikia müzelerindeki stellerin bir corpusunu oluşturmaktır.
Makalede incelenen yazıtların Türkçe çevirileri şöyledir:
No. 3: Andron’un doğurgan eşi Hermione’den (yaşlılığında) kendisine bakacak üç çocuğu oldu. Hiçbi-
risini ama yaşlılığının bekçisi olarak göremeyecek. Pamphilos Delos’ta öldü; Andromakhos ise Rodos
toprağının altında yatıyor. (Eşi) Hermione anavatanda; çok ağlayan küçücük kız Pamphile ise anne-
sinin hemen ardından öldü evlilik çağına ulaşamadan. Rahmetlileri örten aynı toprak değil, aksine!
Her birini ayrı toprak saklıyor. Fakat bir tek mezar anıtı gözetiyor anılarını!
No. 4: Ey Kallistratos’un kızı Damus! Elveda!
No. 5: Domnina: Kederlenme! Elveda!
No. 6: - - - - : Kederlenme! Elveda!
No. 8: Ariston’un oğlu Antipatros, Ariston’un kızı Hermokrate: Kederlenmeyin! Sağlıcakla kalın!
Anahtar sözcükler: Kilikia; Tarsus; mezar stelleri; adak stelleri; mezar yazıtları; ostothekler; ölü ziya-
feti sahnesi; Hellenistik Dönem; Roma İmparatorluk Çağı.

Hellenistic and Roman Steles in the Museum of Tarsus in Cilicia

Abstract
The following ten stone objects were documented in 2013 in the Museum of Tarsus. Five of them
bear a Greek inscription. This study concerns both the iconography and the epigraphy of these steles.
The intention is to create a corpus of the steles in Cilician museums.
Keywords: Cilicia; Tarsus; grave steles; votive steles; epitaphs; ossuaries; banquet scene; Hellenistic
period; Roman Imperial period.

Gephyra 12, 2015, 121-139