Doliche - Urban development and cultural milieu in ancient Northern Syria

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Engelbert Winter
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology ; Ancient History
• Term: from 2015 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 275945555

Urban centres of ancient Syria are insufficiently studied. Especially for Commagene and Cyrrhestice, data pertaining to the development and cultural milieu of cities is almost entirely lacking (Winter 2008a). The most important sites for such enquiries are either largely covered by modern cities (Antioch-on-the-Orontes, Germanicaea, Nicopolis), flooded (Samosata) or not accessible as a result of the civil war in Syria (Cyrrhus, Hierapolis, Beroea, Chalkis, Apameia-on-the-Orontes). The city of Doliche on the other hand, is the only urban settlement in the region not built over by modern towns and available for archaeological research. The site offers the unique opportunity to study urban life in ancient North Syria in a diachronic perspective. To make use of this opportunity, the project aims at a context-oriented investigation of two major parts within the urban space of Doliche. In the Roman city centre, a public bathing facility is to be investigated as well as the surrounding building structures which likewise had a public character. It is in this area that the archive of the city was located. In the second excavation area, our focus lies on the development of the city in late antiquity. The goal is the excavation of a late antique basilica and the surrounding living quarters. In tandem with the excavation work, the conclusion of the intensive survey and the geophysical prospection of the urban area will give far reaching indications pertaining to the structure and development of the city. Thereby, the project will complete the investigation of major buildings of the ancient and late-antique city and will, furthermore, make an important contribution to research into urban live and urban development in the context of changing historical and economic conditions in northern Syria.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants