Ancient Anatolia has often been described as a crossroads of civilisations enabling the transfer of goods and ideas between East and West. Different empires took control of the central plains and costal cities in order to profit from rich resources and a vivid trade. The impact of their respective rule varied depending on the importance of the region and the aims of the local potentates and foreign governers. Yet it has never been a uniform country. In contrast the patchwork of many different people determined the dynamics of development, partly continuing Bronze Age geographical patterns, partly being established by various ‘newcomers’. Due to this situation of constant interaction – between settled and settlers, city and countryside, local élite and dynast – a wide range of cultural contacts can be observed in Anatolia. The case studies assembled in this section represent this diversity and give an overview of the changing historical conditions over time. By using various models of interpretation they intend to explore the importance of material culture as a major source of understanding the processes resulting of cultural contacts. That these processes are not concluded is shown by the use and imagination of ancient culture in modern Turkey.
- Felix Pirson (German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul)
Images: Visual Culture of Lycia
- Isil R. Isiklikaya (German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul)
Traces of Earlier Cultures in Anatolia and their Perception in Modern Turkey
- Martin Bachmann (German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul)
Technology: Architectural Innovation in Anatolia
- Oliver Hulden (German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul)
Ethnicity: Persians by Birth or “Persianized” Locals? – The so called Persian Tombs in Anatolia as a Paradigma for a Specific Cultural Interrelation during the Achaemenid Rule
- Ute Kelp (German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul)
Urbanisation and Identities: The Evidence of Grave Types in Roman Phrygia
- Ulrich Mania (German Archaeological Institute, Istanbul)
Art and Religion: Egyptianizing sculpture from Pergamon