1,800 Year-Old Artifacts Unearthed in Ancient Greek City of Metropolis

An ongoing excavation in the ancient Greek city of Metropolis has led to the discovery of 150 amphorae and water jugs found in a well believed to be from approximately 1,800 years ago.

Known as the “City of the Mother Goddess,” the Greek city of Metropolis is situated in western Turkey near Yeniköy village in Torbali municipality approximately forty kilometers southeast of Izmir.

Many monumental structures have been unearthed in the ancient city of Metropolis, and excavations this year are being carried out around the Hellenistic Theater and the Roman Bath, which are among the most important structures of the city.

The ancient Greek city was first investigated through archeological fieldwork in 1972 by Professor Recep Meriç from the Dokuz Eylül University, and excavations have been carried out since 1989.

In 1995, archeologists discovered a Hellenistic marble seat of honor with griffins in the ancient theater, and in June 2021, they announced the discovery of a well-preserved 1,800-year-old marble statue of a woman standing on a pedestal in the Torbalı district.

Visitors can see traces of the first settlement and its development in and around the ancient Greek city from the Late Neolithic / Early Chalcolithic eras through to the Archaic and Classical Ages.

What is visible today of the Ancient Greek city of Metropolis is primarily a Hellenistic city heavily Romanized with Byzantine remains laid out across it. There is a church to the east of the city, and fortification walls laid across that connect to the Hellenistic defenses on the Acropolis.

Amphorae and water jugs unearthed for the first time in Metropolis

The excavations at the ancient Greek city of Metropolis unearthed amphorae and water jugs for the first time although it was reported that most of these were broken.

Professor Serdar Aybek, the excavation director, said that “for the first time in Metropolis, amphorae and water jugs were found in bulk.”

“The excavation work in Metropolis is very productive,” Aybek said. “We are working on the Hellenistic and Roman period settlement of Metropolis. This year, we cleaned the water well of the Roman Bath, which was found in previous excavations. The structure is approximately 12 meters deep and has fine workmanship.”

“It was something that made us very happy, [and] especially in the last two meters of the well, we found many pieces of amphora and water jugs from the same period,” Aybek added.

Sighting the significance of water wells in ancient cities, Aybek said, “Similar structures are also found in surrounding cities such as Ephesus, but this is the first time such a mass amphora find has been unearthed in Metropolis.”

Work has begun on the repair of these amphorae and jugs, and after the restoration is completed, the amphorae will be delivered to the Izmir Archaeology and Ethnography Museum to be exhibited.