A Roman water channel built nearly 2,000 years ago still carries water beneath the ancient Greek city of Smyrna (Greek: Σμύρνη) in modern-day western Turkey, as archaeologists work to determine its source.
Researchers have traced about 490 feet of the underground channel toward Smyrna’s Agora in modern İzmir. The structure once formed part of the water network that supplied the ancient city, but its precise source remains unknown. Professor Akın Ersoy, who leads excavations for İzmir Katip Çelebi University, believes the channel may connect to a natural spring near the Namazgah Bath and Kurşunlu Mosque, south of the archaeological site.
During the Roman period, channels connected to natural springs carried water to Smyrna’s lower neighborhoods. Similar systems formed an important part of Roman urban infrastructure. On Crete, for example, an extensive Roman aqueduct network transported spring water across long distances, with part of the ancient system remaining connected to Heraklion’s water supply today.
Ancient water system beneath a changing city
Smyrna developed into one of the leading ancient Greek cities of western Anatolia before flourishing under Roman rule. Its Agora became a major center of civic and commercial activity. Much of the Agora visible today reflects reconstruction after a devastating earthquake struck Smyrna in A.D. 178. Emperor Marcus Aurelius supported the rebuilding of the city. The functioning channel is not the only discovery emerging from the area. Archaeologists have also uncovered three rooms dating to the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., roughly 1,500 years ago.
Two rooms contain mosaic floors, while another has marble paving. Researchers also found wall paintings in the newly investigated spaces, a type of decoration Ersoy said his team had not previously encountered in these excavation areas. Researchers have not yet released detailed descriptions of the paintings, leaving their subjects and artistic character uncertain.
Decorated rooms reveal another chapter
The rooms expand an excavation that previously revealed a mosaic along the Agora’s North Street. The roughly 10-by-13-foot floor features geometric panels and a central Solomon’s Knot, an interwoven design associated in antiquity with protection against misfortune and the evil eye. Ersoy has compared the newly exposed spaces with the decorated Terrace Houses of Ephesus, although he believes the Smyrna rooms may have served a public function. Their exact purpose remains under investigation.
Smyrna’s flowing channel also has parallels elsewhere in Roman Asia Minor. At the ancient Greek city of Patara, a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman water system recently flowed again after restoration. Unlike the restored Patara system, however, Smyrna’s channel continues to carry water while archaeologists are still investigating its source. Researchers now hope to identify what feeds the ancient channel as excavations continue around the newly uncovered rooms and a previously identified bath-gymnasium complex.
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