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Constantinople: All Is Not Lost

We’re dredging up more information on the lives of our early Christian ancestors. This from the BBC…

Large-scale excavation continues in advance of tunnel construction underneath the Bosphorus Straits. Archaeologists have found a fourth-century port, a section of Constantinople’s city wall, lengths of rope, and an intact wooden boat more than 1,000 years old…

Just a few metres below ground, they found an ancient port of Constantinople – named in historical records as the Eleutherios harbour, one of the busiest of Byzantium.

“We’ve found 43m of the pier so far,” chief archaeologist Metin Gokcay explains, pointing to a line of wooden stakes emerging from a green pool of water. He says the Marmaray site has yielded the most exciting finds of his long career.

“We believe there used to be a platform on those sticks — down there is where the horses were unloaded.”

“We’ve also found lots of things that tell us about the daily life of the city in the 4th Century,” Mr Gokcay enthuses, standing close to a tunnel he suspects was an ancient escape route.

“We found leather sandals, for example, with strings through the toes and around a thousand candle-holders and hairbrushes. I’ve done many digs in Istanbul, but there are many things here I’ve never seen before.”

As well as the stone remains of the harbour itself, Mr Gokcay and his team have uncovered perfectly preserved ancient anchors and lengths of rope. Dozens of men are still scrubbing the mud of centuries from hundreds of crates of artefacts, for assessment.

But perhaps the site’s most treasured find is stored beneath a large protective tent.

Inside, dozens of jets spray water to preserve a wooden boat that is more 1,000 years old. Its base, about 10m long, was discovered intact beneath what was once the sea.

The dig has uncovered eight boats in total – another first for Istanbul – and archaeologists believe there are more to come…

In addition to the Eleutherios harbour, the dig teams have exposed a long section of the city wall from the days of Constantine I – the first time the wall has ever been uncovered.

At a site as rich as this, there’s no telling what else could turn up.

(Boy, I live for the day when people use that last line when they talk about this blog!) Read the rest of the story here.

2 thoughts on “Constantinople: All Is Not Lost

  1. Cool! If I had a time machine that permitted me to visit one medieval city, it would be Constantinople in its glory.

    And I’m glad the Turks are taking their time with the site. The Turkish Republic has been a pretty good custodian of the treasures of antiquity.

  2. […] CONSTANTINOPLE: All Is Not Lost …. (fathersofthechurch) […]

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