3. Cilt - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

scale, and they will require a reconsideration of how much of the surplus wealth ofancient Aphrodisias was expended on marble monuments, for transport was themost expensive component of ancient stone construction.Aqueducts and water supply: The Morsynus River rises in the slopes of MountKadmos, the tall mountain northeast of Aphrodisias. Traces of four aqueducts onthe north side of the Morsynus River were recorded in 2005 and 2006, suggestingthat springs in the mountains supplied the water used in the ancient city, as theydo the nearby villages today. Of the aqueducts, two were aqueduct bridges (Fig.10), built to carry water over streambeds; the third was a tunnel dug through ahillside, and the fourth a large vaulted subterranean channel. A major question tobe investigated in future seasons is whether water was carried to Aphrodisias fromthe neighboring valley of the Yenidere Çayı, as suggested by L. and J. Robert 6 .1085) Late Roman and Byzantine Periods (4th century C.E. to 13th century C.E.)Remains of the later Roman and mediaeval periods identifi ed to date includea basilical church immediately outside the West Gate of Aphrodisias; two ruralchurches in the hills northeast of the city (Fig. 11); and a hilltop fortress at thewest end of the valley, which is probably to be identifi ed with ancient “Tantalus,”a stronghold mentioned in Byzantine sources, after which the Morsynus rivertakes its modern name (Dandalas) 7 . The city of Aphrodisias was almost totallyabandoned in the early 7th century, and a major objective of the survey is to seewhether a regional perspective sheds new light on this dramatic change. Was thecity abandoned because of a local catastrophe, such as an earthquake, plague, orforeign invasion? Or was it because or the more general systemic collapse of theRoman provincial system, and of the administrative network that encouraged thepopulations of rural areas such as this one to live in towns instead of villages, andthat maintained the infrastructure of rural roads, waterworks, and other amenitiesthat made town life possible? What happened to the inhabitants of the city when6 L. and J. Robert, La Carie 2 (Paris 1954) 46-49. See also J. M. Reynolds, “New Letters fromHadrian to Aphrodisias: Trials, Taxes, Gladiators, and an Aqueduct”, JRA 13 (2000) 5-20.For earlier archaeological studies of aqueducts, see: M. Çakır, Ö. Verim, R. Aşar, AntikAfrodisias Kenti Su Yapıları (İzmir, Ege Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Bilimleri Fakultesi, İnşaatMühendisliği Bölümü Diploma Çalışması 1978); Ü. Özis, Su Mühendisliği Tarihi AçısındanTüurkiye’deki Eski Su Yapıları (Ankara 1994) 73.7 Nicetas Choniates, Hist. 494.