Aphrodisias

Aphrodisias
Ἀφροδισιάς
	Temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias
	Shown within Turkey
Location	Geyre, Aydın Province, Turkey
Region	Caria
Coordinates	37°42′30″N 28°43′25″E / 37.70833°N 28.72361°E
Type	Settlement
History
Cultures	Greek, Roman
Associated with	Alexander of Aphrodisias, Chariton
Site notes
Excavation dates	1904–1905, 1962–present
Archaeologists	Paul Augustin Gaudin, Kenan Erim, Christopher Ratté, R. R. R. Smith
Public access	Yes
Website	Aphrodisias Archaeological Site
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Includes	Archaeological Site of Aphrodisias and Ancient Marble Quarries
Criteria	Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	1519
Inscription	2017 (41st Session)
Area	152.25 ha
Buffer zone	1,040.57 ha

Map of ancient cities of Caria — Ancient cities of Caria

Aphrodisias (/æfrəˈdɪsiəs/;^[1] Ancient Greek: Ἀφροδισιάς, romanized: Aphrodisiás) was a Roman city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Asia Minor, today's Anatolia in Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about 100 km (62 mi) east/inland from the coast of the Aegean Sea, and 230 km (140 mi) southeast of İzmir.

Aphrodisias was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, who had here her unique cult image, the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias. According to the Suda, a Byzantine encyclopedic compilation, before the city became known as Aphrodisias (c. 3rd century BCE) it had three previous names: Lelégōn Pólis (Λελέγων πόλις, "City of the Leleges"),^[2] Megálē Pólis (Μεγάλη Πόλις, "Great City"), and Ninóē (Νινόη).^[3]

Sometime before 640, in the Late Antique period when it was within the Byzantine Empire, the city was renamed Stauropolis (Σταυρούπολις, "City of the Cross").^[4]

In 2017, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.^[5]

^ "Aphrodisias". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
^ For Greeks, "Leleges" denoted an ancient pre-Greek people.
^ Pleiades s.v. 'Aphrodisias/Ninoe', http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/638753/ (accessed 7 August 2021); see Suda Online s.v. Ninoe, [1] Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 25 December 2006); the elite of Aphrodisias linked their founding to the Assyrian ruler called in Greek Ninus, the eponymous founder also of Nineveh.
^ Siméon Vailhé, "Stauropolis" The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 full text, citing Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiæ episcopatuum, 534. The name Tauropolis, said to have been borne by the town prior to that of Stauropolis, is an error of several scholars, e.g. Revue des études grecques 19:228-30; the error 'Tauropolis' derives from inscription IAph 42: see discussion by Roueché at ALA VI.48
^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "New Inscribed Properties". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

[1] "Aphrodisias". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.

[2] For Greeks, "Leleges" denoted an ancient pre-Greek people.

[3] Pleiades s.v. 'Aphrodisias/Ninoe', http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/638753/ (accessed 7 August 2021); see Suda Online s.v. Ninoe, [1] Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 25 December 2006); the elite of Aphrodisias linked their founding to the Assyrian ruler called in Greek Ninus, the eponymous founder also of Nineveh.

[cath-4] Siméon Vailhé, "Stauropolis" The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 full text, citing Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiæ episcopatuum, 534. The name Tauropolis, said to have been borne by the town prior to that of Stauropolis, is an error of several scholars, e.g. Revue des études grecques 19:228-30; the error 'Tauropolis' derives from inscription IAph 42: see discussion by Roueché at ALA VI.48

[5] Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "New Inscribed Properties". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

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