This time I left my hat at Laodiceia
OMNIUM RERUM PRINCIPIA PARVA SUNT

by H.Çigdem YORGANCIOGLU

New Serials Shall Start...

Living in Turkey means hanging among the  abundance of archeological sites and historic monuments. One day flying from a fascinating city that is embracing two continents and was the the former capital of three empires- Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman and  stepped on Laodekia where  one of the Seven Churches of Revelation written about by St. John settled  and shall never forget the pleasure I had by having new insights into the past while discovering unique objects would be beyond your imagination. Excavation has shown that the site goes back to the Chalcolithic age, with at least a small village being present. Its possible the inhabitants were nomadic, and may be spending only summers there. However, the area was important to several later cultures; like the Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, and then even later the large Empires of Persia, Macedonia,  Rome and Seljuks and ottoman Empire .I got the feeing that St. Paul was blinking his eyes while writing  to the Christians in Colossae, which is nearby, he probably included a greeting to the Christians at Laodicea ...

Everyday Laodiceia was getting older and older... I was seeing a new open Art galleries for the artists including myself under the golden evening lights.

Archaic Laodicea city which is situated in a  geographical location on the south side of the Lycus River, 6 km north of Denizli Province and the city was called ''Laodikeia on the side of the Lycus'' in ancient sources and archaic references. According to some other ancient sources, the city was founded by Antiochos II in 263-261 BC and named after Antiochos' wife "Laodikeia". There were many other names applied to the city, Diospolis and then Rhoas apparently being the original names. In Latin it was "Laodiceia ad Lycum" and the modern name is Denizli means  Ladik. Laodicea was the most famous and important city in the 1st century B.C. The remains of the city are dated from this era. The Romans made the city the center of Kybira's conventus (Golhisar-Horzum today) because of the geographical setting. It is a city where one of the famous seven churches mentioned in Revelation was located that  shows that Christianity was quite important here. Unfortunately, the city was completely destroyed by the earthquake. ..Big Theater: Small Theater: Monumental Nypheum: Big Church: Zeus Temple: are only some of ruins of Laodicea..

A series of coins were minted in Laodicea during the reign of Caracalla and many monumental buildings were also built in Laodicea through donations of the local inhabitants. Greek style Big Theater  situated on the northeast of the city. It was built in Greek style, which is similar to Roman construction style. The scene is completely destroyed, but the cavea and orchestra are still standing. Its seating capacity is about 15-20,000. Small Theater: is situated 300 m northwest of the big theater and  It is also in Greek Style. The cavea and orchestra are partly remaining; but again  the scene is completely destroyed. Regarding the Stadium and Gymnasium: They are southwest of the city stretching from east to west. The buildings between the stadium and gymnasium were connected to each other. The stadium was completed in 79 A.D. And construction is in amphitheater style with 24 rows of seats. Most of it is destroyed. According to the inscription, it was built in the 2nd century A.D. by the proconsul Gargilius Antioius in honor of Emperor Hadrianus and his wife Sabina. Emperor Hadrian visited it in 29 CE was one of the inspiration of my book after my trip to Rome in 2004. Monumental Nypheum is among the  another ruins of Laodicea: It's at the intersection of the main street and a side street. It's a Roman double-faced building with a pool and niches. It was repaired in the Byzantine Period. Council Building is  on the southwest side of the city. The building is rectangular extending east-west. The main entrance is on the east end. Zeus Temple is situated on the east side of the columnar street between the Small Theater and the Nypheum. Only the ground floor remains.rom the Big Church which is  situated next to the columnar street.  The main entrance is on the west side of the church.

Fortunately I had a chance to meet with Board of Director of Denizli Basma ve Boya Sanayi AS (DEBA)  Esat Sivri ,Ex-President of Denizli Rotary Club Mr. Mehmet Ali Bayraktar, who devoted their energy to this magicland. Having understood that intellectual curiosity combined with physical action for the excavation project by the contribution of those people and even University students and staffs.  I will never forget the warm and gracious mental hospitality they rendered to me during my stay in Denizli. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to meet with the leader of Laodikeia excavation  Doc. Dr. Celal Simsek, Head of Archeology Division of Pamukkale University.  As I heard his names several questions came into my mind to ask him like once excavated, how the remainings are  stored? Were they  kept in museums and labs in cities close to where they were found or the ruins I saw in Archelogy Museum from that excavation  placed in  freezers, with temperature and relative humidity controlled first or not .

I found my new source of inspiration at Laodicea... Laodekia made me to write a new book OMNIUM RERUM PRINCIPIA PARVA SUNT inspired from the saying of Cicero ... "Ci" is the first two letter common with my name and that may be the trick and that was the time for new inspiration. And I personally intent  donate the sales revenue of the book that is planned to be issued in coming months to be directed to Laodicea  Excavation Fund . Words may  not be  enough to describe the eternal  treasures of Laodicea but can be a leverage ...

H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu
http://www.cigdemyorgancioglu.net