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Gold floral appliqué from Ephesus. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)
Gold floral appliqué from Ephesus
The Lydians and their World
(2010)
Cat. 142
- Date
- Late 7th or early 6th c BC, Lydian
- Museum
- Selcuk, Ephesus Museum, 120/61/87
- Museum Inventory No.
- 120/61/87
- Material
- Gold
- Object Type
- Jewelry and Ornaments
- Site
- Ephesus
- Description
- Gold foil appliqué (Ephesus Excavations Inventory ART 87/K66). Raised central boss surrounded by lightly segmented ring. Four raised, segmented “bowl spirals;” additional foil left at apices, pierced for attachment. 2.1 x 2.1 cm; thickness of foil ca. 0.1 mm, weight 0.4 g.
- Comments
- From the Artemision at Ephesus, found in trench 560 (for the location see Pülz 2009, plan 1; on the excavation: Bammer 1988, 1–4, fig. 1–3) underneath the north foundation of Croesus’ temple. It was found 14–19 m east of “Cult Base D” (see above, No. 19), in a trench rich in gold finds (see Pülz 2009, plan 1 and 2; the exact findspot is unrecorded, the excavation diary only indicates a rectangle of 5 x 1 m within which the item was found). The relatively long distance from “Cult Base D,” however, raises doubts about whether there was a functional connection between the limestone base and the gold appliqué. The stratigraphical context cannot yet be determined precisely, since the profile drawings and pottery finds of this area have not been studied in detail (see above, No. 19). Nevertheless it is evident by the level at which No. 142 was found (0 m–0.1 m), that this belongs to a level just above the ashy layer with charcoal, animal bones, pottery and numerous small votives, which A. Bammer interpreted as cult deposit belonging to “Cult Base D” (on the stratigraphy: Bammer 1988, 2, fig. 1–2 - the ashy layer is marked dark gray on fig. 2 and labeled “dunkle Schicht aus Kohle, Asche und Kleinfunden;” cf. Weissl 2003/04, 189). No. 142 was found at the same elevation as the electrum coin No. 22, although 6–11 m farther east. A chronological benchmark can be gained from the fact that the layer comprising the gold appliqué no. 142 had been overbuilt by the north foundation of Croesus’ temple. Therefore, the start of construction works in the second quarter of the 6th century BC (see above, No. 22) provides a terminus ante quem for the deposition of 142.
- See Also
- Kerschner, “Lydians and Ionians”.
- Bibliography
- Pülz and Bühler 2006, 224 (5. Variante); Yürük-Planken 2008, 150, cat. no. 75; Pülz 2009, 292, no. 341, pl. 31, colorpl. 19.
- Author
- MK, NDC