Luke tomb
A circular building in the upper city of Ephesus is known as the tomb of Luke .
Name and location
The name was coined by the excavator John Turtle Wood after he had found a pilaster depicting a humpback ox and a cross carved over it; he interpreted this representation as an evangelist symbol . Wood said that the grave of the Evangelist Luke was originally venerated outside the city, but around the year 300 he was reburied in the newly built tomb. Wood reconstructed it as a round building with 16 columns, inside a cella with windows and a domed roof.
The so-called Lukasgrab has object number 14 on the overall plan of Ephesus. It is located directly at the car park at the south entrance, outside the chargeable area.
Imperial fountain
Follow-up examinations by Andreas Pülz (Institute for Cultural History of Antiquity of the Austrian Academy of Sciences ) in cooperation with the Austrian Archaeological Institute between 1997 and 2004 revealed the following picture: The ancient monument consisted of a base zone and an upper floor. The approximately 2 m high base zone had a cast foundation, a ring with 16 marble columns rose above it. Inside this ring was a brick structure in the form of a three-quarter circle, inside a chamber system divided into several segments. The upper floor fell completely victim to the stone robbery and can therefore not be reconstructed. Pülz interprets this system as a Monopteros fountain and dates it to the 2nd half of the 2nd century AD. This fountain stood in the center of an ancient meat market ( Macellum ). Both bone finds and depictions of cattle on reliefs support this interpretation.
Early Byzantine church building
A crypt was added in the early Byzantine period (probably 5th century) . With a clear height of around 2.5 meters and two opposite entrances, this underground space was well suited for a pilgrimage. At the south entrance were two reused pilasters. The room was painted in color. The first version was flat, while the second version was figural; Remains of representations of New Testament miracle stories are preserved. There were numerous burials around the early Byzantine church complex.
literature
- Andreas Pülz, The so-called Luke tomb in Ephesus. On the follow-up examinations between 1997 and 2004, Forum Archaeologiae 49 / XII / 2008 ( PDF )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christ blesses a woman. In: KHM object database. Retrieved April 10, 2019 .
Coordinates: 37 ° 56 ′ 4.9 ″ N , 27 ° 20 ′ 46.9 ″ E