Roma İmparatorluk Dönemi’ne Ait Tripolis Mühür Baskıları

Abstract

This study analyses 191 terracotta seal impressions found in situ in a room located between the Agora and Colonnade Street in Tripolis, the last border town in the south of the Lydian region, most of which were brought to light during the 2014 excavation. The archive, which began its activity during the reign of emperor Augustus, was destroyed by a large fire in the mid-3rd century AD. After the fire, the documents on which the seals were impressed and their con-tents were completely destroyed, while the clay seals hardened due to the high temperatures and have survived to the present day. One of the main objectives of this paper is to discuss the iconographies used in the seal impressions and the general content of the original documents that were destroyed. Indeed, the seal impressions depict various gods and goddesses, as well as portraits both of Roman emperors and private persons, as well as animals and other figures. This collection of seal prints is an important visual testimony that concretely reveals the commercial, political, and administrative activities of Tripolis, and their images also provide important informa-tion about the gods and goddesses worshipped in and around the Lydian city. Roman Tripolis has thus provided us with new and very significant data thanks to the large number of seal impressions, which represent a unique discovery for the ancient cities of western Anatolia. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.