The tomb, featuring a mudbrick sarcophagus and a fired-brick gabled roof, dates to the first century. (AA Photo)
A tomb has been discovered during excavations at the theater of the ancient city of Apollonia ad Rhyndacum in the tourist district of Gölyazı, in the northwestern province of Bursa’s Nilüfer district, in a find expected to shed light on the settlement’s Hellenistic history.
The tomb, featuring a mudbrick sarcophagus and a fired-brick gabled roof, dates to the first century. Archaeologists determined that the deceased had been cremated.
Excavations at the ancient theater began in 2021 with the permission of the Culture and Tourism Ministry and are being conducted on behalf of Bursa Uludağ University under the direction of Derya Şahin, a professor in the university’s Department of Archaeology, with support from Nilüfer Municipality.
Built on the slope of Zambaktepe overlooking Lake Uluabat during the Hellenistic period, the theater is estimated to have held around 5,000 spectators. It also featured areas resembling VIP sections and private boxes. Excavations have uncovered 42 seating steps, which have been returned to their original positions.
The tomb was found in the northern part of the theater’s lower seating section, known as the lower cavea.
“We came across an unusual tomb this year, featuring a mudbrick sarcophagus and a fired-brick roof. The question of why a tomb was located here became a major question mark. At the same time, the discovery excited us,” Şahin told state-run Anadolu Agency.
She said the team was trying to determine the reasons behind the burial’s location and that extensive research would be needed to answer the questions raised by the discovery.
“The most important finding this year was a tomb with a mudbrick sarcophagus in the northern section of the theater’s lower cavea. It dates to the first century,” she said.
Şahin noted that a necropolis was already known to exist at the entrance to the ancient city. Although the newly discovered tomb shares the characteristics of other known graves in the area, its location within the theater is unusual.
“In an ancient city that already has a necropolis, what was a tomb doing in the theater? This excited us greatly. The tomb must have been special, carried some meaning or bore traces of sanctity or heroism,” she said.
The cremation of the deceased has made it difficult to establish how many individuals were buried there, Şahin added. The burning also meant that the tomb yielded few archaeological finds.
Theater may have had two levels
Excavations are also continuing in the theater’s upper seating section, although researchers have found little evidence of its infrastructure. Şahin said the upper seating area may have rested on a vaulted structure, but extensive destruction has made it impossible to establish its original layout.
The team believes the theater may have had two levels, with a passageway approximately 1-meter wide, known as a diazoma, separating the seating sections.
“We envisage a vaulted structure supporting the upper level. The theater originally displayed the characteristics of a classical Hellenistic theater, built into a hillside. Inscriptions indicate that its final phase dates to the early second century A.D. We believe the upper section may have rested on a vaulted structure, similar to those found in Roman theaters,” Şahin said.
The excavation team plans to complete this season’s work at the site by the end of November.
Şahin emphasized that the ancient city had been continuously inhabited, making it difficult to find structures as well preserved as those in abandoned settlements. Nevertheless, the excavations have yielded important findings about the city’s history.
She added that further archaeological work around the theater could reveal structures connected to it, including a temple or an ancient road. Many possibilities about the site’s past remain unexplored, she said.
A tomb has been discovered between the seating rows of an ancient theater in Bursa’s Gölyazı, raising questions about why someone was buried within the theater
