Çalışmada üç adet yüzük taşı üzerinden tanrı Silvanus’un Küçük Asya’daki varlığı tanıtılmaya çalışılacaktır. Silvanus daha çok Roma ve çevresi başta olmak üzere Tuna Eyaletleri ve Balkanlarda yoğun tapımı olan bir tanrıdır. Bu tanrıya ait tapım merkezleri ve kült alanlarını kırsal alanlar ve ormanlık alanlar oluşturmaktadır. Bu özelliğinden hareketle Silvanus kırların, ormanların, doğanın ve doğal yaşamın öte yandan tarımın ve tarımsal yaşamın da koruyucusu bir tanrı olarak bilinmektedir. Avrupa’nın bir kesimi, Balkanlar ve Tuna boyları bu tanrının kültü bakımından bu kadar zenginken Küçük Asya’da söz konusu tanrı ile ilgili hemen hemen hiçbir ize rastlanmamaktadır. İlk defa burada ele alınan üç eser üzerinden Silvanus kültünün Küçük Asya’daki olası izlerine ışık tutulacaktır. Çalışmamızda Silvanus’a ait iki farklı tip tespit edilmiştir. Bunlardan biri Kelt tanrısı Seculus’un da bir adı olan ve daha çok Britania bölgesinde izleri yoğun görülen Cocidius Silvanus’tur. Diğer bir tipleme ise Silvanus kültü kapsamında oldukça nadir görülen ve esasen tarımın ve tarımsal yaşamın koruyucu tanrısı epitetiyle gördüğümüz Mars Silvanus örneğidir. Bu iki tipleme Silvanus kültünün Küçük Asya’daki varlığının şimdiye kadar somut olarak en ciddi kanıtlarıdır. Neticede çalışmamızda bu iki Silvanus tipi hem mitolojisi hem ikonografisi hem de tespit edilen benzer örnekleri üzerinden değerlendirilecek ve kültün Küçük Asya coğrafyasındaki varlığı üzerine yorumlar yapılacaktır.

In 2015, a new research project has started to explore the ancient city of Doliche which is located at the outskirts of Gaziantep. The project aims to investigate the urban development, urban life, and material culture of Doliche in a holistic and diachronic perspective. It is run by the Forschungsstelle Asia Minor, Münster University, in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry for Tourism and Culture, and it is. Among the main results of the first three campaigns was the discovery of a large early Christian basilica at a slope in the southern part of the of the city. By now, approximately one third of the building have been excavated. Pillaging, the extraction of stones for reuse, and erosion have caused substantial damage, but the remains of the church are still impressive, and they give important new evidence for the development of urban church architecture in late antiquity. The original basilica was constructed in the later fourth century, and it was finally abandoned in the seventh century. During the life span of the church, the layout and the decoration underwent important changes. The basilica has three aisles and an additional porticus running along its southern side. Two superimposed mosaic floors are preserved in the central nave, both of which display strictly geometric patterns. They can be dated to the second half of the fourth century. An interesting discovery is a raised platform in the central nave that was fenced off with screens. This is a bema, a rare architectural feature that is known from late antique churches of northwest Syria. Per town one church with bema existed, usually the most significant and largest. It`s precise function, however, is a hotly debated topic. Apparently, the clergy was seated there during parts of the service, facing the sanctuary. The presence of a bema in Doliche is a surprise. So far, bemata are almost exclusively attested in the territory of the Antioch on the Orontes. Doliche, however, is far from Antioch and none of the many churches in region around Doliche have a bema. The newly discovered bema raises questions about connections between the cities of Antioch and Doliche and sheds new light on the complex networks of ritual praxis in late antiquity. Of the apse, only a small section has been excavated, but it already offers valuable information about the building history of the church. Three different building phases can be distinguished. In the final phase, which can tentatively be dated to the late fifth or early sixth century CE, the floor of the apse towered 0,7 m above the nave and was covered with a mosaic showing a Nilotic scene fishes, birds, and lotus plants framed by bands of geometric ornaments. Particularly revealing was the further excavation of the northern aisle. Beneath up to 3,50 m soil the original mosaic floor that dates to the first phase of the church is still well preserved. A destruction layer with thousands of roof tile fragments that were part of a timber and tile roof covered the floor. The excavations also revealed later installations that changed the original layout and separated a large section of the northern aisle from the central nave. The basilica is not the first Christian cult building known from Doliche. Two rock churches are located in the area of the ancient necropolis. They can tentatively be dated to the Middle Byzantine period. Moreover, remains of another late antique church were discovered during construction work in the area of the modern village of Dülük in the 1950s, but no traces of it have been preserved.