Gladiator sarcophagus found in ancient Ephesus

Archaeologists excavating the site of ancient Ephesus in modern-day Selçuk, western Turkey, have unearthed a 3rd century A.D. sarcophagus that originally belonged to a gladiator. His remains were not found, because in the 5th century the sarcophagus was reused to bury 12 bodies.

An inscription on the outside of the sarcophagus identifies the original occupant as a gladiator named Euphrates. When it was recycled two centuries after his death, three crosses were carved inside the sarcophagus. More crosses were carved into the lid later, perhaps in the 7th and 8th centuries.

[Excavation leader Sinan] Mimaroglu expressed astonishment at finding a water channel, a drainage system, mosaics, and several tombs just 20 centimeters below the surface.

“We found one tomb and three tomb-like structures, with 12 individuals inside. This indicates a collective burial,” he stated. He emphasized the importance of this Roman tomb, which has exquisite epigraphic inscriptions and Christian symbols added during its later use.

Mimaroglu provided information about the church associated with the tomb. Initially a small burial structure, it was later converted into a wooden-roofed basilica and eventually into a domed church during the reign of Emperor Justinian I.

He noted, “The burials inside the church likely belong to the upper class or clergy, as it’s unlikely an ordinary person would be buried in such a meticulous manner within a church.”

Archaeologists have not yet found any directly comparable examples of tombs like this one elsewhere. Tombs with similar cross reliefs but made of lower quality materials have been found in Istanbul. Tombs made of comparable materials have been found on Marmara Island and in Syria, but in those cases the design of the crosses is different.

The Ayasuluk Hill and 6th century basilica of St. John area was first excavated in the 1921-2 and evidence going as far back as the 2nd millennium B.C. has been unearthed since then. The early Bronze Age settlement on Ayasuluk Hill is thought to have been Apasa, the capital of the independent kingdom of Arzaw, and a burial ground from the Mycenaean era (1500–1400 B.C.) was discovered near the church. The ancient Greek city of Ephesus was found on Ayasuluk Hill in the 10th century B.C.

The current excavation was spurred by a 2023 georadar study of the area that confirmed the location of imperial and early Byzantine remains. In addition to the gladiator’s tomb, archaeologists found a marble floor dating to the 6th century, the period when Byzantine Emperor Justinian I built the basilica of St. John on the site where John the Apostle was supposed to have been buried. They also found a marble floor from the 5th century.

* This article was originally published here