Hellenistic trade building unearthed at Sagalassos

A 2,200-year-old two-storey trade building, which was also thought to be used for cold storage, has been found in the ancient city of Sagalassos in the Ağlasun district of southern Turkish Burdur province.

Excavation of the 2nd century BC trade-building 
at Sagalassos [Credit: AA]

Belgian Prof. Dr. Jeroen Poblome, head of the Sagalassos archaeological research site, told Anadolu Agency that while they expected to find just a regular porch, they found a trade building from the 2nd century B.C. instead.

“We didn’t work on a building from that period. The pieces of this building have been preserved. Hopefully, we will acquire the results about this excavation towards the end of August,” said Poblome, adding the first floor of the building contained shops and merchants preserved their food here.

“Also we assume that tax collection was also done on the first floor. The shops might have been rented by the farmers. However, we haven’t yet scrutinized this part. We predict that important meetings such as the ones about trade were carried out on the second floor of the building. They could watch the view from here as well,” said Poblome.

He said the building was 30 meters high and 15 meters wide.

Poblome also mentioned the building was one of the most important artifacts from that period.

“We will first carve around the surroundings of the building and later dig out the interior and thus acquire more in-depth knowledge about the chronology. We are sure it belongs to the 2nd century B.C., but we are not certain whether it belongs to early, middle or late 2nd century

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [July 24, 2015]