Edirne Archaeology Museum takes its visitors on a journey to the Roman period

Hosting a collection of 29 thousand pieces, Edirne Archaeology Museum takes its visitors on a journey to the Roman period with its rare Roman artifacts.

In the museum, the family sarcophagus from the Roman period and the Nike statuette excavated from the excavations of the ancient city of Enez are among the prominent artifacts.

Edirne Archaeology Museum Director Şahan Kırçın said that the family sarcophagus (burial chamber) exhibited in the garden of the museum is an important artifact.

Stating that the sarcophagus was unearthed during an infrastructure work on Eski Istanbul Street in 1977, Kırçın said, “The museum was notified after it was unearthed. The excavated artifact was brought to the garden of our museum and exhibited here.”

Kırçın stated that the inscription on the sarcophagus, which dates back to the 2nd century, indicates that it belonged to Bassos, the son of Thedolos.

Stating that they came across many graves in the excavations they carried out in the areas close to Edirne Castle, which was built during the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrianus, Kırçın said, “The areas outside the living area of the main center of Edirne Castle are a necropolis, that is, a grave area. It gives us important details about the history of Edirne. However, we cannot do much work due to the construction.”

Kırçın stated that the Nike statuette found during excavations in Enez district is also among the important artifacts.

Explaining that the statuette was found in a mosaic-covered structure behind the fire brigade building in the district in 1983, Kırçın said, “In the studies carried out here, besides the Nike statue, there is also a statue of Serapis and a bronze statue of a woman, and various artifacts are also found. It is a very important structure. It is called ‘Roman rich villa’ by the head of the excavation at that time.

We date this work to the Hellenistic period. We call it a Roman villa, but since the Hellenistic period was a little earlier, they may have used artifacts from that period as well. We can say that the Nike statuette ‘belongs to 2 thousand years ago’. We have very important artifacts from Enez and other excavations in our museum.”

Cover Photo: AA

Source: NTV