Amorium: A Byzantium City in Anatolia
Amorium is an ancient city that has experienced uninterrupted residence in Hittite, Phrygia, Greek, Roman, Byzantium, Seljuk and Ottoman periods as of B.C. 2000 and located at the 12 km east of the Emirdağ District and 70 km north east of the Afyonkarahisar and 170 km southwest of Ankara. The city has been evaluated as Upper Town and Lower Town. Upper town walled by the bulwark of Byzantium period of which traces are still visible in the hill town and Lower Town are walled with the wall that covers all of the city.
Since Amorium is one of the cities to prerogative of coining in the region entitled by the Roman Senate, it is an important position in East Phrygia in the early B.C. 1. Another important feature of late Roman city is the fortification wall dated in the Emperor Zenon period (474-491). As of A.D. 640, Amorium became the military headquarters of the Byzantium army in Anatolia and capita city of the Anatolikon Thema. During the Dark Age in Byzantium Period, Amorium served as a powerful castle for protection of Byzantium soils against the Arabian aggressions. Laid siege by the army of Mutasım (833-842) son of Harun Reşid in A.D. 838, set fire by the Emir of Tarsus in A.D. 931, the city has regained its military and strategic importance in A.D. 10 and 11 centuries according to data acquired through excavation. It is known that Amorium held by the Seljuk in A.D. 1116
The first works in Amorium were started by Professor Doctor R. Martin Harrison in 1987 with surface analysis. "Amorium Excavation Project" was maintained by Dr. Chris Lightfoot between 1993 and 2009. Amorium excavation works in 2013 maintained under the Scientific Advisory of Associate Professor Zeliha Demirel Gökalp from Anadolu University and under the Presidency of Afyonkarahisar Museum and approval of Turkish Republic Ministry of Culture and Tourism. As of 2014, excavation works have been maintained by the Anadolu University Lecturer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zeliha Demirel Gökalp with cabinet decree.
The priority objective of the Amorium Excavations is to examine the residence in the city between the Roman and Ottoman periods. In this paper, Late Roman, Byzantium and Ottoman period findings that shed light on the history of the city in archaeological excavation carried out between 2013 and 2014 and support previous works will be submitted by evaluating their layers.