First Ever Roman Sarcophagus Found Amidst Diyarbakir’s Ancient Walls

During excavations in the ancient Turkish city of Diyarbakir, archaeologists made an exciting and unprecedented discovery. While digging in an area between a surveillance tower in the city´s famous defensive walls and Saint George Church, a Roman-era sarcophagus was unearthed.

The coffin that contained the body of an unknown individual. Amazingly, this is the first time a sarcophagus from the time of the Roman Empire has been recovered in Diyarbakir, which makes this an extraordinarily significant historical find, reports Anatolian Archaeology.

Adding to the intrigue, a perfectly preserved Maltese Cross was carved into its side. This religious symbol is associated with medieval Christianity and the Crusades, although its history goes back much farther. This particular cross is unusual in that it has six sides, while most versions of the Maltese cross have either eight or four sides.

A First from a Legendary Era

Measuring nearly seven feet (over two meters) long and 32 inches (82 centimeters) high, the stone coffin was carved out of a single unbroken piece of limestone and topped with two heavy lids sitting side by side. Its construction style is unique, and that is what helped researchers identify it as a production of a Roman-era craftsman.

The old walls of Diyarbakir enclose the heart of the ancient city. Workers are constantly restoring them, but none expected to find a Roman sarcophagus during their work (Dosseman / CC BY-SA 4.0)

It took a lot of digging to unearth the large sarcophagus, which was buried at a depth of 15 feet (4.5 meters).  The excavations that produced the sarcophagus were connected to an ongoing restoration project in Diyarbakir, which is focused on the maintenance of the three-layers of ancient walls that enclose the oldest part of the city.

These walls, some 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) long are interspersed with 82 watch towers, and their initial sections may have been constructed as far back as 5,000 years ago. The Roman emperor Constantius II is known to have extended and restored the walls in the year 349, demonstrating how essential they were in a city that functioned as an important power center for the Roman province of Mesopotamia.

Notably, the grave that held the sarcophagus was not an isolated discovery. Archaeologists involved in the continuing excavations around the Diyarbakir city walls have previously found other burials in the area. Given the location of the newly discovered sarcophagus near historic Saint George Church, it would seem the find is linked.

“This is most probably the church’s cemetery area. Excavations continue, and similar data may emerge,” Cemil Koc, the Director of the Diyarbakir Survey, told the Anadolu Agency (AA).

Eventually the skeletal remains of the individual removed from the sarcophagus will be subjected to radiocarbon dating, which will help researchers pin down exactly when this person lived and died.

Diyarbakir: Ancient City and Roman Enclave

Diyarbakir, located in southeastern Turkey on the right bank of the Tigris River in what is now Kurdish territory, has been occupied for a very long time. It has roots that go back several thousand years, with a settlement on the site as far back as the Stone Age.

The monolithic Roman sarcophagus is carefully removed from the ground (DHA / Anatolian Archaeology)

It was first developed and occupied on a large scale by the Mitanni Empire, an ancient state formed by the Hurrian people that controlled the lands of southern Turkey and huge territories of the surrounding region from 1550 to 1260 BC.

The city was given the name Amida in Roman times, which began with the occupation of the city by the Roman Republic in 66 BC. It was changed to Diyarbakir in the seventh century, as an acknowledgment of the deeds of the Arab tribe that seized the region from the Byzantines in 639.

Diyarbakir reached its greatest prominence in the Roman era under the reign of the Emperor Constantius II, who served as Roman leader from 337 to 361. In addition to repairing and restoring the city´s defensive walls, he also invested funds to expand the city and increase its overall prosperity.

During Constantius II´s reign he sought to unify the Roman people under Arian Christianity, a type of ancient worship that followed a separate line of development from Catholicism. But he met with only limited success, at a time when the Roman Empire was torn by dissent and often in a state of civil war.

It isn´t known if the Maltese Cross found on the newly excavated sarcophagus is somehow related to these efforts to Christianize the Roman Empire, since the stone coffin bears no inscription that would explain why this symbol was added. However it certainly suggests a link to the period during which the Romans were Christian.

In the post-Constantius period, Diyarbakir became a pawn in the ongoing conflict between the Romans and the Persians. Control over the city essentially alternated between the two powers for a few decades, until Diyarbakir became the permanent possession of the Byzantine Empire (the eastern half of the old Roman Empire) in the fifth century. It remained a Byzantine outpost until the Muslim conquest of the seventh century, and has remained occupied by followers of the Islamic faith ever since.

Complementing Constantius´s handiwork, the city´s black basalt walls were upgraded twice more, during the Arab period and the later Turkish period. They now feature three separate layers, creating quite a challenge for the authorities from the Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism who are responsible for the walls´ upkeep.

Excavations associated with these duties were responsible for the discovery of the Roman sarcophagus, and this amazing find shows what a hub of activity the walls have been throughout the 5,000 years of their existence.

The Roman sarcophagus is currently on display in the garden of the Ickale Museum Complex in the city of Diyarbakir. It has been thoroughly cleaned by restorers from the Diyarbakir Restoration and Conservation Regional Laboratory, and further studies will be performed to learn more about its characteristics.

Meanwhile, the intact skeleton of the coffin´s mysterious occupant has been sent to a laboratory at Gaziantep University, where testing should reveal the age and gender of this individual. Perhaps through this analysis more can be learned about this unexpected find.

For the discovery of the Roman-era coffin can indeed be considered lucky, since the excavations that found it were only designed to encourage drainage of water that was flooding the nearest ancient surveillance tower. Now that they know there are burials in the area at that depth, archaeologists can expand their underground explorations to see if any more wonderful surprises (like another Roman sarcophagus or two, for example) are waiting to be discovered.

Top image: The Roman Sarcophagus found in ancient Diyarbakir is the first ever discovered in the city. Source: DHA / Anatolian Archaeology.

By Nathan Falde