Archaeologists uncover 2,000-year-old Roman council hall with early Christian etchings at Laodicea, Turkey
Excavation in Denizli province reveals pentagonal council building, carved cross and Chi‑Rho monogram; building dated to late 1st century B.C., age of the Christian markings remains uncertain
Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a large Roman council hall in the ancient city of Laodicea in western Turkey that includes stone carvings associated with early Christian worship, Turkish state media reported.
The discovery, reported by the Anadolu Agency in August, was made at the site near Denizli and revealed a monumental, multi-sided council building whose surviving elements include carved religious symbols, Greek inscriptions, a headless statue of the Roman emperor Trajan and the ruins of a theater. Investigators say the structure dates to roughly 2,050 years ago, placing its construction in the late first century B.C.; the age of the Christian etchings has not been determined.
Photographs released by authorities show a cross carved into stone alongside what appears to be the Chi‑Rho monogram, an early Christian symbol composed of the first two letters of "Christ" in Greek. The images also show fragments of Greek text adjacent to the symbols. Archaeologists have been cautious about dating the carvings, which could postdate the building itself.
Excavation directors described the structure as Laodicea's principal political and judicial center. Its outer walls take a pentagonal form while internal planning uses a hexagonal arrangement, an architectural combination the team said may be unprecedented for public building plans in Anatolia. In its late first century B.C. phase the council hall may have accommodated as many as 800 members; names of citizens, elders and youths were incised on some of the seats, according to the Anadolu account.
Earlier work at Laodicea unearthed additional sculptural material, including a priest's head and a sculpted representation of Scylla, the mythic sea monster familiar from Homeric literature. The headless statue of Trajan and the theater remains point to the city's prominence during the Roman period and the intermingling of civic, judicial and religious functions in its urban landscape.
Laodicea, mentioned in the New Testament, is cited in the Book of Revelation as one of the seven churches of Asia and appears in the Epistle to the Colossians, where the Apostle Paul recognizes a Christian presence in the city. Archaeologists said the newly exposed council building and the accompanying inscriptions and carvings add material detail to the picture of civic life in a city that also hosted an early Christian community.
The find at Laodicea follows a series of archaeology announcements this year that have drawn attention to sites associated with biblical narratives. In the spring, an ancient amulet was discovered at Tel Azeka in the Judaean Foothills, a hill referenced in the Book of Samuel, and researchers also reported evidence of an ancient garden at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Excavation teams at Laodicea said further analysis, including stratigraphic study and scientific dating of the carvings, will be necessary to establish a timeline for the Christian markings and to clarify how they relate to the building's primary civic functions. The site, long a focus of archaeological work, continues to yield material that officials say will refine understanding of the social and religious history of the region over several centuries.