Ancient Sardis......Sardis lies in the territory of ancient Lydia, at the foot of the Tumulus Mountains and overlooking the Hermus River plain, where evidence has been found of human activity as early as the Paleolithic period (ca. 50,000 B.C.). Recent excavations have focused on the Archaic era, particularly the 7th and 6th centuries B.C, when Sardis was the capital of the Lydian empire and at the height of its power, and on the Late Roman era, when the city was still flourishing. Bath and Gymnasium complex at Sardis Archaeological highlights of Archaic date include the royal burial mounds at Bin Tepe, city wall, and gold-working installation on Pactalus River; important monuments of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine date include the temple of Artemis, bath-gymnasium complex, Jewish synagogue, and row of shops adjoining the synagogue. Over 11,000 objects have been inventoried by the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis since its founding in 1958; a selection of the more important finds are on display in the Archaeological Museum of Manisa. By the late second millennium B.C, a modest community existed at the foot of the acropolis. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the "sons of Heracles" founded a dynasty that remained in power for "505 years, son succeeding father from generation to generation till the time of Candaules" (from ca. 1185 to ca. 680 B.C.). By the early 7th century B.C, Sardis was the capital of a growing empire, with a distinct archaeological record. Temple of Artemis at Sardis During the Merman dynasty (ca. 680-547 B.C.), the empire reached its greatest geographical extent, stretching from the Aegean Sea to central Anatolia. Herodotus credits the Lydian kings with the invention of coinage (ca. 6th ceuntury BC.) and the construction of the great royal burial mounds at Bin Tepe, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) to the northwest of the acropolis. Kings Gyges and Croesus were particularly renowned for lavish gifts dedicated in Greek sanctuaries. In 547 B.C, Sardis was sacked by Cyrus the Great and remained under Persian control until 334 B.C, when it was captured by Alexander the Great. The city continued to flourish during Hellenistic and Roman times, when ambitious construction projects were initiated, including the temple of Artemis and bath-gymnasium complex. A section of the bath - gymnasium complex was later remodeled to accommodate a Jewish synagogue. This synagogue, now partially restored by the Harvard-Cornell Expedition, is the largest early synagogue yet excavated in the Mediterranean world. During the early Christian period Sardis became one of the Seven Churches which were mentioned by St. John in The Book of Revelation.
Gymnasium-Bathhouse A large complex built in center of the lower city in the 2nd century AD included a gymnasium and a bathhouse. The complex was over five acres in size and its western part was characterized by large vaulted halls for bathing. The eastern part was a palaestra, a large open courtyard for exercise.
Use Flickriver Badge Creator to create a badge linking to your photos, your group or any other Flickriver view.
You can place your badge on your Flickr profile, Blog or Website.
Add to your iGoogle or Netvibes page
Flickriver widget for iGoogle or Netvibes can display almost any Flickriver view - most interesting today, by user, by group, by tag etc. Once added to your personalized homepage, just edit widget settings to select your desired view.
Clickr on one of the buttons below to install:
Embed on your Web site
To embed this view, Copy and Paste the following HTML code:
Add 'Search on Flickriver' to your browser's search box. Works with Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Install search plugin
"View on Flickriver" Greasemonkey script
A Greasemonkey script that adds Flickriver links to various Flickr photo pages - user photos, favorites, pools etc, allowing to quickly open the corresponding Flickriver view.
Also, allows quickly viewing any Flickr photo on black background in large size.
