Excavations resume in ancient city of Tieion in Turkey's Black Sea region

Archaeologists resumed their efforts to excavate the ancient city of Tieion located in northern Turkey's Zonguldak province, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Thursday.

AA Photo

The excavations will be headed by Dr. Şahin Yıldırım of Bartın University's Archaeology Department under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

"We discovered a castle ruin, which we believe to be used by the Genoese in the 10th or 11th century," Yıldırım said in an interview with AA.

"It [the castle] is burned down and in ruins. We believe this is because the castle was captured by Seljuks, when they first arrived in the Black Sea region."

According to Yıldırım, researchers managed to discover a structure, which was converted in to a small mosque in the post-Byzantine period, along with a seal belonging to a Seljuk Emir, shedding light on details about how Turks converted to Islam.

The ancient city was founded by Greek colonists from Miletus in the 6th century BC and was overshadowed by Herakleia Pontika and Amassis throughout history.

The first excavation in the ancient city took place in 2006 and the latest excavation is expected to take two months.

Source: Daily Sabbah [July 08, 2018]