.jpg) The Greekgymnasium of Sardis | |
  Sardis Shown within Turkey | |
| Alternative name | Sardes |
|---|---|
| Location | Sart, Manisa Province, Turkey |
| Region | Lydia |
| Coordinates | 38°29′18″N28°02′25″E / 38.48833°N 28.04028°E /38.48833; 28.04028 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | Settled by 1500 BC, major city by 600 BC |
| Abandoned | Around 1402 AD |
| Cultures | Seha River Land,Lydian,Greek,Persian,Roman,Byzantine |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1910–1914, 1922, 1958–present |
| Archaeologists | Howard Crosby Butler, G.M.A. Hanfmann,Crawford H. Greenewalt Jr., Nicholas Cahill |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Ownership | Public |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | sardisexpedition |
 Interactive map of Sardis | |
| Part of | Sardis and theLydian Tumuli of Bin Tepe |
| Criteria | Cultural: iii |
| Reference | 1731-001 |
| Inscription | 2025 (47thSession) |
Sardis (/ˈsɑːrdɪs/SAR-diss) orSardes (/ˈsɑːrdiːs/SAR-deess;Lydian:𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭,romanized: Sfar;Ancient Greek:Σάρδεις,romanized: Sárdeis;Old Persian:𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭,romanized: Sparda) was an ancient city best known as the capital of theLydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of thePersiansatrapy of Lydia and later a major center ofHellenistic andByzantine culture. Now an active archaeological site, it is located in modern dayTurkey, inManisa Province, near the town ofSart.
In 2025, Sardis was listed asUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.[1]
Sardis was occupied for at least 3500 years. In that time, it fluctuated between a wealthy city of international importance and a collection of modest hamlets.[2](pp1114–1115)
Herodotus recounts a legend that the city was founded by the sons ofHeracles, theHeracleidae. According to Herodotus, the Heraclides ruled for five hundred and five years beginning withAgron, 1220 BC, and ending withCandaules, 716 BC. They were followed by the Mermnades, which began withGyges, 716 BC, and ended withCroesus, 546 BC.[3]
The name "Sardis" appears first in the work of theArchaic era poetSappho.Strabo claims that the city's original name was "Hyde".[2](pp1115–1116)
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Sardis was settled before 1500 BC. However, the size and nature of early settlement is not known since only small extramural portions of these layers have been excavated. Evidence of occupation consists largely ofLate Bronze Age andEarly Iron Age pottery which shows affinities withMycenaean Greece and theHittites. No early monumental architecture had been found as of 2011.[2](pp1114–1116)[4]
The site may have been occupied as early as theNeolithic, as evidenced by scattered finds of early ceramic fragments. However, these were found out of context, so no clear conclusions can be drawn. Early Bronze Age cemeteries were found 7 miles away alongLake Marmara, near elite graves of the later Lydian and Persian periods.[2](p1116)[4]
In the Late Bronze Age, the site would have been in the territory of theSeha River Land, whose capital is thought to have been located at nearbyKaymakçı. Hittite texts record that Seha was originally part ofArzawa, a macrokingdom which the Hittite kingMursili II defeated and partitioned. After that time, Seha became a vassal state of the Hittites and served as an important intermediary with theMycenaean Greeks. The relationship between the people of Seha and the later Lydians is unclear, since there is evidence of both cultural continuity and disruption in the region.[4] Neither the term "Sardis" nor its alleged earlier name of "Hyde" (in Ancient Greek, which may have reflected a Hittite name "Uda") appears in any extant Hittite text.[2](pp1115–1116)
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In the seventh century BC, Sardis became the capital city ofLydia. From there, kings such asCroesus ruled an empire that reached as far as theHalys River in the east.[2](pp1116–118) The city itself covered 108hectares including extramural areas and was protected by walls twenty meters thick.[2](pp1117) Theacropolis wasterraced with whiteashlar masonry to tame the naturally irregular mountainside. Visitors could spot the site from a distance by the three enormous burialtumuli atBin Tepe.[2](pp1116–118)
The city's layout and organization is only partly known at present. To the north/northwest, the city had a large extramural zone with residential, commercial, and industrial areas. Settlement extended to the Pactolus Stream, near which archaeologists have found the remains of work installations where alluvial metals were processed.[2](p1117)
Multiroom houses around the site match Herodotus's description offieldstone andmudbrick construction. Most houses had roofs of clay and straw while wealthy residents had roof tiles, similar to public buildings. Houses often have identifiable courtyards and food preparation areas but no complete house has been excavated so few generalizations can be drawn about Sardian houses' internal layout.[2](pp-1118-1120)
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Religious remains include a modest altar which may have been dedicated toCybele, given a pottery fragment found there with her name on it.[2](p1118) A possible sanctuary toArtemis was found elsewhere in the site, whose remains include marble statues of lions.[2](p1117) Vernacular worship is evidenced in extramural areas by dinner services buried as offerings.[2](p1117)
Textual evidence regarding Lydian-era Sardis includePliny's account of a mudbrick building that had allegedly been the palace of Croesus and was still there in his own time.[2](p1117)
The material culture of Sardis is largely a distinctive twist on Anatolian and Aegean styles. The city's artisans seemed to specialize inglyptic art includingseals and jewelry. Their pottery blended Aegean and Anatolian pottery styles, in addition to distinctive twists which included thelydion shape and decorative techniques known as streaky-glaze and marbled-glaze. Narrative scenes on Sardian pottery are rare. Imported Greek pottery attests to the Lydians' "Hellenophile attitude" commented on by contemporary Greek writers. While those Greek authors were in turn impressed by Lydians' music and textiles, these aspects of Lydian culture are not visible in the archaeological record.[2](p1124)
Sardis was conquered byCyrus the Great around 547 BC. Having defeated the Lydian kingCroesus at theBattle of Pteria andBattle of Thymbra, the Persians followed the retreating army back to Sardis and sacked it after a brief siege.[5][6][2](pp1115, 1120) Details of this event are largely known from Herodotus's semi-mythicized account, but the destruction is highly visible in the archaeological record. In the words of excavator Nicholas Cahill:
It is rare that an important and well-known historical event is so vividly preserved in the archaeological record, but the destruction of Cyrus left clear and dramatic remains throughout the city.[6]
The city's fortifications burned in a massive fire that spread to parts of the adjoining residential areas. Wooden structures and objects inside buildings were reduced to charcoal. Mudbrick from the fortifications were toppled over on adjacent structures, preventing looting and salvage and thus preserving their remains.[6]
Skeletons were found buried haphazardly among the debris, including those of Lydian soldiers who died violently. One soldier's forearm bones had been snapped, likely aparry fracture indicating a failed attempt to counter the head injuries that killed him. A partly healed rib fracture suggests he was still recovering from an earlier injury during the battle. In a destroyed house, archaeologists found the partial skeleton of an arthritic man in his forties. The skeleton was so badly burned that archaeologists cannot determine whether it was deliberately mutilated or if the missing bones were carried away by animals.[6]
Arrowheads and other weaponry turn up in debris all around the city, suggesting a major battle in the streets. The varying styles suggest the mixed background of both armies involved. Household implements such as iron spits and small sickles were found mixed in with ordinary weapons of war, suggesting that civilians attempted to defend themselves during the sack.[6]
After the destruction, Sardis was rebuilt and continued to be an important and prosperous city. Though it was never again the capital of an independent state, it did serve as the capital for thesatrapy ofSparda and formed the end station of the PersianRoyal Road which began inPersepolis. It acted as a gateway to the Greek world, and was visited by notable Greek leaders such asLysander andAlcibiades, as well as the Persian kingsDarius I andXerxes.[2](pp1120–1122)[7]
Relatively little of Persian Sardis is visible in the archaeological record. The city may even have been rebuilt outside the limits of the Lydian-era walls, as evidenced by authors such as Herodotus who place the Persian era central district along the Pactolus stream.[8] The material culture of the city was largely continuous with the Lydian era, to the point that it can be hard to precisely date artifacts based on style.[2](pp1120–1122)
Notable developments of this period include adoption of theAramaic alphabet alongside theLydian alphabet and the "Achaemenid bowl" pottery shape.[2](pp1120–1122) Jewelry of the period shows Persian-Anatolian cultural hybridization. In particular, jewelers turned to semi-precious stones and coloredfrit due to a Persian prohibition on gold jewelry among the priestly class. Similarly, knobbed pins and fibulae disappear from the archaeological record, reflecting changes in the garments with which they would have been used.[9]
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Buildings from this era include a possible predecessor of the later temple to Artemis as well as a possible sanctuary ofZeus. Textual evidence suggests that the city was known for itsparadisoi as well as orchards and hunting parks built byTissaphernes andCyrus the Younger[2](p1122) Burials of this period include enormous tumuli with extensive grave goods.[8]
In 499 BC, Sardis was attacked and burned by theIonians as part of theIonian Revolt against Persian rule. The subsequent destruction of mainland Greek cities was said to be retribution for this attack. WhenThemistocles later visited Sardis, he came across a votive statue he had personally dedicated atAthens, and requested its return.[8]
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In 334 BC, Sardis was conquered byAlexander the Great. The city was surrendered without a fight, the local satrap having been killed during thePersian defeat at Granikos. After taking power, Alexander restored earlier Lydian customs and laws. For the next two centuries, the city passed between Hellenistic rulers includingAntigonus Monophthalmos,Lysimachus, theSeleucids, and theAttalids. It was besieged bySeleucus I in 281 BC and byAntiochus III in 215–213 BC, but neither succeeded at breaching the acropolis, regarded as the strongest fortified place in the world. The city sometimes served as a royal residence, but was itself governed by an assembly.[2](p1123)[7]
In this era, the city took on a strong Greek character. TheGreek language replaces the Lydian language in most inscriptions, and major buildings were constructed in Greek architectural styles to meet the needs of Greek cultural institutions. These new buildings included aprytaneion,gymnasion,theater,hippodrome, as well as the massive Temple of Artemis still visible to modern visitors.Jews were settled at Sardis by the Hellenistic kingAntiochos III, where they built theSardis Synagogue and formed a community which continued for much oflate antiquity.[2](p1123)[7]
In 129 BC, Sardis passed to theRomans, under whom it continued its prosperity and political importance as part of theprovince of Asia. The city received threeneocorate honors and was granted ten millionsesterces as well as a temporary tax exemption to help it recover after adevastating earthquake in 17 AD.[2](p1123)[10][7] Sardis had anearly Christian community and is one of theseven churches of Asia.
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Later, trade and the organization of commerce continued to be sources of great wealth. AfterConstantinople became the capital of the East, a new road system grew up connecting the provinces with the capital. Sardis then lay rather apart from the great lines of communication and lost some of its importance.[citation needed]
During the cataclysmic 7th-centuryByzantine–Sasanian War, Sardis was in 615 one of the cities sacked inthe invasion of Asia Minor by the Persian Shahin. Though the Byzantines eventually won the war, the damage to Sardis was never fully repaired.[citation needed]
Sardis retained its titular supremacy and continued to be the seat of themetropolitan bishop of the province of Lydia, formed in 295 AD. It was enumerated as third, afterEphesus andSmyrna, in the list of cities of the Thracesionthema given byConstantine Porphyrogenitus in the 10th century. However, over the next four centuries it was in the shadow of the provinces ofMagnesia-upon-Sipylum andPhiladelphia, which retained their importance in the region.[citation needed]
Sardis began to decline in the 600s AD.[2](p1123) It remained part of the Byzantine Empire until 1078 AD, by theSeljuk Turks. It was reconquered in 1097 by the Byzantine generalJohn Doukas and came under the rule of the ByzantineEmpire of Nicaea whenConstantinople was taken by theVenetians andcrusaders in 1204. However, once the Byzantines retook Constantinople in 1261, Sardis and surrounding areas fell under the control ofGhazw emirs. TheCayster valleys and a fort on the citadel of Sardis were handed over to them by treaty in 1306. The city continued its decline until its capture and probable destruction by theTurco-Mongol warlordTimur in 1402.[citation needed]
By the 1700s, only two smallhamlets existed at the site. In the 20th century, a new town was built.[2](pp1123–1124)
In 2025, Sardis was enlisted as aUNESCO World Heritage Site, for its significance as the home of coinage.
Sardis was situated in the middle ofHermus River Valley, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of the river. Its citadel was built onMount Tmolus, a steep and lofty spur, while a lower town extended to the area of thePactolus stream.
Today, the site is located by the present day village ofSart, nearSalihli in the Manisa province of Turkey, close to theAnkara -İzmir highway (approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) fromİzmir). The site is open to visitors year-round, where notable remains include the bath-gymnasium complex, synagogue and Byzantine shops is open to visitors year-round.
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By the 19th century, Sardis was in ruins, with mainly visible remains mostly from the Roman period. Early excavators included the British explorerGeorge Dennis, who uncovered an enormous marble head ofFaustina the Elder. Found in the precinct of the Temple ofArtemis, it probably formed part of a pair of colossal statues devoted to the Imperial couple. The 1.76 metre high head is now kept at theBritish Museum.[11][12]
The first large-scale archaeological expedition in Sardis was directed by aPrinceton University team led byHoward Crosby Butler between years 1910–1914, unearthing a temple toArtemis, and more than a thousand Lydian tombs. The excavation campaign was halted byWorld War I, followed by theTurkish War of Independence, though it briefly resumed in 1922. Some surviving artifacts from the Butler excavation were added to the collection of theMetropolitan Museum of Art inNew York City.
A new expedition known as the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis was founded in 1958 byG.M.A. Hanfmann, professor in the Department of Fine Arts atHarvard University, and by Henry Detweiler, dean of theArchitecture School at Cornell University. Hanfmann excavated widely in the city and the region, excavating and restoring the major Roman bath-gymnasium complex, the synagogue, late Roman houses and shops, a Lydian industrial area for processingelectrum into pure gold and silver, Lydian occupation areas, and tumulus tombs at Bintepe.[13]
During the 1960s, the acknowledgment of the local significance of theJewish community in Sardis received notable confirmation through the identification of a substantial assembly hall in the northwestern part of the city, now known as theSardis Synagogue. This site, adorned with inscriptions,menorahs, and various artifacts, establishes its function as asynagogue from the 4th to the 6th century. Excavations in adjacent residential and commercial areas have also uncovered additional evidence of Jewish life.[14]
From 1976 until 2007, excavation continued underCrawford H. Greenewalt, Jr., professor in the Department of Classics at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[15] Since 2008, the excavation has been under the directorship ofNicholas Cahill, professor at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison.[16]
| Aegean | |
|---|---|
| Black Sea | |
| Central Anatolia | |
| East Anatolia | |
| Marmara | |
| Mediterranean | |
| Southeastern Anatolia | |
| Multiple regions | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
