Focus On Unique And Spectacular Gallery Grave In Ancient City Of Dara, Mardin

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - In 2010 excavations of the ancient city of Dara in southeastern Mardin province, archaeologists unearthed a 1,500-year-old mass grave.

Dara - located in the border area, just 7 km from the Turkish-Syrian border - is considered one of the most important settlements in Upper Mesopotamia, and the gallery grave where hundreds of people were buried together is a very unique place.

Gallery grave in the ancient city of Dara, Mardin. Image credit: ntv.com.tr

At the entrance of the site where hundreds of bones and skulls have been unearthed, there are symbols depicting Jesus Christ and Orthodoxy.

One of Dara's neighbors in ancient times was the Persian Sassanid Empire, and in the early Byzantine times, Dara was an important fortress. Because of this strategic location, in the 6th century AD, Dara witnessed many military conflicts. One of these conflicts was particularly significant and it was the famous Battle of Dara, fought in 530 AD.

Associate professor Hüseyin Metin, head of the excavation committee of the ancient city of Dara and a lecturer at the Department of Archaeology of Kafkas University, said what distinguishes this mass grave from other ancient tombs is the presence of human bone fragments, writes Daily Sabah.

A general view of the ancient city of Dara, Mardin, southern Turkey, Aug. 20, 2020. Image credit: DHA 

Now, the entrance of the site has been enclosed by a glass facade and a walking platform for tourists and locals who are now able to comfortably and conveniently visit this ancient place.

“The place called the gallery grave is one of the areas that attract the greatest number of visitors. After Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I decreed it as a garrison city, these areas were first used as the fortifications of the city and as a quarry for public buildings, said Professor Metin.

He also added that "after a large area was created at the site, certain sections were used as grave structures. These grave structures are of a different nature."

The tombs were carved into the rocks and on three levels, in this fenced-off necropolis.  Many of them have a very simple form, however, several others belonging to wealthy citizens, focuses the attention of the visitors with their spaciousness and decorations. On some tombs, there are both decorations and inscriptions.

Bones lie beneath a glass platform at the ancient city of Dara, Mardin, southern Turkey, Aug. 20, 2020. Image credit: DHA