Sipylos Magnesiası (Magnesia ad Sipylum) kalıntıları Manisa il merkezindeki Topkale yamacı ile bu yamacın en üst noktasında yer alan Sandıkkale Tepesi üzerinde yer almaktadır. Spil Dağı’nın kuzey eteklerinde yer alan Sandıkkale ve Topkale, antik yerleşimin merkezi olup nekropol sahasının yamacın ovaya doğru uzanan kuzey eteklerinde olduğu tahmin edilmektedir. Bu çalışmada, ilk defa yayımlanacak olan üç adet pişmiş toprak eser üzerinde durulmuştur. Bunlardan biri Topkale Yamacı’nda yüzeyde bulunan iç içe konsantrik daire motifli küçük bir seramik parçası, diğer iki ise Topkale yamacının kuzeybatısındaki Topçuasım Mahallesi’nde yer alan bir inşaatın temel hafriyatından çıkan bir adet pişmiş toprak lekythos ve pişmiş toprak lahde ait kırık iki küçük pervaz parçasıdır. İncelenen Samos/Lydia Tipi lekythos ve onunla birlikte bulunan ion kyması bezemeli lahit parçaları ile Lydia kültürünün tipik seramikleri arasında yer alan kırmızı üzerine siyah bezemeli mal grubunun bir örneği olan konsantrik daire motifli seramik üzerinden Sipylos Magnesiası’nın az bilinen Arkaik Dönem kültürüne ışık tutmak amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmaya konu edilen pişmiş toprak eserler, daha önce antik yerleşimin yer aldığı Topkale Yamacı ile yakın çevre< sinde bulunan Arkaik Dönem eserleri ile kültürel bir bütünü tamamlamaktadır. Verilerden bir kısmı ana yerleşim alanı içinde yüzey malzemesi olarak bulunmuş bazıları ise yakın çevrede yer alan olası nekropolis ya da tekil mezar yapısına işaret eden bir veri alanını hatırlatır niteliktedir. Buna rağmen tüm bu veriler Sipylos Magnesiası kentinin MÖ 1. bin yılın ilk yarısına inen bir kültürel potansiyele sahip olduğunu göstermesi açısından son derece önemlidir.
The ruins of the city of Sipylos Magnesia (Magnesia ad Sipylum) are located on the Topkale slope in the city center of Manisa and on Sandıkkale Hill, which is at the top of this slope. Sandıkkale and Topkale, located on the northern foothills of Spil Mountain, are the centers of the ancient settlement, and the necropolis area is expected to be on the northern foothills of the slope extending toward the plain. This study focuses on three terracotta works that are out of context and will be published for the first time. One of these is a small ceramic piece with concentric circle motifs found on the surface of the Topkale Slope, and the other two are a terracotta lekythos and two small pieces belonging to a terracotta sarcophagus found in the foundation excavation of a construction site in the Topçuasım District, in the northwest of the Topkale slope. This study aims to shed light on the little<known Archaic Period culture of Sipylos Magnesia through the examined Samos/Lydia Type lekythos and the Ionic kymation patterned sarcophagus fragments found with it, as well as the concentric circle motif ceramics, which are an example of the red<on<black decorated ware group among the typical ceramics of the Lydian culture. The terracotta artifacts subjected to the study complete a cultural whole with the Archaic Period artifacts found on the Topkale Slope where the ancient settlement was previously located and in the immediate vicinity. Some of the artifacts were found as surface material within the main settlement area, while others are reminiscent of a context indicating a possible necropolis or a single grave structure in the immediate vicinity. Nevertheless, all these data are extremely important in terms of showing that the city of Sipylos Magnesia has a cultural potential dating back to the first half of the 1st millennium BC
The settlement, known as Spilos Magnesia or Magnesia ad Sipylum in ancient sources, was located on the slopes of Mount Spil, which rises south of today’s Manisa city center. The Topkale Slope, one of the natural slopes extending from the mountain toward the Gediz Plain, harbors the remains of the ancient settlement. Sandikkale Hill, the summit of the slope, was the acropolis of the ancient city.
Until recently, Sipylos Magnesia was a city first founded in the Hellenistic Period. Recent research has proved that the history of the city on the Topkale Slope dates back to the first half of the 1st millennium BC. The most important source of this new information was the small amount of surface ceramics found on the Topkale Slope.
The three pieces of cultural artifacts examined in this article reinforce the fact that there is a cultural trace of the Archaic Period in the center of Sipylos Magnesia and its immediate vicinity. One of them is a bichrome Lydian pottery with a concentric circle patterned paint decoration. It is a small sherd of a plate or a bowl and was found on the surface of the Topkale Slope.
This sherd is one of the two main types of the bichrome ceramic group, which was popular in Lydia during the Archaic Period. The sherd was fired at high temperatures, has a red (2.5 YR<5/6), slightly micaceous paste, and is decorated with a dark reddish brown (2.5 YR<2.5/4) decoration over a reddish brown (2.5 YR<4/4) slip. It is known that this material type is represented by locally produced or imported examples in a wide geography including almost all of Western Anatolia and the Aegean Islands, Cyprus, Levant and Palestine cultures except Lydia.
It is possible to find stylistic and analogical similarities of the concentric circle<decorated pottery both in terms of paste, slip and decoration in nearby cultures. Based on these examples, the sherd found at Topkale was produced in the 7th century BC.
Two other unpublished finds that may shed light on the cultural structure of Sipylos Magnesia during the Archaic Period are a complete terracotta lekythos and two rim fragments of a terracotta sarcophagus.
The Lekythos and two fragments of a terracotta sarcophagus were discovered by chance in 2008 in Topçuasım Quarter, Topçuasım Quarter, Yunusemre District, Manisa Province, located on parcel 1509, block 3 (F. 2) according to the land registry records. During the construction works carried out on the property in question, these cultural assets were excavated from the excavation section and handed over to the Manisa Museum authorities.
The Lekythos was found in two pieces, broken at the neck, and was restored and made whole. The lekythos has a reddish yellow (5 YR<7/8) paste fired at high temperature and is slipped in a light yellowish brown (10 YR<6/4) color. There is no decoration on the surface. The rim has a mushroom<shaped, concave form. The neck is cylindrical and short with a horizontal groove running around the center. After the neck, the lekythos has a broad shoulder section and the body extends in a slightly inverted "S" profile from top to bottom. It rises on a conical foot. It has a single small handle with a rounded cross<section rising between the neck and shoulder.
In terms of form, the find is classified as a Samian or Lydian lekythos with its conical base and broad shoulder, and is close to the examples known from the excavations in the Lydian region. This type is widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean in the mid<6th century BC with examples of high<quality production. The specimen analyzed here, with its simpler workmanship without any decoration, can be dated to the end of the third quarter or the fourth quarter of the same century (ca. 530<510 BC). The fact that the conical base, which is frequently seen on the lydions, the original cosmetic vessel of Lydia, is also preferred on this lekythos, and other similarly shaped examples suggest that this artifact may have been produced in Lydia.