A pair of Byzantine-era sandals found in an excavation in Istanbul has become one of the main attractions of the city’s archaeological museum. There is a message in Greek on the sandals: "Lady, health, dress, beauty and happiness."
This amazing discovery was discovered during excavations promoted by the Marmaray project, an undersea railway tunnel that connects the Asian and European sides of Istanbul under the Bosphorus.
Excavations that began in 2004 revealed a new historical aspect of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. According to the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, about 60,000 artifacts unearthed in about 9 years were preserved in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum until a special museum was built for them.
The Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces in late antiquity and the Middle Ages. It survived the division and decline of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, and continued to exist for a thousand years until it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. For most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military power in Europe.
Scientists say that the sandals found are more than 1,500 years old and belong to a woman. The Byzantines like colors and patterns. They make and export fabrics with very rich patterns, especially Byzantine silk, which weaves and embroiders for the upper class, and dyes and prints for the lower class.
Modesty is important to everyone, and most women seem to be almost completely covered by rather shapeless clothes. A large number of shoes have been found in this excavation project. During the excavation, sandals, slippers and boots that are common in the manuscript illustrations to the middle of the calf were also found. Many objects are gorgeously decorated in various ways.
The red used by Royal in men's shoes is actually by far the most common color for women's shoes. Purses are rare and seem to be made of textiles that match the skirts or tucked in a belt.
The excavations found the first traces of civilizations in different periods, including the skeletons of the first Istanbul people; the 8,500-year-old footprint "Eleutherios Port (Theodosius), a known port in world literature, but no traces have been found before; and the world" The largest collection of medieval shipwrecks on the site, as well as 60,000 animal bones and plant fossils of 57 species.
The port of Eleutherios is one of the ports of ancient Constantinople, located below the modern Yenikapi neighbourhood of Istanbul. It was built at the mouth of the Lycus River, which passes through the city to Propontis.
The port was built in the late 4th century. During the reign of Theodosius I, it was the city's main trading point in late antiquity. It was used until the 11th century. The silt of Lycus eventually completely filled the port, and the area was later converted to agricultural use due to upstream erosion and sedimentation. During the Ottoman Empire, the area was completely built.
In November 2005, the workers of the Marmaray project discovered the remains of a blocked port. Excavations provide evidence of Portus Theodosiacus in the 4th century. There, archaeologists found traces of the walls of Constantine the Great, as well as the remains of more than 35 Byzantine ships from the 7th to 10th centuries, including some Byzantine sailing ships that have never been discovered before.
In addition, the excavation also found evidence of the oldest settlement in Constantinople, among which artifacts were unearthed, including amphorae, pottery fragments, shells, bone fragments, horse skulls, and 9 humans found in a bag The skull, its history can be traced back to 6000 BC.
Related: The Greeks of Constantinople: the cosmopolitan of the Byzantine capital
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