The Department of Archaeology is glad to inform you that the first international symposium of this annual series will take place on November 17-18, 2022 at the DEU in İzmir with a focus on latest archaeological discoveries on the region of İzmir in western Turkey. Since the 15th century archaeologically and historically İzmir became a special focus in the fields of ancient Anatolian studies. We warmly invite contributions by scholars and graduate students from a variety of disciplines related to this region. The aim of this symposium is to report on the state of archaeological research concerning İzmir from the Paleolithic period until the end of the Ottoman period. Thematic and geographical focus of the first symposium will be latest archaeological research in İzmir and its close surrounding in Ionia, Aeolis, Lydia and Upper Cayster Valley in the administrative territories of the today’s Turkish province of İzmir.
The following theme groups are the main questions of the symposium which are prescriptive:

– Recent archaeological field projects (excavations and surveys) and museum studies as well as discoveries in and around İzmir,
– İzmir in ancient mythology,
– Prehistory and protohistorical researches in İzmir,
– İzmir during the Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods,
– İzmir in ancient authors, eg. Homer, Herodotus, Strabo etc.,
– Ethno-cultural landscape of ancient İzmir and ethnoarchaeology,
– Epigraphical research in İzmir,
– Numismatic research in İzmir: circulations, dynamics and mechanisms,
– Relationships between İzmir and other cities of Ionia, the Achaemenid Empire as well as other neighbouring regions,
– Historical geography and settlement patterns in Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine İzmir,
– Ancient roads, routes and population in İzmir,
– Institutional aspect of Smyrna in Hellenistic and Roman times,
– İzmir as a part of the Roman province Asia and the “seven churches of Apocalypse”,
– The province İzmir under the tetrarchy reform of Emperor Diocletian in A.D. 296,
– Population and settlement boom in the “Justinianic” era in the region of İzmir,
– Archaeometric researches in İzmir,
– Miscellanea.

On these themes and questions, all approaches and methods susceptible to bring some progress to our current knowledge are of course welcome: archaeology, ancient history, classics, historical geography, epigraphy, numismatic, history of art, cultural anthropology etc. English is the official language of the symposium and both abstracts as well as papers should be written and presented in English. The symposium will take place live at the Faculty of Letters of the DEU in Buca, İzmir as well as virtually on a conference platform (most probably on Zoom). The proceedings of the symposium will be published in December 2022. The symposium is free of charge. A post-symposium excursion is planned on November 19 to the archaeological sites in the metropolitan area of İzmir.
We would be delighted, if you could consider contributing to our symposium and contact us with the required information below before September 9, 2022. Our e-mail address is: deu.archaeological.symposium@gmail.com or ergun.lafli@deu.edu.tr