Reconsidering the decorated marble mensae from Laodicea of Phrygia in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Abstract

Silvia PEDONE, Reconsidering the Decorated Marble Mensae from Laodicea ofPhry-gia in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.-The present paper aims at discussing briefly the history of some sculpture fragments pertaining to two different mensae or marble altars found in the site of the ancient city of Laodicea on the Lycus and recorded in the catalogue of the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The fragments, depicting biblical scenes, are known in scholarly literature, but we can now try to trace them back to their original context. The life of the Byzantine churches in Phrygia, and in particular in Laodicea, is well documented through historical sources, but the new archaeological evidence about Christian buildings calls for a review of the already known material, especially in order to explore their relationships with the original cultural context.