Hanghaus 2 in Ephesos. Die Wohneinheit 7

Terrace House 2 in Ephesos is one of the best-preserved ancient houses in the eastern Mediterranean. This large insula contains seven multi-storied peristyle type dwellings. The privileged status of the inhabitants is apparent due to the central location of Terrace House 2 on Curetes Street, a main thoroughfare and processional route in the city. The publication of Dwelling Unit 7 adheres to the publication concept of the Ephesian Terrace Houses and provides a detailed description of the architecture, the reconstruction of the building periods, the water supply and drainage, the marble décor of walls and floors, the wall paintings, stucco work, mosaics, sculpture, small finds, ceramic, glass and coin finds, as well as the analysis of the archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains. Also taken into consideration are the numerous graffiti on the wall paintings which provide direct insight into everyday life. Furthermore, the publication includes an analysis of the area’s “pre-use” in the late Hellenistic period and of its “post-use” in the early Byzantine period. Unique to Dwelling Unit 7 is archaeological evidence of emperor worship. Life-size busts of Tiberius and his mother Livia date to the first habitation phase in the first century AD. Offerings were placed at an altar and offering table, both situated in the peristyle courtyard of the house. In regard to the homeowners, it appears that a connecting door between Dwelling Unit 7 and the neighbouring Dwelling Unit 6 existed from the time of the building’s construction until 220/230 AD; this indicates that both houses were inhabited by the very same family. Inscriptions, found in situ in Dwelling Unit 6, indicate that Gaius Flavius Furius Aptus lived here in the first half of the second century AD. Evidence of refurbishments and redecoration of his town house can be ascribed to his high socio-political status, which is also indicated by his offices as an alytarch and as a priest of a Dionysus cult.