The leader of 12 Ionian cities, the most favorable place of the kings of the Diodox period and the capital of the Roman province of Asia, Ephesos is among the most important cities of the ancient world. The settlement area of Ephesos was shaped by the movements of the city in different periods. From the Bronze Age to the Early Hellenistic period, it is thought that the city settlement may have developed through centering Ayasuluk Hill and Pion (Kerscher, 2016; Baranaydın, 2021) Fig. 1 shows a general plan of Ephesus and Ayasuluk Hill.
With the findings we have till today, we can say that we have data from the earliest Bronze and Early Hellenistic periods at Ayasuluk and from the Late Classic period at Panayır (Koder and Ladstatter, 2009yükkolancı, 1998). In order to understand the Archaic - Classical periods of Ephesos, the areas between the Ayasuluk and Panayır mountains, which are under dense fill, should be studied. The findings obtained on the Ayasuluk Hill date back to the Early Hellenistic period. The Early Hellenistic walls on the southern slope of the hill, which are intertwined with the late period walls to the east, were first uncovered in 1996 during the restoration of the late period walls and were dated by excavations in 2007 (Büyükkolancı, 2008). Figure 2 shows an image of the fortification walls of Ayasuluk.
In 2021, the walls of the Early Hellenistic period are studied again and Bronze, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic period materials were encountered. However, studies carried out in a small area, showed that there is no continuation of the city walls. Most of the wall blocks were used for the construction of dome piers of St. John's Church, and Fig. 3 shows the Hellenistic Blocks used as spolia in these Dome Piers.
Ayasuluk Hill dominates the northern and eastern parts of the Ephesus. There is a tower associated with Ayasuluk Hill on the western slope of Kayser Hill in the valley leading from the east of the hill to the village of Şirince (Fig. 4.). The tower is dated to the Hellenistic period, although it was used for different purposes in later periods (Ersoy and Gürler, 2002). Inexorably Ayasuluk Hill and the Hellenistic period fortification structures in the valley of Şirince are related due to their location (Fig. 4) Fig. 5 shows the fortifications and quarries of Ayasuluk (west), and the tower in the valley of Sirince (east).
This study includes the fortification structures in Ayasuluk Hill and Şirince valley among the Hellenistic period fortification structures of Ephesos. In addition to archaeological excavation results, analogical evaluations and surface surveys, comprehensive analyses were carried out in order to understand the relationship between construction techniques and materials used in these two structures. Different characterization techniques were used including SEM and XRD analyses to determine both microstructures and phases of the samples.