Aigai

Two different beginnings

At Aigai, the past opens with two beginnings. Ancient writers placed the Aeolian migration at the end of the second millennium BCE; archaeological traces point to settlement from the late eighth century BCE. These dates name different things: a migration tradition and the earliest settlement evidence. Aigai stands near Köseler on Mount Yunt, within the wider Aeolian landscape.

A goat emblem and changing production

Aigai’s name is associated with the goat, whose figure appears often on its coins. People kept livestock from the eighth century BCE, while leather, woven goods and bone objects belong to the Hellenistic period. The coin emblem and these later products place animal keeping and craft in different moments of the city’s life.

An agora, a council and a dedication

The three-storey agora stretched about 80 metres; part of its east wall survives to a height of 10.5 metres. Nearby, an assembly building held about 190 people. An inscription names Antiphanes as dedicating it to Zeus Bollaios, Hestia Bollaia and the citizens of Aigai. Aigai’s Athena precinct also invites architectural comparison with Pergamon.

From Hellenistic city to Byzantine settlement

The city was abandoned during Gothic raids in the second half of the third century CE; settlement later returned to the slope in Byzantine times. Finds from the Athena precinct reach into the Late Byzantine period, and a church dated to the 12th–13th centuries marks that later phase. Agora, council inscription and church hold different moments together on Mount Yunt.

One slope, later lives

The agora and dedication preserve one civic moment; the later church marks another. At Aigai, the story of Mount Yunt does not end with the Hellenistic city.

Connected stops

• Bergama
• Sardes
• Kula Volkanları

Sources

• Kültür Portalı · Aigai Antik Kenti