Terracotta Incense Burner Depicting Egyptian God Discovered in Ephesus

IZMIR, TURKEY. Turkiye Today reports that a terracotta incense burner adorned with a relief of the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis has been uncovered in the ancient city of Ephesus on Turkey's western coast.

Egyptian merchants are thought to have constructed a temple dedicated to Serapis there in the second century A.D. Serapis is depicted on the incense burner with thick hair and a beard, and wearing a tall headdress.

An inscription on the back of the artifact links it to a Serapis incense burner unearthed in the wealthy residential area known as the Terrace Houses of Ephesus. However, the newly uncovered burner was excavated in the Harbor Baths, a bath-gymnasium complex situated on Harbor Street, the road connecting Ephesus to its harbor.

Serdar Aybek of Dokuz Eylul University explained that these incense burners, whether made locally or imported, are thought to have been circulated throughout Ephesus, reflecting the city's interconnected infrastructure and the spread of ritual practices.

To read more about the city's religious life, go to 'Secrets of the Seven Wonders: Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.'