A great metropolis of the ancient world, "golden" Sardis was the place where legendary Croesus ruled, where coinage was invented. Since 1958 an archaeological team has been working at the site to retrieve evidence of the rich Lydian culture as well as of the prehistoric Anatolian settlement and the Hellenistic and Roman civilizations that followed the Lydian kingdom. Here is a comprehensive and fully illustrated account of what the team has learned, presented by the eminent archaeologist who led the expedition. George Hanfmann and his collaborators survey the environment of Sardis, the crops and animal life, the mineral resources, the industries for which the city was famed, and the pattern of settlement. The history of Sardis is then reconstructed, from the early Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. Archaeologists who have done the excavating contribute descriptions of shops and houses, graves, the precinct and Altar of Artemis, the Acropolis, gold-working installations and techniques, the bath and gymnasium complex, and the Synagogue. The material finds are studied in the context of other evidence, and there emerges an overall picture of the Lydian society, culture, and religion, the Greek and subsequently the Roman impact, the Jewish community, and the Christianization of Sardis. Historians of the ancient world will find this account invaluable.

This generously illustrated volume presents new studies by scholars closely involved with Professor Greenewalt's excavations during the Sardis Expedition in western Turkey.

The Bath-Gymnasium at Sardis is the most important known example of a complex that combines the gymnasium, a Greek institution, with the Roman bath, a unique architectural and cultural embodiment comparable in size and organization to the great Imperial thermae of Rome. The restoration by the Harvard-Cornell Expedition of the "Marble Court" or Imperial cult hall provides a rare opportunity to appreciate firsthand the scale and elegance of the major Imperial monuments. In this fully illustrated volume Fikret Yeg l describes the complex from the palaestra of the east through the richly decorated Marble Court to the vast swimming pool, lofty halls, and hot baths, including analysis of the excavation, evidence for structural systems, roofing, vaulting, and decoration, and the significance of building inscriptions. The author traces the building history from its completion in the second century through five centuries of renovation and redecoration. Mehmet Bolgil, a practicing architect who was in charge of the restoration at Sardis, contributes a clear description of the reconstruction process.

This publication of two major Lydian excavation sectors at Sardis is the first in-depth presentation of the architecture, pottery, and other artifacts belonging to the inhabitants of this native Anatolian kingdom. The two-volume book catalogues nearly 800 objects, illustrated by more than 300 color plates of photos and detailed drawings.

Replete with mosaics and revetment, the basilica was the center of the ecclesiastical administration until its destruction in the late seventh century. In this long-awaited report, Megaw and colleagues present in full the results of excavations from the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s.

Jeffrey Brain presents and interprets a wealth of data and artifacts and integrates relevant ethnohistorical details to reconstruct a dynamic story of change in the culture of the Tunica Indians of Mississippi and Louisiana.