The lintel above the southern entrance to the Middle Byzantine Church of Saint Anne in Trebizond is adorned with a high relief that has received only limited scholarly attention, despite the diverse interpretations it seems to have inspired over the centuries. This relief likely originates from a Roman sarcophagus and originally depicted a lance and shield-bearing soldier alongside a winged Nike. Considering the widespread veneration of the Archangel Michael in Asia Minor, it seems quite plausible that the Christian inhabitants of Trebizond recognized in this relief the features of this particular angel. Similarly, Christians may have perceived the soldier as a member of Michael’s celestial army. It is also entirely possible that strategos and protospatharios Alexios, the founder of the church, chose this particular relief to commemorate an episode from his military career. Over the centuries, however, the initial interpretations of the sculpture appear to have been forgotten. Since then, various scholars have sought to reinterpret the relief, drawing occasionally on their personal knowledge and at other times on local traditions.

Ayvalık preserves a distinctive architectural heritage from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, yet many of its monumental buildings have been lost to natural decay and human intervention. Among them, the former Greek Orthodox Church of Profitis Elias—demolished in the mid-twentieth century—has largely been treated in scholarship through vague secondary accounts and distant photographs, leaving its architectural and urban context insufficiently understood. This article reconstructs the church’s history and situates it within its broader topographical setting on Profitis Elias (later Profitilya), now known as İlk Kurşun Hill, an area that has undergone major transformation in both name and function. Drawing on early twentieth-century Ottoman archival documents, including a bilingual technical report and original floor plans examined here for the first time, the study redefines the monument’s chronology and architectural phases. Complementing this analysis with contemporary written sources, old photographs, and oral evidence, it also explores the enduring presence of İlk Kurşun Hill in local urban memory. By combining architectural documentation with historical and memory studies, the article contributes to broader discussions of cultural heritage, urban transformation, and the reinterpretation of multi-layered landscapes in Late Ottoman and modern Ayvalık.

Ancient Mesopotamian societies dwelled in a world surrounded by supernatural forces, accessed through ritual practices conducted by priests. The fish-cloaked apkallu, a hybrid figure, survivor of the Deluge, associated with Enki and the primordial apsu, bridged terrestrial and aquatic realms. Their appearance on ritual basins, amulets, figurines, and bas-reliefs highlights their role in protection and purification. Yet, despite frequent iconographic representations, the material basis of their distinctive attire—fish skin—remains understudied. This study re-evaluates fish skin as a ritual material in Mesopotamian magic, arguing that, despite its absence in the archaeological record, it may have been used in robes worn by priests. The plausibility of such attire is supported by comparative examples, including leopard skin cloaks worn by Egyptian priests frequently depicted in temples. A third-century CE Egyptian Roman-period crocodile-skin armor linked to the cult of Sobek, and ethnographic records of fish skin clothing among Arctic Indigenous communities, demonstrate the technological feasibility of crafting garments from aquatic skins. These parallels situate Mesopotamian practices within broader cross-cultural frameworks of sacred animal material use. By highlighting this overlooked material, the study reassesses ancient ritual technologies and emphasizes ceremonial dress’ role in mediating relationships between humans, animals, and the divine.

This pilot study applies light stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen (n = 7) to complement archaeological and anthropological data at the rescue site of Iouliopolis (Juliopolis) in the Ankara province, one of the largest excavated necropoleis in Anatolia in use between the Hellenistic and the Byzantine periods. The means obtained from the Roman-period graves, δ13C averaging -18.8 ± 0.5‰ and δ15N averaging 8.6 ± 0.7‰, reflect reliance on C3 plants and terrestrial animal protein, consistent with isotopic data from contemporaneous Anatolian sites. Despite the significant reduction of the initial dataset (n = 42) due to poor collagen preservation, the study demonstrates the value of the approach for rescue contexts and offers opportunities for limited interpretation of observed age- and sex-based differences. It is foundational for the Ankara province in the Roman period, enabling broader research in the future.