Amastris (Amasra) – Submerged Double Harbour Moles of Sesamos
Amastris · Amasra · Sesamos
Archaic to Genoese (c. 600 BCE – 1460 CE)·Paphlagonian / Persian / Hellenistic (Amastris) / Roman / Byzantine / Genoese·🇹🇷 Bartın Province, Amasra, Turkey
About
About Amastris (Amasra) – Submerged Double Harbour Moles of Sesamos
Amastris – Queen Amastris's 300 BCE synoikism of Sesamos–Kytoros–Kromna–Tios, famed double harbour (western 'Great Harbour' and eastern 'Small Harbour') separated by Boztepe islet causeway, praised by Homer and Strabo. Its twin ashlar moles (western 80 m, eastern 60 m) now lie submerged 2–4 m after Paphlagonian coast subsidence and Roman breakwater collapse. Wilson's underwater survey (2010) mapped western mole header stones at –2.5 m with mooring bollard, eastern mole at –3 m with Byzantine repairs, enclosing two 200 m basins still used by fishing boats. The Roman–Genoese sea walls cap the moles.
Why it mattersOnly Paphlagonian double harbour preserving islet-causeway twin-bay type (Boztepe) from Homeric to Genoese; type-site for Black Sea double harbour urbanism.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Which of four synoikized towns supplied which mole
- 02Chronology of islet causeway (Hellenistic vs Roman)
Theories
- 01Homer's 'Sesamos' boxwood shipped from Amastris double harbour
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Double harbour synoikism 300 BCE; moles Hellenistic 3rd c. BCE; Roman enlargement
- Period
- Archaic to Genoese (c. 600 BCE – 1460 CE)
- Culture
- Paphlagonian / Persian / Hellenistic (Amastris) / Roman / Byzantine / Genoese
- Purpose
- Double harbour for Paphlagonian timber, boxwood and hazelnuts – Homer Iliad 2.853 Sesamos
- Abandoned
- 1460 Ottoman conquest + harbour siltation
- Rediscovered
- Matthews 1990s Amasra survey; Wilson 2010 marine
- Excavation
- Submerged
Double harbour synoikism 300 BCE; moles Hellenistic 3rd c. BCE; Roman enlargement
Initial construction
c. 1297 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
41.7460° N · 32.3860° E · -2 m · 3 mapped features
Western Great Harbour Mole (80 m)
moleWestern mole 80 m at –2.5 m forming Great Harbour arm
41.7465° N · 32.3850° EEastern Small Harbour Mole (60 m)
moleEastern mole 60 m at –3 m forming Small Harbour arm with Byzantine repairs
41.7470° N · 32.3875° EBoztepe Islet Causeway
causewayBoztepe islet causeway separating twin harbours – Hellenistic causeway
41.7460° N · 32.3860° E