Building Mk 1 at Oenoanda

Abstract

The building that forms the subject of the present paper was studied by the writer during the course of the 1977 season of survey at Oenoanda. As no excavation was possible under the terms of the expedition's permit, the study was limited to the upstanding walls, visible foundations, and accessible blocks of fallen masonry, with the result that many details of the architecture have had to remain uncertain. A systematic excavation would resolve most of these uncertainties, because there is every reason to believe that the elements for a near-complete restoration, in both plan and elevation, are lying buried on the site. Such an excavation is, however, unlikely to take place in the near future, and, since the range of buildings in Lycia which have been published in any detail remains small, it has seemed worth while to present the results of the 1977 work forthwith. Building Mk 1 is of added importance in that its function can be identified and the date of at least one of its major phases can be established on epigraphic and other grounds: it is certainly a bath-building and equally certainly achieved its final form in the Severan period.