Pepuza (or Pepouza,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Πέπουζα) was an ancient town in Phrygia,

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(in today's Turkish district of Karahallı, Uşak Province, Aegean Region). Coordinates of the central terrasse of the settlement: UTM 35 S 0714926/4253954 (WGS-84), 38.408˚ N, 29.4615˚ E. From the middle of the 2nd century CE to the middle of the 6th century, Pepuza was the headquarters of the ancient Christian church of

Montanism Montanism (), known by its adherents as the New Prophecy, was an early Christian movement of the late 2nd century, later referred to by the name of its founder, Montanus. Montanism held views about the basic tenets of Christian theology simi ...

, which spread all over the Roman Empire. The Montanist patriarch resided at Pepouza, and the Montanists expected the heavenly Jerusalem to descend to earth at Pepouza and the nearby town of

Tymion Tymion was an ancient town in Phrygia, Asia Minor (in today's Uşak Central District, Uşak Province, Aegean Region). Its site is located at the Turkish village of Şükraniye. From the middle of the 2nd century CE to the middle of the 6th century ...

. In late antiquity, both places attracted crowds of pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire. Women played an emancipated role in Montanism, becoming priests and also bishops. In the 6th century, this church became extinct. Since 2001, Peter Lampe of the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

has directed annual archaeological campaigns in Phrygia, Turkey. During these interdisciplinary campaigns, together with William Tabbernee of Tulsa, numerous unknown ancient settlements were discovered and archaeologically documented. Two of them are the best candidates so far in the search for the identification of the two holy centers of ancient Montanism, Pepuza and

. Scholars had searched for these lost sites since the 19th century. The ancient settlement in the Karahallı area, near the village of Karayakuplu, discovered and identified as Pepuza by William Tabbernee and Peter Lampe, was settled continuously from Hellenistic times to Byzantine times. In Byzantine times, an important rock-cut monastery belonged to the town.

Literature

* W. Tabbernee/ Peter Lampe, ''Pepouza and Tymion: The Discovery and Archaeological Exploration of a Lost Ancient City and an Imperial Estate'' (deGruyter: Berlin/New York, 2008) und * Peter Lampe, Die montanistischen Tymion und Pepouza im Lichte der neuen Tymioninschrift, in: ''

Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum The ''Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity'' is an academic journal published by Walter de Gruyter. It covers topics related to early Christianity Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) ...

'' 8 (2004) 498-512

External links

University of Heidelberg: The Discovery of Pepouza and Tymion

In: "SpiegelOnline" 3.7.2010
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{{coord, 38, 24, 29, N, 29, 27, 41, E, region:TR-64_type:city_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Archaeological sites in the Aegean Region Roman sites in Turkey Former populated places in Turkey Geography of Uşak Province History of Uşak Karahallı District Montanism