Geoarchaeological research of the mid-age Ilyas Bey complex buildings with ground penetrating radar in Miletus, Aydin, Western Anatolia, Turkey

The ancient Miletus which were one of the most important city of ancient Iona, are today of great value from cultural standpoint of Turkey. Miletus, situated near the village of Balat in the present district of Soke was founded on a peninsula, approximately 2.5 km long. In the Byzantine period, the city boundaries were quite reduced. In 1424 Miletus was taken inside of the Ottoman Empire and was completely abandoned in the 17th century. Ancient Miletus excavation studies were first begun in 1899 by in Berlin Museum and interrupted during the World War I. At present, the extensive restoration works in Ilyas Bey Complex has applied as a project since 2006. Ilyas Bey Complex that includes Mosque, Medresah and baths situated on the archaeological area in ancient Miletus. Impressive Mosque built in 1404 by Ilyas Bey, Emir of Menteseogullari founded in 1279 and the complex was named after him, is one of the most remarkable buildings of mid-age Miletus. There are two main purposes of the study are (1) to determine archaeological remains of the study area underneath Ilyas Bey Complex and (2) to define the nature of main rock unit and their sources in the vicinity or Aegean region. After preliminary archaeometrical studies, acquired GPR profile data paralleled each other in Ilyas Bey Mosque and its around, Medresah Courtyard and inner Courtyard of the Mosque. After processing 2D parallel GPR profiles, we constructed 3D data volume by lining processed 2D profiles up to correlate remain signatures from each profile for each studied area. It was obtained transparent 3D visualisation of GPR data by assigning a new colour scale for the amplitude range and by constructing a new opacity function instead of the linear opacity function. Therefore we could successfully image the archaeological remains in an interactive transparent 3D volume and its sub-volumes, starting at different depth levels or limited profiles. The archaeometrical (geological and mineralogical, petrographical) studies reveal that the main bulding rock units of Ilyas Bey Mosque are mainly composed of 4 main units these are marble, metalimestone, mica gneiss and granodiorite. The marble, metalimestone with the mica gneiss were obtained from Menderes Massif in Western Anatolia. The granodiorite columns might be obtained from Kozak Pluton in the north of Bergama-Izmir line of western Anatolia.