TARSUS, MAKAM CAMİİ HZ. DANYAL MAKAM TÜRBESİ KAZISI - THE EXCAVATION OF MAQAM MOSQUE AND THE TOMB OF PROPHET DANIEL IN TARSUS

Tarsus attracts attention as a city which has many good examples of believing tourism. Eshab-i Kehf’s Cave and Tomb of the Bilal Habesi can be mentioned as some of those examples. Among these kind of places also The Maqam Mosque and Prophet Daniel’s Tomb are the most mentioned ones in many studies which had been done in the recent years. In 2007, a Roman bridge was found during a canal excavation led by Tarsus Municipality. After this discovery an archaeological excavation was made by the Tarsus Archaeological Museum in the Maqam Mosque. During this excavation some remains and a tomb, which is believed that the prophet Daniel is buried in, were uncovered and dated by the archaeologist at the north and east side of the mosque. In order to have more detailed information about the remains and the tomb, another archaeological excavation was made between December 2010 and July 2011 at the north and east side of Maqam Mosque. From this second excavation it was understood that the Mosque and the tomb were built on the Berdan’s riverbed or at least on one of its branches. Another result is that the mosque and the tombs, which are located above the buildings from Roman period, were built above the sewer system, bridge and other structures as a result of numerous floods which began to change the whole area. It is clear that construction and structure survived until today with various extensions which were made during time.