Antiphellus
Antifellos Ancient Greek: Ἀντίφελλος | |
Location | Kaş, Antalya Province, Turkey |
---|---|
Region | Lycia |
Type | Settlement |
Site notes | |
Archaeologists | Charles Fellows |
Condition | Ruined, now mostly built on by the modern town |
Antiphellus or Antiphellos (
The Irish naval officer Sir
Surviving
History
The original Lycian name for Antiphellus (Ancient Greek: "the land opposite the rocks") was Habesos;[1][2] according to the Roman military commander Pliny the Elder, the city's pre-Hellenic name was Habessus.[2] The discovery of architectural elements, now in the Antalya Museum, have confirmed that the Lycians had settled there (and therefore also Phellus) by the 6th century BCE.[3] It was entitled to one vote at the Lycian_League, and emerged to be a centre of trade that minted its own coins.[1] The area was invaded by the Persians in around the middle of the 6th century BCE.[1]
Located at the head of a bay on the region's southern coast, the settlement served during the
The city, unlike Phellus, is mentioned in the Roman guidebook for sailors, the Stadiasmus Maris Magni.[7] Roman imperial coins found at Antiphellus bear the legend Ἀντιφελλειτων[4] ("of the Antiphellitans").[8] Pliny wrote that the softest sponges were found in the area.[5] The Roman scholar Strabo incorrectly placed Antiphellus among the inland cities:[9][10]
And in the interior are places called Phellus and Antiphellus and Chimaera, which last I have mentioned above.
According to the Turkish archaeologist Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu, Antiphellus was probably affected by the earthquake that devastated the region in 141–142.[11] The shock from this earthquake triggered a tsunami that inundated the Lycian coast and travelled a considerable distance inland.[12] Funds known to have been donated to the city by Opramoas of Rhodiapolis may have been used to help repair the damage caused by this event.[11]
The
The site is now in the municipality of Kaş, Turkey, which before the forcible population exchange between Greece and Turkey of 1922–1923 was called Andifili,[4] and during the 19th century, Andiffelo.[16]
Archaeology
Antiphellus, all but deserted by 1828,[17] and built up in the following decades, became known during the mid-19th century, both to scholars and travellers.[16] The Irish naval officer Sir Francis Beaufort visited Antiphellus in the 19th century. He gave a description of what he found there, including the amphitheatre and groups of inscribed and plain sarcophagi, noting that the inscriptions he saw were: "from the rudeness of their execution, to be very antient. Intermixed with the usual Greek letters, there are several uncommon characters of which the following are a few specimens."[18]
The English
The abandoned Lycian settlement left hillside tombs, including a sarcophagus on a high base with a long inscription in "Lycian B",
Description of existing ruins
Amphitheatre
The Hellenistic amphitheatre, which was restored in 2008,[25] is located 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the centre of Kaş. It was capable of seating 4000 spectators.[26] The amphitheatre is the only structure of its type in Anatolia with a sea front.[27] It is complete, but lacks a proscenium, so as to avoid blocking the view of the sea.[11][9]
After the amphitheatre was built, the east wall collapsed, possibly due to the earthquake that devastated the region in 141. Repairs to the wall are visible; the restoration work was done soon afterwards, probably by means of the funds provided to Antiphellus by Opramoas.[11]
The retaining wall of the amphitheatre, which curves around in slightly more than a semicircle, is built of irregular ashlar blocks, which vary in size and shape. There is no diazoma (the passage dividing the lower from the upper rows of seats), nor a permanent stone stage.[28]
King's Tomb
One of the town's sarcophagi is the 4th century BCE Lycian Inscribed Mausoleum, known locally as the King's Tomb, which is located on Uzunçarşı Street.
The sarcophagus on top is cut from a separate block of stone. Two lions' heads project from the sides of the lid, which is divided into four panels showing standing figures in relief.[30] The sarcophagus was kept for the tomb's builder and his wife, who are depicted in the front pediment as a bearded man leaning on a staff in front of a seated woman.[34]
The tomb was first depicted, but not discussed, in
Other remains
Most of the ancient tombs found by Fellows have since disappeared,[20] as the local population used most of them for building materials.[37] The isolated tomb above the amphitheatre, known as the Doric Tomb, is of a unique form.[28] Cube shaped and cut into the rock face, with sides of 4.5 metres (15 ft). The east-facing entrance is 1.9 metres (6 ft 3 in) high and leads to a single chamber.[38] One of the inside walls has a relief of dancing girls, now grimy due to the tomb's use as a shepherds' shelter. From the clothes worn by the dancers, scholars have dated the tomb to the first half of the 4th century BCE.[39] The base has a moulding and a shallow pilaster at each corner; only one of the capitals has survived. On the south side a band with mutules is preserved. The entrance, which was originally closed by means of a sliding door, has a moulded frame.[28]
The lower parts of a small temple have survived. The remains have a height of five blocks of rectangular ashlar. It was constructed in the 1st century BCE, with later additions added four centuries later. The temple was dedicated to an unknown god.[40][11]
There are rock tombs in the cliffs just beyond the modern town, including one with both a Lycian inscription and a later one written in Latin.[41] Remnants of a wall on the shoreline are still visible.[42] The harbour lay on the seaward side of the isthmus, where a reef runs out to sea, providing protection; it may have been strengthened in ancient times. Antiphellus had neither an acropolis nor a city wall. The part of the ashlar sea-wall that survives to the west of the modern town stands six courses high for a length of over 500 yards (460 m).[5]
References
- ^ a b c Bayburtluoğlu 2004, p. 242.
- ^ a b Bean 1978, p. 92.
- ^ Keen 2018, p. 28.
- ^ a b c d e Bryce 2009, p. 47.
- ^ a b c Bean 1978, p. 94.
- ^ Bean, George Ewart. "Antiphellos (Kaş, formerly Andifli) Lycia, Turkey". The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Tufts University. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Spratt 1847, p. 267.
- ^ a b Bean 1978, pp. 92–93.
- ^ a b c Smith 1870, p. 147.
- ^ "Strabo, Geography: 3". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Bayburtluoğlu 2004, p. 243.
- ^ Harris & Fachard 2021, pp. 193–194.
- ^ Le Quien 1740, coll. 985–986.
- ^ Pius Bonifacius Gams 1931, p. 450.
- ^ Segreteria di Stato Vaticano 2013, p. 833.
- ^ a b Murray 1878, pp. 356–357.
- ^ "Letters from the Levant". The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register. Vol. 23, no. 2. London: Henry Colburn. 1828. pp. 316–319.
- ^ Beaufort 1818, pp. 14–16.
- ^ Slatter 1994, p. 37.
- ^ a b Slatter 1994, p. 151.
- ^ Slatter 1994, p. 153.
- ^ Long 1857, p. 186.
- ^ Varinlioglu 2016, p. 38.
- ^ Slatter 1994, p. 290.
- ^ "Antiphellos Antik Kenti" [The ancient city of Antiphellos]. Kaş Gezi Rehberi (in Turkish). Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ "Antiphellos Theatre". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
- ^ a b T.C. Antalya Valiliği 2010, p. 335.
- ^ a b c Bean 1978, p. 95.
- ^ Schürr 2005, p. 100.
- ^ a b c d Bean 1978, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Kalinka 1901, pp. 53–55.
- ^ Schürr 2005, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Schürr 2005, p. 99.
- ^ Schürr 2005, p. 95.
- ^ Schürr 2005, p. 96.
- ^ Schürr 2005, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Akşit 2006, p. 97.
- ^ Akşit 2006, p. 96.
- ^ Bayburtluoğlu 2004, p. 244.
- ^ Akşit 2006, pp. 94–96.
- ^ Akşit 2006, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Akşit 2006, p. 94.
Sources
- Akşit, İlhan (2006). Kline, Stuart (ed.). Lycia: The Land of Light. Istanbul: Aksit Kultur Turizm Sanat Ajans Lt. ISBN 975-7039-11-X.
- Bayburtluoğlu, Cevdet (2004). Lycia. Antalya: Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations. ISBN 978-97570-7-820-3.
- ISBN 978-05100-3-205-0.
- OCLC 1229273123.
- Bryce, Trevor (2009). "Antiphellos". The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-39485-7.
- Harris, Edward M.; Fachard, Sylvian, eds. (2021). The Destruction of Cities in the Ancient Greek World: Integrating the Archaeological and Literary Evidence. Cambridge: ISBN 978-11084-9-554-7.
- OCLC 150793192.
- Keen, Antony G. (2018). Dynastic Lycia: A Political History of the Lycians and Their Relations with Foreign Powers, C. 545-362 B.C. Leiden: ISBN 978-90043-5-152-3.
- Le Quien, Michel (1740). Oriens christianus, in quatuor patriarchatus digestus; quo exhibentur ecclesiae, patriarchae, caeterique praesules totius orientis (in Latin). Vol. 1. Paris.
- Long, George (1857). "Antiphellus". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
- Murray, John (1878). Handbook for Travellers in Turkey in Asia including Constantinople (4th ed.). London: OCLC 1984586.
- Pius Bonifacius Gams (1931). Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'. Leipzig: Hiersemann.
- Schürr, Diether (2005). "Das Pixre-Poem in Antiphellos". Kadmos (in German). 44 (1–2). Berlin: 95–164. S2CID 161547409.
- Segreteria di Stato Vaticano (2013). Annuario pontificio (in Latin). The Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. ISBN 978-88209-9-070-1.
- Slatter, Enid (1994). Xanthus: Travels of Discovery in Turkey. London: Rubicon Press. ISBN 978-09486-9-531-5.
- OCLC 847907716.
- T.C. Antalya Valiliği (2010). Dünden Bugüne Antalya [Antalya From Past to Present] (in Turkish). Vol. 2. T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı.
- Varinlioglu, Guzden (2016). Digital in Underwater Cultural Heritage. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-14438-9-210-0.
Further reading
- DiFabio, Christina. Synoikism, Sympolity, and Urbanization: A Regional Approach in Hellenistic Anatolia (PDF) (Doctoral thesis). Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- Duggan, Terrance M. P. (2022). "Çevik, Nevzat: The Book of Lycia: Archaeology, Culture and History in Western Antalya". Journal of the Turkish Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (2). Türk Arkeoloji ve Kültürel Miras Enstitüsü: 225–242. ISSN 2822-2547.
- OCLC 1038777615.