Letoon
Letoon Ancient Greek: Λητῷον | |
Location | Kumluova |
---|---|
Region | Muğla Province, Turkey |
Type | Sanctuary complex |
History | |
Founded | Late 6th century BC |
Abandoned | 7th century |
Site notes | |
Website | turkishmuseums.com |
Type | Cultural |
Criteria | ii, iii |
Designated | 1988 (12th session) |
Reference no. | 484-003 |
Part of | Xanthos-Letoon |
Letoon or Letoum (
Letoon was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
History
Letoon was the religious centre of
The site was dedicated to the worship of the Letoids—the Greek goddess Leto, and her twin offspring, Artemis and Apollo. According to a myth, Leto was drinking at a lake in Lycia whilst fleeing with her children Apollo and Artemis from the anger of the goddess Hera. When local peasants tried to drive her away, she rebuked them and transformed them into frogs.[2] Leto may have been identified with an early Luwian goddess whose cult was located with Letoon. The Letoids were designated as the Lycians' national gods.[2][note 1]
The sanctity of the site is the purport of an anecdote related by the 2nd century Greek historian
The site remained active through the Roman period. It was
Archaeology
The foundations of the three
The temple of Leto was successfully reconstructed in its original setting between 2000 and 2007 using original pieces found during excavations carried out since 1950s.[1] As of 2004[update], the stadium has not been located.[8]
Letoon trilingual
In 1973, a stele was discovered at the site.[2] The stele's inscription, dated to 337 BCE, features texts in the Lycian language, Ancient Greek and Aramaic. The so-called Letoon trilingual is now conserved in the Fethiye Museum .[1][9] It contains regulations for the establishment of a cult at Letoom. The text has contributed greatly to a greater understanding of the Lycian language.[2] The text is unusual, in that, unlike most Lycian texts, it does not consist of consists of epitaphs.[10]
Description
Letoon is located south of the village of Kumluova (previously known as Botisullu),[11] in the Fethiye district of Muğla Province, Turkey.[12] The site is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southwest of the site of Lycia's most important city, Xanthos.[2] The Greek geographer Strabo located Letoon ten stades—more than one mile (1.6 km)—from the coast, a figure considered by the English archaeologist George Ewart Bean to be correct, considering the probable change in the position of the coast line since Classical antiquity.[13]
The complex is dominated by three 4/5th century BC temples. The central temple was dedicated to Artemis. The other two temples, which are Greek, were dedicated to at least one of the other Letoids.[2]
The nymphaeum (which supplied a source of fresh water), is early 2nd century or later. It occupied the site of a Hellenistic structure built over a spring.[2] Spring water used to emerge from the nymphaeum, flanked by a pair of exedras; of the remains, only those dating from the 3rd century are visible.[14]
The remaining ruins remain largely intact and unaffected by tourism or modern building.[1]
Historical importance
Letoon was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with Xanthos, in 1988. According to UNESCO, the archaeological sites at Xanthos and Letoon represent “the most unique extant architectural example of the ancient Lycian Civilization”. UNESCO has acknowledged that the Lycian rock inscriptions are the language’s most important texts, and have a crucial role in helping to understand both the ancient Lycian people, their civilization, and their long-lost language.[1]
Letoon is a 1st degree archaeological site and so subject to conservation legislation. It is within an Environment Protection Zone under the responsibility of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. The Regional Conservation Council approved a Conservation Plan in 2006.[1]
The architecture influenced that of other Lycian cities such as Patara, Pınara, and Myra.[1]
Visually affected by greenhouses which surround it, Letton is also threatened by seasonal rising of the water table. The construction of water channels in 2006 acted to mitigate the effect during excavation works. The Turkish government has begun to control the surrounding environment and address issues relating to the preservation of the monuments, such as the management of visitors to the site, and to raise local awareness of its importance.[1]
Notes
- ancient Lycia.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Xanthos-Letoon". UNESCO. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bryce 2009, p. 416.
- ^ Grimal 1996, pp. 264–265.
- ^ Appian, Mithridates, 27, noted by T. R. Bryce, "The Arrival of the Goddess Leto in Lycia", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 321 (1983:1–13). p. 3 and note 9.
- ^ Greenhalgh 2009, p. 85.
- ^ Dusinberre 2013, p. 219.
- ^ a b Bean 1978, pp. 60–62.
- ^ Bayburtluoğlu 2004, p. 264.
- ^ "Muğla: Letoon Örenyeri" [Mugla: Letoon Ruins] (in Turkish). Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ Bean 1978, p. 22.
- ^ Bayburtluoğlu 2004, p. 262.
- ^ Clow 2000, p. 45.
- ^ Bean 1978, p. 63.
- ^ Bayburtluoğlu 2004, p. 263.
Sources
- 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.
- Bryce, Trevor (2009). "Letoum". The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-39485-7.
- Clow, Kate (2000). The Lycian Way. Ankara: Upcountry (Turkey) Ltd. ISBN 978-09539-2-180-5.
- Dusinberre, Elspeth R. M. (2013). Empire, Authority, and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia. Cambridge: ISBN 978-11070-1-826-6.
- Greenhalgh, Michael (2009). Marble Past, Monumental Present: Building with Antiquities in the Mediaeval Mediterranean. ISBN 978-90041-7-083-4.
- ISBN 978-06312-0-102-1.
Further reading
- Bayburtluoğlu, Cevdet (2004). Lycia. Antalya: Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations. ISBN 978-97570-7-820-3.
- S2CID 163625751.
- Erdek, Şehrigül Yeşil (2008). "The Lifting of a Mosaic from the Site of Letoon and Its Replacement with a Replica". In Greenberg, Mark (ed.). Lessons Learned Reflecting on the Theory and Practice of Mosaic Conservation : Proceedings of the 9th ICCM Conference, Hammamet, Tunisia, November 29-December 3, 2005 (in English and French). Los Angeles, California: ISBN 978-0-89236-920-1.
- Le Roy, Christian (1984). "Le Létôon de Xanthos en Lycie (Turquie). La lutte d'un sanctuaire contre l'évolution du milieu naturel" [The Letôon of Xanthos, in Lycia. The struggle of a sanctuary against the evolution of its environment]. Bulletin de l'Association de Géographes Français (in French) (499): 41–44.
- JSTOR 41005434.
- ISBN 978-22520-2-109-5.
- Oner, Ertug (1999). "Letoon ve Çevresinde (Eşen Çayı Deltası) Paleo-Jeomorfolojik Araştırmalar" [Paleo-Geomorphological Surveys in Letoon and Its Surroundings (Eşen Stream Delta)]. Aegean Journal of Geography (in Turkish). 10 (1). İzmir, Turkey: 51–82.
- Webb, Pamela A. (1996). Hellenistic Architectural Sculpture: Figural Motifs in Western Anatolia and the Aegean Islands. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-02991-4-980-2.
External links
- Canadian Epigraphic Mission at Xanthos-Letoon, website of the research project on Xanthos and Letoon by Université du Québec à Montréal and Université Laval, including downloadable published works
- Images of Letoon from PBase.com
- Images of Letoon from Turkey Photo Guide
- Letoon Archaeological Site (Official video from Turkish Museums (on YouTube))