Xanthos

Xanthos (Turkish: Ksantos, Lycian: 𐊀𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 Arñna, Greek: Ξάνθος, Latin: Xanthus) was an ancient city near the present-day village of Kınık, in Antalya Province, Turkey. The ruins are located on a hill on the left bank of the River Xanthos. The number and quality of the surviving tombs at Xanthos are a notable feature of the site, which was declared to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

For other uses, see Xanthos (disambiguation).
Xanthos
Ksantos
Xanthos is located in Turkey
Xanthos
Shown within Turkey
LocationKınık, Antalya Province, Turkey
RegionLycia
Coordinates36°21′22″N 29°19′7″E
TypeSettlement
Area126 ha (310 acres)
Official nameXanthos-Letoon
Designated1988 (12th session)
Reference no.484
Europe and North America

Xanthos was a centre of culture and commerce for the Lycians, and later for the Persians, Greeks and Romans who in turn conquered the region. As an Lycian important city, Xanthos exerted architectural influences upon its neighbours; the Nereid Monument directly inspired the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in the Caria region.

History

Two Lycian heroes of the Trojan War, Sarpedon, is described in the Iliad as an ally of Troy.[1]

The acropolis of Xanthos dates from the 8th century BCE. The city was mentioned by ancient Greek and Roman writers. The Greek historian Strabo noted that Xanthos was the largest city in Lycia.[2] The important religious sanctuary of Leto at Letoon, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of Xanthos, dates from the late 6th century BC and was closely associated with the city and linked by a sacred road.

Under the Persian Empire

The Greek historians Herodotus and Appian both described the conquest of the city by the Median general Harpagus on behalf of the Persian Empire, According to Herodotus, the Persians defeated a small Lycian army in the flatlands to the north of the city in c. 540 BC.[3] The Lycians retreated into the city, which Harpagus then besieged. The Lycians destroyed their acropolis, and killed their wives, children and slaves, before engaging the enemy in a suicidal attack.[1]

During the Persian occupation, a local leadership was installed and by 520 BC it was already minting its own coins. By 516 BC Xanthos had been included in the first nomos of Darius I in the tribute list.

In the final decades of the 5th century BC, Xanthos was strong enough to conquer nearby Telmessos and incorporate it into Lycia. The prosperity of Lycia during the Persian occupation is demonstrated by the extensive architectural achievements in Xanthos, that include the Nereid Monument, the tomb of the Lycian ruler Arbinas who asserted control over the region in 400 BC, and built in 390 BC.

Conquest by Alexander the Great

Reports on the city's surrender to Alexander the Great differ: Arrian reports a peaceful surrender, but Appian claims that the city was sacked.[1] After Alexander's death, Xanthos was captured by Ptolemy I Soter from Antigonos.[4]

Roman and Byzantine rule

In 42 BC Brutus came to Lycia in the Roman Civil Wars, to obtain funds for his campaign in that year before the Battle of Philippi. The Lycian League refused to contribute; Brutus besieged Xanthos and the city was once again destroyed and only 150 Xanthian men survived the carnage.[5] It was rebuilt under Mark Antony.[6]

Xanthus was in the Roman province of Lycia, in the civil Diocese of Asia.

Marinos reports that there was a school of grammarians at Xanthos in late antiquity.

Ecclesiastical history

When Lycia was a Roman province, Xanthus was important enough to become a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Myra.[6] Three of its bishops are documented:

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Xanthoupolis was a titular diocese under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose bishop assisted the Metropolitan Province of Smyrna, part of the larger Province of Asia Minor. Its last known bishop was Father Ignatios, later Metropolitan of Libya under the Patriarchate of Alexandria, who presided over this diocese from 1863 to 1884.

In the Catholic Church, the diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as the Titular bishopric of Xanthus.[7]

Archaeology
Main article: Tombs at Xanthos
The Harpy Tomb sculptures (British Museum)

Xanthos has been a mecca for students of Anatolian civilisation since the early 19th century.

Archaeology demonstrates that Xanthos's wooden tombs and temples were destroyed in approximately 470 BC probably by the Athenian Kimon to retaliate for the destruction of the Athenian Acropolis by the Persians and their Lycian allies. As there is no reference to this destruction in either Persian or Greek sources, some scholars attribute the destruction to natural or accidental causes. Xanthos was later rebuilt in stone.

Of the monumental tombs, three, the Nereid Monument the Tomb of Payava and the sculptures of the Harpy tomb, are now exhibited in the British Museum on account of their splendid sculptural decoration and architecture. The Harpy Tomb, of equal merit but less well preserved, is still located in Xanthos with replica reliefs.

The archeological excavations and surface investigations at Xanthos have yielded many texts in Lycian and Greek, including bilingual texts that are useful in the understanding of Lycian. The Xanthian Obelisk and the Letoon trilingual are two trilingual stelae which were found in the city and Letoon and record an older Anatolian language conventionally called Milyan language.

Location
Xanthos River (Eşen Çayı)

Xanthos is located near to the modern Turkish village of Kınık.[6][note 1]

World heritage site

Xanthos was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with Xanthos, in 1988.[8]

Notes
  1. Strabo reports the original name of the river as Sibros or Sirbis. During the Persian invasion the river is called Sirbe, which means "yellow", like the Greek word "xanthos". The river usually has a yellow hue because of the soil in the alluvial base of the valley. Today the site of Xanthos overlooks the modern Turkish village of Kınık. Once over 500 m long, the Roman Kemer Bridge crossed the upper reaches of the river near the present-day village of Kemer. The modern Turkish name of the river is Eşen Çayı.

References
  1. Akşit 2006, p. 56.
  2. "Strabo, Geography: 6". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  3. "Herodotus, The Histories, A.D. Godley, ed.: 176". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  4. Akşit 2006, p. 58.
  5. Tempest 2017, pp. 246–247.
  6. Akşit 2006, p. 60.
  7. Donovan, Ned (4 October 2018). "The bishops who've never seen their dioceses". Catholic Herald. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  8. "Xanthos-Letoon". UNESCO. Retrieved 11 May 2023.

Sources
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Xanthus".
  • Akşit, İlhan (2006). Kline, Stuart (ed.). Lycia: The Land of Light. Istanbul: Aksit Kultur Turizm Sanat Ajans Lt. ISBN 975-7039-11-X.
  • Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 450
  • Tempest, Kathryn (2017). Brutus: The Noble Conspirator. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18009-1.

Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Xanthos.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.