Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "SYANGELA Ancient city TURKEY" .
City in Caria, a member of the Delian Confederacy when governed by
a dynast Pigres (Pikres, Pitres), with a tribute of one talent. It is recorded
by Strabo (611), following Kallisthenes, as one of the two Lelegian towns preserved
by Mausolos--not incorporated by him in Halikarnassos. It is now agreed that Mausolos
in fact refounded and greatly enlarged Syangela under the name of Theangela. The
new city stood on the lofty hill directly above the village of Etrim, 14 km E-NE
of Bodrum, and substantial ruins remain. On the question whether this was also
the site of Syangela opinions have differed. It has been proposed to recognize
Syangela in the ruins of the Lelegian town at AIazeytin, some 5 km to the SW;
but a more recent view prefers a newly discovered site on Kaplan Dag about half
this distance to the W. It is suggested that this site was destroyed by the Persians,
whereupon its inhabitants moved to the hill above Etrim and stayed there until
Mausolos' reconstruction.
The two sites are of similar size. At Alazeytin the circuit consists
partly of a fortification wall, partly of the outer walls of 60-70 houses; an
agora, several sanctuaries and public buildings, and the seats of a theaterlike
building are recognizable. The main occupation seems to have lasted from the 7th
to the 4th c.; a tower on the summit is in regular masonry of later date than
the rest. A short distance to the S is a group of six building complexes of the
kind now called Compound-Anlage; buildings of this kind were formerly supposed
to be tombs, but are now generally understood to be pens for the protection of
herds. On Kaplan Dag the ruined remnants of a once considerable settlement with
a massive fortification wall lie on top of the mountain, and on a neighboring
summit is a fort which evidently served as a refuge; here stood at least six grave
tumuli with dromos, one of which is still 4 m high. There are traces of other
buildings in the hollow between the two summits.
The site of Theangela at Etrim is long and narrow, occupying three
hilltops; it is 1300 m long from E to W, with an average width of 250 m. The city
wall is traceable for its entire length, and the three summits are separately
fortified. The masonry is variable and only in some places Lelegian in character.
At a point somewhat E of the middle the city is divided in two by a cross-wall
running N-S, with a gate in its S half. Almost all the buildings are E of this
wall; evidently the same trouble was experienced here as at Halikarnassos and
Myndos in manning the new city, and it was found expedient to reduce its size
by more than half. The main city gate, on the other hand, is in the S wall near
its W end; a road runs E from it. In two places in the N wall a gate may have
stood, but nothing tangible remains. At the extreme W end the walls run up to
a powerful fort on the summit of the W hill; it has a tower at each corner and
was evidently designed to resist artillery. The entrance to it from the city makes
a double right-angled bend. Just below this fort on W and S are two remnants of
curved wall, in dry rubble masonry, which appear to have belonged to an earlier
fortification surrounding the summit; if Kaplan Dag is in fact the site of the
early Syangela, this wall may have been erected by the refugees from the Persian
sack. In the S wall beside the fort is a postern gate; at the E end and on the
S the walls run out to other forts of more modest proportions.
The E summit is separately enclosed as a citadel by a ring wall and
joined to the city circuit by a slender wall on N and S. At the top is a rectangular
tower; on the E slope, which is terraced, are two fine cisterns and a mosaic floor.
A little below the citadel on the W is a remarkable and well-preserved tomb. It
is built in the hillside, running parallel to it; it is ca. 7 m long, with a corbeled
roof, and contained bones and fragments of 5th c. vases. The roof is exceedingly
solid, with several layers of stone blocks, and on it were found ca. 40 round
stone balls which seem to show that the roof was at some time used as an artillery
emplacement. It has been suggested that this may be the tomb of the dynast Pigres.
The principal public buildings stood between the E citadel and the
central cross-wall, but little survives of them above ground. Several statues
have been found here, including an archaic kore, and the Temple of Athena attested
by inscriptions must have stood in this area. There is also a stadiumlike building
surrounded by a wall 1.1 m thick; it is only 50 by 10 m, and no rows of seats
are to be seen. There are also two more cisterns, one of which is still used by
the fire guardian stationed on the W summit.
Apart from the vases found in the royal tomb the pottery is in the
main Hellenistic, with some sherds and tiles apparently of the middle and late
4th c. There seems to have been no occupation in Classical Roman times, but there
is some evidence of a later resettlement.
No necropolis has been discovered, but on the mountainside below the
city on the NE is a group of tomb chambers carefully built of squared blocks,
with vaulted roofs and paving slabs above. These also appear to be of Hellenistic
date.
G. E. Bean, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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