Listed 87 sub titles with search on: Monuments reported by ancient authors for wider area of: "TURKEY Country EUROPE" .
DIDYMA (Ancient sanctuary) TURKEY
There is also an altar at Didyma of the Milesians, which Heracles the Theban is said by the Milesians to have made from the blood of the victims
MILITOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
There is an altar, erected by Neleus, to be seen on the Poseidium.
TEOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
In Teos likewise the Heliconian has a precinct and an altar, well worth seeing.
ACHARAKA (Ancient city) TURKEY
There was an oracle of Pluto and Core (Persephone) at Acharaca, between Tralles and Nysa, in Asia Minor, in the basin of the Maeander. A large grove, a temple, and a cave called the [p. 290] Charonium, were the seat of the oracle. The sick resort thither, and live in the village near the cave, among experienced priests, who sleep at night in the open air and direct the mode of cure by their dreams. The priests invoke the gods to cure the sick, and frequently take them into the cave, where they remain in quiet without food for several days. Sometimes the sick themselves observe their own dreams, but apply to the priests to interpret them. To others the place is interdicted and fatal. (Strabo, xiv. p. 650, abridged.) The singular ceremony which Strabo proceeds to narrate has no direct bearing on the oracle. There appears to have been an oracle of Pluto at Eana in Macedonia (cf. L. Henzey, Mission archeol. de Macedoine, Inscr. N, 120).
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ANTIOCHIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Oracle of Daphne, near Antioch in Syria. A very late oracle, and of no good repute. The prophetic fountain had here the name of Castalia, and a bay-tree grew close by. Hadrian obtained fiom this oracle a prophecy that he should be emperor; but on his becoming such in reality, he destroyed the fountain, lest any one else should draw from it a similar augury. Julian attempted to restore it, but the temple was burnt down (accidentally, it seems) during the struggle which he waged against the Christians, and this practically meant the end of the oracle. (Strabo, xv. p. 750; C. I. G. 1693; Sozom. Hist. Eccles. v. 19; Amm. Marcell. xxii. 12, 8.)
GRYNIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Oracle at Gryneia or Grynium. The principal oracle among the Aeolic cities of Asia Minor. (Strabo, xiii. p. 622; Verg. Eclog. vi. 72; Aen. iv. 345; Pausan. i. 21, § 7; Athen. iv. p. 149 d; Hecat. Fragm. 211.) The town itself is mentioned in Herodotus (i. 149), and appears from Strabo to have been dependent on Myrina; and as Myrina sent tribute to Delphi (Plut. Pyth. Orac. 16), the Grynean oracle was no doubt an offshoot from Delphi.
KLAROS (Ancient sanctuary) TURKEY
The people of Colophon suppose that the sanctuary at Clarus, and the oracle, were founded in the remotest antiquity.
Oracle of Claros. This was situated north of Miletus, near Colophon. It was said to have been founded by Cretans under Rhacius, who were joined afterwards by a Theban colony sent out under the auspices of the Delphic oracle, at an extremely early date. Manto, daughter of Tiresias, was among the Thebans; she married Rhacius, and their son was the prophet Mopsus, from whom the prophets of Claros may have traced their descent; but this is doubtful, (Pansan. vii. 3, § § 1, 2.) In later times, the prophets were generally taken from Miletus (Tac. Ann. ii. 54). The oracle at Claros had its centre in a cave with a beautiful clear pool in it, near a sacred wood, in which, it was said, there were no serpents (Aelian, Hist. Anim. x. 49). We hear but little of this oracle in early times: Alexander was said to have been encouraged by it in a design he had of rebuilding Smyrna (Pausan. vii. 5, § 1). A prophet, who drank the sacred water, was the revealer of the divine will (Tac. l. c.) and pronounced oracles in verse, answering the questioner without even having heard the question. The cynic philosopher Oenomaus of Gadara (in the 2nd century A.D.) was, however, by no means impressed with the truthfulness of the replies (Oenom. ap. Euseb. Praep. Evang. v. 2). Germanicus consulted this oracle, which was said to have prophesied his death (Tac. l. c.); it was sometimes consulted by letter (Ovid, Fast. i. 20); and it was patronised by Apollonius of Tyana (Philostr. Vit. Apoll. iv. 1) and Alexander of Abonotichos (Lucian, Pseudom. 29). Inscriptions prove that its fame extended even to Britain. Porphyry (ad Aneb. p. 3) and Iamblichus (Myst. iii. 11) speak of it, but after that time it is unmentioned.
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KYANEAI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Oracle at Cyaneae, in Lycia. (The town is mentioned in Pliny, v. § 101.) Here was an oracle of Apollo Thyrxeus (perhaps = thuraios: cf. Tertull. de coron. mil. 354), near which was a well, into which any one looking saw all that he desired (panta hoposa thelei, Pausan. vii. 21, § 6).
MAGNESIA ON MEANDROS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Oracle at Hybla, near Magnesia (cf. Athen. xv. § 13). Possibly the true name of this oracle is Hylae (Pausan. x. 32, § 6). It seems from its situation to be the same as that of Hiera Kome, mentioned in Liv. xxxviii. 13.
MALLOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
The Athenians too have an altar to Amphilochus in the city, and there is at Mallus in Cilicia an oracle of his which is the most trustworthy of my day (Paus. 1,34,3).
Oracle of Mopsus, otherwise called the oracle of Amphilochus, at Mallos in Cilicia. The two rival seers, Mopsus and Amphilochus, had slain each other, and their oracles, which were adjacent, had great celebrity in times succeeding the commencement of our era, and one of the most curious stories connected with oracles is told of that of Mopsus by Plutarch (de Orac. Defect. 45. See also Pausan. i. 34, § 3; Lucian, Pseudom. 28; Tertullian, de An. 46; Dio Cass. lxxii. 7).
MILITOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Oracle of Apollo Didymaeus, usually called the oracle of the Branchidae, in the territory of Miletus. This oracle was, as has been intimated, the fourth in importance of all in the Grecian world; and the legends respecting its foundation are highly picturesque. (Conon. Narrat. 33; Varr. ap. Lutat. ad Stat. Thebaid, viii. 198.) The antiquity of it has, however, been much doubted, and C. W. Soldau (in the Zeitschrift fur Alterthumswissenschaft, 1841, pp. 546-584) endeavours to show that it was founded somewhere about the last quarter of the 7th century B.C. But his arguments, though highly ingenious, hardly seem to countervail these two facts: first, that Herodotus calls it an oracle founded in ancient time (manteion ek palaiou hidrumenon, i. 157); and, secondly, that Pharaoh-Necho (who died in B.C. 601) sent to Branchidae, as an offering to Apollo, his military dress (Hierod. ii. 159), which he would hardly have done to a quite recent institution. It is true that it is suggested that the temple was more ancient than the oracle; but no one supposes that the family of the Branchidae were more ancient than the oracle; and their arrival (in the person of the head of the family, Branchus) could hardly have been a fact unknown to Herodotus if it had taken place only a century and a half before his own time. Branchus is probably a mythical person; the only argument to the contrary being the obscure reference in Diogenes Laertius (i. 3, 5 [72]), in which he is set side by side with the sage Chilon as a person of brief terse speech.
The oracle, however, is quite unmentioned by Homer or the Homeric
hymns, and various points in the myths of its foundation indicate that it was
an offshoot from Delphi; to which conclusion the reference in Strabo (xvii. p.
814) also leads. But at the beginning of the 5th century B.C., the sentiments
of the Delphic oracle towards Branchidae were the reverse of friendly (Herod.
vi. 19). It was the oracle chiefly consulted by the Aeolians and Ionians of Asia
Minor; and it was one of the seven selected by Croesus to answer his test question;
and though it appears not to have solved his puzzle satisfactorily, he gave it,
says Herodotus (i. 92), offerings, as I learn, equal in weight and similar to
those which he made to Delphi. This, under all the circumstances, may be doubted;
but Croesus must have been liberal to the Branchidae, to render such a statement
possible.
The meaning of the word Didymaeus (Didumaios or Didumeus) is not quite
certain; but if we accept the statement of Stephanus of Byzantium (s. v. Diduma)
that the temple and oracle were dedicated to Zeus and Apollo, the twin Apollo
(i. e. twin with Zeus) seems the natural interpretation: though twin with Artemis
cannot be discarded as impossible, if Didumeus has this meaning. In any case,
if Stephanus be right, such a dedication suggests an oracular foundation (cf.
Aesch. Eum. 19), and goes some way to show that the oracle is coeval with the
temple.
Of the constitution of the oracle of Branchidae only a few traces
are left. As its name implies, it was administered by a sacerdotal family, and
this appears further from its later history; for in the unfortunate close of the
history of the Branchidae, far away in the Sogdiana, we find them preserving their
cohesion and identity. Other families are also mentioned in connexion with this
oracle, especially the Evangelides (cf. Conon. Narrat. 44); but what their relation
to it exactly was we do not know. Perhaps they only entered on the scene after
the Branchidae had disappeared. Though Strabo (l. c.) describes this oracle as
similar to Delphi, in the fact of its replying by words and not by signs, we cannot
certainly infer that it had a tripod and a prophetess in the early times; though
it had in the times of Iamblichus (de Myst. iii. 2). But it had a sacred spring
more marvellous than Castalia, which rose in the promontory of Mycale, then (it
was said) dived under the sea and reappeared near the temple of Apollo (Pausan.
v. 7, § 5; and cf. Euseb. Psraep. Ev. v. 15).
The Branchidae failed in patriotism (Schol. Aristoph. Plut. 1002; Zenob. v. 80); yet the impression which the few stories that have come down to us about them leave, is not wholly unfavourable. When we find the historian Hecataeus proposing to take the treasure of their temple, and to derive thence a fund for repelling the Persians (Herod. v. 36), their coolness for the Greek cause, if not admirable, is intelligible. About the beginning of the 5th century B.C. a catastrophe overwhelmed them. Darius, after capturing Miletus, burnt their temple (Herod. vi. 19, 20) and, we must infer, appropriated its treasures; and when the historian goes on to say that Darius carried away the Milesians to Ampe on the Tigris, we should suppose that the Branchidae were at any rate among those carried off. But a different story was current in Greece in later days; namely, [p. 288] that it was Xerxes, not Darius, who carried away the Branchidae; that they voluntarily surrendered their treasures to him, bargaining for a safe home in Persia, since they dared not dwell among the Greeks, and that they were accordingly settled in Sogdiana (Curtius, vii. 23; Aelian, ap. Suid. s. v. Branchidai: Strabo, xi. p. 518, xiv. p. 634; Plut. de ser. num. vindicta, 12); and Strabo says, finally, that it was Xerxes who burnt their temple. Amid this contradictory evidence, it is impossible for us now to decide how the case lay; but the easiest supposition is, that Herodotus was not aware of the exact place to which the Branchidae were transported, and that on this point the four later historians are right; that the four historians, on the other hand, are mistaken in saying that Xerxes had anything to do with the matter (since Herodotus could hardly have erred here); and that the story of the treachery of the Branchidae was the exaggerated shape which the sense of their want of patriotism took in the minds of after-generations. Be that as it may, the final upshot, as reported by the four above-named historians, was tragical. Alexander the Great, in his wild arrogance regarding himself as the avenger of the past wrongs of Greece, slew the descendants of the Branchidae, in their peaceable remote retreat in Sogdiana.
The oracle of Apollo Didymaeus, no longer the oracle of the Branchidae
(though still sometimes called so), revived from the ruins in which the Persians
had left it; though how soon, we do not know. In the time of Alexander we find
it under the direction of the authorities of Miletus (cf. O. Rayet, Rev. Archeol.
1874, ii. pp. 106, 107); the priests were chosen annually by lot from among the
principal families of the city (cf. C. I. G. 2884, 2881): the chief of the priestly
body was called stephanephoros, crownbearer, and it seems possible that he combined
with his religious office, either sometimes or always, the position of chief magistrate
of the city, for we find him in one case admitting certain persons to citizenship
(O. Rayet, p. 108); besides these, there was a prophet, also annually ordained.
The temple had been rebuilt, but on a scale so grand that the roof was never put
on (Strabo, xiv. p. 634). The oracle flattered Alexander, and after him Seleucus
Nicator, from whom it received gifts; and from this time onwards it rapidly became
rich. In the year 74 B.C. it was pillaged by pirates, yet Strabo in his visit
still found it in a condition of great magnificence. It seems (like the other
Asiatic oracles) to have been less affected by a decline in prestige than the
oracles in Greece proper; and the Roman senate included it among those religious
institutions which it was legally permissible to endow with inheritances (Ulpian,
Fragm. xxii. 6). It shared in the oracular revival of the 3rd and 4th centuries
A.D., but after the death of Julian fell irretrievably into ruin.
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PATARA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Oracle of Patara, in Lycia. The story (not of course likely to be approved of at Delphi) was that Apollo spent six months of the year here (the winter time) and the six summer months at Delos. (Tzetz. ad Lycophr. 401; Servius ad Verg. Aen. iv. 143: cf. Herod. i. 182.)
SELEFKIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Oracle at Seleucia, in Cilicia (cf. Steph. Byz. s. v. Seleukeia). Here Apollo was invoked as Sarpedonius (from the neighbouring promontory, dedicated to the hero Sarpedon). The people of Palmyra, in the height of their pride under Zenobia, asked this oracle if they could conquer the empire of the East. It is not surprising that they were repelled (Zosim. i. 57). It would seem that this is the oracle called by Strabo the oracle of Artemis Sarpedonia (xiv. 5, §9).
KLAZOMENES (Ancient city) TURKEY
DIDYMA (Ancient sanctuary) TURKEY
EFESSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Sanctuary of Olympian Zeus at Ephesus.
GRYNIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
You may see linen breastplates dedicated in other sanctuaries, notably in that at Gryneum, where there is a most beautiful grove of Apollo, with cultivated trees, and all those which, although they bear no fruit, are pleasing to smell or look upon.
KINDYI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Near Bargylia is the temple of Artemis Cindyas, round which the rain is believed to fall without striking it. And there was once a place called Cindye. (Strab. 14,2,20).
KNIDOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
For the Cnidians hold Aphrodite in very great honor, and they have sanctuaries of the goddess; the oldest is to her as Doritis (Bountiful), the next in age as Acraea (Of the Height), while the newest is to the Aphrodite called Cnidian by men generally, but Euploia (Fair Voyage) by the Cnidians themselves.
LATMOS (Mountain) KARIA
As to the death of Endymion, the people of Heracleia near Miletus do not agree with the Eleans for while the Eleans show a tomb of Endymion, the folk of Heracleia say that he retired to Mount Latmus and give him honor, there being a shrine of Endymion on Latmus.
MAGNESIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Sanctuary of Mother Plastene at Mt. Sipylus.
MYLASSA (Ancient city) TURKEY
The Mylasians have two temples of Zeus, Zeus Osogo, as he is called, and Zeus Labrandenus. The former is in the city, whereas Labranda is a village far from the city, being situated on the mountain near the pass that leads over from Alabanda to Mylasa. At Labranda there is an ancient shrine and statue of Zeus Stratius. It is honored by the people all about and by the Mylasians; and there is a paved road of almost sixty stadia from the shrine to Mylasa, called the Sacred Way, on which their sacred processions are conducted. The priestly offices are held by the most distinguished of the citizens, always for life. Now these temples belong peculiarly to the city; but there is a third temple, that of the Carian Zeus, which is a common possession of all Carians, and in which, as brothers, both Lydians and Mysians have a share. It is related that Mylasa was a mere village in ancient times, but that it was the native land and royal residence of the Carians of the house of Hecatomnos.
ANTIOCHIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Eutychides of Sicyon, Tyche of Antioch, a gilded image of the Tyche of the city, seated above the river Orontes, and crowned by the kings Seleukos and Antiochos. Α work in bronze representing the presiding destiny of the city of Antioch on the Orontes
CHRYSSI (Ancient city) TURKEY
In this Chrysa is also the temple of Sminthian Apollo; and the symbol which preserves the etymology of the name, I mean the mouse, lies beneath the foot of his image. These are the works of Scopas of Paros (Strab. 13.1.48).
DIDYMA (Ancient sanctuary) TURKEY
Sicyonian Canachus fashioned the Apollo at Didyma of the Milesians (Apollo Philesios, bronze image removed by Darius 494 BC, returned to Didyma from Ecbatana by Seleukos I Nikator)
EFESSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
her statue was placed in the temple of that goddess at Ephesus ( Praef.; Serv. ad Verg. Aen.vi. 250; Tibull. iii. 4, 17; Verg. Aen.v. 721, etc.).
TIMNOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
If you cross the river Hermus you see an image of Aphrodite in Temnus made of a living myrtle-tree. It is a tradition among us that it was dedicated by Pelops when he was propitiating the goddess and asking for Hippodameia to be his bride.
ERYTHRES (Ancient city) TURKEY
There is also in Erythrae a temple of Athena Polias and a huge wooden image of her sitting on a throne; she holds a distaff in either hand and wears a firmament on her head (Paus. 7,5,9).
You would be delighted too with the sanctuary of Heracles at Erythrae (Paus. 7,5,5).
FOKEA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Besides these, two temples in Ionia were burnt down by the Persians, the one of Hera in Samos and that of Athena at Phocaea. Damaged though they are by fire, I found them a wonder.
HERAKLIA ON LATMOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
KOLONES (Ancient city) TURKEY
Daes of Colonae says that the temple of the Cillaean Apollo was first founded in Colonae by the Aeolians who sailed from Greece; it is also said that a temple of Cillaean Apollo was established at Chrysa, though it is not clear whether he is the same as the Sminthian Apollo or distinct from him.
MAGNESIA ON MEANDROS (Ancient city) TURKEY
In Magnesia is the temple of Artemis Leucophryene, which in the size of its shrine and in the number of its votive offerings is inferior to the temple at Ephesus, but in the harmony and skill shown in the structure of the sacred enclosure is far superior to it. And in size it surpasses all the sacred enclosures in Asia except two, that at Ephesus and that at Didymi.
MYOUS (Ancient city) TURKEY
They departed for Miletus, taking with them the images of the gods and their other movables, and on my visit I found nothing in Myus except a white marble temple of Dionysus.
PERGAMOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
The same rule applies to those who sacrifice to Telephus at Pergamus on the river Caicus; these too may not go up to the temple of Asclepius before they have bathed.
SARDIS (Ancient city) TURKEY
In the fire at Sardis (498 BC) a temple of Cybebe, the goddess of that country, was burnt, and the Persians afterwards made this their pretext for burning the temples of Hellas. (Hdt. 5.102)
STRATONIKIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Apaturius of Alabanda designed with skilful hand the scaena of the little theatre which is there called the ekklesiasterion representing columns in it and statues, Centaurs supporting the architraves, rotundas with round roofs on them, pediments with overhanging returns, and cornices ornamented with lions' heads, which are meant for nothing but the rainwater from the roofs,--and then on top of it all he made an episcaenium in which were painted rotundas, porticoes, half-pediments, and all the different kinds of decoration employed in a roof. The effect of high relief in this scaena was very attractive to all who beheld it, and they were ready to give their approval to the work, when Licymnius the mathematician came forward and said that
EFESSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Androclus was killed in the battle. The Ephesians carried off his body and buried it in their own land, at the spot where his tomb is pointed out at the present day, on the road leading from the sanctuary past the Olympieum to the Magnesian gate. On the tomb is a statue of an armed man.
KOLOFON (Ancient city) TURKEY
How it befell that Colophon was laid waste I have already related in my account of Lysimachus. Of those who were transported to Ephesus only the people of Colophon fought against Lysimachus and the Macedonians. The grave of those Colophonians and Smyrnaeans who fell in the battle is on the left of the road as you go to Clarus.
LEVEDOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
The grave of Andraemon is on the left of the road as you go from Colophon, when you have crossed the river Calaon.
MILITOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
The grave of Neileus is on the left of the road, not far from the gate, as you go to Didymi (Paus. 7,2,6).
PERGAMOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
The tomb of Auge still exists at Pergamus above the Calcus; it is a mound of earth surrounded by a basement of stone and surmounted by a figure of a naked woman in bronze.
That the Silenuses are a mortal race you may infer especially from their graves, for there is a tomb of a Silenus in the land of the Hebrews, and of another at Pergamus.
SARDIS (Ancient city) TURKEY
There are not many marvellous things in Lydia to record, in comparison with other countries, except the gold dust that comes down from Tmolus. But there is one building to be seen there which is much the greatest of all, except those of Egypt and Babylon. In Lydia is the tomb of Alyattes, the father of Croesus, the base of which is made of great stones and the rest of it of mounded earth. It was built by the men of the market and the craftsmen and the prostitutes. There survived until my time five corner-stones set on the top of the tomb, and in these was cut the record of the work done by each group: and measurement showed that the prostitutes' share of the work was the greatest. All the daughters of the common people of Lydia ply the trade of prostitutes, to collect dowries, until they can get themselves husbands; and they themselves offer themselves in marriage.
ORTYGIA (Ancient sanctuary) TURKEY
There are several temples in the place, some ancient and others built in later times; and in the ancient temples are many ancient wooden images, but in those of later times there are works of Scopas; for example, Leto holding a sceptre and Ortygia standing beside her with a child in each arm. A general festival is held there annually; and by a certain custom the youths vie for honor, particularly in the splendor of their banquets there. At that time, also, a special college of the Curetes holds symposiums and performs certain mystic sacrifices.
EOLIS (Ancient country) TURKEY
Site: Delphi
Type: Treasury
Summary: Temple-like building; in the southern half of the Sanctuary
of Apollo, on the opposite side of the Sacred Way, and a little to the east, of
the Treasury of the Sikyonians.
Date: Unknown
Plan:
Cella opening north onto pronaos, distyle in antis.
This text is cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 1 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KNIDOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Site: Delphi
Type: Treasury
Summary: Temple-like building; in the southern half of the Sanctuary
of Apollo, east of the point where the Sacred Way 1st curves and ascends to the
northeast.
Date: ca. 565 B.C. - 555 B.C.
Period: Archaic
Plan:
Small Ionic building, with cella opening northeast onto a pronaos distyle in antis.
Caryatids between the antae.
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VYZANTION (Ancient city) TURKEY
Site: Olympia
Type: Treasury
Summary: Small temple-like building; on the north side of the Sanctuary
of Zeus (Altis), the 4th treasury from the west on the Treasury Terrace.
Date: ca. 475 B.C.
Period: Early Classical
Plan:
Cella opening south onto Doric columned pronaos distyle in antis.
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ALIKARNASSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
The grave at Halicarnassus was made for Mausolus, king of the city, and it is of such vast size, and so notable for all its ornament, that the Romans in their great admiration of it call remarkable tombs in their country Mausolea (Paus. 8.16.4).
The only detailed descriptions of the Mausoleum are by Vitruvius and Pliny:
Vitruvius 7. Praef. 12-13
Satyrus and Pytheus wrote a book on the Mausoleum. On these men good fortune conferred the greatest and highest tribute. For their works of art are judged to possess merits renowned for all time and unfading for eternity, and from their deliberations were produced works of high distinction. For example, individual artists undertook one side each, competing against each other in embellishing and scrutinizing the work: Leochares, Bryaxis, Scopas, and Praxiteles, while some add Timotheus. The outstanding quality of their art caused the fame of the building to be included among the Seven Wonders of the World.
Pliny, N.H. 36.30-1
The rivals and contemporaries of Scopas were Bryaxis, Timotheus, and Leochares, whom we must discuss together because they all worked on the carvings for the Mausoleum. This was the tomb built by Artemisia for her husband Mausolus, the satrap of Caria, who died in the 2nd year of the 107th Olympiad [351; he actually died in 353]. These artists were chiefly responsible for the work's inclusion among the Seven Wonders of the World. On the North and South sides it extends for 63 feet [actually 120 feet] but the length of the facades is less, giving a total circumference of 440 feet. It rises to a height of 25 cubits [probably the colonnade alone] and is enclosed by 36 columns . . . Scopas carved the east side, Bryaxis the north, Timotheus the south, and Leochares the west, but before they had finished, the queen died [351]. However, they refused to stop working until it was complete, since they had decided that it would be a monument both to their own glory and to that of their art, and even today their rivalry persists. A fifth artist also joined them. For above the colonnade is a pyramid that equals the building's podium in height, tapering in 24 steps to its peak; at the top is a marble chariot-and-four that Pythis made. With this added, the building's total height comes to 140 feet.
The information given in these passages has been endlessly disputed,
though recent excavation has resolved some problems; for a conjectural restoration
of the building and a selection of the sculpture see Stewart 1990, figs. 524-38:
head of Apollo (London 1058), bearded male (London 1054), Persian rider (London
1045), panther (London 1095), Amazon frieze (London 1014), Amazon frieze (London
1020), Carian lady and nobleman (London 1000) (London 1001), lion (London 1075),
horse from the chariot group (London 1002); for earlier attempts, see the sketches
in Pollitt 1990, 197 fig. 7.
As to personalities, Pytheos of Priene (a noted theorist of the Ionic
order) was clearly the building's architect and carved the great four-horsed chariot
that crowned its summit; according to Vitruvius 1.12 and 7 Praef. 12, he later
went on to design the temple of Athena Polias at Priene, which was still under
construction when Alexander passed through in 334.
This extract is from: Andrew Stewart, One Hundred Greek Sculptors: Their Careers and Extant Works. Cited July 2004 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains extracts from the ancient literature, bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
EFESSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
It was not by the Amazons that the sanctuary was founded, but by Coresus, an aboriginal, and Ephesus, who is thought to have been a son of the river Cayster. There were some people who dwelt around the sanctuary for the sake of its protection, and these included some women of the race of the Amazons.
After the burning of the temple by Herostratus, the Ionian cities with the architect Denostratus, rebuilt a new temple four times larger than Parthenon.
POLYMEDION (Ancient city) AYVACIK
The shrine of Palamedes, mentioned by ancient writers as existing at a town called Polymedium, has been discovered by J. T. Clarke on a site hitherto unvisited by any modern traveller, between Assus and Cape Lectum. It Droves to have been a sacred enclosure (femenos) on the acropolis of the town; the statue of Palamedes stood on a rock at the middle of its southern edge. (Encyclopedia Brittanica)
ANGYRA (Ancient city) TURKEY
And the anchor, which Midas found,3 was even as late as my time in the sanctuary of Zeus, as well as a spring called the Spring of Midas, wate from which they say Midas mixed with wine to capture Silenus.
MAGNESIA ON MEANDROS (Ancient city) TURKEY
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