Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for destination: "IASSOS Ancient city TURKEY".
Region: Caria
Periods: Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine
Type: Fortified city
Summary: One of the southernmost Greek cities of Anatolia, famed
in antiquity for its harbors and commercial fishing.
Physical Description:
Iasos occupies a S projecting headland of ca. 800 x 200
m on the gulf of Mendelia, NE of the Halikarnassos peninsula. From the highest
point, near the center of the headland, the land slopes away to the flat isthmus
joining the mainland. The necropolis and a Roman aqueduct are located on the low
land N and E of the isthmus. E of the headland is a small harbor and W is a smaller
and well-protected harbor. The W harbor had a mole and could be closed by a chain.
The high land W of the harbor was protected by a 3 km long fortification wall
with numerous towers and sally ports. This land wall, which was never completed,
enclosed a large plateau and may have been built shortly before 412 B.C. by the
Iasos ruler Amorges as a garrison or refuge center. A 2nd fortification wall encircled
the city of Iasos on the headland E of the harbor. The city's fortifications may
also date to the 5th century B.C., but were extensively rebuilt in later periods.
The main gate of the city, located at the isthmus and head of the harbor, opened
directly onto the agora, just inside the city walls. Excavations have found earlier
9th and 8th century graves beneath the agora, indicating that the earlier city
had been smaller. The civic center of Iasos, including the bouleuterion, gymnasium,
and theater lie in the N quarter of the city, between the agora at the N and the
acropolis near the center of the headland. Streets and private houses are found
S and E of the acropolis. A sanctuary of Demeter and Kore and a S city gate are
at the S tip of the headland and a sanctuary of Artemis is located in the N corner
of the city, near the agora. The remains on the acropolis have been greatly disturbed
by the construction of a fortress by the Knights of Rhodes in the Middle Ages.
Description:
According to tradition, Iasos was colonized, possibly in
the 9th or 8th century B.C., by Dorian Greeks from Argos with the support of the
nearby Ionian city of Miletus. Archaeological evidence, however, shows that the
site was already occupied in the Early Bronze Age. Minoan and Mycenaean remains
indicate continued occupation in later periods. Iasos probably supported the Ionian
cities against the Persians, and in the 5th century B.C. it was a member of the
Delian League. As an ally of Athens, Iasos was attacked by Sparta and Persia in
412 B.C. and sacked. There is some evidence that Iasos was again attacked by Sparta
in 404 B.C. and that all the inhabitants were slaughtered or sold into slavery.
After Spartian power in the Aegean was destroyed by Conon in 394 B.C., Iasos was
rebuilt, possibly with the aid of Knidos, and it joined a league of Aegean states
that included Ephesos, Rhodes, Samos, and Byzantium. Following the Peace of Antalkides
in 386 B.C., Iasos came under the control of Mausolos and the satrapy of Caria.
Iasos was later liberated by Alexander the Great, but in 125 B.C. it, along with
all of Caria, became part of the Roman province of Asia. Prosperity continued
throughout the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods and many of the remains
visible today date from the later periods.
Exploration:
Chandler visited the site in 1764. Italian excavations
under direction of Doro Levi since 1960.
Donald R. Keller, ed.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains 52 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
