How to purchase your own archaeological site

For a rough 35 million Turkish Liras anyone can become the owner of the ancient Greek city of Bargylia located 30 kilometers from Bodrum between Iasos and Myndos.

Legend has it that the city was built by Bellarophon after his horse Pegasus killed his dear friend Barglos. The theme of Pegasus on the coins of Bargylia is referring to this myth.

This is a strange story for it is known that the site has been looted repeatedly by illegal treasure hunters knowing that no official or legal excavations were ever carried out. The reason for this ambiguous situation is that the land of Bargylia is on private property since 1927 where officials are unable to protect its historical heritage. 

It is everybody’s guess what treasures have disappeared and how much has been left to discover. Property owners would like the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to expropriate the land or exchange it for another plot. Yet not all the co-owners want to sell.

On the side, it should be noted that Alexander the Great spent some time in Bargylia while taking control of the region. Together with all the neighboring land, it later on became part of the Roman Empire.

Bargylia, which allegedly seems to include an amphitheater, a temple of Artemis (mentioned by Strabo), a bath complex from Roman times and a necropolis from the Byzantine era, is riddled with holes left by illegal excavators. A single example has been recorded where a mosaic was destroyed and stolen by smugglers.

It is terribly worrying to see the remains of ancient sites being plundered and looted but Turkey simply has too many of them. It is said that out of 192 archaeological sites in the province of Muğla alone, only 22 have been taken under protection and that does not mean that treasure hunters can no longer access the sites.

[Pictures are from The Archaeological News Network], except the Temple of Artemis which is from Guncel 7/24]