Excavations at Dascylium

We’ll remember that the city was the capital of Hellespontine Phrygia, which Alexander took after the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC (see: Heading for Dascylium and Sardes). 

[Picture from Archaeology News Network - Credit: Anadolou Agency]

This year, archaeologists recovered a relief from the 5th century BC, i.e., well before Alexander’s conquest, showing Greek soldiers trampled by Persian warhorses probably referring to one of the Graeco-Persian wars. They assume that the artist's purpose was not to glorify either army but to create a work of propaganda.

Unfortunately, the Archaeology News Network doesn’t tell us what led them to this conclusion. The pictures they released are not too clear as they show the team cleaning parts of the reliefs rather than the scene itself.

During their excavations, the archaeologists also exposed sections of a stone and mudbrick wall. This is a rare find from Phrygian times, i.e., the 8th century BC. The remaining wall is 40 meters long, five meters thick, and four meters high. However, because the mudbrick sections have not survived, the original height is estimated at seven or eight meters.