How the Arabs saved our knowledge from antiquity

In my post, The story around Alexander’s copy of the Iliad, I briefly mentioned how the Abbasid Caliphs in Persia largely contributed to preserving the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. 

A few years ago, my attention was drawn to the glory days of Baghdad around 1000 AD, a city built inside a circle surrounding the central Abbasid Palace, a symbol of power and unity. More amazing than its shape was the fact that its Caliphs invested in hiring scholars to translate ancient Greek documents into Arabic. 

[Baghdad under the early Caliphs. Attribution]

Baghdad was built along the Tigris River in 762 AD, as the residence of Caliph Al-Mansur, the founder of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasid Dynasty was named after the uncle of Prophet Muhammad. A Caliph was the title of the civil and religious leader of a Muslim state, seen as representing Allah on earth. 

Al-Mansur was the first Caliph to honor astrologers. The most famous astrologer was Mash’allah from Basra, who served the Caliphs from 762 to 809 AD. Al-Mansur was convinced that it was written in the stars that the Abbasids were the legitimate successors of the Persian Sassanid Empire. They had been in power from 224 until 651 AD, when they were conquered by the Muslims. Since astrology did not exist in Arabic, Al-Mansur needed to revert to Persian and Greek astrological texts. As a result, he needed these ancient texts to be translated into Arabic.

By 786 AD, Caliph Harun al-Rashid established the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, which originally may have been a Library, where scholars from across the Muslim world would organize their translations. The idea caught on, and other centers flourished a few centuries later in Cordoba and Granada in Spain, as well as in Cairo, Egypt. 

In the western Roman world, we saw our ancient knowledge and know-how disappear into the dark Middle Ages soon after the Fall of Rome in 476 AD. In the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, however, the science of Antiquity survived despite the rise of Christianity. Constantine the Great had made it the official religion, renaming its capital Byzantium after himself, Constantinople.

When Islam entered the stage in the 7^th century AD, the Abbasid Caliphate, established in Damascus, was a serious competitor to Constantinople. In about 750 AD, the Caliphate was transferred from Damascus to Baghdad, meaning that the center of power moved east from a Greek-speaking region to a non-Greek-speaking area. Followed a series of wars between the Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire that lasted until the 11^th century. 

All that time, the knowledge from Antiquity flowed into Baghdad, where a vast translation project was set up, and top translators were highly rewarded in gold. They concentrated on matters like astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, and even music theory. Aristotle was still held in high esteem, his works as well as his comments. Later translations included Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest, a mathematical and astronomical treatise on the motions of the stars and planets; Euclid's book on geometry; the medical works of Hippocrates and Galen; and Plato’s Republic and Laws. Many other ancient books were translated from Greek, Pahlavi, Neo-Persian, and Syriac into Arabic. 

Simultaneously with this translation movement, Islamic science developed, involving philosophers and scientists alike. A name that stands out is that of Ibn Sina, better known as Avicenna (980-1037), the Father of Early Medicine, whose work was standard in Europe for centuries. Another figure was Al-Khwarizmi (780-860), the Father of Algebra, who introduced the algorithms.

By the mid-11^th century, the ideas of antiquity reached Europe in Arabic, traveling to Sicily and Muslim Spain. Over time, they had been enriched with the knowledge that the Caliphs in the Middle East had acquired and developed. We owe it to the Abbasids that the knowledge from classical antiquity reached Europe, where it was generally translated into Latin. 

The Abbasid Caliphate ended in 1258 when Baghdad was sacked by the Mongols. The city was looted and thoroughly destroyed. The invaders burned piles of books, including those that were held in the House of Wisdom. 

Without Baghdad and its western expansion, we would have remained stuck in the dark Middle Ages, and there would not have been a Renaissance. 

The birth of Egyptology under Napoleon

Napoleon was fascinated by Alexander the Great, and for that reason, he deserves some attention as France celebrated the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death on 5 May 2021. 

The young general launched his Egyptian campaign in 1798 in order to cut off the British route to India. At the same time, he intended to free Egypt from the Mameluk warriors. With his fleet, he landed in Alexandria and fought his way inland to Cairo and the Pyramids. Unfortunately for him, the British Royal Navy, under the command of Lord Nelson, sunk the French fleet on the Nile, and Napoleon was forced to return to France, leaving his troops behind – something Alexander would never have done! 

However, Napoleon somehow managed to turn his disastrous campaign into a cultural and scientific victory. Egypt, in those days, had little or no interest in the legacy of the great pharaohs from antiquity, which they dismissed as pagan. 

Inspired by Alexander, Napoleon added a large number of scientists, engineers, artists, cartographers, botanists, mathematicians, and art connoisseurs to his army. History does not remember most of their names, but it is worth mentioning, for instance, Mathieu de Lesseps, whose son Ferdinand built the Suez Canal half a century later (see also: The canal of the pharaohs, the Suez Canal of antiquity). Napoleon founded the Institute of Egypt with four distinctive sections: Mathematics, Physics, Political Economy, and Literature and Arts. 

Napoleon’s scientific expedition made extensive studies of the pyramids and temples of Egypt, and in particular of the statues of Pharaohs like the head of Amenhotep III, which can still be admired in the Louvre today. At that time, a slab of black basalt was discovered at Rosetta, some 35 miles from Alexandria, displaying a trilingual inscription in Greek, Demotic, and Egyptian hieroglyphs. 

After the Battle of the Nile in 1798, Napoleon lost most of the excavated objects to the British, including the Stone of Rosetta and the Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II, which, among other items, ended up in the British Museum. 

Importantly, the French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphs using the Greek text on the Stone of Rosetta to guide him. This was a huge step forward in discovering and studying the culture of ancient Egypt. Interestingly, the inscription on the stone honors Ptolemy V, who lived from 210-180 BC. 

During his extensive campaigns, Napoleon didn’t shy away from acquiring whatever artifact pleased him or was of some value. Most of his collection ended up at the Louvre and included, for instance, the Horses of San Marco in Venice (which originally stood in the Hippodrome of Constantinople) and one splendid frieze from the Parthenon in Athens.

Buried secrets of Heliopolis

Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, was the religious center of Egypt for more than 3,000 years. Unfortunately, the only surviving testimony of this glorious past is the obelisk of the Temple of Ra-Atum on the outskirts of modern Cairo. This 21-meter-high red granite needle was erected by Sesostris I, who reigned from 1971 until 1926 BC.

What brings me to Heliopolis is Alexander, of course. After entering Egypt at Pelusium, his fleet sailed up the Nile to Memphis while he led his troops on foot to Heliopolis. Arrian simply states that the king arrived at Heliopolis and proceeded from there to Memphis to make his offerings to Apis, the sacred bull.

These lines raise many questions. In my mind, it would be evident that Alexander would seek the blessing of the gods to be enthroned as the new pharaoh of Egypt. Strangely enough, I found nothing in our historical sources to confirm this. Moreover, there is a general tendency to place his official proclamation as pharaoh in Memphis instead.

The fact remains that Alexander saw the City of the Sun still in its full glory, with its countless temples and at least 30 towering obelisks. The sunrise over Heliopolis must have been a sight for sore eyes when the first sunrays hit the golden pyramidal point on the obelisks! For centuries, Heliopolis had been the old religious center for the Egyptians. Every pharaoh made it to the sacred city where the gods would confer him their power. So, what happened? Why did this practice change? And more importantly, when did this change occur?

According to the Egyptians, in the beginning, there was the Ocean. Atum was the first god who existed, but nobody knew. Atum rose from the primeval waters and settled on a hill he had created. From his body emerged the first godly couple: Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of fire. They, in turn, gave birth to Geb, the god of war, and Nut, the goddess of heaven. Their children were Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. These nine gods and goddesses ruled the world, and much later, they transferred their power to the pharaoh. This is how the legality of the king was tied to his ancestral link to the gods. The sun, Ra, of course, occupied the primary role. Hence, the name Atum-Ra or Ra-Atum is used when referring to the first god.

The oldest inscription to that effect carries the name of Djoser, who, in the first half of the 2700^th century BC, recognized the importance of Heliopolis and built several monuments in that city. About 2100 BC, Thebes erected its principal temple to Amon-Re, inspired by the largest temple of Heliopolis. When he became pharaoh in 1353 BC, Akhenaton ordered the destruction of all the existing temples in his empire, except those of Heliopolis.

Another unusual situation developed when the Nubian Piankhi conquered Egypt in 744 BC. As a non-Egyptian, he definitely needed to be recognized and legitimized as the new dynastic ruler. Heliopolis still played its role and confirmed Piankhi as the new pharaoh of Egypt.

The Persians, who invaded the country in 525 BC, had no intention whatsoever to submit to the Egyptian gods. They plundered and raised the sacred enclosure by one square kilometer. Somehow, Heliopolis managed to recover and build or rebuild several temples. The last pharaoh in Heliopolis's records is Nectanebo in 379 BC. He could avoid a new Persian attack in 374/373 BC. His son ruled for only two years, as his brother betrayed him and put his son on the throne. This was Nectanebo II, who was defeated by the Persians at Pelusium in 343 BC. This was the situation when Alexander arrived in Egypt in 332 BC to become the new pharaoh.

From the above history, we know for sure that at the end of the 4^th century BC, Heliopolis still functioned as the sacred city where the new pharaoh was confirmed in his functions. It does not sound too far-fetched to assume that Alexander went to Heliopolis just for that purpose. Why else would he have traveled that way? If his intention was not to be confirmed as pharaoh in the City of the Sun, he could have sailed down to Memphis directly instead.

Arrian's reference to Alexander's sacrifices to Apis in Memphis may make us assume that the ceremony was tied to his official recognition as pharaoh. But that is not necessarily the case, for this protocol could have been performed in both locations. On the other hand, it is plausible that Arrian, living in the 2^nd century AD, mentions Memphis because, in his days, Heliopolis no longer played any role. It has been established that Alexandria eventually became Egypt's political capital under Ptolemaic rule and Memphis' religious capital. Heliopolis was slowly abandoned, it seems. The reason for this shift remains obscure.

The city of Heliopolis is enigmatic because close to nothing remains for us to see. The constructions that survived after the site was abandoned in favor of Memphis were mainly taken down, and the readily available construction material served to build medieval Cairo. The stones used at Heliopolis came from a local quarry of quartzite that appeared in a rather unique shading of colors. The top layer was beige, the middle one dark brown, and the bottom pink. Despite this gradation, it is nearly impossible to track down these blocks as they were randomly inserted in medieval and later buildings. Heliopolis thus emptied of its walls, and statues eventually disappeared from the surface of the earth.

Recently, Heliopolis has been in the news because the empty parcel of land next to the lonely obelisk is to be turned into a building site. Suddenly, rescue excavations are taking place to map the scant remains still hidden in this tiny section of the ancient city. I'm afraid the results will be meager, but every little bit of information will contribute to creating a valuable picture of this majestic old city.

Another aspect that deserves to be underscored is that Heliopolis was a notorious learning center. Its so-called House of Life was a meeting place where the priests studied philosophy, astronomy, and theology. Many Greeks, like Homer, Pythagoras, Plato, and Solon, consulted the available library that contained the entire history of Egypt. This seat of learning was eventually moved to Alexandria once the city was completed. However, it is unclear whether Heliopolis and Alexandria shared a similar interest or if the House of Life was transferred entirely to Alexandria to become its Museum (see also: Libraries in Antiquity, a short overview).

The ultimate fate of Heliopolis remains obscure because no systematic excavations could be carried out underneath modern Cairo. Also, many decorative elements from Heliopolis have been moved elsewhere.

 The Ptolemies brought many sphinxes from Sun City to Alexandria. Obelisks were an eye-catcher that impressed the world, and they were carried away as booty. Italy, with its Roman heritage, may possess the most significant collection. Rome, for instance, has examples standing in front of the Pantheon, at the center of the Piazza del Popolo and the Piazza Montecitorio, outside their central train station, and in front of the Basilica of the Vatican. Florence displays an obelisk in the Boboli Gardens of the Palazzo Pitti. One of "Cleopatra's Needles" arrived in London from Alexandria, and another traveled to New York to be re-erected between Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Istanbul has yet another obelisk standing at the center of the ancient hippodrome.

If such widespread plunder has been traced for the obelisks and the sphinxes, who knows what happened to Heliopolis' rich collection of statues, reliefs, and other decorative elements!

The Canal of the Pharaohs, the Suez Canal of antiquity

The Canal of the Pharaohs in Egypt’s Tell el-Maskhuta, located northeast of Cairo, was already known in the 1800s but was never adequately documented until now.

Excavations started around a partially visible wall belonging to a square fortress near Wadi Tumilat. This valley was an important turntable for commercial and cultural exchanges with Palestine and Syria, all the way into Mesopotamia. An enormous wall of 22 meters in length and a height of eight meters leads to the fortress with its two twelve meters long walls. The construction measured 200x300 meters, and as part of Tell el-Maskhuta, stays hidden underneath the desert sands for at least one kilometer.

Excavations have revealed that the Hyksos built the settlement as far back as 1,500 BC and used it during the Ptolemaic era (3^rd-1^st century BC) as the foundation for this fortress. So far, it has been established that this was one of the Nile Delta's largest fortresses before the arrival of the Romans.

The first canal to connect the Red Sea to the Nile and ultimately to the Mediterranean ran past Wadi Tumilat and was built as early as the 19^th century BC! Although it was difficult to maintain because of the ever-shifting desert sands, it was still functioning during the reign of Ramses II in the 13^th century BC. When Darius the Great conquered Egypt in the 5^th century BC, he was keen to optimize the canal for his imports of wheat and the transport of his troops. The first stone for this canal was laid around 520 BC and was retrieved in 1866 during the construction of the modern Suez Canal. The precious stone and inscription can be seen at the Louvre in Paris.

This is more than sideline information, as the very existence of the canal so early in history was known to Alexander when he entered Egypt.

[Map of Egypt by annie brocolie - Inspirée d'une carte du livreSuez & Panama de Benoît Heimermann aux édition Arthaud, CC BY-SA 2.5]

Looting of antiquities in Egypt

In recent years, we have been made aware of the widespread looting in war zones, especially in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. However, looting in other countries has not subsided either, and Egypt is no exception.

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities started with the good news that they were working on inventorying some 5,000 artifacts from their Alexandria seaside warehouses. Until now, countless antiquities were stored in Egyptian warehouses, but the artifacts were never studied or documented. What a shame! How on earth can they keep track of what they have and what is being stolen or displaced?

[A fragment of an ancient Egyptian artifact is displayed at the opening of the Repatriated Objects exhibition at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, January 14, 2016. (photo by REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih)]

The problem is familiar, for the Archaeological Museum of Cairo started with the inspection and sorting of their basement not so long ago! Incredible but true. Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities has revealed that there are no less than 72 archaeological warehouses, 35 of which belong to a museum, 20 are labeled as expedition warehouses, and another 17 are small on-site warehouses spread all over the country. So far, only 14 of these warehouses have been “inspected” – whatever that means.

It seems that a mere fraction of Egypt’s antiquities made it to a museum; all the other treasures resulting from decennia of excavations have simply been stored awaiting registration and restoration. Some speak of hundreds of thousands of neglected artifacts about which nothing is known and are making an easy target for thieves. This means there is much more to see and learn from these artifacts than in any museum. Who knows, some Alexander statue or cartouche may still be hidden somewhere?

Of course, these warehouses are guarded, but these people are unarmed, and often they cannot prevent theft. How authorities can still establish how many artifacts are being stolen from different locations is quite remarkable. The following is only a short list:

On September 12, 2013, 238 items were stolen from the Mit Rahina at Giza

On December 31, 2013, 96 small and rare antiquities disappeared from Aswan

On May 27, 2015, three fake lanterns replaced the originals that were removed from Old Cairo

On December 23, 2015, nine antiquities from the Pharaonic era disappeared from Buto

On February 11, 2016, 157 artifacts from the Saqqara era were stolen in Giza.

On April 30, 2016, a statue from the Middle Kingdom was replaced by a fake one at Mit Rahina in Giza

Decent security with modern means like camera surveillance must be implemented, especially when you realize that some of these warehouses have never been inspected. So it is no surprise to see treasures disappear to the black market. It is no news that when artifacts are documented in international libraries, it becomes much easier to recover them. 

One of the main problems, however, is the limited financial resources of the responsible ministries, and the decline in tourism combined with the difficult economic situation is not helping either.

Sunset Oasis by Bahaa Taher

Basically, my reason for buying Sunset Oasis by Bahaa Taher (ISBN 970-0-340-92488-4) was because the story was set in the Oasis of Siwah which was visited by Alexander nearly two thousand five hundred years ago. It also was warmly recommended by Olaf Kaper at the conclusion of his lecture in 2010 (see: Alexander the Great in Egypt. Lecture of 24 November 2010) - better late than never.

The scene of the novel evolves at the end of the 19^th century when Egypt is under British rule. The main figures are Mahmoud, who is appointed to replace the previously murdered District Commissioner at Siwah, and his Irish wife Catherine, who is very well versed in ancient languages and has a great interest in antiquities, particularly in Alexander the Great.

The book gives a fascinating description of their trip through the desert from Cairo to Siwah during which they are caught in a sandstorm, not unlike Alexander’s experience. Their welcome in Siwah is hostile and as if that were not enough, the locals themselves are split between Easterners and Westerners causing friction and problems of their own.

Bahaa Taher interestingly tells the story alternatively from the point of view of Mahmoud, that of Catherine, but also from that of the two main leaders Sheikh Yahya of the western clan and Sheikh Sabir of the eastern clan. There even is an entire chapter where Alexander the Great is giving his thoughts – not entirely without merit. As each person relates his own experiences and thoughts, we also get more information about what happened earlier in their lives and how they feel about it. It is striking to follow their “eastern” way of thinking and reacting (no wonder it collides with the British and in Mahmoud’s case with his Irish wife).

This is all fiction and we should remember that this is a novel, but nonetheless, it makes good reading and gives an excellent insight into a period of time about which little is known otherwise and certainly not from such a remote location as Siwah, close to the Libyan border. It is quite fascinating to follow.

An interesting chapter of Egypt’s history is being told here and for me, a not uninteresting approach to Alexander’s visit to the Oasis of Siwah.

Cleopatra VII and her children, the last of the Ptolemies

Cleopatra was not only the last queen to rule over Egypt before the country fell into Roman hands; she also was the last of the Ptolemaic Dynasty founded by Ptolemy I, a prominent general in the army of Alexander the Great.

After Alexander died in 323 BC, his empire was divided among his generals after a long feud and endless wars that lasted for forty years. From the onset, Ptolemy had his eyes set on Egypt, and apparently, none of his competitors contested his territory. The Ptolemies ruled Egypt for about three hundred years, putting Alexandria as its glorious new capital on the world map.

 

In 53 BC, the 17-year-old Cleopatra VII co-reigned with her brothers Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married following the Egyptian tradition and desperately tried to keep Egypt out of Roman grip. It is known that Cleopatra was ambitious, and she arranged for her brothers to be eliminated to become the sole ruler.

So, Cleopatra significantly sought his support when Julius Cesar arrived in Alexandria in 48 BC. They became lovers, and she bore him a son, Caesarion, in 47 BC. Three years later, she left for Rome with her son, but Caesar was murdered by a group of Roman senators within a year. Rome was divided by Octavian and Marc Antony supporters, and since the latter was more popular, Cleopatra concentrated on gaining Marc Antony’s favors. This chagrined the Romans, especially when Marc Antony gave away parts of his empire to Cleopatra in 34 BC. 

Meanwhile, they became lovers, and Cleopatra gave birth to twins, a boy, and a girl, Alexander and Cleopatra, in 40 BC. Their names were changed to Alexander Helios (Sun) and Cleopatra Selene (Moon) three years later when the queen joined Marc Antony in Antioch (modern Turkey). This name-giving happened on the day of an eclipse. This may have led to choosing of a mythological name for the twins. Another son was born in 36 BC and received the name Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Meanwhile, Octavian declared war on this foreign queen in Rome, and he won the Battle of Actium over Marc Antony. A year later, in 30 BC, Octavian landed in Alexandria to face Marc Antony personally, but rather than being killed by his adversary Marc Antony committed suicide. With Cleopatra at his mercy, Octavian refused negotiation of any kind, and Cleopatra, feeling that there was no way out, killed herself – allegedly using poisonous snakes. With her death, the Ptolemaic Dynasty ended.

Caesarion, or Ptolemy Caesar, was then 17 years of age, and he was killed by Octavian only ten days after his own mother. Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire ruled by Octavian, who promoted himself to Emperor Augustus. 

The three children of Cleopatra and Marc Antony were spared by Octavian and taken to Rome instead. The twins were 10 years old, and the little brother was four by then. Their care was entrusted to Octavia, Octavian’s sister, who was, ironically, the widow of Marc Antony. A few years later, the boys disappeared from history, but the girl, Cleopatra Selene, married King Juba II of Mauretania. As far as we know, she had at least one son whom she called Ptolemy Philadelphus, probably in memory of her little brother. It seems she ruled as an equal with her husband since both their images were minted on the local coins.

Fate has added a little twist of its own. Recently an Italian Egyptologist has dusted off a statue from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo portraying Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene as small children. The sculpture was discovered in 1918 near the temple of Dendera on the banks of the Nile. It was stored away in the museum. The ten-meter-high statue shows two naked children of identical size, one male and one female, standing within the coils of two snakes. They are holding each other with one arm around the shoulder of the other while they are grasping the snake with their other hand. They have identified thanks to the sun disc around the boy's head and the lunar disc and crescent held by the girl. We also find the Horus eye on each disc, a typical symbol in Egyptian art. The faces are not very clear, but the boy appears with curly hair and a braid on the right side of his head, as was customary. The girl’s hair is cut according to the fashion of the Ptolemaic dynasty and of Cleopatra in particular. 

It is nice to see that at least a picture of these poor children has survived for 2,100 years. What history they could have written!

[Picture of Ceasarion is from Wikipedia]

[Picture of Cleopatra and Ceasarion at de Temple of Dendera is from Wikipedia] 

[Picture of Cleopatra's twins is from Discovery News]

Underwater excavation at Heracleion still ongoing

It is nice to read about the progress of underwater excavations at the Egyptian site of Heracleion. It is in the news again as Oxford University is also diving at the site (see my earlier post: Heracleion, an ancient Greek port in Egypt) and presenting a few interesting pictures.

For the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology, it is a unique opportunity to partake in this project and divers have recovered many important ancient landmarks at the mouth of the Nile. There are, for instance, more than five meters tall statues that were hauled to the surface, not counting the hundreds of smaller statues that were retrieved from the sea floor. So far a monumental statue of goddess Isis and a massive head of the god Serapis have been removed. Art treasures like jewelry, coins, and ceramics have also been recovered and testify of the glorious past of Heracleion, named according to Diodorus after Heracles because he stopped the flood of the Nile.

Work in this murky water is pretty difficult but very promising. The article published in The Oxford Times adequately states that “it can appear that someone emptied the contents of the Museum of Cairo on the bottom of the Mediterranean, while the images of building foundations appear akin to an underwater Pompeii”.

As mentioned in my earlier post (Heracleion, ancient Greek port in Egypt), the remains of 64 ships have been found, but also over 700 anchors. At present the archaeological team is focussing on what they call Shipwreck 43, a 24-meter long vessel that has been dated between 785 and 480 BC and is one of eight belonging to the same size. This is a flat-bottomed vessel, ideal to operate in shallow waters. 

The article in the Oxford Times mentions further that a major exhibition will be held in Germany next year and hopefully will come to the UK at a later date.

[Picture from the Oxford Times]

Unexpected visit to Tlos - Lycian Coast 15

Because of the storm earlier on our trip (see: Sheltering for a storm like in antiquity), our entire program has been pulled one day forward. As a result, we wind up with an extra day at the end of our tour, and Peter is giving us a choice: either take a two-hour walk behind Fethiye or visit the archaeological site of Tlos. We all agree on Tlos, which makes me personally very happy indeed!

First, we go to Fethiye, which is after a quick dip in the sea for my companions. Our bus pulls up around 10.30 a.m. to take us there, as our boat will join us later on. We will have about 1 ½ hours in town for shopping, and I set off straight to the Archaeological Museum (where else?). It is a small museum, a little old-fashioned, but it shows a couple of items that make it worthwhile for me. For instance, this is where I can find the mosaic from the Temple of Apollo in Letoon (4th century BC) and the stele with the law inscription of Pixodarus, satrap of Caria, in Greek, Lycian, and Aramaic, dating back to the time of Artaxerxes – both originals that I have seen in Letoon earlier this Spring. A smaller stele from Tlos, unique in its way, mentions how its citizens paid for the city's repairs after being hit by an earthquake. There are, of course, the usual and more common items like glassware, pottery, coins from different times and in different metals, golden jewelry, and parts of statues, mostly Roman. As always, I’m happy to see these items with my own eyes. After this most pleasant visit, I have time left for a Turkish coffee, and I find a kind of Konditorei that serves it with pistachio baklava on the side, right on the main street. Great! Just what I needed!

Fethiye stands on the site of the ancient Lycian city of Telmessus, whose remains include spectacular rock tombs and sarcophagi dating from the 5th-4th century BC. Other landmarks include the remains of a Byzantine fortress on top of a nearby hill, but somehow I missed noticing it. Much of the town is new, however, having been rebuilt after the terrible earthquake of 1958. There seems to be a Lycian sarcophagus well worth visiting, the so-called Tomb of Amyntas, dating from the 4th century BC, built in Doric style. So I’ll have to come back to Fethiye also.

Our meeting point is in front of the Roman Theater at the far end of the main road – easy to find, and I am there early enough to make my inspection tour. Fethiye’s theater was excavated from 1992 to 1995, but it still looks very confusing and overgrown. Built in the 2nd century AD, it was modified in Roman times and even converted into an arena with high walls around the orchestra to protect the audience from wild animals’ attacks. Part of the skene and proscenium has also survived, but it all looks very neglected. It provides, however, a sweeping view over the harbor, separated from the sea by a tranquil park where an oversized bronze pilot stares up at the sky. This is Fethi Bey, Turkey’s first aviation martyr, who crashed near Damascus in 1914 in an attempt to fly non-stop from Istanbul to Cairo. In honor of his heroic exploit, the city changed its original name from Meğri to Fethiye.

The Bay of Fethiye is very wide and large, and it seems to be a favorite spot for tourists and fishing boats alike. I spot the Almira with her green trimmings in the middle of the harbor, and moments later, I see our zodiac approaching with Peter on board. He carries our lunch for today, and it is about 1 p.m. when we set out for Tlos. This is a pleasant drive land inwards and I am all excited to enter the Xanthos Valley again, for this is Alexander territory.

Tlos, known as Tlava or Tlave in the Lycian language, goes back four thousand years, and it seems that even the Hittites referred to Tlos as Dalawa in the land of Luqqa. Tlos was one of the six cities that had three votes in the Lycian League, remember? The devastating earthquake of 141 AD hit the city severely, and once again, we have to thank our friend Opramoas of Rhodiapolis as well as Licinius Langus of Oenoanda, another rich Lycian, for the denarii they donated for the reconstruction. After being a diocese in Byzantine times, nothing major happened here until Ali Aga ruled over this region in the 19th century and built his stronghold right on top of the old Acropolis, where it still stands.

We park on a narrow local road and Peter and Ivşak carry our lunches into ancient Tlos, where we find the most exquisite picnic place: a series of blocks from the bathhouse that have been aligned in its shade with an eagle eye’s view over the historic valley below. We spread out the food on a table and helped ourselves. This is really something special, sitting here among those ruins, savoring the food in a place where Romans, Greeks, Lycians, and earlier civilizations lived centuries ago. The ancients must have spotted this place also and maybe savored their own snack while watching the scenery. It always makes me feel very privileged to sit in a place where people from times bygone have done so before. What were they seeing? What were they thinking? Whom did they talk to? This is beyond imagination, of course.

After clearing our tables, we take a closer look at this Roman Bath complex. We pass the Byzantine Basilica, which might be standing on top of an older temple; only time will tell.

Nearby is the theater. The original construction is definitely Greek and adapted to Roman needs in later times, as they did in Fethiye and in Patara. It will be interesting to return here in a couple of years to see the results of these excavations and restorations.

There is a group of Germans in the theater, and the guide is reciting the history of Lycia for the world to hear. We find this very disturbing and huddle together at one end of the seating rows, hoping that he’ll cut his oration short. He doesn’t and goes on and on about Chimaera and the Hittites and the Persians; where or when Tlos or this theater is fitting in his story remains an open question. Peter whispers a few facts and figures about this theater, and we are all very much relieved when the German group finally moves out. The poet in our group has decided it is time for a proper performance and treats us to some lines of Brutus from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Wow! That is something else! We all watch and listen in awe. A lonely tourist taking detailed pictures stops in his tracks and watches him with respect. When, at the end, we all applaud, he shares our enthusiasm and claps with a broad smile on his face. Wonderful!

On the other side of the modern road, the Stadium has been unearthed, showing several rows of seats over the entire length, leaning against the Bouleuterion wall. 

The rocky hillside behind the Stadium was obviously a favorite spot for the Lycians to build their tombs. I'm very excited to discover one tomb that still has its sliding door in place! 

We climb higher up to the Acropolis, past a few typical, very weathered Lycian sarcophagi. The Acropolis itself has little to offer except the breathtaking view over the Xanthos Valley! We can easily locate the old cities we visited on earlier trips: Sidyma, Pınara, and Patara further south, with at the far horizon the glittering Mediterranean Sea. 

Well, so much for Tlos. We return to Fethiye, and at the foot of the Roman Theater, we say our goodbyes to Ivşak. Our poet has composed a short but warm thank-you poem, and Ivşak is rather moved by the entire event. I guess he did not expect such honor! Well, if you have a poem written especially for you and read to you in public, you would be moved too, wouldn’t you?

We return aboard the Almira and leave Fethiye harbor for a more remote and quieter anchor place, just a little further north. By the time we get there, darkness has already set in.

Click on the Label Lycian Coast to read my full story