Mysterious relief statues near Seleucia, modern Silifke

On the southern slopes of the Taurus Mountains lies Silifke or ancient Seleucia, one of the many cities founded by Seleucos I (see: Excavations at the ancient city of Olba). 

In its vicinity, a mysterious group of reliefs in the rock wall has intrigued archaeologists. It must be said that they stand out as gold figures against the dark canyon wall, attracting the attention of illegal treasure hunters who truly believed they could find gold inside them and damaged the statues as recently as 2015. 

There are 19 figures in all, 11 men, 4 women, 2 children, plus a mountain goat and an eagle. It is thought that they represent kings and queens from ancient Olba. 

The reliefs are presented in different compositions to commemorate the dead, such as in the ritual scene, the farewell of a soldier, or a feast scene for the dead. Of a different kind is the scene where a man holds grapes in one hand and the horns of a goat with the other. One figure is pouring what could be a libation from a jug into the bowl in his other hand. 

Sadly, the inscriptions under the reliefs do not help to identify the figures. The names may refer to the artist who created them or some important personality who wanted to be remembered. 

Scholars could, however, determine that the reliefs were carved over a period of 250 years, with the latest having been completed in the 2^nd century AD. 

These figures are a far cry from the well-known temple tombs dug out of the cliffs in Caria and Lycia, for instance, and seem to be quite unique.

[Pictures are from Arkeonews]

Excavations at the ancient city of Olba near Mersin

Neither the name of Olba nor the modern name of Uzuncaburç rings any bell with me. The city has been in the news lately because of the excavations that are scheduled to start this year (2021).

Olba is located off the beaten track, deep into the Taurus Mountains, roughly some 30 kilometers from Silifke. The oldest remains are visible down the deep ravine and seem to go back to the 6^th century BC, when Olba was the capital of the small kingdom of Neo-Hittite Pirindu, ruled by a certain Appuašu. The ruins of Hellenistic Olba are to be found about four kilometers further west and are blending in with those of the Roman Diocaesarea from the 1^st century AD.

The Acropolis was rightfully situated on top of a hill, 1040 meters above sea level. This made it an excellent observation post to see the enemy approaching from afar. The aqueduct and the cisterns that collected and distributed the precious drinking water to the Nympheums and onward are still very present. The water was taken from the Lamos River and was led through tunnels and over an aqueduct. This 25-meter-high aqueduct ran across the gorge of the Devils’ Valley and is 150 meters long. It was, in fact, constructed under Septimius Severus. This same water supply served to irrigate the surrounding fields.

Most of the city’s remains date from Roman times. The most striking monument is the rather well-preserved theater with a two-storey-high skene andt could seat 3,000 people. This is where the excavations will start later this year because much of the building stones are lying around after the walls collapsed as a result of an earthquake.

We also find an impressive Colonnaded Street, almost one kilometer long and still lined with many intact columns. The temple of Zeus has remarkably kept its temenos and monumental entrance gate. An inscription on the surrounding wall has revealed that Seleucos I Nicator was responsible for repairing the roof of this temple. These lines, by the way, confirm that Olba was already a sacred city in his days!

There also is a temple dedicated to Tyche, two city gates known as the Ceremonial Gate (7 meters high) and the Victory Gate, a great number of workshops and residential buildings. Outside the city limits lies the necropolis with a wide assortment of rock-cut graves, sarcophagi and other funeral monuments.

Rather than focusing on the archaeological treasures which Olba/Diocaesarea may reveal, Turkish authorities keep insisting on the tourism. If the site is worthwhile – as everything tends to indicate – tourists will come anyway

Seleucia, a shrine among the pine trees

The road to Seleucia is now signposted and paved, no excuse for not going! Local villagers know the site by this very name, although some researchers suggest that its real name was Lyrbe and that Seleucia is to be located further east, halfway between Anamur and Mersin, under the modern name of Silifke at the mouth of the Göksu River (antique Calycadnus). The name Lyrbe, however, was deciphered on an inscription found on this very hill and may simply be the early name for Seleucia. 

Anyway, Seleucia has been traced back to Hellenistic times, which by itself is reason enough to set out exploring, although its origins seem to be much older, as confirmed by finds from the Classical period and inscriptions carrying the unique language of Side. 

Seleucos Nicator, undoubtedly inspired by Alexander before him, founded many cities, which he named after himself, the best known being Seleucia on the Tigris (later renamed by the Romans as Zeugma). So it is no surprise to find this Seleucia in Turkey, some 15 kilometers north of Manavgat. The old track from the village of Bucakşeyhler is now asphalted and meanders to the one and only access to the hilltop, which is otherwise inaccessible because of the sheer rock walls – a natural defense. 

This access road ends at the very city gate, a mere hole in the wall. A couple of wide steps invite the visitor inside, where whatever is left of Seleucia presents itself as a shrine amidst tall pine trees in a sacred silence. This makes the approach over the steps of the threshold feel very special. A board gives a nice layout of the Agora, very closely resembling the drawing made by George Bean (Turkey’s Southern Shore)half a century ago – proof that nothing much has been excavated since.

 

The centerpiece of the picture is filled by the Agora, the best preserved of Pamphylia, I’m told. Some trees have been cleared between the entrance and the agora, making the first glance one to never forget! On the left side, a wall shows a combination of different styles and reconstructions, apparently two separate façades, one of which was built with pilasters, where the open space was later on filled with plain square blocks. The basement of this façade has two doors giving access to the two corridors running along the Agora on two separate lower levels.

But the most striking element is to the right of the Agora, where the walls of the shops, two levels high,  nicely frame the square. The Granary of Hadrian in Andriake comes to my mind, but the shops behind these walls here are evidently not as big or as deep. Six shop entrances line up framed by a simple lintel resting on sparingly decorated posts, except for two arched thresholds above which run an entablature with triglyphs alternated with a flowered metope. The inside walls carry the square holes meant to support the floor beams for the upper level. One shop is entirely filled by a staircase strangely leading to a window in the back wall, and it is obvious that more research is required to figure out where it was once leading. The same remark applies to the Odeon at the end of the row of shops. This Odeon is accessed through four doors, but inside, no trace of seating has been found, and the theory goes that there may have been wooden benches. The curved back wall consists of some original square blocks mixed with all sorts of rougher stones, apparently used to fill up the gaps that may have appeared after earthquakes in the region. In front of these façades, the well-preserved Doric colonnade at the edge of the Agora is still standing, with at the corner one of those typical heart-shaped columns, a melting together of two columns facing the inside of the space. Along this colonnade runs the gutter, leading me to believe that the passage between the shops and the Agora must have been covered. 

At the far end of the Agora are the remains of an early church, which seems to have been modified repeatedly over the centuries. Maybe the vaulted entrance was part of it, or it may well have been an arched passage to exit the Agora, as suggested by George Bean (Turkey’s Southern Shore). More to the right, an entrance gate with a simple lintel is supported by one Ionian column and one plain pilaster, a late reconstruction of some kind, I think.

 

The meaning of the two corridors on the lower levels on the left is unclear – maybe they served as storage since vaulted niches run along both walls. Anyway, venturing to the right further uphill, there are two small temples. The first one seems to be dedicated to Apollo with the intact walls of the cella and arched niches along the inside walls, which are possibly where the temple’s treasury was kept, as traces of front grilles are present. The other temple is less well preserved, with only part of the entrance and the outside walls resting on the otherwise intact crepidoma.

Otherwise, the hillside is dotted with sturdy walls ready to collapse at any time, the purpose of which is anyone’s guess: a basilica, a church, a bath, etc. Two lone arches rise out from the forest soil; they seem to belong to a vaulted building connecting to the water system of Seleucia. Loose square-cut blocks, arches, and lower walls appear like ghosts among the shade of the pine trees. Looking back to the Agora from the road to the necropolis, a mere rubble of stones and slabs of all sizes and shapes, the hill carries the allure of a small acropolis.

The attentive visitor will notice loose pieces of fabric here and there, which are the edges of the mosaic covers – a well-known practice to protect these precious floors. However, some mosaics have been moved: one representing the Seven Wise Men of Antiquity and another of Orpheus are now at the Museum of Antalya. Later chance finds have been moved to the Museum of Side. Time to go back to update my mental records!

The half-standing building to the north is clearly Byzantine or, at least, a Byzantine reconstruction of a church. Beyond this last ruin lies the edge of Seleucia, offering a grandiose view towards the Manavgat River to the north, now a lake after the construction of a barrage, as so often done all over Turkey, and down to the shimmering sea on the southern horizon. What a strategic place to build a city!

It is important to remember that Seleucia was not plundered in antiquity when it was customary to reuse stones from abandoned cities and buildings or strip their marble to be fed to the Byzantine limekilns. 

[Click here to see all pictures of Seleucia]