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Lions of the Mountains: the Sarcophagi of Balboura
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2013
Extract
This paper is the result of a study carried out in July and August 1987 as part of the survey of the Greco-Roman city of Balboura in North Lycia. Its aim was to produce a plan and catalogue of the large number of sarcophagi in and around the site. Due to the rugged nature of the area such a catalogue cannot claim to be absolutely complete; I suspect, in particular, that more awaits discovery in the trees to the west of the site. Nevertheless, the material at our disposal seems an adequate basis for discussion. The evidence collected is presented in full in the appendix, and on the plans (Figs. 1–5). What follows is an attempt to summarize and comment on the significance of these results.
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- Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 1990
References
1 The survey is conducted under the auspices of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, and supported also by the British Academy, the Oxford University Craven Committee, and Merton College, Oxford. Many thanks are due to the Department for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Turkish Ministry of Culture for permission to conduct the survey.
2 Particularly warm thanks are due to J. J. Coulton, director of the Balboura survey, and to N. P. Milner, for their advice and encouragement; I am also greatly indebted to J. J. Coulton for assistance in discovering references, and many passages of the text have also benefitted from his suggestions; also extremely helpful were Bay H. Yalçınkaya (Milas museum), A. Reyes, C. Hallett, and J. Woodhouse. Bibliographical abbreviations other than those specified for AS are listed on p. 46.
3 These plans are based on a survey of the site carried out by Mr. G. Hollinshead, Mr. A. Greenland, and Miss P. Bowles of the Department of Land Survey, Northeast London Polytechnic, and by Dr. L. Bier, of Brooklyn College, City University of New York, assisted by various team members including myself; cf. note, p. 54.
4 For the term see Heberdey, R., Wilhelm, A., Reisen in Kilikien (Vienna, 1896) 37Google Scholar, no. 90; Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 28.
5 Exceptions are W35 (Pl. II (a).) and C10 (Pl. IV (b)).
6 Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 31, notes the presence of such “imitation sarcophagi” at Adrassus and elsewhere in Isauria and Lycaonia, referring to: Ramsay, A. M. in Ramsay, W. M. (ed.), Studies in the History and Art of the Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire (Aberdeen, 1906) 3–92Google Scholar esp. 22; Mendel, G., BCH 26 (1902) 225–6Google Scholar, no. 5; Buckler, , Calder, , Cox, , JRS 14 (1924) 41–3Google Scholar, nos 25–7; Morey, C. R., Sardis V. iGoogle Scholar; The Sarcophagus of Claudia Antonia Sabinana and Asiatic Sarcophagi (Princeton, 1924) 94–5Google Scholar.
7 It is not to be inferred, for example, that seven out of nine lions in the west necropolis are without boucrania. This is in fact unlikely; the table means that there are two clear examples in the catalogue, and seven possibles. Fragments are included in the figures if they give definite proof of an item's presence, but not otherwise. Some tombs are difficult to categorize, e.g. W47, which has no canopy, but is not sunk into the rock like a chamosorion: I put it in the former class, i.e. under “other”.
8 Information on the areas of settlement supplied by J. J. Coulton.
9 Fleischer, R., in Classica et Provincialia: Festschrift E. Diez (Graz, 1978) 41Google Scholar, n. 9–10.
10 The lid at Karaculha (M1) has flowers with more petals than these.
11 This tomb will be the subject of a separate study by C. H. Hallett.
12 The long sides 1·15 m., the ends 0·60 m.; the other corner block is also 1·15 m. long, perhaps a standard size.
13 A symbol of Nemesis, one of Balboura's attested deities (Coulton, J. J., Milner, N. P., Reyes, A. T., AS XXXVIII (1988) 121–31)Google Scholar. The gargoyle has the pointed ears and pronounced eyes, but not the open beak of archaic Greek representations; cf. Herrmann, H.-V., Olympische Forschungen XI: die Kessel der Orientalisierenden Zeit (Berlin, 1979)Google Scholar.
14 This indicates where the tympanum was to be cut back; painted decoration was perhaps added. I use the term “pediment” for the triangular ends of lids, because lids certainly imitate roofs; outside Balboura they are often tiled or supported by columns; see Andreae, B., Mundus III (1967) 47–9Google Scholar.
15 Kaibel, G., Epigrammata Graeca (Berlin, 1878Google Scholar) no. 106; cf. Lattimore, R., Themes in Greek and Latin Epitaphs (Urbana, 1942)Google Scholar.
16 To be confident of being remembered without a monument was unusual even for a senator; Pliny, , Ep. IX. 19Google Scholar.
17 One base is larger than the others, 61 cm. as opposed to 55 cm. Its design is identical, except that the plinth is undercut.
18 Frag. 1: H. 164 cm., of which the lower 37 cm. is unfluted, the next 107 cm. has shallow fluting, and the top 20 cm. forms a Doric capital. Frag. 2: H. 135 cm., all fluted.
19 Block A: L. 108 + cm., W. 40 cm.; carefully worked on two sides, less so on the back; clamp holes 48 cm. apart. Block B: L. 66+ cm., W. 59 cm.; less carefully worked. Just possibly brought from the agora, but there would be no reason for such movement in modern times; if ancient, it would presumably make the monument later than the arch of Severus at the entrance to the agora (IGR III, 468)Google Scholar.
20 Strabo XIII.631.
21 Chrys, Dio. Orat. 38Google Scholar.
22 Id., the last words of Orat. 47.
23 Both lions have an alert expression and fine musculature; one also has an excellent example of a wavy mane.
24 There are a few votive and other reliefs at Balboura, but no other lion.
25 Belly L 50, as opposed to 45 for the South Slope Lion; total length L 103 (as opposed to 130, inc. raised fore-paw).
26 No genitals on normal lids; they are found at Adrassus, cf. pp. 00–00.
27 These remarks are based on information from the 1988 season, supplied by J. J. Coulton.
28 References are collected by Robert, L., Etudes anatoliennes (Paris, 1937) 397–8Google Scholar n., and Naour, C., Tyriaion en Cabalide (Zutphen, 1980) 11–12Google Scholar.
29 C. Naour, loc. cit.
30 Bean, G. E., BSA 51 (1956) 140Google Scholar.
31 Strocka, V. in Studien zur Religion und Kultur Kleinasiens; Festschrift F. K. Dörner (1978) 882–913CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Koch-Sichtermann, pl. 524–5.
32 Spratt-Forbes I, 273, Lycian Turkey, 174.
33 Illustrated at İdil, Vedat, Likya Lahitleri (Ankara, 1985)Google Scholar, a useful recent survey, but concentrating on the coast.
34 Girdev Gölü: Petersen-von Luschan, 159; Bean, G. E., JHS 68 (1948) 57CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lycian Turkey, 175; Macun, : Lycian Turkey, 157Google Scholar. For the extent of Oenoanda's territory see Wörrle, M., Stadt und Fest im kaiserzeitlichen Kleinasien (Vestigia 39, 1988) 47Google Scholar.
35 Manay: Petersen-von Luschan, 167, Bean, G. E., Belleten 18 (1954) 470Google Scholar, fig. 4 = Lycian Turkey, pl. 90 id., BSA 51 (1956) 151; Osmankalfalar: Petersen-von Luschan, 171, Bean, G. E., BSA 51 (1956) 150Google Scholar. For the dependence of this area on Cibyra: IGR IV, 927Google Scholar.
36 Spratt-Forbes I, 259–60, Petersen-von Luschan 190–92, Lycian Turkey, 162.
37 Equini, E. Schneider, La necropoli di Hierapolis di Frigia (Rome, 1972) 104, pl. 5aGoogle Scholar.
38 Cf. İdil, op. cit. (n. 33) pl. 42, 44, 56–7, 59–60; Koch-Sichtermann, pl. 523; Rodenwaldt, G., JHS LIII (1933) 181–213CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The last notes (pp. 207–8) similarities between Hunt sarcophagi from Xanthos and a frieze from Cibyra, which “agree so closely that we must think they were executed by the same sculptors”.
39 Naour, op. cit (n. 28) 12, pl.V.3.
40 Petersen-von Luschan, 157, 161, 165. Wörrle, M., Stadt und Fest in kaiserzeitliche Kleinasien (1988) 47Google Scholar discusses the extension of the territory of Oenoanda in this direction.
41 Lanckoronski, K., Städte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens (1892) II, 63–76, 107–20Google Scholar.
42 Lanckoronski II 183–4; Machatschek, A., Schwarz, M., Bauforschungen in Selge (Vienna, 1981) 97–103Google Scholar.
43 The Selgeans were at least as militant as their neighbours (Polybius 5.72–6, Pomp. Trogus, , prol. 34Google Scholar (Hellenistic) and in the fourth century A.D. defeated the Ostrogoth Tribigild (Zosimus 5.15–16; Gibbon, E., The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (ed. Bury, J. B., 1897) III, 367)Google Scholar.
44 Bean, G. E., Belleten 18 (1954) 470Google Scholar no. 2, fig. 2; Fleischer, op. cit. (n. 9) 43, pl.15.12.
45 Fleischer, op. cit, (n. 9) pl. 10.3, 13.8.
46 Koch-Sichtermann, pl. 532; now located outside Antalya museum.
47 Swoboda, H., Keil, J., Knoll, F., Denkmäler aus Lykaonien, Pamphylien und Isaurien (Brünn, 1935) 20Google Scholar fig. 17, 38 fig. 30, 56 no. 113, 60 no. 125, 61 fig. 47, 89 no. 243; Bean, G. E., Mitford, T. B., Journeys in Rough Cilicia 1964–68 (Vienna, 1970)Google Scholar nos. 106, 108, 110, 119, 141, 143–4, pp. 121, 123, 134, 136, 145.
48 Buckler, W. H. et al. , JRS 14 (1924) 31–3 nos. 10–15Google Scholar (no. 15 an ostotheca lid); Kubinska, J., Les monuments funéraires dans les inscriptions grecs de l'Asie Mineure (Warsaw, 1968) 61–3 pl. 4–6Google Scholar.
49 Machatschek, A., Elaioussa Sebaste und Korykos (Vienna, 1967) 38Google Scholar, fig. 22 (Korykos); Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 48 (Uzuncaburc); Keil, J., Wilhelm, A.MAMA III (Manchester, 1931) 36Google Scholar (Cambazlı); Wegner, M. in Mélanges Mansel (Ankara, 1974) 580–1 pl. 178bGoogle Scholar (Döşene; single lion and two lions reclining diagonally).
50 Alföldi-Rosenbaum.
51 Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 57, classes the Adrassan necropolis as a mixture of roadside (“Roman”; as at Balboura) and “Eastern” types; cf. elsewhere in Cilicia. It is interesting to find the “Roman” type at Balboura.
52 Robert, L., BCH CVII (1983) 553–69Google Scholar; id., Hellenica III (1946) 38–74, Bean, G. E., BSA LI (1956) 148Google Scholar, AS IX (1959) 99–100Google Scholar, AS X (1960), 56, 62Google Scholar.
53 Koch-Sichtermann, 539–40.
54 The only example of a four-swag garland illustrated by Koch-Sichtermann is their pl. 547, from Elaiussa Sebaste (Machatschek, op. cit. (n. 49) 40, where its position is said to suggest a late date).
55 For this and all other references to Balbouran inscriptions, I am indebted to N. P. Milner.
56 N. P. Milner regards the lettering of these inscriptions as consistent with such a date.
57 Petersen-von Luschan, 159, no. 187 and ibid., 167–8 no. 205, pl. 25 ( = Alföldi-Rosenbaum, pl. 8.2), dated to the year 215. Since Lagbe was dependent on Cibyra (IGR IV, 927Google Scholar), the date is presumably from the Cibyran era (A.D. 25), not from the creation of the province of Lycia, as Petersen-von Luschan suppose.
58 Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 49; Stupinska-Lövset, I., AA 1979, 224–7Google Scholar (Sidon); Andreae, B., Jahrbuch f. Antike u. Christentum XIII (1970) 83–8Google Scholar; Ward-Perkins, J. B., Archaeology XI.2 (1958) 98Google Scholar.
59 Strocka, loc. cit. (n. 31); the inscription: Schindler, F., Die Inschriften von Bubon (Nordlykien) (Vienna, 1972) no. 19Google Scholar.
60 Turcan, R., Jahrbuch f. Antike u. Christentum XIV (1971) 92–139Google Scholar; cf. Effenterre, H. van, BCH C (1976) 525–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
61 E.g. Portico of Tiberius, Aphrodisias (de Chaisemartin, N. in de la Genière, J., Erim, K., Aphrodisias de Carie (Paris, 1987) 135–54)Google Scholar, and on large tombs.
62 Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 50–1, with reference to their widespread use; cf. Collignon, M., Les statues funéraires dans l'art grec (Paris, 1911) 88, 243Google Scholar; Robert, L., Etudes anatoliennes (Paris, 1937) 394–7Google Scholar.
63 Koch-Sichtermann, 539.
64 Kaibel, op. cit. (n. 15) 242.5–6 cf. Lattimore, op. cit. (n. 15) 239.
65 E.g. the mercenaries from Balboura and Termessus by Oenoanda on stelai from Sidon, now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum (Mendel, G., Musées impériaux ottomanes, Catalogues des sculptures grecs, romaines et byzantines I (Constantinople, 1912) 259–63)Google Scholar, and their Roman successors (IGR III 472, 487, 500.II.47–60)Google Scholar.
66 This information I owe to N. P. Milner.
67 Cf. Millar, F., JRS 59 (1969) 12–29Google Scholar.
68 Strabo, XIII. 631.
69 Odyssey VI, 130 ffGoogle Scholar.
70 This is clear from Cicero's correspondence with M. Caelius Rufus; Ad Fam. VIII.ix.5Google Scholar(de pantheriis…Cibyratas…), VIII.vi.5Google Scholar, VIII.ix.3.
71 Friedländer, L., Roman Life and Manners (tr. Freese, and Magnus, , London, 1908–1913) II, 67.Google Scholar, quoting the edict of Honorius and Theodosius. It is not mentioned in Claudian, III.280 ff. (on Stilicho's consular venatio); it would be demeaning to have to admit to importing lions.
72 The Persians used the lion as a symbol of power (Posener, G., La première domination perse en Egypte (Bibl. d'Etudes, Inst. Française d'Archéol. Orientate XI, 1936) 202)Google Scholar. The lion was symbolic in both Zoroastrianism and Mithraism (Cumont, F., Recherches sur le symbolisme funéraire des Romains (Paris, 1942) 149)Google Scholar, but there is no evidence for Mithraism at or near Balboura (Vermaseren, M. J., Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (Hague, 1956) 44, 50–3)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The possibility of motifs lying dormant, then reappearing much later is perhaps small; but it is presupposed by Eiler, W. in Aus der Welt islamischen Kunst (Berlin, 1959)Google Scholar, who sees Kassite (i.e. 1500–1200 B.C.) influence on lions in modern Iran!
73 Despite its pugilistic provincialism, we should not discount the possibility of Balboura undergoing sophistic influence. A neighbouring city could boast the Epicurean Diogenes, who was “probably not an isolated phenomenon”, according to Chilton, C., Diogenes of Oenoanda (Hull, 1971) xxiGoogle Scholar. From an admittedly larger inland Anatolian city note also the influential Apollonius of Tyana.
74 Gray, Thomas, “Elegy written in a Country Churchyard” (1750), line 79Google Scholar.
75 Alföldi-Rosenbaum, 11.
76 Andreae, B., Rendiconti, Atti della Pontif. Accad. XLI (1968–1969) 68–9Google Scholar.
77 JHS LIII (1933), 181Google Scholar. An extensive bibliography of sarcophagus studies by Andreae, B. (Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.12.2 (Berlin, 1981) 3–64)Google Scholar, however, has surprisingly little on all but the finest chests.
78 Apart from the somewhat different category of architectural design, and the trivial exception of a few coins and some minor votive and other reliefs.