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Questioning Late Antique prosperity: the case of Lycia (southwest Turkey)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2019

Kristina Terpoy
Kristina Terpoy*
Affiliation:
University of [email protected]
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Abstract

The concept of a prosperous late antique eastern Mediterranean has become well-established in scholarship. Lycia (Turkey) is considered to be one such prosperous region in particular. This article questions the notion of ‘prosperity’ and its application to the Lycian region and argues that only certain coastal areas experienced what might be considered ‘prosperity’ in this period. Moreover, it is argued that some settlements, specifically those of the interior, did not experience ‘prosperity’, but may have even declined. Thus, a generalized application of ‘prosperity’ should be approached with caution as it masks nuances in the settlement development and economy of micro-regions.

Keywords

LyciaAnatoliaLate Antiquityhistoriographyprosperity
Type
Articles
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , April 2019 , pp. 1 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek, University of Birmingham, 2019 

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Footnotes

This article derives from research conducted for my DPhil thesis: K. Terpoy, ‘Mountain and Sea: Settlement and Economy in Late Antique Lycia, Isauria and North Central Anatolia’ (University of Oxford 2018).

References

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3 For a critical evaluation of the Near East, Fiema, Z. T., ‘City and countryside in Byzantine Palestine. Prosperity in question’, in Lewin, A. S., Pellegrini, P. (eds.), Settlements and Demography in the Near East in Late Antiquity. Proceedings of the Colloquium, Matera 27–29 October 2005 (Pisa, Rome 2006) 67–88Google Scholar.

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5 A vast debate with many voices. For an overview, see contributions in Lavan, L. (ed.), Recent Research in Late-antique Urbanism (Portsmouth 2001)Google Scholar. See also Ward-Perkins, ‘Specialized production and exchange’, 365–9.

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7 Foss, C., ‘The Lycian coast in the Byzantine age’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 48 (1994) 45CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 For example, concerning a nearby region, H. Elton, ‘Late Roman churches in the upper Göksu valley, Isauria’, in Hoff, Townsend (eds.), Rough Cilicia, 233–46.

9 See W. Bowden, ‘A new urban élite? Church builders and church building in late-antique Epirus’, in L. Lavan (ed.), Recent Research in Late-antique Urbanism, 57–68.

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13 For the following, Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 1–52.

14 Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 1.

15 Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 2.

16 Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 48, note 190, based on evidence from Pinara (see below) Foss speculates on the possibility of inland city decline and a reversal of Harrison's theory, but does not pursue the subject.

17 C. Foss, ‘Lycia in history’, in Morganstern, J. (ed.), The Fort at Dereaǧzı and Other Material Remains in its Vicinity: From Antiquity to the Middle Ages (Tübingen 1993) 16–20Google Scholar. Also, briefly raised in C. Roueché, ‘Asia Minor and Cyprus’, in A. Cameron, B. Ward-Perkins, M. Whitby (eds.), The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 14. Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, A. D. 425–600, 583–4. See above note.

18 See note 11. Hereafter abbreviated to TIB.

19 I would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for raising this point.

20 Ševčenko, I., Ševčenko, N. Patterson (eds.), The Life of Saint Nicholas of Sion (Brookline, MA 1984)Google Scholar.

21 For example, Foss, C., ‘Cities and villages of Lycia in the life of Saint Nicholas of Holy Zion’, Greek Orthodox Theological Review 36.3–4 (1991) 303–39Google Scholar.

22 Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 4; Tietz, W., ‘Western Lycia: Pinara, Telmessos, Kadyanda’, in İşkan, H., Dündar, E. (eds.), Lukka'dan Likya'ya Sarpedon ve Aziz Nikolaos'un Ülkesi - From Lukka to Lycia the Land of Sarpedon and St. Nicholas (Istanbul 2016) 344Google Scholar.

23 Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 4–6; for example, a sample of sites with remains that may be late antique as described in the TIB are: ‘Arymaxa’, 459–60; ‘Choironesi’, 505, a site with a late Roman-early Byzantine bath area and basilica, possibly a late antique residence; ‘Daidala’, 510–11, and around ‘İnlice’ a basilica (possibly of early Byzantine date) with variously dated remains nearby; ‘Lissa’, 690–1; ‘Lydai’, 693–4, with an early Byzantine basilica and other remains; ‘Melanoscope (Tersane Adası)’, 727–8 with an early Byzantine basilica (with marble fragments) and other remains; ‘Șehtan Island (Adası)’, 834 some ruins may be late Roman-early Byzantine; Tietz, ‘Western Lycia’, 345.

24 For the following, Asano, K. (ed.), The Island of St. Nicholas. Excavation and Survey of the Gemiler Island Area, Lycia, Turkey (Osaka 2010)Google Scholar; Tsuji, S. (ed.), The Survey of Early Byzantine Sites in Ölüdeniz Area (Lycia, Turkey). The First Preliminary Report (Osaka 1995)Google Scholar; Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 6–9.

25 For an overview, TIB ‘Karacaören Ada’, 600–1, ‘Perdikonesi’, 794–7; details in Tsuji (ed.), Preliminary Report; Asano (ed.), Island of St. Nicholas, 150–1.

26 Asano (ed.), Island of St. Nicholas, on Kato Panagia, 231 note 11, on monastery, 217; Tsuji (ed.), Preliminary Report, 131. A sentiment echoed in the TIB, ‘Akkule’, 428.

27 TIB, ‘Kalabatia’, 584, ‘Karaca Burun’, 598, ‘Pydnai’, 822–3; ‘Sidyma’, 845–7.

28 Settlements located north of modern Kemer have not been considered.

29 TIB, 825–6; İ. Kızgut, ‘The city of Opramoas the Benefactor: Rhodiapolis’, in İşkan, Dündar (eds.), Lukka to Lycia, 288–99.

30 TIB, 655–7.

31 TIB, 540–1; see also N. Çevik, Bulut, S., ‘The rediscovery of GAGAE/ “GAXE” in the south-east corner of Lycia. New finds from the total surface surveys’, ADALYA (The Annual of the Suna & İnan Kiraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations) 11 (2008) 63–98Google Scholar.

32 TIB, 725–7.

33 On the city, Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 42–4; TIB, 798–802.

34 Arslan, M., Önen, N. T., ‘The surface exploration of Phaselis and its territorium 2013’, Anadolu Akdenizi Arkeoloji Haberleri (hereafter ANMED) 12 (2014) 192–3Google Scholar.

35 Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 43–4.

36 TIB, 800–02, Hellenkemper and Hild base their information on Schäfer, J. (ed.), Phaselis. Beiträge zur Topographie und Geschichte der Stadt und ihrer Häfen (Tübingen 1981)Google Scholar, but increase the number presumably from their own observations.

37 TIB, 801. Hellenkemper and Hild reference oral communication with M. Adak for information concerning these structures. Therefore, it is difficult to cross-reference these buildings with other publications.

38 Arslan, M., Önen, N. T., ‘The surface exploration of Phaselis and its territorium in 2014’, ANMED 13 (2015) 202, 204Google Scholar (at Inciryalısı); Arslan, M., Önen, N. T., ‘The surface exploration of Phaselis and its territorium in 2015’, ANMED 14 (2016) 237, 239–40, 245Google Scholar.

39 TIB, 761. For the city and churches, B. Y. O. Uçkan, G. K. Öztaşkın, ‘Olympos: The city sanctified with water and fire’, in İşkan, Dündar (eds.), Lukka to Lycia, 274–87.

40 Uçkan, Öztaşkın, ‘Olympos’, 283.

41 Uçkan, Öztaşkın, ‘Olympos’, 286–7.

42 Uçkan, Öztaşkın, ‘Olympos’, 287.

43 Çevik, N., ‘Northeast Lycia. The new evidence - results from the past ten years from the Bey Mountains surface surveys’, ADALYA 11 (2008) 192Google Scholar.

44 Kızgut, İ., Bulut, S., Çevik, N., ‘An east Lycian City: Idebessos’, ADALYA 12 (2009) 145–72Google Scholar; seemingly updating the TIB, 563–4.

45 Çevik, ‘Northeast’, 200–5; TIB, ‘Dikitanaura’, 518–20.

46 TIB, 493–4.

47 TIB, 564–5; see also Çevik, ‘Northeast’, 208.

48 TIB, 919.

49 Çevik, ‘Northeast’, 207 mentions the ninth century dating of Jacobek, R., ‘Anhang: Das mittelalterliche Kastell bei Gedelme’ in Borchhardt, J., Dobesch, G. (eds.), Akten des II. Internationalen Lykien-Symposions Wien, 6.-12. Mai 1990, 2 vols, (Vienna 1993) II 68–70Google Scholar; remains are attributed to the early Byzantine period in the TIB, 543.

50 For example, sites where information for occupation is difficult to determine or may possibly have late antique remains are: TIB ‘Ağırtaş’, 421–2; ‘Çayiçiköyü’, 498; ‘Gödene’, 548, ‘Göktaş Kalesi’, 548–9; ‘Kızlar Kalesi’, 641, ‘Korma’, 653.

51 Courtils, J. des, Cavalier, L., ‘The city of Xanthos from Archaic to Byzantine times’, in Parrish, D. (ed.), Urbanism in Western Asia Minor (Portsmouth 2001) 162–4Google Scholar.

52 des Courtils, Cavalier, ‘Xanthos’, 164–6.

53 des Courtils, Cavalier, ‘Xanthos’, 166–8.

54 des Courtils, Cavalier, ‘Xanthos’, 168–9.

55 Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 9–11.

56 Foss, ‘Cities and villages’, 320–1 who also proposes that inhabitants may have left the city for more favourable locations. Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 48, footnote 190 acknowledges Pinara as an exception to the general rule of prosperity, see above footnote 16.

57 TIB, 812; Tietz, ‘Western Lycia’, 340.

58 For the city, TIB, 811–12.

59 TIB, 811.

60 Tietz, ‘Western Lycia’, 340; TIB, 457, 811 gives Artymnesos as being the possible harbour of Pinara, but Foss, ‘Cities and villages’, 320 mentions Perdikiai as a port of Pinara.

61 TIB, 885–8.

62 TIB, 886–7.

63 TIB, 886 note donations given for some of these buildings.

64 Tietz, ‘Western Lycia’, 345–9; TIB, 578–9.

65 Tietz, ‘Western Lycia’, 349; TIB, 578–9.

66 Tietz, ‘Western Lycia’, 349.

67 Tietz, ‘Western Lycia’, 349. There is apparently a village site to the south of Kadyanda with late antique remains.

68 TIB, 750–4; Coulton, J. J., ‘The buildings of Oinoanda’, The Cambridge Classical Journal 29 (1983) 1–20Google Scholar; Hall, A., ‘The Oenoanda survey: 1974–76’, Anatolian Studies 26 (1976) 191–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar; M. Bachmann, ‘Northern Lycia: Oinoanda, Balboura, Elmalı’, in İşkan, Dündar (eds.), Lukka to Lycia, 358.

69 ‘Dieser Zustand weist auf einen Entwicklungsstillstand der Polis in frühbyz. Zeit’, TIB, 753; Bachmann, ‘Northern Lycia’, 358. Evidence of Late Antique settlement activity is rather unclear.

70 Bachmann, M., ‘Report on campaign at Oinoanda in 2011’, ANMED 10 (2012) 201–2Google Scholar; TIB, 625 mentions a large basilica at ‘Kemerarası’ but no date is given.

71 TIB, 751; a second-century festival list names villages in the chora of Oinoanda but the locations of most of these villages are not confirmed. Early Byzantine occupation and churches at these sites should not be assumed (see entries in the TIB). Bachmann, ‘Northern Lycia’, 358–9.

72 Coulton, J. J., ‘Late Roman and Byzantine Balboura’, in Coulton, J. J. (ed.), The Balboura Survey and Settlement in Highland Southwest Anatolia, 2 vols. (London 2012) I, 163–4Google Scholar.

73 Coulton, ‘Balboura’, I, 164.

74 Coulton, ‘Balboura’, I, fig. 7.1, 165, 168.

75 J. J. Coulton, ‘Churches and other early Christian remains’, in Coulton (ed.), Balboura, II, 199.

76 Coulton, ‘Balboura’, I, 166.

77 Coulton, ‘Churches’, II, 196–98; Coulton, ‘Balboura’, I, 174.

78 Coulton, ‘Balboura’, I, 169; P. Armstrong, ‘The survey pottery: Hellenistic and later’, in Coulton (ed.), Balboura, II, 79. For the following, J. J. Coulton, ‘Intensive survey: methodology, primary results and problems’, in Coulton (ed.), Balboura, II fig. 19.7, 239, fig. 19.14, 240.

79 See above note.

80 Coulton, ‘Balboura’, I,171; Bachmann, ‘Northern Lycia’, 360.

81 Coulton, ‘Balboura’, I, 174–5.

82 On Lycian timber, Foss, ‘Lycian coast’, 1. The possibility of houses being built of wood is noted by Harrison and it seems likely that this is applicable to the construction works in the region in general. Harrison, Mountain and Plain, 20, 45, also 57, on modern construction techniques. On the modern use of wood, Bachmann, ‘Northern Lycia’, 360–1; Ș. Aktaş, ‘Wooden granaries in Lycia and Milyas regions’, in İskan, Dündar (eds.), Lukka to Lycia, 578–83. The use of mud brick and stone as building components for structures has also been noted by Jackson, M. at Tepe, Kilise (Isauria), Jackson, M., ‘2007–2011 excavations at Kilise Tepe. A Byzantine rural settlement in Isauria’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 69 (2015) 356–7Google Scholar. He contrasts the different types of materials of the vernacular buildings of Kilise Tepe with the techniques identified nearer the Isaurian coast, M. Jackson, ‘Byzantine settlement at Kilise Tepe in the Göksu Valley’, in Hoff and Townsend (eds.), Rough Cilicia, 224–6.

83 Harrison, Mountain and Plain, 48–60.

84 Possible Early Byzantine churches have been identified in the area, for example at: TIB, ‘Kastabara’, 612; ‘Komba’, 651; ‘Ovacık’, 771 (dating?). See also, Harrison, Mountain and Plain, 58.

85 See Choma for a possible exception but not yet confirmed, İ. Özgen, E. Baughan, ‘Hacımusalar Höyük/ Choma a regional center in northern Lycia, from the Early Bronze Age to the Byzantine era’, in İşkan and Dündar (eds.), Lukka to Lycia, 331.

86 Published information on Hacımusalar/Choma can be found in Özgen, Baughan, ‘Hacımusalar Höyük’, 318–35. Information concerning the work carried out by P. W. Foss of DePauw University has not been published but is available on his personal website: https://quemdixerechaos.com/lycia/. I would like to thank H. Elton for referring me to this work.

87 For the following, P. W. Foss, ‘The Hacımusalar project regional survey: landscape and settlement investigations in the Elmalı Basin’ (Unpublished paper, retrieved online at, https://quemdixerechaos.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/3lykiatext_foss.pdf (accessed 16 May 2017). P. W. Foss’ website, https://quemdixerechaos.com/lycia/, states that this report was presented at the Third International Symposium on Lycia, Antalya, Turkey, 7–10 November 2005. The ‘document date’ is 9 January 2006. See P. W. Foss, ‘Hacımusalar’, table 2, 3–6.

88 For an overview of development, P. W. Foss, ‘Hacımusalar’, 4–9.

89 P. W. Foss, ‘Hacımusalar’, 9, 13–18.

90 P. W. Foss, ‘Hacımusalar’, 12.

91 P. W. Foss, ‘Hacımusalar’, 9–10, 12. On the churches, Özgen, Baughan, ‘Hacımusalar Höyük’, 331–4.