ANCIENT CITY OF TELMESSOS Fethiye - ANCIENT CITIES #44

Amintas Rock Tomb
Located in the south of Fethiye, built on a steep slope facing north, and easily visible from the Fethiye Plain, the most famous among the rock tombs is the tomb of Amyntas, the son of Hermapius.
When you want to go to the tomb, you will encounter a ladder climbing up the mountain. This staircase, which has many steps, will tire you a lot, but then the huge Amintas tomb will be waiting for you. Perhaps it is one of the most eye-catching and majestic tombs of our country.
This tomb, which is dated to the 4th century BC as a result of epigraphic studies, is the narrow façade of a temple with an Ionic "in antis" plan, reflected in the rock. At first glance, the Ionic style columns in front of the tomb, formed by carving a solid rock into shape, attract attention. In the middle part of the left column is written 'AMINTAS, SON OF HERMEPIAS' in the 4th century BC alphabet.
Telmessos is an ancient city located on the border of Lycia with Caria. The Ancient City is a very important place as it is the first settlement of the Fethiye region. According to archaeological findings, it is said that this city dates back to 3 thousand years BC.
The city, which has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, was called Kuvalapaşşa by the Hittites and Telebehi by the Lycians. III. According to Hattusili's annals, the city was a part of Lycia, known as Lukka at that time. Another Hittite document mentions that the cities of Telmessos and Tlos sent aid to the Hittites in the war with Iyalanda.
During the Greek colonial period in the 5th century BC, Greek settlers created legends about the founding of the city, as in other cities in Western Anatolia. One of them is a Greek legend that the founder of the city was a Cretan prince named Sarpedon who was exiled by his brother Minos.
The ancient settlement has become an important center of life due to its wide hinterland on the sea and land transportation network, which enriches commercial life, as well as having a fertile coastal plain. There are opinions that the settlement in Telmessos can be dated to the 3rd millennium BC, similar to other settlements in the region. In coins from the 5th century BC, the city is mentioned as Telebehi in Lycian. Cimon, an Athenian politician and general who came to Western Anatolia in 446 BC, ensured that Telmessos, along with the city states in Caria and Lycia, joined the Attica-Delos Maritime Union.
After the dissolution of the union, the Lycians witnessed the internal struggle of many dynasties. According to the writings of the ancient Greek historian Theopompus, the city was first captured by Arbinas/Erbbina from the Xanthus Dynasty. After 380 BC, it was besieged by Pericles, who was also from Lycia and established a small principality, and after a while, the people of Telmessos had to surrender the city to him. The ancient city, which was captured by the Persian Empire after intense conflicts, was subject to the satrapy administration together with the Lycia region. The city, which began to be heavily influenced by Lycian culture in the 4th century BC, surrendered to the Macedonian King Alexander without a fight in 334 BC. Alexander gave the management of the city to his friend, the Cretan Nearchus (Nearkos).
After the death of Alexander, with the division of his kingdom, the city, which was located in the territory of Lysimahos and subsequently the Antigonid Dynasty, came under the rule of Cassander after the Battle of Ipsos in 301 BC. The city later joined the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
The settlement, which came under the sovereignty of the Seleucid Empire in 197 BC, was annexed to the Kingdom of Pergamon in accordance with the Treaty of Apamea made in 188 BC. Following the death of the last King of Pergamon and his will, Telmessos was granted independence by the Roman Senate after it joined the Roman Republic in 133 BC. The city, which later joined the Lycian Union, definitely came under Roman rule in the mid-1st century BC.
The settlement maintained its position as an important commercial center starting from Antiquity and throughout the Hellenistic Period. However, with the Roman domination, Italy becoming the main center was negatively affected by the disappearance of the cities on the Aegean Sea coast as transit centers. Similarly, the change in the commercial highway route caused the population of Telmessos, like many other port cities, to decrease due to the decline of its commercial life, and as a result, turned into a small port city. The name of the settlement, which was included in the newly established Lycian State in 43 AD, was changed to Makri, which means far in Latin.
During the Eastern Roman period, it became a bishopric center affiliated with the Myra (Demre) metropolitan area. The city was plundered during Arab attacks in the 7th century, during World War II. It was reconstructed during the reign of Anastasios and the name of the city was changed to Anastasiupolis.

[@sedatgencay3113]

👍👍

[@AresGordon]

👍