Hierapolis Kastabala

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Colonnaded street

Coordinates: 37 ° 10 ′ 36 ″  N , 36 ° 11 ′ 10 ″  E

Relief Map: Turkey
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Hierapolis Kastabala​
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Turkey

Hierapolis Kastabala ( ancient Greek Ἱεράπολις Καστάβαλα; also Castabala , Hieropolis or Hierapolis ad Pyramum , Hierapolis in Cilicia ) is an ancient city in the so-called "flat Cilicia " ( Kilikia Pedias ). It is located three kilometers north of the Ceyhan , the ancient pyramus, near Kesmeburun in the southern Turkish province of Osmaniye .

Castle Hill of Hierapolis Castabala (Bodrum Kalesi)

history

Bronze coin from Hieropolis Kastabala, Tyche head with wall crown, 2nd century BC Chr.
Reverse side of the coin with the enthroned city goddess, with scepter and eagle

Nothing is known about the founding of the city. It is first mentioned as Kastabala when Alexander the Great before the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. Stopped here. Since 200 BC The city minted its own coins. Antiochus IV carried out the re-establishment as a Hellenistic city ​​under the name Hierapolis. In the first century BC, Hierapolis was the capital of a local small kingdom under the rule of the former Cilician pirate Tarkondimotos I , who lived in 52 BC. After the death of the Cappadocian king Ariobarzanes II. Had used the resulting power vacuum for his independence efforts. He was a close ally of the Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius , called himself Philantonius (friend of Antonius) on coins and was born with him in 31 BC. Defeated in the battle of Actium . His successor Tarkondimotos II was appointed governor by Augustus in Anazarbos . Marcus Tullius Cicero described the city as the most loyal ally beyond the Taurus and the best friend of the Roman people. The city reached its greatest expansion during the Roman Empire. She was known for the cult of Artemis Perasia, which was dedicated to a temple. According to Strabo , their priestesses fell into a trance during the ceremonies so that they could walk barefoot over hot coals without being harmed. Among others, Ronald Syme and Anthony R. Birley consider it possible that Strabon, who only reports secondhand, confuses the city with another city of the same name, the location of which is unknown. In 260 AD the Sassanid ruler Shapur I conquered the city after taking Valerian prisoner. In the 4th century, under I. Theodosius , the city from which was Isaurians Balbinos taken. The city was a suffragan of Anazarbos and was represented at the councils of Nicaea (325), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451).

Building the city

theatre
Remains of a church

The main axis of the city was a 200 m long and 11 m wide street of columns running west-east, of which there are still remains, some with well-preserved Corinthian capitals . To the south of it you can see the remains of a church, further to the east was the position of a temple of Artemis Perasia, probably the center of the cult. To the east of this, around 15 rows of seats in the theater can still be seen. Further to the south, a second, 300 m long columned street ran parallel to it, of which almost no remains have been preserved. There are relics of thermal baths and another church.

To the north of the colonnaded streets, on an approximately 35 m high rock spur, was probably the ancient acropolis of the city, today the Bodrum Kalesi Castle is located there, which was built in the time of the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia . In the north of the castle hill are the remains of other churches and some rock tombs .

literature

  • Otto Feld: The two churches in Hierapolis Kastabala. In: Studies on Late Antique and Byzantine Art. Bonn 1986, Vol. 1, pp. 77-86
  • Mustafa Sayar, Peter Siewert , Hans Taeuber : Inscriptions from Hierapolis-Kastabala. Report on a trip to East Cilicia. Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1989 (meeting reports of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Philosophical-historical class 547)
  • Friedrich Hild , Hansgerd Hellenkemper : Kilikien and Isaurien. Tabula Imperii Byzantini Volume 5. Verlag of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1990, ISBN 3-7001-1811-2 , pp. 263-294.
  • Fritz Krinzinger: Archaeological research in Hierapolis Kastabala. In: The epigraphic and ancient research of Asia Minor. Hundred years of Asia Minor Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1993, pp. 269–273

Web links

Commons : Castabala (city)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gernot Lang: Classical ancient sites of Anatolia. Volume 1: Abonuteichos - Laranda. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2003, ISBN 3-8330-0068-6 , pp. 446f., At GoogleBooks .
  2. ↑ a b Eckhard J. Schnabel : Original Christian Mission. R. Brockhaus Verlag GmbH, Wuppertal 2002, ISBN 3-417-29475-4 , p. 1020, at GoogleBooks .
  3. ↑ 12, 2, 7; see. Stefan Radt (Ed.): Strabons Geographika. Volume 3: Book IX - XIII. With translation and commentary, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-525-25952-2 , p. 415, at GoogleBooks .
  4. ↑ Ronald Syme, Anthony R. Birley: Anatolica. Studies in Strabo. 1995, p. 156, at GoogleBooks .
  5. ↑ Friedrich Hild, Hansgerd Hellenkemper: Kilikien and Isaurien. Tabula Imperii Byzantini Volume 5. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1990, ISBN 3-7001-1811-2 , p. 263