Selge (Pisidia)
Coordinates: 37 ° 14 ' N , 31 ° 8' E
Selge ( Greek Σέλγη ) was an ancient city in Asia Minor landscape Pisidien at today Altınkayaköy (formerly Zerk) ( Turkey ). It is located 56 km northwest of Side at approx. 1000 m. ü. M. in the upper valley of the Eurymedon (today: Köprüçay ) at the western end of the Taurus Mountains .
history
According to tradition, Selge is said to have been founded by the seer Kalchas after the war for Troy and settled by Greeks from Sparta . The place has been on coins since the 5th century BC. Demonstrable. The economic basis was the cultivation of wine and olives on the surrounding fertile plateau as well as the export of wood. In addition, pharmaceutical raw materials such as styrax resin , "Selgic Iris" and other herbs as well as the medicinal products prepared from them (including the herbal oil "Selgiticum") were traded. Politically, there were good relations with Aspendos , otherwise the city was warlike against its neighbors. When Alexander the Great traveled through Asia Minor, the city allied itself with him in order, albeit unsuccessfully, to besiege the nearby city of Termessus . Polybios describes a war between Selge and Pednelissos in 218 BC. In which Pednelissus called Achaios , a usurped general of Antiochus , for help. 25 BC Selge lost its independence and was incorporated into the Roman province of Galatia . According to Strabo , the city is said to have had around 20,000 inhabitants at that time. Selge reached its greatest boom during the Roman Empire. In 339 there was an unsuccessful siege by the Goths . In Byzantine times Selge was a bishopric. The city was later abandoned in Seljuk times. In an earthquake in 1947, the theater, which had been very well preserved until then, was partially destroyed.
archeology
The remains of the city wall, a theater, a stadium, the agora with porticoes, a gymnasium and a basilica have been preserved. The theater was rebuilt in the 3rd century AD and held about 15,000 spectators. Outside the city wall were an aqueduct and some chamber tombs.
Coinage
Since the 5th century at the latest, Selge minted his own coins, initially made of silver and later also of bronze. The small silver coins usually show a Gorgoneion on the obverse , the earlier mostly with the tongue sticking out, the later with long hair, resembling Apollo or Helios. An athena head is usually depicted on the lapel.
Surroundings
Selge lies within the Köprülü Kanyon National Park . About halfway from the coastal road to Selge, which roughly follows the Eurymedon, the road crosses this over a Roman stone arch bridge at a height of about 30 m.
literature
- Nicola Bonacasa: Selge (Sirk, or Serük) Pisidia, Turkey . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
- Alois Machatschek , Mario Schwarz : Building research in Selge (= Tituli Asiae minoris. Supplementary volumes 9. Memoranda of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class. 152). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1981, ISBN 3-7001-0422-7 .
- Johannes Nollé : The inscriptions of Selge (= inscriptions of Greek cities from Asia Minor . 37). Habelt, Bonn 1991, ISBN 3-7749-2416-3 .
- Hansgerd Hellenkemper , Friedrich Hild : Lykia and Pamphylia (= Tabula Imperii Byzantini. 8). Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-7001-3280-8 , pp. 835–838.
Web links
- Description, pictures and plans of Selge in Pisidia
- Inscriptions from Selge
- Coins of Selge (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Alois Machatschek and Mario Schwarz: Building research in Selge. Vienna 1981, p. 14
- ^ Ferdinand Peter Moog: On the Asklepioskult in Selge. A numismatic document. Würzburg medical history reports 21 (2002), pp. 7–17; P. 9 and 12
- ^ Hans von Aulock: Coins and Cities of Pisidia. Part II, Tübingen 1979 (= Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Supplement 22), p. 45
- ^ Szaivert / Sear, Greek coin catalog, Volume 2, Munich 1983, pages 232 to 233