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LYCIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 153 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LYCIA , in See also:

ancient See also:geography, a See also:district in the S.W. of See also:Asia See also:Minor, occupying the See also:coast between See also:Caria and See also:Pamphylia, and extending inland as far as the See also:ridge of Mt See also:Taurus. The region thus designated is a See also:peninsula projecting southward from the See also:great See also:mountain masses of the interior. It is for the most See also:part a rugged mountainous See also:country, traversed by offshoots of the Taurus range, which terminate on the coast in lofty promontories. The coast, though less irregular than that of Caria, is indented by a See also:succession of bays—the most marked of which is the Gulf of Macri (anc. See also:Glaucus Sinus) in the extreme See also:west. A number of smaller bays, and broken rocky headlands, with a few small islets, constitute the coast-See also:line thence to the S.E. promontory of Lycia, formed by a See also:long narrow See also:tongue of rocky See also:hill, known in ancient times as the " Sacred Promontory " (Hiera Acra), with three small adjacent islets, called the Chelidonian islands, which was regarded by some ancient geographers as the commencement of Mt. Taurus. Though the mountain ranges of Lycia are all offshoots of Mt. Taurus, in ancient times several of them were distinguished by See also:separate names. Such were Daedala in the west, adjoining the Gulf of Macri, Cragus on the See also:sea-coast, west of the valley of the See also:Xanthus, Massicytus (10,000 ft.) nearly in the centre of the region, and Solyma in the extreme See also:east above Phaselis (7800 ft.). The steep and rugged pass between Solyma and the sea, called the See also:Climax (" See also:Ladder" ), was the only See also:direct communication between Lycia and Pamphylia. The only two considerable See also:rivers are: (1) the Xanthus, which descends from the central See also:mass of Mt Taurus, and flows through a narrow valley till it reaches the See also:city of the same name, below which it forms a See also:plain of some extent before reaching the sea, and (2) the Limyrus, which enters the sea near Limyra.

The small alluvial plains at the mouths of these rivers are the only level ground in Lycia, but the hills that rise thence towards the mountains are covered with a See also:

rich arborescent vegetation. The upper valleys and mountain sides afford See also:good pasture for See also:sheep, and the See also:main Taurus range encloses several extensive upland See also:basin-shaped valleys (vailas), which are characteristic of that range throughout its extent (see Asia MINOR). The limits of Lycia towards the interior seem to have varied at different times. The high and See also:cold upland See also:tract to the See also:north-east, called Milyas, was by some writers included in that See also:province, though it is naturally more connected with See also:Pisidia. According to See also:Artemidorus (whose authority is followed by See also:Strabo), the towns that formed the Lycian See also:league in the days of its integrity were twenty-three in number; but See also:Pliny states that Lycia once possessed seventy towns, of which only twenty-six remained in his See also:day. See also:Recent re-searches have fully confirmed the fact that the sea-coast and the valleys were thickly studded with towns, many of which are proved by existing remains to have been places of importance. By the aid of See also:inscriptions the position of the greater part of the cities mentioned in ancient authors can be fixed. On the gulf of Glaucus, near the frontiers of Caria, stood Telmessus, an important See also:place, while a See also:short distance inland from it were the small towns of Dacdala and Cadyanda. At the entrance of the valley of the Xanthus were See also:Patara, Xanthus itself, and, a little higher up, Pinara on the west and Tlos on the east See also:side of the valley, while Araxa stood at the See also:head of the valley, at the See also:foot of the pass leading into the interior. See also:Myra, one of the most important cities of Lycia, occupied the entrance of the valley of the Andriacus; on the coast between this and the mouth of the Xanthus stood Antiphellus, while in the interior at a short distance were found Phellus, Cyaneae and Candyba. In the alluvial plain formed by the rivers Arycandus and Limyrus stood Limyra, and encircling the same See also:bay the three small towns of Rhodiapolis, Corydalla and Gagae. Arycanda commanded the upper valley of the See also:river of the same name.

On the east coast stood See also:

Olympus, one of the cities of the league, while Phaselis, a little farther north, which was a much more important place, never belonged to the Lycian league and appears always to have maintained an See also:independent position. The cold upland district of the Milyas does not seem to have contained any See also:town of importance. Podalia appears to have been its See also:chief place. Between the Milyas and the Pamphylian Gulf was the lofty mountain range of Solyma, which was supposed to derive its name from the Solymi, a See also:people mentioned by See also:Homer in connexion with the Lycians and the See also:story of See also:Bellerophon. In the flank of this mountain, near a place called Deliktash, was the celebrated fiery source called the See also:Chimaera, which gave rise to many fables. It has been visited in See also:modern times by See also:Captain F. See also:Beaufort, T. A. B. See also:Spratt and See also:Edward See also:Forbes, and other travellers, and is merely a stream of inflammable See also:gas issuing from crevices in the rocks, such as are found in several places in the See also:Apennines. No traces of recent volcanic See also:action exist in Lycia. See also:History.—The name of the Lycians, Lukki, is first met with in the Tel el-Amarna tablets (1400 B.c.) and in the See also:list of the nations from the eastern Mediterranean who invaded See also:Egypt in the reign of Mineptah, the successor of See also:Rameses II.

At that See also:

time they seem to have occupied the Cilician coast. Their occupation of Lycia was probably later, and since the Lycian inscriptions are not found far inland, we may conclude that they entered the country from the sea. On the other See also:hand the name appears to be preserved in See also:Lycaonia, where some bands of them may have settled. According to See also:Herodotus they called them-selves Termilae, written Trmmile in the native inscriptions, and he further states that the See also:original inhabitants of the country were the Milyans and Solymi, the Lycians being invaders from See also:Crete. In this tradition there is a See also:reminiscence of the fact that the Lycians had been sea-rovers before their See also:settlement in Lycia. The Lycian See also:Sarpedon was believed to have taken part in the Trojan See also:war. The Lydians failed to subdue Lycia, but after the fall of the Lydian See also:empire it was conquered by Harpagus the See also:general of See also:Cyrus, Xanthus or Arnna, the See also:capital, being completely destroyed, While acknowledging the See also:suzerainty of See also:Persia, however, the Lycians remained practically independent, and for a time joined the Delian league. " The son of Harpagus" on the See also:obelisk of Xanthus boasts of having sacked numerous cities in See also:alliance with the Athenian goddess. The Lycians were incorporated into the empire of See also:Alexander and his successors, but even after their See also:conquest by the See also:Romans, preserved their federal institutions as See also:late as the time of See also:Augustus. According to Strabo the See also:principal towns in the league were Xanthus, Patara, Pinara, Olympus, Myra and Tlos; each of these had three votes in the general See also:assembly, while the other towns had only two or one. See also:Taxation and the See also:appointment of the Lyciarch and other magistrates were vested in the assembly. Under See also:Claudius Lycia was formally annexed to the See also:Roman empire, and See also:united with Pamphylia: See also:Theodosius made it a separate province.

Antiquities.—Few parts of Asia Minor were less known in modern times than Lycia up to the 19th See also:

century. Captain Beaufort was the first to visit several places on the sea-coast, and the remarkable See also:rock-hewn tombs of Telmessus had been already described by Dr See also:Clarke, but it was See also:Sir See also:Charles See also:Fellows who first discovered and See also:drew See also:attention to the extraordinary richness of the district in ancient remains, especially of a sepulchral See also:character. His visits to the country in 1838 and 184o were followed by an expedition sent by the See also:British See also:government in 1842 to transport to See also:England the valuable monuments now in the British Museum, while See also:Admiral Spratt and Edward Forbes explored the interior, and laid down its See also:physical features on an excellent See also:map. The monuments thus brought to See also:light are among the most interesting of those discovered in Asia Minor, and prove the existence of a distinct native See also:architecture, especially in the rock-cut tombs. But the theatres found in almost every town, some of them of very large See also:size, are sufficient to attest the pervading See also:influence of See also:Greek See also:civilization; and this is confirmed by the sculptures, which are for the most part wholly Greek. None of them, indeed, can be ascribed to a very See also:early See also:period, and hardly any trace can be found of the influence of See also:Assyrian or other See also:Oriental See also:art. One of the most interesting results of these recent researches has been the See also:discovery of numerous inscriptions in the native See also:language of the country, and written in an See also:alphabet See also:peculiar to Lycia. A few of these inscriptions are bilingual, in Greek and Lycian, and the See also:clue thus afforded to their See also:interpretation has been followed up, first by See also:Daniel See also:Sharpe and See also:Moritz See also:Schmidt, and in more recent years by J. Imbert, W. See also:Arkwright, V. See also:Thomsen, A. Torp, S.

See also:

Bugge and E. Kalinka. The alphabet was derived from the Doric alphabet of See also:Rhodes, but ten other characters were added to it to See also:express vocalic and other sounds not found in Greek. The attempts to connect the language with the Indo-See also:European See also:family have been unsuccessful; it belongs to a separate family of speech which we may See also:term " Asianic." Most of the inscriptions are sepulchral; by far the longest and most important is that on an obelisk found at Xanthus, which is a See also:historical document, the concluding part of it being in a peculiar See also:dialect, supposed to be an older and poetical See also:form of the language. Among the deities mentioned are Trzzube (Trosobis) and Trqqiz or Trqqas. Lycian art was modelled on that of the Greeks. The rock-cut See also:tomb usually represented the See also:house of the living, with an elaborate See also:facade, but in one or two instances, notably that of the so-called See also:Harpy-tomb, the facade is surmounted by a tall, square See also:tower, in the upper part of which is the sepulchral chamber. Lycian See also:sculpture followed closely the development of Greek sculpture, and many of the sculptures with which the tombs are adorned are of a high See also:order of merit. The exquisite bas-reliefs on a Lycian See also:sarcophagus now in the museum of See also:Constantinople are among the,finest surviving examples of classical art. The bas-reliefs were usually coloured. For the coinage, see NuMls-MATICS, See also:section "Asia Minor." Kretschmer, Einleitung in See also:die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache (1896); S. Bugge, Lykische Studien (from 1897); A.

Torp, Lykische Beitrage (from 1898) ; V. Thomsen, Etudes lyciennes (1899) ; E. 1 Kalinka and R. Heberdey, Tituli Asiae Minoris, i. (1901) ; see also 1 articles XANTHUS, IMMYRA, PATARA. (A. H.

End of Article: LYCIA

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