188 KARIAN SITES AND INSCRIPTIONS. KARIAN SITES AND INSCRIPTIONS. [PLATE IX.] THE sites and inscriptions which follow were noted during a series of short journeys made in 1893 and 1894 with the help of grants from the Hellenic and Royal Geographical Societies. The geographical and descriptive results are published in Journ. Boy. Geog. Son. viii. (shortly to appear), and a short account of the geology in Journal Oxf. Junior Scientific Chib, ii. 33 (Jan. 1896) : cf. Proc. Brit. Ass. 1893 (Nottingham), p. 746. An account of Telmessos, Karyanda and Taramptos has already appeared in the Hellenic Journal, xiv. 373 ff.1 These researches are confined to the area included between Latinos (Besh-parmak) and the Latmian Gulf (Denizli Liman) on the north, the Marsyas valley (China Chai) on the east, the Gulf of Keramos on the south, and the sea on the west. Though sites already identified were in nearly all cases visited, they are not discussed here, unless there is fresh evidence to bring forward. The sites may be grouped for convenience under the following heads of our geographical paper (Journ. Boy. Geog. Soc. he.) :— A. Keramos, Pis\, Mughla, and the Marsyas valley (China Chai). B. The Gulf of Keramos, and the sites between Keramos, Mylasa and Halikarnassos. G. The peninsula of Myndos. D. Latinos and Grion, included between Miletos, Amyzon and Mylasa. I.—From Keramos to Marsyas Valley: Kartal De're", Mughla, China Chai. The long valley which reaches the sea at Keramos is called the Kartal Dere (vulture valley). Only the lower part of it is indicated in the Admiralty charts and in Kiepert; and in the latter the whole topography of its upper part is mistaken. A few miles north of Keramos the ravine turns in a nearly eastward direction, but is impassable and uninhabitable until it has turned the south-east flank of the Marishal Dagh. The sides of the great gorge are so abrupt that no path descends it, and communication between Keramos and 1 An account of the early Karian tombs of panied by a map, tho completion of which has this neighbourhood will appear in the next been delayed, number of this Journal, and will be accom- KARIAN SITES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 189 the neighbourhood of Mughla is maintained either along the northern slopes of the Kiran Dagh, or by a path over the Marishal Dagh from Chivelik to Yonaluk, and thence by Pirnari to Keramos. A Greek deacon of Yasghirlar, the Christian village below Penjik, states that he has found traces at the head of the Kai Dere of the ancient road from Stratonikeia to Keramos, and that this road went by Panamara up the valley of Kanevas, and hence by the head of the Kai Dere across the Marishal Dagh to Pirnari and Keramos: this remains to be verified. The alternative road inland from Keramos, which runs on the south side of the Kartal Dere, seems to be fairly well marked by a series of small sites between the Kiran Dagh and the upper part of the valley. (1) At Sarij ('cistern') is a large city site, 2,200 feet above the sea, defended on the north by the lofty precipice of the Kartal Dere (whose bed lies here at 1150 feet), and on the other sides by a long line of wall, which is mainly of Hellenistic (probably Rhodian) work, but in part also of earlier date: it is the only walled town of this period in the Kiran Dagh. The site of the theatre seems clear on the south slope, but there are no traces of stone seats or stage buildings. The only coins in the modern village were small Rhodian bronze, and the greater part of the fortifications doubtless dates from the Rhodian occupation of the mainland. Outside the wall to the south, on a flat piece of ground, is an enclosure about 40 yards square, entered by a gateway on the side which faces the town: it may have served some religious or sepulcral purpose, but the ground within it is thickly covered with frag- ments of tiles and other pottery, and its position suggests that the site was not chosen simply for purposes of defence. (2) Again, on the road from Sarij to Deniz Ovasi, at the point where the path to Bagh-yaka diverges, there is a well, and beside it a plane-tree of enormous size, now a mere trunk about 50 feet in circumference. The quantity of pottery lying about here indicates that the site was formerly in- habited, and probably that the well or the tree, or both, were held sacred in antiquity. There do not however appear to be any remains of buildings. (3) At Bagh-yaka a small tower on the hill over the village protects the route from Stratonikeia towards the Kiran Dagh. (4) At Kiuchok Pelen, above the direct road from the Kiran Dagh to Pisi, is a very small fortress of Hellenic masonry, quadrangular with a tower at each corner. It is the only one in this neighbourhood which is built on this plan. On the slopes of the hill on which the fortress stands are some simple rock tombs. A natural marvel is pointed out close by, a spring from which there is a strong escape of an odourless gas, probably carbonic acid. The water is said by the natives to be instantly fatal to all animals that drink it, except jackals. (5) At Yerkessen there is a tower on the hill above the very considerable village. This small military post commanded the easiest road between the Kiran Dagh and the plateau of Mughla, and also the road from the Kiran Dagh to the hitherto unidentified city above Yenije. The only inscription at Yerkessen is a fragmentary dedication by or for a Rhodian 190 KARIAN SITES AND INSCRIPTIONS. eVt TW irepav (No. 15); so the fort is doubtless a link in the Rhodian system of defence. The plains of Pisi and Mughla, and other smaller ones east of Kartal Dere basin, are completely encircled by mountains, like the upland plains of Arkadia and Crete ; while numberless springs come out under the Kiran Dagh along the coast between Keramos and Giova (Jova). At Mughla there is a Hellenic fortress on the flat-topped hill above the town. Its wall is fairly well preserved on the eastern side; the other sides are precipitous, and perhaps were never artificially protected. There are two small sites in the plain of Pisi: one called Pisi-asar, on a spur a little south-west of the town; the other on the north-east edge of the basin, about half way between Mughla and Kafeja (v. Benndorf, Anz. d. Hist. Classe d. Univ. z. Wicn. xviii., 1892). ) 1 / 1 H T 1 1. - — — 11(1 ! S 1 — 1 ! O 10 20 30 40 FIG. 1.—YEIIKESSEN : PLAN OF THE FORT. The Kartal Dere basin is bounded northwards by that of the China Chai, the southernmost headwater of the Marsyas, which reaches the Maeander opposite Tralles. Like the Kartal DeVe, it has a more or less open upper basin, converging upon a long, narrow and unprofitable main valley, running nearly due north to its junction with the Mesevli Chai, which comes in from the east at Inje Kemer. It contains little of interest, except the great sanctuary of Panamara in the southernmost of its tributaries from the west; and it has further been fully explored and described by MM. Hula and Szanto. W.R.P. spent several days in the triangle between the China Chai and the Mesevli Chai, but found nothing except the small sites men- tioned below. There is a small fort between Kafeja and Kara Koyun, commanding the route from the plain of Pisi into the China Chai, and from thence northward there are three small sites on the hills east of the main valley. KARIAN SITES AND INSCRIPTIONS. 191 (1) Near Boz-armud, above the mill where the last stream is crossed in coming from Akyedik and Mughla, there are traces in a torrent bed of a building of large blocks of marble, probably the local kind above mentioned. The site is thickly covered with soil, except where the torrent has excavated it. It looks not unlike a temple. (2) Above Elekji there is a line of wall with several towers, running along the crest of a spur of the hills on the north side of the Elekji Dere". (3) At Ahnajik there is a peculiar Hellenic tomb to be described later. At Inje Kemer (' thin bridge') the late bridge, which formerly carried an aqueduct and now carries the road across the China Chai, has been recently visited by MM. Hula and Szanto. It is worth noting that the road to Meskier, which it now carries, is rarely used, and can never have been a great thoroughfare, as it is exceedingly difficult for beasts; though it follows the only possible track. The ancient road from Alabanda to Alinda (?) and Kyon doubtless corresponds to the modern one marked by Kiepert, on the right (north) bank of the Mesevli Chai. The bridge itself was not meant for a road, but carried an aqueduct, as the channel-stones lying near it indicate. There are tombs on desolate ridges a little higher up the China Chai, on the right bank, but no trace of a settlement. II.—From Keramos to Budrum. The natural line of communication between Keramos and Mylasa is via the Dere Keui valley, Ishek Dere, and Karaja Hissar (Pedasa): the old road seems to have skirted the former over the spurs of the Marishal Dagh, and was defended by three forts: (1) on the ridge between the Kartal Dere and Pirnari, south of the latter; (2) a pre-Hellenic fortress at Ishek Dere" imme- diately above the modern road, defended on the north by a precipice, and on the other sides by a double line of wall; (3) a similar and probably coeval fortress on a high peak north-east of it, overlooking Yeni Keui and Karaja Hissar, and the unexplored valley between this site and the Kartal Dagh.