Excavations at Limyra

History, and History of Research

The excavations at Limyra, located in the south-western coastal landscape of Lycia, were begun in 1969 by Jürgen Borchhardt under the mandate of the German Archaeological Institute/Istanbul branch; from 1984–2001 they were continued as an Austrian project by the Institute for Classical Archaeology of the University of Vienna. When Thomas Marksteiner took over the direction of the excavations in 2002, the Limyra project found a new home at the OeAI. Since 2007 the excavations have been directed by Martin Seyer.

Zẽmuri, the Lycian name of Limyra, is with great probability derived from the Hittite word zumarri in texts dating to the 2nd millennium B.C. Throughout the excavations, however, no remains of such early date have come to light; in the course of a deep excavation in the northern region of the western town a few fragments of prehistoric pottery and the remains of a hearth were nonetheless discovered. A settlement existed in this area at the latest since the 6th century B.C., yet its structure and extent cannot be identified due to the scant amount of the remains.

Zẽmuri was the place of minting of the Xanthian dynast Kuprrli and must have had an important position, already at this date, within the settlement hierarchy of Lycia. The city experienced a first heyday in the 4th century B.C. when it was developed into the residence city of an aspiring east Lycian dynasty. The dynast Perikle altered the political landscape of the entire region by defeating the ruler of Xanthos, Arttumpara, in the first half of the century, thereafter ruling over all of Lycia and the bordering regions to the north and east, at least for a short time. Nothing is known regarding the end of the rule of Perikle. In the scholarship he is connected with the participation of the Lycians in the so-called Satrap’s rebellion which occurred between 370 and 360 B.C., during the course of which he disappears from history. Perikle from Limyra is the last known dynast of Lycia, since this form of relatively independent rulership by local minor kings found an abrupt end when the uprising was suppressed by the Achaemenids.

In the 4th century B.C. an extensive building programme was developed in Limyra, during the course of which a massive ring of walls, surrounding an area of ca. 25 ha and including a fortification at the summit, was erected. Two prominent tower structures resembling castle keeps, probably designed to symbolise the power and importance of the ruler responsible for them, dominated the fortifications. At this time the monumental heroon of the dynasty, located on the acropolis, was also built. This monument, which was raised up above a podium and was designed as an amphiprostyle building with four over-lifesize caryatids instead of columns at each facade, united local and Greek elements not only in its architecture but also in its sculptural decoration. While the side walls were decorated with friezes depicting military themes, both of the acroteria displayed the images of the beheading of Medusa by Perseus, and the killing of the Chimaera by Bellerophon.

The area in the north of the western town indeed continued to serve residential purposes, yet after ca. 400 B.C. a domestic quarter was set up on the lower slope of the acropolis hill with houses partially hewn out of the rock; this circumstance allows the conclusion that, after this period at the latest, the entire region between the cliff and the southern city wall was inhabited and settled.

The five necropoleis of the classical period, with their total of roughly 500 tombs, also came into being after the 4th century B.C.; of these burial areas, Necropoleis II and III can be assigned to the immediate city area, while the remaining burial areas are to be assigned to the periphery. If, however, one takes into account the necropoleis and individual tombs of the village settlements in the hinterland, then the number of tombs increases considerably. Limyra has by far the largest number of tomb buildings of all the Lycian cities. It is also noteworthy that 59 tombs were provided with a Lycian inscription, whereby Limyra possesses nearly a third of all known inscriptions in this language. In addition, the number of tombs decorated with reliefs is larger at Limyra than in any other Lycian city.

Without doubt, the most spectacular of the necropoleis is Necropolis I, located high above the Arykandos valley; its total of nine tombs belong to the most beautiful and well-preserved examples of Lycian funerary architecture. Necropolis II, located immediately to the west of the classical city wall, with its approximately 250 rock-cut tombs and sarcophagi constitutes not only the largest necropolis at Limyra but also of the entire Lycian region. Here a number of remarkable tomb buildings are found, such as the rock tomb of Tebursseli: the battle relief above the tomb chamber counts as one of the few historical images in the Greek-influenced cultural sphere of this period. The occupant of the tomb here had himself represented as a victorious Greek hero, who together with his king Perikle defeated the rival Arttumpara on the battlefield in the Xanthos valley; the interpretation of the action as a historical representation is confirmed by the accompanying inscription in the Lycian language. The relief from the rock tomb of [X]uwata in the same necropolis is equally associated with battle imagery; this depicts a duel according to the model of the famous shield of the statue of Athena Parthenos by Pheidias.

Amongst all the monumental tombs, which are probably to be understood as the burial locations of an aristocratic elite, the massive, two-storeyed sarcophagus of Xñtabura in Necropolis III deserves particular mention; this serves as a landmark for the ruins of Limyra. The relief programme of the decoration, which is preserved on three sides of the lower structure, conforms in most respects to the known Lycian tomb reliefs. Only the representation on the west side of two bearded men seated opposite each other with a naked youth between them has been interpreted by the excavator as the scene of the judgement of the dead; it could, however, also represent a scene from the palaestra.

The Hellenistic and Early Imperial periods are only sporadically attested in Limyra by means of a few structures; nevertheless, due to their monumentality and the high quality of their architecture and sculptural decoration they attest to the importance of the settlement during these epochs. The so-called Ptolemaion counts amongst these structures; this is a round temple standing on a massive socle with a conical roof, dating to the time of Ptolemaic rule in Lycia. In addition, there are two Hellenistic temples, one a peripteral temple of the Ionic order and the other a pseudo-peripteral building of the Corinthian order; and the Cenotaph of Gaius Caesar, the adoptive son and heir presumptive of Augustus, who died in Limyra in A.D. 4. While there is general scholarly agreement regarding the appearance and specific details of the Ptolemaion and of the Cenotaph, the reconstruction of both of the temples has proven difficult, since both of them were completely re-used as spolia in the Byzantine city walls and up until now it has only been possible to excavate them partially.

The flourishing urbanism of the Imperial period at Limyra is represented by the following structures: the theatre, which could contain approximately 20,000 spectators and whose form today dates back to a comprehensive restoration after a devastating earthquake in A.D. 141; at least two bathing establishments; numerous representative colonnaded streets; and the city gate opening on to a piazza to the south-east of the so-called Ptolemaion. A bridge dating to the 3rd century A.D., measuring approximately 360 m in length and preserved intact even today, which crosses the Alakır Çayı about 3 km to the east of Limyra, counts amongst the oldest segmental arch bridges in the world.

The position of Limyra as the seat of a bishopric is demonstrated by the episcopal church built in the centre of the east town in the late 5th or early 6th century, as well as by the bishop’s palace located not far from there to the south. Two additional, smaller churches also date to the early 6th century; the one which is located on the acropolis is interpreted as a monastery due to its isolated situation, a variety of smaller rooms immediately around it, and the presence of a cistern to the west of the church. The massive fortification walls of the east city and the west city, erected also in the early Byzantine period, attest to unsettled times.

Limyra is also home to an important monument of Islamic history, namely the monastery (Tekke) of Kâfi-Baba, probably founded in the 16th century and the oldest Bektaschi-monastery along the southern coast of Turkey. To the north of this monastery the tomb building (Türbe) of Kâfi-Baba is located; this was reconstructed in 1960 and provided with a concrete dome.

Bibliography

• J. Borchhardt, Die Bauskulptur des Heroons von Limyra. Das Grabmal des lykischen Königs Perikles, IstForsch 32 (Berlin 1976).
• J. Borchhardt und Mitarbeiter, Grabungen und Forschungen in Limyra aus den Jahren 1984–1990, ÖJh 61, 1991/1992, Beibl. 125–192.
• J. Borchhardt, Die Steine von Zẽmuri. Archäologische Forschungen an den verborgenen Wassern von Limyra (Wien 1993).
• J. Borchhardt und Mitarbeiter, Grabungen und Forschungen in Limyra aus den Jahren 1991–1996, ÖJh 66, 1997, Beibl. 321–426.
• T. Marksteiner, Die befestigte Siedlung von Liymra, FiLim 1 (Wien 1997).
• J. Borchhardt, Der Fries vom Kenotaph für Gaius Caeasar in Limyra, FiLim 2 (Wien 2002).
• M. Seyer (Hrsg.), Studien in Lykien, ErghÖJh 8 (Wien 2007).
• Vorberichte zu den Grabungen erscheinen jährlich in den Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı (KST) und den News of Archaeology from Anatolia’s Mediterranean Areas (ANMED).

The Theatre Baths

After first sondages in the 1990s, since 2007 continuous excavation has been dedicated to a building which takes the form of a small bathing establishment, directly to the west of the Roman theatre of Limyra.

The sequence of rooms II, III and IV lying to the south of the excavated area was provided with a complex heating system, which is manifested by hypocaust pillars as well as by clay spacers, characteristic for Lycia, for heating the walls. An interpretation of these three rooms as a caldarium, tepidarium and frigidarium is likely. The construction of the east wall of Room IV suggests that here the praefurnium was located. Accordingly, the situation of the bathing rooms corresponds to the row type found frequently in Lycian baths, in which the rooms are organised axially side by side. Room V, adjacent to the tepidarium and frigidarium to the north, was decorated with a high-quality floor of limestone slabs and a water basin, so that it can probably be identified as an ambulatio and served, above all, for social contacts. To the east, an annex was adjoined, which slightly diverges in orientation, and which was also provided with a paved floor; this annex creates a connection between Rooms IV and V and probably originates from a later renovation.

The function of the other rooms could not yet be clearly identified; if the threshold preserved in the north of Room VII marks the original entrance to the complex, then Room I, with its direct access to the frigidarium, is most likely to have been the apodyterium.

Ceramic finds from a deep excavation in Room V provide evidence for the construction of the complex in the 2nd century A.D. The construction technique, as well as the use of a number of spolia, nevertheless point to a later date in the 3rd or early 4th century A.D. The bathing complex was abandoned at a relatively early date, probably in the 5th century A.D.

Later additions as well as the creation of a number of passages indicate a secondary usage. Perhaps in the 7th century, a new floor level in the form of a thin layer of mortar was also created in Room II. Proof of the continued usage of the complex until at least the Byzantine period is provided by a number of large vessels of this epoch, found in situ; a quantity of Byzantine columns and capitals are also noteworthy. Furthermore, a number of burials of the modern period have been brought to light, above all in the southern and eastern parts of the excavated area; these represent the final phase of the re-use of the complex.

To date, it has not been possible to determine if the so-called Theatre Baths, in this central location in the city, represent an additional public bathing establishment in Limyra, or whether they constitute an element of a – probably private – prestigious building complex of unknown purpose. In addition to clarifying this question, the goal of future research will be to obtain knowledge regarding the relationship of this complex to the overall urban planning concept.

Bibliography

• B. Rasch – M. Seyer, Die Grabungen in der Nordweststadt, in: J. Borchhardt und Mitarbeiter, Grabungen und Forschungen in Limyra aus den Jahren 1991–1996, ÖJh 66, 1997, Beibl. 345–348.

Geodesy in Limyra

Geodetic work in Limyra concentrates on the creation and maintenance of a field of fixed points, the expansion of the digital city plan, and the support of archaeological projects by means of surveying techniques.

Surveying and mapping carried out until recently had been based exclusively on a local system of coordinates, which were no longer consistent with modern measuring systems (in particular GPS-measurements). Therefore, during the 2008 campaign, the existing field of fixed points was revised, with the goal of creating a uniform framework of coordinates referring to the ITRF (International Terrestrial Reference Frame) for the region of the excavations at Limyra and its surrounding area. To this end, a basis point was measured with GPS into the ITRF2000, from which the previously existing field of fixed points could be defined to the greatest extent possible. A fixed translation makes reference to the existing system of heights, which corresponds to the Turkish system of heights as far as possible. The decisive advantages of the new coordination reference framework LRF08 (Limyra Reference Frame 2008) are the usage of GPS-measurement systems for capturing archaeological structures, and the simple integration of external geo-data, such as geophysical survey data, satellite data, topographical maps, and aerial images.

The transformation of the former city plan from the local system into LRF08 followed after the completion of the new coordination reference framework. The contents of the plan since the 2009 campaign have been exposed to a thorough scrutiny. Where deviations in location appear, the material is re-surveyed taking into account the existing data material. Objects which had been previously missing from the city plan are also newly recorded, so that the inventory of archaeological objects is successively made available at high quality in one plan. The digital city plan is managed in an AutoCAD databank, which can be consulted for the production of map material as the basis for work and for publications, as well as for the presentation of current projects.

Contact

Martin Seyer