The Carians in Turkey

This article is one in the Cultural History of Turkey series. For the description of any cultures or tribes please read that article.

In ancient times the south western region of Asia Minor was called Caria, the land of the Carians. This area came under the control of Lydia between the years 700 – 600 BC. According to the historian Herodotus the Carians were descendants of the Leleges. However, the Carians thought of themselves as the relatives of the Lydians and the Mylasians. They also thought that they were the indigenous people of Asia Minor. Possibly first the Leleges and later the Carians settled in the area. According to the records, some Carians became mercenaries during the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh of the 26th Dynasty, Psammetichus I (663 – 609 BC) or Psammetichus II (593 – 588 BC). Later in 546 BC Lydians were brought under the control of the Persians, hence Caria became part of the Persian Empire and the Carian rulers became satraps, the Persian governors. However, they ruled their country like independent kings.

The first known satrap of Caria was Hecatomnus. The family of Hecatomnus played a prominent role in the history of Halicarnassus. He had three sons, Mausolus, Idrieus, and Piksodaros and two daughters, Artemissa II and Ada. The oldest son Mausolus married to his oldest sister, Artemissa II and the next oldest son Idrieus married to his second oldest sister Ada. After Hecatomnus died in 377 BC, his sons and daughters became satraps according to their ages. First the oldest son Mausolus became the new satrap of Halicarnassus in 377 BC. Mausolus moved Caria’s capital from Mylassa to Halicarnassus and improved the new capital in 367 BC. Between 364 – 360 BC he built Myndos gate and the walls surrounding it. Caria became the most prominent power in the region and Mausolus reigned about 24 years. When Mausolus died his wife Artemissa II became the new satrap. After the death of Artemissa II the second son of Hecatomnus, Idrieus, took the control in 351 BC. When Idrieus died his wife Ada became the Satrap of Caria in 344 BC. Later the youngest son of Hecatomnus, Piksodaros got the power by dethroning Ada, the daughter of Hecatomnus, and sent her into exile in Alinda in 340 BC. For some reason Piksodaros decided that he cannot rule the country alone and asked the Persian Empire to send another satrap to Caria to share the power. The Persian Empire sent Othontopates, who later became the sole ruler of Caria. Othontopates married to another Ada, the daughter of Piksodaros from Aphenis. After exiled from Halicarnassus, Ada, the daughter of Hecatomnus, became the queen of Alinda.

The Macedonian King Alexander, the Great won the war against the Persians and started conquering Anatolia; he came to the outskirts of Halicarnassus in 334 BC. He defeated the Carians and destroyed Halicarnassus. The Carians put up a strong resistance during the siege of Halicarnassus. According to the Greek historian and philosopher Arrianus, Alexander and the Carians lost many soldiers who fell into the ditches at the gates of Myndos during the fighting. After Alexander took the city Ada became the ruler of Caria again in 326 BC.

With the death of Alexander, one of his generals, “one eyed” Antigonous Monophthalmus became the ruler of the area in 313 BC. In 301 BC Caria became part of the Lysimachus Empire, then a province of the Ptolemaic Empire, and later it is annexed by the Seleucid Empire. In 188 BC Pergamum Kingdom in alliance with the Romans defeated the Seleucids and Caria became part of the Pergamum Kingdom. Finally it became part of the Asian province of the Roman Empire with the rest of the Pergamum Kingdom in 133 BC when Attalus III (170-133 BC) bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans.

After becoming part of the Persian Empire the Carians adopted some of the eastern cultural values and traditions, such as marriage between siblings. However they had a western looking civilization when arts, ceramics, and sculptures are considered. During various excavations, both the Hittite (1500 – 1000 BC) and the Hellen (1050 – 700 BC) style ceramic pieces were found attesting the Carians’ existence in the area long before the Persian period. A variety of artifacts and the oldest tumulus were discovered in the Carian lands. The Carians, in addition to building tumuli, sculptured burial chambers into rocks similar to the ones found in Lydia.

Even though the Carians had an alphabet, similar to the ones used by the Phrygians, Lydians, Lycians, and Hellenes, not much is known about them since not too many written sources were unearthed and worse their language has not been deciphered yet. For that reason most of the knowledge about them were derived from the ample amount of artifacts discovered by archaeologists.

The Carians built Mausolus’ Mausoleum, which is considered one of the seven wonders of the world. This monument was 45 meter (148 feet) tall. Its base width and length were 30 and 40 meters (98 and 131 feet), respectively. The architects were Satyrus and Pythius. Sculptors Scopas, Timotheus, Leochares, and the Carian Bryaxis worked on its reliefs between 377 and 353 BC. It is completed in 350 BC. Its reliefs were truly in the Hellen style. The burial chamber was also built by Pythius. The raised pedestal of the burial chamber reminds us the Lycian burial chambers, such as the one in Limyra. Although Mausolus’ Mausoleum shows some Hellen and Persian influences it has an authentic Carian characteristics.

In addition to all the artifacts unearthed in the Carian territories many others were discovered and extracted from sunken ships in the coastal waters. These artifacts give a glimpse of the quality of art and the degree of advancement of sea trade in Mediterranean.

Sources

  1. The book titled as “The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations,” Prepared by members of staff at the museum of Anatolian Civilizations as a service to the museum.
  2. Akurgal, Ekrem, “Anadolu Kültür Tarihi,” TÜBİTAK Popüler Bilim Kitaplari, April 2008, ISBN 978-975-403-107-2.
  3. Janberg’s Nicolas Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Structure, International Database and Gallery of Structures.
  4. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
  5. Lendering, Jona Caria, Ancient Warfare Magazine.

Further Reading

  1. Seyer, Martin, “The Lycian Inscribed Monuments Project:2006 Campaign” August 22nd to September, 5th with financial support of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a contribution of ETEOKPHTH Verein zur Erforschung Kretas und der Agais.
  2. Hunter, Erica, “Anatolia before the Greeks,” University of Cambridge.
  3. Travels around Asia Minor 1976-2002, Pergamum Kingdom Copyright © by Thracian Ltd. 2003-2005.

This article is one in the Cultural History of Turkey series. For the description of any cultures or tribes please read that article.