Antiphellus

Antiphellus or Antiphellos (Turkish: Antifellos, Ancient Greek: Ἀντίφελλος), known originally as Habesos, was an ancient coastal city in Lycia. The earliest occurrence of its Greek name is on a 4th-century-BCE inscription. Initially settled by the Lycians, the city was occupied by the Persians during the 6th century BCE. It rose in importance under the Greeks, when it served as the port of the nearby inland city of Phellus, but once Phellus started to decline in importance, Antiphellus became the region's largest city, with the ability to mint its own coins. During the Roman period, Antiphellus received funds from the civic benefactor Opramoas of Rhodiapolis that may have been used to help rebuild the city following the earthquake that devastated the region in 141.

The Irish naval officer Sir Francis Beaufort discovered the site of the city in the 1820s, when it was deserted. During a visit in April 1840, the English archaeologist and explorer Charles Fellows noted the existence of over 100 stone tombs. Much of the city's archaeological remains has since been destroyed due to the growth of Kaş (formerly Andifili) during the modern period; most of the sarcophagi being destroyed when the local population used the flat-sided stones for building materials.

Surviving inscriptions written in the now extinct Lycian language date from the 4th century BCE. The restored Hellenistic amphitheatre at Antiphellus, originally built to seat 4000 spectators, and still largely complete, never possessed a permanent stone stage. Surviving ruins visible on the ground include the 4th century BCE Doric Tomb, which has a 1.9 metres (6 ft 3 in) high entrance and a chamber decorated with a relief of dancing girls; the King's Tomb, located in the centre of the modern town, which has a uniquely written and as yet untranslated Lycian inscription; a small 1st century BCE temple; rock tombs set in cliffs above the modern town; and parts of the city's ancient sea wall.

History

The original Lycian name for Antiphellus (Ancient Greek: "the land opposite the rocks") was Habesos; according to the Roman military commander Pliny the Elder, the city's pre-Hellenic name was Habessus. The discovery of architectural elements, now in the Antalya Museum, have confirmed that the Lycians had settled there (and therefore also Phellus) by the 6th century BCE. It was entitled to one vote at the Lycian League, and emerged to be a centre of trade that minted its own coins. The area was invaded by the Persians in around the middle of the 6th century BCE.

Located at the head of a bay on the region's southern coast, the settlement served during the Hellenic period as the port of the nearby inland city of Phellus, although despite the vulnerability of its coastal position, neither a defensive wall or an acropolis was ever built there. The earliest mention of the Greek name Antiphellus is on an inscription on a 4th-century-BCE tomb in Kaş, which describes the deceased man as originating from Antiphellus. As Phellus declined in importance, Antiphellus emerged to become the region's largest city.

The city, unlike Phellus, is mentioned in the Roman guidebook for sailors, the Stadiasmus Maris Magni. Roman imperial coins found at Antiphellus bear the legend Ἀντιφελλειτων ("of the Antiphellitans"). Pliny wrote that the softest sponges were found in the area. The Roman scholar Strabo incorrectly placed Antiphellus among the inland cities:

And in the interior are places called Phellus and Antiphellus and Chimaera, which last I have mentioned above.

According to the Turkish archaeologist Cevdet Bayburtluoğlu, Antiphellus was probably affected by the earthquake that devastated the region in 141–142. The shock from this earthquake triggered a tsunami that inundated the Lycian coast and travelled a considerable distance inland. Funds known to have been donated to the city by Opramoas of Rhodiapolis may have been used to help repair the damage caused by this event.

The bishopric of Antiphellus was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Myra, the capital of the Roman province of Lycia. Its bishop Theodorus took part in the Council of Chalcedon in 451. He also attended the provincial synod held in 458 in connection with the murder of Proterius of Alexandria, but because of health difficulties with his hands, the acts of the meeting were signed on his behalf by the priest Eustathius. No longer a residential bishopric, Antiphellus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

The site is now in the municipality of Kaş, Turkey, which before the forcible population exchange between Greece and Turkey of 1922–1923 was called Andifili, and during the 19th century, Andiffelo.

Archaeology

Antiphellus, all but deserted by 1828, and built up in the following decades, became known during the mid-19th century, both to scholars and travellers. The Irish naval officer Sir Francis Beaufort visited Antiphellus in the 19th century. He gave a description of what he found there, including the amphitheatre and groups of inscribed and plain sarcophagi, noting that the inscriptions he saw were: "from the rudeness of their execution, to be very antient. Intermixed with the usual Greek letters, there are several uncommon characters of which the following are a few specimens."

The English archaeologist and explorer Charles Fellows saw the ruins of Antiphellus in April 1838. During a return visit in April 1840, Fellows noted the existence of over 100 tombs. In 1841, he produced drawings of specimens of ends of sarcophagi, pediments, and doors of tombs, and Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt's Travels in Lycia, Milyas, and the Cibyratis (1847) contains a plan of the ancient city's ruins. Fellows and his companions found a tomb with a bilingual inscription (a cast was made in 1844); and he sketched the pillar tomb that now stands in the centre of the modern town.