#euromos

Temple of Zeus Lepsinos

Euromos, Turkey

2nd century CE

More ancient cities; this is an archeological cruise, after all. But first breakfast. Lots of fruit, veg, cheese, and a new way of serving fried eggs and sausage.

Our first stop was Euromos, a small site with a fairly well-preserved temple.

They have a model of the town so you can get an idea what used to be there.

The temple of Jupiter Lepsynos is the main reason to visit the site.

There was some discussion of why the gods all have different names in different places. But of course, that is no different than Mary in the Catholic church; there are countless Our Lady of .... worldwide, each version of Mary having a particular focus.

The government is restoring this temple, hence the new marble. This is controversial, as you might expect. Some say it should never be done, they should remain as found, others want varying degrees of restoration. I am in the middle. Restorations should not interfere with scientific studies of archeology. Still, once that is done, the primary reason to open sites to the public is education, and for most people, restoration will help them understand what they are seeing.

We had an amiable little black cat join us at the visitor center and follow us throughout the visit. This was pretty amazing, considering we were not feeding it.

Our main site for the day was Labraunda, a sacred site high in the mountains. It was the primary sacred site of the Carian people and dedicated to Jupiter Labrandeus, a standing image of Jupiter holding a tall lotus-tipped scepter upright in his left hand and a double-headed axe, the labrys, over his right shoulder. The cult statue was the gift of the founder of the dynasty, Hecatomnus himself. (The statue is not at the site.) Note that the word for the double-headed axe, labrys, is the same in Minoan as in Carian. This is the word the Greeks took as meaning a labyrinth in their story of the Minotaur.

The site is built on a series of terraces. Above them all is a large stone with a massive split in it. It's believed that this split was taken as a symbol of the power of Jupiter.

The site had an annual five-day festival, and people walked up from the city below to participate.

It appears to have mainly been a feasting and drinking occasion. However, a stadium has recently been discovered, so there were probably games and contests as well. The most significant remaining buildings are androns, spaces for formal feasting.

The Jupiter Temple was a bit small, possibly because of the site's constrictions. As a result, the treasury was moved out of the temple into separate structures off to the side. Today, the temple is just a scattering of column stubs.

Numerous Greek inscriptions surround the site. Most of them announce who paid for a particular building. Still, it's nice to have a guide who can read them.

Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits: this column, with dedicatory inscription, at the Temple of Zeus, Euromos, Turkey. 

The Greek inscription reads:

Μενεκράτης Μενε-

κράτους ὁ ἀρχίατρος

τῆς πόλεως στεφα-

νηφορῶν τὸν κείο-

να σὺν σπείρῃ καὶ κε-

φαλῇ προνοησαμέ-

νης τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐ-

τοῦ Τρυφαίνης τῆς καὶ

αὐτῆς στεφανηφόρου 

καὶ γυμνασιάρχου

Beçin Kalesi, Euromos, Stratonikeia Lagina ve Knidos Antik Kentlerinde Kazı Süreleri 12 Aya Çıkarıldı

Türkiye’de Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı denetimi ve desteğinde kazı süresinin yıl boyunca süreceği arkeolojik alanlar belli oldu. Muğla’da Beçin Kalesi, Euromos, Stratonikeia Lagina ve Knidos antik kentlerinde,  kazı süreleri 12 aya çıkarıldı.

Kültür ve Turizm Bakanı Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, kazı sürelerini 12 aya yayan projeyi hayata geçirdiklerini bildirerek, “Arkeolojik kazıları hem daha fazla uzman…