The Ham Nomads

28 May 2015. <TR> Karakasu; Geyre; Aphrodisias; Acipayam —

Today, on to Aphrodisias. We started off on the D-585, a secondary road — two-way traffic, and a fair bit of roadwork going on, but no worse than any sealed country road. We stopped to take photos when we saw a large lake near the road, and then we came into Karacasu, a vibrant town flying every political pennant possible! We stopped off to buy fruit and vegetables at a street-side stall. The peaches were some of the best we've had!  The gentlemen were out in force, sitting at every kahvehane, drinking çay and discussing the big issues — probably next week's election!

Coming out of town, we got stuck behind a tractor towing a load of hay — the road was snaking down the hill, with absolutely no chance to overtake, so we had to exercise our patience.

Finally we reached Geyre, the modern town near ancient Aphrodisias. The Garman played its usual trick, trying to take us in through the 'back door', but when we found our way blocked by an oncoming herd of goats, we decided to back out and try to find directional signs. Turns out that there was a big car park on the main highway, with a free shuttle service (wagons towed behind tractors, driven by drivers with wicked senses of humour — which we discovered when we went through a 760° turn on the way down to the Aphrodisias site.)

Aphrodisias can be traced back before 3,000 BC. It has undergone a few name changes, starting off as Lelégōn Pólis (Λελέγων πόλις, "City of the Leleges"), Megálē Pólis (Μεγάλη Πόλις, "Great City"), and Ninóē (Νινόη). It was not until after the 3rd century BC that it became Aphrodisias. In the Byzantine era, efforts were made to change it to Stauropolis ('The City of the Cross'), but the locals insisted on Caria (the name of the province), which by normal mutation (Caria, pronounced 'Kayra' → Gayra → Gayre → Geyre) became the name of the modern town.

The name 'Aphrodisias' (Ἀφροδισιάς) derives from Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, love and plenty, but here she took the form of the earlier Phrygian earth-mother Cybele. 

What we see today is largely due to the efforts of the Turkish archaeologist Kenan T. Erim, who arrived here in 1959 at the tender age of 30, and who spent the next 30m years unearthing and reassembling parts of Aphrodisias. One of his major achievements was the reassembly of the Tetrapylon, the four-part monumental gate of the city, finding and setting into place over 80% of the original structure. He died shortly after its official opening ceremony in 1990, aged only 60, and is buried just to the south of the Tetrapylon.

Another building partially reconstructed is the Sebasteion, the temple dedicated to the imperial cult — the word comes from the Greek σεβαστος (sebastos, meaning "venerable one". The Sebasteion in Aphrodisias was unique — built entirely of marble, is is lined on both sides by trhee-storey porticoes. From bottom to top, the storeys were built in Doric, Ionic and Corinthian styles. The first storey consisted of rooms opening into the central courtyard. The second and third storey had rich reliefs, the second storey depocting various mythological subjects, while those of the third storey represented the Roman imperial family and the various ethnicities under Roman rule. Athough there were about 200 reliefs used to decorate the Sebasteion, only 80 of these have been uncovered during excavations, either in whole or in part. All of these are on display in the Sevgi Gönül Sebasteion wing of the Aphrodisias Museum. Other statuary from around the site is on display in the museum. The quality is amazing, which is understandable when you realise that Aphrodisias was the home of a thriving sculpture school.

Agrippina crowning Nero in 54AD.
(Her grateful son had her murdered in 59AD!)

Nero subjugating Britannia

The Three Graces

This statue of a citizen was reconstructed from 30 fragments

A sarcophagus depicting the four seasons

We wandered out to the stadium. This was the first that we had encountered, as the one at Laodicea was closed while the archaeologists were working on it. Its size is impressive. There was a team going around the whole site recording the place on video — we caught up with them in the stadium.

Aphrodisias, like all cities in this region, has been subject to earthquakes. In its reconstruction (in antiquity) they just grabbed whatever stones were available, We noticed a section of a column embedded in one of the walls.

We visited the Bouleuterion, the Council House, of the city. There are four large pedestals opposite the theatre-style seating, on which huge statues of prominent citizens used to stand — they are now in the Aphrodisias Museum.

We walked along the long agora, which had (and still has) a large pool running down its centre, which also acted as a reservoir for the city in times of emergency. The marble colonnnades on each side have been re-erected, but no longer are as magnificent as they once were. The path all but petered out, and we had to negotiate a muddy patch before we reached the acropolis (the hill on the edge of the city, which apparently is a tell (the remains of an earlier settlement covered by earth — a site for future archaeology?). Into the far side of this tell has been excavated and constructed the city's theatre, which is in very good condition. Its skena (stage area) is dominated by a marble colonnade — this is the first one we have met which is Doric in form. (The best-known Doric colonnade is that surrounding the Parthenon, on the Acropolis in Athens.)

Just about worn out by our day in Aphrodisias, we took the shuttle back to the car park, where we had a quiet cuppa before departing.

We drove out and turned southwards towards Kaş. The landscape was varied — we went through cedar-covered hills, past some superb mosques. One cutting we passed through showed a rich variation of mineral colours.

We were driving into grey clouds, ominous but spectacular. We finally pulled into an undeveloped back street in Acipayam behind a petrol station for a quiet night.

Distance driven — today, 68 miles ( 110 km ); to date, 21,023 miles ( 33,834 km )