Gagae or Gagai () was a town on the southeast coast of

ancient Lycia Lycia (; Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka lands, Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the Prov ...

, in what is now the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

, from which the ''Gagates lapis'' derived its name. The ruins are located in

Kumluca Kumluca is a municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,225 km2, and its population is 73,496 (2022). It lies on the Mediterranean coast, and is part of the Turkish Riviera. Kumluca is located west of the city of ...

district,

Antalya Province Antalya Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. It is located on the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taur ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Excavations in 2007 revealed an upper and lower

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

and evidence of

Rhodian Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

colonization. Several ancient authors (

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides (, ; 40–90 AD), "the father of pharmacognosy", was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of (in the original , , both meaning "On Medical Material") , a 5-volume Greek encyclopedic pharmacopeia on he ...

Galenos Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Roman and Greek physician, surgeon, and philosopher. Considered to be one of the most accomplished of all medical researcher ...

Oribasius Oribasius or Oreibasius (; c. 320 – 403) was a Greek medical writer and the personal physician of the Roman emperor Julian. He studied at Alexandria under physician Zeno of Cyprus before joining Julian's retinue. He was involved in Julian's ...

and Aetios) mention "the stone of Gagates" (λίθος γαγάτης, translit. ''líthos gagátis'') as being able to drive serpents away, diagnose

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

, calm the women down in their

hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

s, evacuate

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

s, ease heart problems and heal the

gynaecological Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

diseases. It was also used in jewellery. The stone was found by the estuary of a river called Gages, near to Gagai, and named after the river. It is described as a modern jet stone, which fits perfectly with ancient descriptions. Although it is a form of

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

, containing

bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

, it is not used for heating. However, there has been no evidence concerning the location of Gages River and Gagates mine, though there are suggestions for Gages as it may be the ancient name of the Alakır Çay ("Alakir River") or Gavur Kayı. Onur, Fatih
Gagates: θαυμάσιος λίθος. Antikçağ’da Meşhur bir Taşın Kullanım Alanları ve Yataklarının Yeriyle İlgili Bir Değerlendirme
(abstract in English). ''Adalya - The Annual of the Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Center for Mediterranean Civilizations'' # XIV. Istanbul, January 2011, p 103-118.

References

Populated places in ancient Lycia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Former populated places in Turkey Archaeological sites in Antalya Province Geography of Antalya Province Kumluca District {{Antalya-geo-stub