Isinda (Lycia)
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Isinda (, ) was a town of
ancient Lycia Lycia (; Lycian language, Lycian: ๐Š—๐Š•๐Š๐ŠŽ๐Š†๐Š– ''Trmฬƒmis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15โ€“14th centuries BC (as Lukka lands, Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the Prov ...
. Isinda was part of a ''
sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' (), anglicized as sympolity, was a type of treaty for political organization in ancient Greece. By the time of the Hellenistic period, it occurred in two forms. In mainland Greece, the term was often used for a federal state co ...
'' (a treaty for political organization used in
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12thโ€“9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
) with
Aperlae Aperlae or Aperlai () was an ancient city on the southern coast of ancient Lycia. It did not play any significant role in history or politics, yet its lifespan of 1,300 years is worth note. The harsh local terrain made agriculture difficult, ...
, Apollonia and Simena. The city's ruins are located on a hill above the modern Turkish village of Belenli. At the site, the remains of a
city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...
and other buildings are preserved, as well as some Lycian pillars and
rock tombs A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a ...
.


History

The
ancient Lycia Lycia (; Lycian language, Lycian: ๐Š—๐Š•๐Š๐ŠŽ๐Š†๐Š– ''Trmฬƒmis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15โ€“14th centuries BC (as Lukka lands, Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the Prov ...
n city of Isinda was inhabited before the first half of the 4th century BC. From
inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
s it is known that Isinda was a minor member of a ''
sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' (), anglicized as sympolity, was a type of treaty for political organization in ancient Greece. By the time of the Hellenistic period, it occurred in two forms. In mainland Greece, the term was often used for a federal state co ...
'' (a type of treaty for political organization) that was dominated by the city of
Aperlae Aperlae or Aperlai () was an ancient city on the southern coast of ancient Lycia. It did not play any significant role in history or politics, yet its lifespan of 1,300 years is worth note. The harsh local terrain made agriculture difficult, ...
, but which also included Apollonia and Simena. Isinda is not mentioned by
early Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...
historians. The citizens of Isinda migrated to the nearby city of Antiphellos during the Pax-Romana, and the settlement became abandoned.


Description

Isinda is an
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
site in
Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: ๐Š—๐Š•๐Š๐ŠŽ๐Š†๐Š– ''Trmฬƒmis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15โ€“14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and MuฤŸ ...
, located from the modern Turkish town of
KaลŸ KaลŸ () is a small fishing, diving, yachting and tourist town, and a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,750 km2, and its population is 62,866 (2022). It is 168 km west of the city ...
, and situated on a hilltop above the modern village of Belenli. The ruined
defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with t ...
is made of poor quality rectangular limestone blocks, and show signs of continual repair. Within the walls at Isinda are wells and
cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...
s for collecting rain water. The most important remaining feature of the site is a house-tomb with an inscription wriiten in the ancient Lycian on the
pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...
. At the top of the hill are buildings, including steps that lead to a
stoa A stoa (; plural, stoas,"stoa", ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd Ed., 1989 stoai, or stoae ), in ancient Greek architecture, is a covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use. Early stoas were open at the entrance with columns, usually ...
(covered walkway) and projecting
wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...
leading off the main building. The tombs include three
rock tombs A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a ...
with inscriptions written in Lycian and a
pillar tomb A pillar tomb is a type of monumental grave wherein the central feature is a single, prominent pillar or column, often made of stone. Overview A number of world cultures incorporated pillars into tomb structures. Examples of such edifices are f ...
carved with
relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
s. On the slope towards the village are inscribed
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ฯƒฮฌฯฮพ ' meaning "flesh", and ฯ†ฮ ...
.


References


Sources

* * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


Adalia
(1914 map by Richard Kiepert, DII, 2nd edition) from the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
website, which shows the approximate location of Isinda
Information about walking to the site
from Komoot {{coords, 36.191647, N, 29.697247, E, display=title Populated places in ancient Lycia Former populated places in Turkey KaลŸ District Archaeological sites in Antalya Province Archaeological sites of ancient Anatolia Ruins in Turkey