Arbinas, also Erbinas, Erbbina, was a Lycian Dynast who ruled circa 430/20-400 BCE. He is most famous for his tomb, the

Nereid Monument The Nereid Monument is a sculptured tomb from Xanthos in Lycia (then part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire), close to present-day Fethiye in Mugla Province, Turkey. It took the form of a Greek temple on top of a base decorated with sculpted fr ...

, now on display in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docu ...

. Coinage seems to indicate that he ruled in the western part of Lycia, around

Telmessos Telmessos or Telmessus ( Hittite: 𒆪𒉿𒆷𒉺𒀸𒊭 ''Kuwalapašša'', Lycian: 𐊗𐊁𐊍𐊁𐊂𐊁𐊛𐊆 ''Telebehi'', grc, Τελμησσός), also Telmissus ( grc, Τελμισσός), later Anastasiopolis ( grc, Αναστ� ...

, while his tomb was established in

Xanthos Xanthos ( Lycian: 𐊀𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 ''Arñna'', el, Ξάνθος, Latin: ''Xanthus'', Turkish: ''Ksantos'') was an ancient major city near present-day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey. The remains of Xanthos lie on a hill on the left ...

. He was a subject of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...

Rule

He was the son of the previous Lycian king

Kheriga Kheriga (in Greek Gergis) was a Dynast of Lycia, who ruled circa 450-410 BCE. Kheriga is mentioned on the succession list of the Xanthian Obelisk, and is probably the owner of the sarcophagus that was standing on top of it. Kheriga was son of H ...

. On his inscriptions, Erbinas is described as a ''tyrannos'', and "''the man who rules over the Lycians''". It seems the Lycia kingdom started to disintegrate during the rule of Arbinas, as numerous smaller rulers started to mint coinage throughout Lycia during his reign and after.

Tomb

His monumental tomb, the

, now in the

, was the main inspiration for the famous

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, an ...

. Using the design of a

Greek Temple Greek temples ( grc, ναός, naós, dwelling, semantically distinct from Latin , "temple") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, ...

for the building of a tomb was unheard of in mainland Greece. According to Melanie Michailidis, though bearing a "Greek appearance", the Nereid Monument, the

Harpy Tomb The Harpy Tomb is a marble chamber from a pillar tomb that stands in the abandoned city of Xanthos, capital of ancient Lycia, a region of southwestern Anatolia in what is now Turkey. Built in the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Achaemenid Empire, an ...

and the

Tomb of Payava The Tomb of Payava is a Lycian tall rectangular free-standing barrel-vaulted stone sarcophagus, and one of the most famous tombs of Xanthos. It was built in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, for Payava, who was probably the ruler of Xanthos, Lycia ...

were built according main

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

criteria "by being composed of thick stone, raised on plinths off the ground, and having single windowless chambers". The Nereid Monument was the main inspiration for the famous

. File:Reconstruction_Nereid_Monument_BM.jpg, The

is thought to be the tomb of Arbinas.

. File:Illustrerad Verldshistoria band I Ill 102.jpg, Reconstitution of the original tomb of Erbinas. File:Arbinas portrait in the Nereid Monument.jpg, Arbinas portrait, with Persian cap.

. File:Official receiving Visitors, Xanthos, Nereid Monument, Frieze II, Block 879.jpg, Arbinas, in Persian dress, receives emissaries.

Coinage

File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Erbbina. Circa 430-20-400 BC.jpg, Coin of King Arbinas, wearing the Persian cap on the reverse. Circa 430/20-400 BC File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Erbbina with Athena and Herakles. Circa 430-20-400 BC.jpg, Coin of King Arbinas. Athena and Herakles on each side. Circa 430/20-400 BC File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Erbbina. Circa 400-380 BC.jpg, Coin of King Arbinas. Athena and Herakles.

References

Sources

* {{Achaemenid rulers 4th-century BC Iranian people Rulers in the Achaemenid Empire Lycians