Marmara was a town of ancient Lycia, whose inhabitants put up a ferocious defense to

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

during his invasion. The name does not appear in history, but the ethnonym is cited by

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

. The town's territory is called Mnarike ( grc, Μναρική) in the ''

Stadiasmus Patarensis The ''Stadiasmus Patarensis'', also known as the ''Stadiasmus Provinciae Lyciae'' and the ''Miliarium Lyciae'', is an ancient Roman milestone from the city of Patara. The ''stadiasmus'', shaped as a pillar, served as a monumental public ''itinera ...

'', implying a town name of Mnara. The identification of Mnara with Marmara has generally been accepted at the site of Kavak Daği where it extends over the top and slopes at 1350 m, behind Kemer. Excavations began in 2004 and are on-going.

History

Marmara’s warriors were very skilled and its fortresses were situated in impregnable positions. The site became part of the territory of Phaselis after Alexander's invasion and Marmara established a

sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' ( gr, συμπολιτεία, , joint citizenship), 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, ...

with Phaselis. It was an independent

polis ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...

during the Hellenistic period. It was the centre of the Mnarike region that is mentioned on the

Miliarium Lyciae The ''Stadiasmus Patarensis'', also known as the ''Stadiasmus Provinciae Lyciae'' and the ''Miliarium Lyciae'', is an ancient Roman milestone from the city of Patara. The ''stadiasmus'', shaped as a pillar, served as a monumental public ''itinerar ...

The Site

It is located on an extremely sheer and inaccessible rock acropolis with building remains on its slopes. No city walls have been found and, like

Arycanda Arycanda or Arykanda ( grc, Ἀρύκανδα or Ἀρυκάνδα) is an Ancient Lycian city, former bishopric and present Catholic titular see in Antalya Province in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Arykanda was a rich but remote ci ...

, only remains of a tower were seen overlooking both the sea and the valley. Remains of a temple include reliefs and statue fragments of animals with paws and/or with hooves and unidentified male/deity figures. Its plan is reminiscent of those dedicated to Artemis at Neapolis and

Kelbessos Kelbessos was a fortified settlement of ancient Lycia, in the territory of Termessos. It was continually inhabited by a military garrison from Hellenistic to Roman times. Its site is located in the Bey Mountains of Asian Turkey Anatolia, ...

. A house altar uncovered at

Rhodiapolis Rhodiapolis ( grc, Ῥοδιάπολις), also known as Rhodia (Ῥοδία) and Rhodiopolis (Ῥοδιόπολις), was a city in ancient Lycia. Today it is located on a hill northwest of the modern town Kumluca in Antalya Province, Turke ...

in 2007 states that it was dedicated to Artemis of Mnara and indicate that temple there was dedicated to Artemis. At the top of the settlement is a small bouleuterion overlooking Kemer and the Pamphylian sea. It is rectangular with eleven rows of seats. In front a platform on a strong terrace wall overlooks the entire panorama. The rocky slope has remains of buildings and an

agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...

is clearly visible. Further below is a large Hellenistic structure built from rectangular stone blocks with a large doorway and three windows and large cistern next to it. Water containers were filled here and next to the mouth of this cistern is a gargoyle-like stone which was used to return the excess water in order not to waste it.

References

Populated places in ancient Lycia Former populated places in Turkey Archaeological sites in Turkey {{AncientLycia-geo-stub