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Mycale (). also Mykale and Mykali ( grc, Μυκάλη, ''Mykálē''), called Samsun Dağı and Dilek Dağı (
Dilek Peninsula Dilek is a Turkish word meaning ''wish'', ''request'' or ''desire''. It is used as a feminine given name as well as a noun and may refer to: Given name * Dilek Akagün Yılmaz (born 1963), Turkish politician * Dilek Gürsoy (born 1976), German hear ...
) in modern
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
, is a mountain on the west coast of central
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
in Turkey, north of the mouth of the Maeander and divided from the Greek island of
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...
by the 1.6 km wide Mycale Strait. The mountain forms a
ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...
, terminating in what was known anciently as the Trogilium
promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the ...
(
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
Τρωγίλιον or Τρωγύλιον). There are several beaches on the north shore ranging from sand to pebbles. The south flank is mainly
escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...
. In
classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Marti ...
nearly the entire ridge was a promontory enclosed by the
Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi ( Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
. Geopolitically it was part of
Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionia ...
with
Priene Priene ( grc, Πριήνη, Priēnē; tr, Prien) was an ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called th ...
placed on the coast on the south flank of the mountain and
Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' ( exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ...
on the coast opposite to the south across the deep embayment into which the Maeander River drained. Somewhat further north was
Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...
. The ruins of the first two Ionian cities mentioned with their harbor facilities remain but today are several miles inland overlooking instead a rich agricultural plain and delta parkland created by deposition of sediments from the river, which continues to form the geological feature named after it, maeanders. The end of the former bay remains as a lake, Çamiçi Gölü (
Lake Bafa Lake Bafa ( tr, Bafa Gölü) also known as Lake Çamiçi ( tr, Çamiçi Gölü) and in earlier times the Vafi Sea ( tr, Vafi Denizi) is a lake situated in southwestern Turkey, part of it within the boundaries of Milas district of Muğla Province ...
). Samsun Daği, or Mycale, still has a promontory. The entire ridge was designated as a national park in 1966; ''Dilek Yarimadisi Milli Parki'' ("Dilek Peninsula National Park") has , which is partly accessible to the public. The remainder is a military reservation. The park's isolation has encouraged the return of the native ecology, which is 60%
maquis shrubland 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; hr, makija; ; ) is a shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis is c ...
. It is a refuge for species that used to be more abundant in the region.


Geophysics

Western Turkey is mainly
fault-block Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relat ...
terrain, with steep-sided ridges running east-west and rivers in the rifts. The source of the faulting is the closing of
Tethys Sea The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...
and the collision of the African and
Arabian plate The Arabian Plate is a minor tectonic plate in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres. It is one of the three continental plates (along with the African and the Indian Plates) that have been moving northward in geological history and colliding ...
s with the
Eurasian plate The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent an ...
. The smaller Turkish and Aegean plates are being pushed together, generating ridges in Turkey. This orogenic belt was in place by 1.6 mya and continues to be a hot spot of earthquakes and volcanoes. Mount Mycale is part of a larger ridge, which continues in
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...
on the other side of the Samos Strait, and to the northeast in the Aydin Dağlari ("Aydin Mountains"), ancient Messogis range, on the other side of low hills and passes. The entire block of mountains around the Menderes (Maeander) River is known as the Menderes Massif. Mycale is scored transversely by numerous ravines through which sources drain. The biggest ravine is Oluk Gorge, with cliffs high. The main permanent streams are the Bal Deresi, the Sarap Dami and the Oluk Dereleri. The ample water supply supports a verdant maquis. The rock is primarily
metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...
:
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
and
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
formed from rocks originating in the
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
, crystalline
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...
s formed from rocks originating in the
Palaeozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and '' ...
and
conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** ...
s of the
Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...
. The renowned builders and sculptors of Ionia made full use of these materials for their major works.


Ecology

The ridge and its environs offer a number of different ecologies. The crest is a sharp divide between the
xerophytic A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or t ...
southern slopes and the forested northern slopes, with of
maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The netwo ...
and of mixed pine. Around the base of the promontory is a maritime environment. The maquis vegetation includes ''
Pistacia lentiscus ''Pistacia lentiscus'' (also lentisk or mastic) is a dioecious evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus '' Pistacia'' native to the Mediterranean Basin. It grows up to tall and is cultivated for its aromatic resin, mainly on the Greek is ...
;
Laurus nobilis ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cookin ...
;
Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the '' Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergre ...
, Q. frainetto'' and '' Q. ithaburensis;
Phillyrea ''Phillyrea'' is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and naturalized in the Canary Islands and Madeira. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 3–9 m tall, related ...
latifolia;
Ceratonia siliqua The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and lands ...
;
Olea europaea The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...
;
Rubus fruticosus ''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the rose family. The name has been interpreted in several ways: *The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosus'' L., ...
;
Myrtus communis ''Myrtus communis'', the common myrtle or true myrtle, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It is an evergreen shrub native to southern Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, Macaronesia, and the Indian Subcontinent, and ...
;
Smilax ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...
;
Jasminum fruticans Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...
;
Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are cur ...
;
Lathyrus ''Lathyrus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, and contains approximately 160 species. Commonly known as peavines or vetchlings, they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 spec ...
grandiflorus;
Erica arborea ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an o ...
;'' and ''
Juncus ''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfici ...
'' on the slopes of the north. In moister areas are to be found ''
Nerium oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...
,
Platanus orientalis ''Platanus orientalis'', the Old World sycamore or Oriental plane, is a large, deciduous tree of the Platanaceae family, growing to or more, and known for its longevity and spreading crown. In autumn its deep green leaves may change to blood red ...
,
Fraxinus ornus ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergr ...
,
Laurus nobilis ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cookin ...
,
Cupressus sempervirens ''Cupressus sempervirens'', the Mediterranean cypress (also known as Italian cypress, Tuscan cypress, Persian cypress, or pencil pine), is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region, in northeast Libya, southern Albania, so ...
'' and ''
Rubus fruticosus ''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the rose family. The name has been interpreted in several ways: *The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosus'' L., ...
''. The mixed pine forest goes up to . Its major plant species are
Pinus brutia ''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey. Turkish pine is also known by several other common names: Calabrian pine (from a naturali ...
, Juniperus phoenicea, with broad-leaved trees and shrubs:
Ulmus campestris ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches i ...
,
Acer sempervirens ''Acer sempervirens'', the Cretan maple, is a species of maple native to southern Greece and southern Turkey.Med-Checklist''Acer sempervirens''/ref> ''Acer sempervirens'' is an evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub or small tree, one of the very fe ...
,
Fraxinus ornus ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergr ...
,
Castanea sativa ''Castanea sativa'', the sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut or just chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the Temperate climate, temperate world. A substa ...
,
Tilia platyphyllos ''Tilia platyphyllos'', the large-leaved lime or large-leaved linden, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Malvaceae (Tiliaceae). It is a deciduous tree, native plant, native to much of Europe, including locally in sout ...
,
Sorbus torminalis ''Sorbus torminalis'', with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (''Sorbus'') of the rose family (Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and we ...
, Viburnum tinus, Pyrus eleagrifolia and
Prunus dulcis The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...
. Some
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...
s native to the region are
Sus scrofa The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...
,
Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
, Hystrix cristata,
Canis aureus The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy y ...
,
Canis lupus The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
,
Martes martes The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...
,
Lynx lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an elev ...
, Felis sylvestris,
Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...
,
Meles meles The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large sta ...
,
Lepus Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...
, Erinaceus europaeus and
Sciurus The genus ''Sciurus'' contains most of the common, bushy-tailed squirrels in North America, Europe, temperate Asia, Central America and South America. Species The number of species in the genus is subject to change. In 2005, Thorington & H ...
. Migrants are Lynx
caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ...
and
Panthera pardus The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus ''Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, an ...
. Some birds are
Columba livia The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon ( also ; ''Columba livia'') is a member of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons). In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon". The domestic pigeon (''Columba livia dom ...
,
Alectoris graeca The rock partridge or common rock partridge (''Alectoris graeca'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family, Phasianidae, of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds). It is native to southern Europe, and is closely related and very similar to its ...
,
Perdix perdix The grey partridge (''Perdix perdix''), also known as the gray-legged partridge, English partridge, Hungarian partridge, or hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name ...
, Coturnix coturnix,
Scolopax rusticola The Eurasian woodcock (''Scolopax rusticola'') is a medium-small wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Eurasia. It has cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with reddish-brown upperparts and buff-coloured underparts. Its eyes ...
, Turdus merula,
Turdus pilaris The fieldfare (''Turdus pilaris'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It ...
, Oriolus oriolus,
Merops apiaster The European bee-eater (''Merops apiaster'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It breeds in southern and central Europe, northern and southern Africa, and western Asia. Except for the resident southern African populati ...
,
eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
s,
vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
s,
Corvus corax The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least e ...
,
Pica pica The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (''Pica pica'') is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic r ...
and
Sturnus vulgaris The common starling or European starling (''Sturnus vulgaris''), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about long and has glossy black plumage ...
.
Monachus monachus The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...
breeds in caves around the shores of Mycale. They and other marine predators (including man) feed on Liza,
Pagellus ''Pagellus'' is a genus of porgies in the family Sparidae The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are ...
, Dentex vulgaris and
Thunnus thynnus The Atlantic bluefin tuna (''Thunnus thynnus'') is a species of tuna in the family Scombridae. It is variously known as the northern bluefin tuna (mainly when including Pacific bluefin as a subspecies), giant bluefin tuna or individuals exce ...
.


History


Earliest references

Mycale,
Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' ( exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ...
and the Maeander appear in the Trojan Battle Order of the
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
, where they are populated by
Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joine ...
ns. "The steep heights of Mycale" and Miletus are also in the '' Hymn to Apollo'', where
Leto In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto (; grc-gre, Λητώ , ''Lētṓ'', or , ''Lātṓ'' in Doric Greek) is a goddess and the mother of Apollo, the god of music, and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.Hesiod, ''Theogony'404–409/ref> ...
, pregnant with
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, an especially Ionian god, travels about the Aegean looking for a home for her son, and settles on
Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...
, the major Ionian political, religious and cultural center of
Classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Marti ...
. A similar metaphor is to be found in the centuries-later ''Hymn to Delos'' of
Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...
, in which
Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...
, a swimming island, visits various places in the Aegean, including Parthenia, "Maiden's Isle" (
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...
), where it is entertained by the nymphs of Mycalessos. Just as Parthenia is the previous name of Samos so the reader is to understand Mycalessos as the previous name of Mycale. On being chosen as the birthplace of Apollo, Delos becomes fixed in the sea. There are no earlier instances of Mycale but some major Creto-Mycenaean cities, later Ionian, which appear in
Mycenaean Greek Mycenaean Greek is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, on the Greek mainland and Crete in Mycenaean Greece (16th to 12th centuries BC), before the hypothesised Dorian invasion, often cited as the '' terminus ad quem'' for th ...
and Hittite records of the
Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
. In Hitti language, there were the Achaean-Greek cities Apasa (
Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built i ...
), the capital of a state called
Arzawa Arzawa was a region and a political entity (a " kingdom" or a federation of local powers) in Western Anatolia in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC (roughly from the late 15th century BC until the beginning of the 12th century BC). The core ...
, in which also was Karkisha in (
Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joine ...
) and Millawanda (
Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' ( exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ...
). In the
Linear B Linear B was a syllabic script used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from ...
script tablets the region is called A-swi-ja (Asia). Documents at
Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is ...
, Thebes and
Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...
identify female textile workers and seamstresses (raptria) in servitude of Mi-ra-ti-ja, *Milātiai, "Milesians". The regions from which they came were centers of Mycenaean civilization although the languages they spoke was an early Greek-Mycenaean language and written in Linear B, although some support that was an unknown.


The state of Melia

After the Late Bronze Age the entire Aegean region entered a historical period termed the
Greek Dark Ages The term Greek Dark Ages refers to the period of History of Greece, Greek history from the end of the Mycenaean civilization, Mycenaean palatial civilization, around 1100 BC, to the beginning of the Archaic Greece, Archaic age, around 750 ...
. Archaeologically it was known as the Proto-geometric and
Geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...
Periods, which did not belong to any one ethnic group. This is the time to which heavy Ionic migration from mainland Greece to the coast of Ionia and the emergence of
Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...
as an Ionian center is believed to apply. These events were over at the start of the brilliant renaissance of the Orientalizing Period in which
Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionia ...
played a cardinal role. During this rise to prominence twelve cities were settled or resettled and emerged as
Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionia ...
speaking varieties of
Ionic Greek Ionic Greek ( grc, Ἑλληνικὴ Ἰωνική, Hellēnikē Iōnikē) was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic or Eastern dialect group of Ancient Greek. History The Ionic dialect appears to have originally spread from the Greek mainland acro ...
.
Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...
, however, says there were thirteen, the extra state being Melite, which "... as a punishment of the arrogance of its citizens was detached from the other states in a war levied pursuant to the directions of a general council (''communi consilio''); and in its place ... the city of
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...
was admitted into the number of Ionian states (''inter Ionas est recepta'')." There is no other mention of Melite anywhere but two fragments of Hecataeus say that Melia was a city of
Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joine ...
and an inscription from
Priene Priene ( grc, Πριήνη, Priēnē; tr, Prien) was an ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called th ...
confirms that there had been a "Meliac War" against a state located between Priene and
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a sepa ...
; i.e., on Mycale. The inscription records the result of an arbitration between Priene and Samos by jurors from
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
. Both litigants claimed that Carium, the fortified settlement of Melia, and Dryussa, another settlement, had been distributed to them at the conclusion of the Meliac War, when the Carians were expelled. Being on the Samian side of the crest Melia had been resettled mainly by Samians and for this reason they had won a similar case brought before
Lysimachus Lysimachus (; Greek: Λυσίμαχος, ''Lysimachos''; c. 360 BC – 281 BC) was a Thessalian officer and successor of Alexander the Great, who in 306 BC, became King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. Early life and career Lysimachus wa ...
of
Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...
a century earlier. That case is mentioned in an earlier inscription from Priene. Priene had now reopened the case arguing that their sale of plots from the land demonstrated their continuous ownership of it except for a brief period when an invasion of the
Cimmerians The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into Wes ...
under Lygdamis forced temporary Greek evacuation of the region (about 650 BC). The Samians used a passage from the now missing ''History'' of Maeandrius of Miletus to support their claim. The jury found that Maeandrius was not authentic and reversed the earlier decision.


Panionium

The Melians had named their capital Carium, "of Caria" as a Greek word. Considering that it was placed in Ionia, the choice of name suggests a political statement of some sort, although the word may have had a different meaning in the Carian language, now lost except for a few dozen words. The Ionians leagued together to defeat it and continued the league, building a capital they called
Panionium The Panionium (Ancient Greek: Πανιώνιον, ''Paniōnion'') was an Ionian sanctuary dedicated to Poseidon Helikonios and the meeting place of the Ionian League. It was on the peninsula of Mycale, Mt. Mycale, about south of Smyrna—now İzmi ...
, "of all the Ionians" next to the former Carium. It rose to prominence while the Ionian confederacy was sovereign, became a memory when Ionia was incorporated into other states and empires and finally was lost altogether. The ancient writers remembered that it had been on the north side of the mountain, across the ridge from
Priene Priene ( grc, Πριήνη, Priēnē; tr, Prien) was an ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called th ...
. After a few false identifications in modern times, the ruins of Melia and the Panionium were discovered in 2004 on Dilek Daglari, a smaller peak of Mycale, to the north of Priene at an elevation of . The Carium must be the early 7th century BC town surrounded by a triangular wall in places as thick as . The
floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
was the early 7th, but sherds have been found there from as early as the Protogeometric period. Coldstream characterizes the burial structures as of "a considerable Carian substrate". The culture was not entirely Carian; the Ionians continued the worship of
Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...
Heliconius there, which
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
says came from
Helike Helike (; el, , pronounced , modern ) was an ancient Greek polis (city-state) that was submerged by a tsunami in the winter of 373 BC. It was located in the regional unit of Achaea, northern Peloponnesos, two kilometres (12 stadia) from the ...
in Peloponnesian Achaea. This event must have been during the Ionian colonization. Melia therefore was a renegade Ionian state. The temple believed to the
Panionium The Panionium (Ancient Greek: Πανιώνιον, ''Paniōnion'') was an Ionian sanctuary dedicated to Poseidon Helikonios and the meeting place of the Ionian League. It was on the peninsula of Mycale, Mt. Mycale, about south of Smyrna—now İzmi ...
was constructed next to the Carium about 540 BC. It took over the worship of Poseidon Heliconius, served as the meeting place of the
Ionian League The Ionian League ( grc, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes''; , ''koinón Iōnōn''; or , ''koinē sýnodos Iōnōn''; Latin: ''commune consilium''), also called the Panionic League, was a confederation formed at the end of the Meliac War in the mid-7th ce ...
, and was the site of the religious festival and games (''
panegyris A panegyris ( grc, πανήγυρις "gathering"), is an Ancient Greek general, national or religious assembly. Each was dedicated to the worship of a particular god. It is also associated with saint days and holy festivals. Panegryis is used thr ...
'') called the Panionia. The construction of this temple is a
terminus post quem ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...
for the existence of the
Ionian League The Ionian League ( grc, Ἴωνες, ''Íōnes''; , ''koinón Iōnōn''; or , ''koinē sýnodos Iōnōn''; Latin: ''commune consilium''), also called the Panionic League, was a confederation formed at the end of the Meliac War in the mid-7th ce ...
, which as a constituted body had a name, the ''koinon Iōnōn'' ("common thing of the Ionians"), a ''synedrion'' ("place to sit down together") and a ''boulē'' ("council"). Whether this body existed before the Meliac War is uncertain. Vitruvius' ''commune consilium'' seems to translate ''koinon.'' Some analysts have postulated an association as early as 800 BC but whether formally constituted remains unknown. There is no sign of it yet on Mycale unless Carium had in fact been it.


Battle of Mycale

In 479 BC, Mycale was the site of one of the two major battles that ended the second Persian invasion of
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
, during the
Greco-Persian Wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of th ...
. Under the leadership of the
Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...
n
Leotychides Leotychidas II ( grc-gre, Λεωτυχίδας; Doric: ; c. 545 – c. 469 BC) was king of Sparta between 491–476 BC, alongside Cleomenes I and later Leonidas I and Pleistarchus. He led Spartan forces during the Persian Wars from 490 BC to 478 ...
, the Greek fleet defeated the Persian fleet and army. According to
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
, the battle occurred the same day as the Greek victory at
Plataea Plataea or Plataia (; grc, Πλάταια), also Plataeae or Plataiai (; grc, Πλαταιαί), was an ancient city, located in Greece in southeastern Boeotia, south of Thebes.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. “Plataea.” '' Webst ...
.Herodotus
9.909.96


Notes


References

*
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
, ''Histories'',
A. D. Godley Alfred Denis Godley (22 January 1856 – 27 June 1925) was an Anglo-Irish classical scholar and author of humorous poems. From 1910 to 1920 he was Public Orator at the University of Oxford, a post that involved composing citations in Latin for ...
(translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920;
 
*
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
, ''Description of Greece'', (
Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and ...
) translated by W. H. S. Jones; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. (191
 
Vol 2, Books III–V, ; Vol 3, Books VI–VIII.21, . *
Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...
, ''
The Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
''. London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton. 191
 


External links

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