Ancient Temple tombs

April 25, 2014

Lycian tombs in all their beauty

Our day started with a full shampoo and shower for our motorhome, which is still behaving itself; while we attacked an early morning Turkish Kahve, which is as thick as mud and has half a cup of grounds in the cup when you are finished. A tractor was also getting the full spa treatment at our little Oto Yikama probably because these are often used as the main vehicle for many a dad, mum and kids: to market, to school, then on into the fields: terribly versatile.

We drove on to Dalaman with many a pullover on any available belvedere for views down to the beautiful blue patches of the Mediterranean.

We are now in the south of Turkey and the days are getting warmer: tho’ not uncomfortably so, as yet. At Dalaman, we eventually hunted down a train station that was built there by mistake. It is probably the only train station on earth that has no rail line to it, so no train has ever visited. A shipping delivery error was the cause.

Abbas Pasha, the viceroy of Egypt, in 1906, decided he loved the wildlife at Dalaman so much he would build himself a country lodge there. At the same time, he was in the process of ordering a new railway building to be set up in Alexandria.

The orders were mixed up. The building material for the lodge went to Alexandria while the train station was delivered to Dalaman; and in the end built there, as the shipping costs to correct the error were far too prohibitive. Today, the train station has been remodelled and seems to be the administrative headquarters for some sort of extensive state farm that grows fruit trees and agricultural crops and is all decked out in date palms and green lawns.

After lunch we headed to Dalyan, which for thousands of years was home to the Lycian kings. The myths to do with the origins of these kingdoms are delightful, and it is not surprising that Homer included them in his epics.

It was said that Caunos, son of Miletus, was in love with his twin sister, Bibylis. Sternly disapproving, Miletus sent Caunos away. Caunos settled on a knoll here, overlooking where a natural harbour once existed: but today it is covered in reed beds, sand and marsh. He built his home and kingdom, but the river that runs right past it, out to the Mediterranean, is said to be made up of the endless tears of Bibylis, so distraught at his loss, she killed herself when he was sent away.

Caunos’s Lycian kingdom was one of the small but well functioning trading kingdoms along this stretch of the Mediterranean, way back in the 3rd BC. Greek was spoken, and they showed a preference for Hellenistic architecture; but the Lycians were Anatolian in their identity.

Their small ships plied the Mediterranean most likely trading salt, salted fish and dried figs, and while they struck up strategic alliances, they generally stayed very Swiss in their attitude: playing quite a neutral role in these parts, keeping themselves to themselves, and maintaining their wealth.

The Lycians often built burial chambers close to where they lived, following quite eastern traditions. Their dead were then seen as still a part of the living. But, when conditions allowed, as at Dalyan, they created glorious and spectacular tombs for their kings, carving them out of the limestone cliffs, creating works of temple art on sheer perpendicular walls, because they believed that the soul of the dead would be carried off, like a winged creature, into the Netherworld, and that this height would give them a head start. Extraordinary work.

The rock tombs, which were part of the necropolis at Dalyan were long ago looted, despite written curses on many of them for those who attempted such a pillage. Tomb robbing was apparently a well developed money-earner, even then: worse risking a curse for.

The larger rock tombs look like temples with colonnaded frontages, bas reliefs and engraved drawings using figures from myths and funeral feasts as the subject matter. The smaller ones for the less wealthy are plain and unadorned, and lower down on the cliff wall.

Small water boats today carry tourists through the pretty reed beds to view the monumental rock art, then on to the remnants of Caunos, which are fairly bereft, and quite poorly signed, as yet: more archeology needs to be done here. Despite that it really is amazing just to walk where Caunos once walked. We found it hard to leave so camped directly opposite the Necropolis, and ate our dinner just as the lights came on, illuminating the tomb art.

Lovely though it is, the lake, the reeds and the watery world beneath the monumental rock tombs, it is not hard to understand why many of the graves are there. The inhabitants of this part of the world were was often described as having a ‘greenish cast’: very likely the effects of malaria: the curse of much of the Mediterranean coast in times long past. No mosquitos tonight, thank goodness.

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