Halicarnassus' history was special on two interlinked issues. Halicarnassus retained a monarchical system of government at a time when most other Greek city states had long since rid themselves of their kings. And secondly, while their Ionian neighbours rebelled against Persian rule, Halicarnassus remained loyal to the Persians and formed part of thePersian Empire untilAlexander the Great captured it at thesiege of Halicarnassus in 333 BC.
Zephyria was the original name of the settlement, and the present site of the greatCastle of St. Peter built by theKnights of Rhodes in 1404 AD.[2] It was built on what was originally an island, which gradually expanded to include several Carian settlements on the mainland.[1] However, in the course of time, the island topographically united with the mainland, and the city was extended to combine with the existingSalmacis, an older town of the nativeLeleges andCarians,[2] and site of the later citadel. The first settlers were originally Dorians from the Peloponnese, but this was soon forgotten.
The suffix -ασσός (-assos) of Greek Ἁλικαρνασσός is indicative of asubstrate toponym, meaning that an original non-Greek name influenced, or established the place's name (compareParnassus). In a 2015 article, linguist and philologist Ilya Yakubovich proposed that the element -καρνασσός iscognate withLuwian (CASTRUM)ha+ra/i-na-sà / (CASTRUM)ha+ra/i-ni-sà 'fortress'.[3] If so, the toponym is probably borrowed fromCarian, aLuwic language spoken alongside Greek in Halicarnassus. The Carian name for Halicarnassus has been tentatively identified with 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 (alos k̂arnos) in inscriptions.[4]
Some largeMycenaean tombs have been found at Musgebi (or Muskebi, modernOrtakent), not far from Halicarnassus. According to Turkish archaeologist Yusuf Boysal, the Muskebi material, dating from the end of the fifteenth century BC to ca. 1200 BC, provides evidence of the presence, in this region, of a Mycenaean settlement.[5]
More than forty burial places dating back to that time have been discovered. A rich collection of artifacts found in these tombs is now housed in theBodrum Castle. These finds cast some light on the problem of determining the territories of ancientArzawa andAhhiyawa.[5]
Myndos Gate. Ruins of the fortifications of Halicarnassus (modernBodrum); 4th c. BC;Herodotus (Greek: Ἡρόδοτος) is honored with a statue in his home of Halicarnassus (modernBodrum).
The founding of Halicarnassus is debated among various traditions; but they agree in the main point as to its being aDorian colony, and the figures on its coins, such as the head ofMedusa,Athena orPoseidon, or the trident, support the statement that the mother cities wereTroezen andArgos. The inhabitants appear to have accepted Anthes, a son of Poseidon, as their legendary founder, as mentioned byStrabo, and were proud of the title ofAntheadae.[2]
At an early period Halicarnassus was a member of theDoric Hexapolis, which includedKos,Cnidus,Lindos,Kameiros andIalysus; but it was expelled from the league when one of its citizens, Agasicles, took home the prize tripod which he had won in the Triopian games, instead of dedicating it according to custom to the Triopian Apollo. In the early 5th century BC Halicarnassus was under the sway ofArtemisia I of Caria (also known as Artemesia of Halicarnassus), who made herself famous as a naval commander at thebattle of Salamis. Of Pisindalis, her son and successor, little is known. Artemisia's grandsonLygdamis II of Halicarnassus, is notorious for having put to death the poetPanyasis and causingHerodotus, possibly the best known Halicarnassian, to leave his native city (c. 457 BC).[6][2]
Hecatomnus became king of Caria, at that time part of the Persian Empire, ruling from 404 BC to 358 BC and establishing the Hekatomnid dynasty. He left three sons, Mausolus,Idrieus andPixodarus—all of whom—in their turn, succeeded him in the sovereignty; and two daughters,Artemisia andAda, who were married to their brothers Mausolus and Idrieus.
Mausolus moved his capital fromMylasa to Halicarnassus. His workmen deepened the city's harbor and used the dragged sand to make protectingbreakwaters in front of the channel.[7]
On land they paved streets andsquares, and built houses for ordinary citizens. And on one side of the harbor they built a massive fortified palace for Mausolus, positioned to have clear views out to sea and inland to the hills—places from where enemies could attack. On land, the workmen also built walls andwatchtowers, aGreek–style theatre and atemple toAres—theGreekgod of war. Artemisia and Mausolus spent huge amounts of tax money to embellish the city. Mausolus and Artemisia had ruled over Halicarnassus and the region surrounding it for 24 years.[8] They commissioned statues, temples and buildings of gleamingmarble. When he died in 353 BC, his wife, sister and successor,Artemisia II of Caria, began construction of a magnificent tomb for him and herself on a hill overlooking the city. She died in 351 BC (of grief, according to Cicero,Tusculan Disputations 3.31). According toPliny the Elder the craftsmen continued to work on the tomb after the death of their patron, "considering that it was at once a memorial of his own fame and of the sculptor's art," finishing it in 350 BC. This tomb of Mausolus came to be known as theMausoleum, one of theseven wonders of the ancient world.
Artemisia was succeeded by her brother Idrieus, who, in turn, was succeeded by his wife and sister Ada when he died in 344 BC. However, Ada was usurped by her brother Pixodarus in 340 BC. On the death of Pixodarus in 335 BC his son-in-law, a Persian namedOrontobates, received the satrapy of Caria fromDarius III of Persia.
The siege and capture of Halicarnassus under Alexander the Great.
WhenAlexander the Great entered Caria in 334 BC,Ada, who was in possession of the fortress ofAlinda, surrendered the fortress to him. After taking Halicarnassus, Alexander handed back the government of Caria to her; she, in turn, formally adopted Alexander as her son, ensuring that the rule of Caria passed unconditionally to him upon her eventual death.
During thesiege of Halicarnassus the city was fired by the retreating Persians. As he was not able to reduce thecitadel, Alexander was forced to leave it blockaded.[2] The ruins of this citadel and moat are now a tourist attraction in Bodrum.
Not long afterwards the citizens received the present of a gymnasium fromPtolemy and built in his honour astoa or portico.[2] Under Egyptian hegemony, around 268 BC, a citizen namedHermias becameNesiarch of theNesiotic League in theCyclades.[9]
Halicarnassus never recovered altogether from the disasters of the siege, andCicero describes it as almost deserted.[2]
Baroque artistJohann Elias Ridinger depicted the several stages of siege and taking of the place in a huge copper engraving as one of only two known today from his Alexander set. The Christian and later history of the site is continued atBodrum.
Ruins of the ancient Theater and Acropolis of Halicarnassus (modernBodrum).Theatre at Halicarnassus in Bodrum, with theBodrum Castle seen in the background.Statue of a priest from Halicarnassus (modernBodrum).
The site is now occupied in part by the town of Bodrum; but the ancient walls can still be traced round nearly all their circuit, and the position of several of the temples, theTheatre of Halicarnassus, and other public buildings can be fixed with certainty.[2]
The ruins of the mausoleum were recovered sufficiently by the 1857 excavations ofCharles Newton to enable a fairly complete restoration of its design to be made. The building consisted of five parts—a basement or podium, a pteron or enclosure of columns, a pyramid, a pedestal and a chariot group. The basement, covering an area of 114 feet by 92, was built of blocks of greenstone, cased with marble and covered in carvings of cows. Round the base of it were probably disposed groups of statuary. The pteron consisted (according toPliny) of thirty-six columns of theIonic order, enclosing a square cella. Between the columns probably stood single statues. From the portions that have been recovered, it appears that the principal frieze of the pteron represented combats of Greeks andAmazons. In addition, there are also many life-size fragments of animals, horsemen, etc., belonging probably to pedimental sculptures, but formerly supposed to be parts of minor friezes. Above the pteron rose the pyramid, mounting by 24 steps to an apex or pedestal.[2]
Part of a panel from a mosaic pavement from Halicarnassus (Roman Empire), British Museum (14097669977)
On this apex stood the chariot with the figure of Mausolus himself and an attendant. The height of the statue of Mausolus in theBritish Museum is 9'9" without the plinth. The hair falls from the forehead in thick waves on each side of the face and descends nearly to the shoulder; the beard is short and close, the face square and massive, the eyes deep set under overhanging brows. All sorts of restorations of this famous monument have been proposed. The original one, made by Newton and Pullan, is in error in many respects; and that of Oldfield, though to be preferred for its lightness (the mausoleum was said anciently to be "suspended in mid-air"). Another by veteran German architect, F. Adler was published in 1900; but studies have since been made (see below).[2]
^abLivius.org Halicarnassus/Bodrum "Usually, Greek settlers first occupied an island near a native settlement; later, they settled on the mainland. We may assume that the first Greeks built their houses on the island that was later known as the Royal Island. Today, it is no longer an island, but an impressive castle built in the age of the Crusades. The native settlement probably was at the Salmacis hill, which was crowned by a sanctuary of Hermaphroditus.", "Later, the Greeks settled on the mainland. To the northeast of the island, they founded a marketplace to trade with the natives. The new Greek settlement itself was to the northwest.", "The Greeks thought that Halicarnassus was a "Dorian" city: its first settlers were from the Peloponnese and belonged to this tribe. The city was really proud of this descent, but in fact, the Dorian nature of the population was soon forgotten."
Jeppeson, Kristian. 2002.The Maussolleion at Halikarnassos: Reports of the Danish archaeological expedition to Bodrum: The superstructure, a comparative analysis of the architectural, sculptural, and literary evidence. Vol. 5. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus Univ. Press.
Newton, Charles Thomas; Pullan, Richard Popplewell (1862–1863).A history of discoveries at Halicarnassus, Cnidus & Branchidæ (2 Vols). London: Day and Son.. Google books:Volume 1,Volume 2.
Oldfield, Edmund (1895). "The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. A new restoration".Archaeologia.54 (2):273–362.doi:10.1017/s0261340900018051.
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