| Mount Mycale | |
|---|---|
| Μυκάλη Samsun Dağı | |
 The flanks of Mycale behindPriene | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,237 m (4,058 ft) at Dilek Tepesi, the high point; 600 m (1,969 ft) average |
| Coordinates | 37°39′40″N27°09′02″E / 37.66111°N 27.15056°E /37.66111; 27.15056 |
| Naming | |
| English translation | Samson's Mountain |
| Language of name | Turkish language |
| Geography | |
  Mount Mycale Aydin Province,Republic of Turkey | |
| Parent range | Aydin Mountain Range in the Menderes Massif |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type(s) | Ridge, 20 km (12 mi) long |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Hike |
Mycale (/ˈmɪkəli/) alsoMykale andMykali (Ancient Greek:Μυκάλη,Mykálē), calledSamsun Dağı andDilek Dağı (Dilek Peninsula) in modernTurkey, is a mountain on the west coast of centralAnatolia in Turkey, north of the mouth of theMaeander and divided from the Greek island ofSamos by the 1.6 km wideMycale Strait. The mountain forms aridge, terminating in what was known anciently as the Trogiliumpromontory (Ancient Greek Τρωγίλιον or Τρωγύλιον).[1] There are several beaches on the north shore ranging from sand to pebbles. The south flank is mainlyescarpment.
In the Late Bronze Age, it may have been known under the Hittite name Arrinnanda.
Inclassical Greece nearly the entire ridge was a promontory enclosed by theAegean Sea. Geopolitically it was part ofIonia withPriene placed on the coast on the south flank of the mountain andMiletus on the coast opposite to the south across the deep embayment into which the Maeander River drained. Somewhat further north wasEphesus.
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). 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 109.85 km2 (27,145 acres), 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. It is a refuge for species that used to be more abundant in the region.
Western Turkey is mainlyfault-block terrain, with steep-sided ridges running east–west and rivers in the rifts. The source of the faulting is the closing ofTethys Sea and the collision of theAfrican andArabian Plates with theEurasian Plate. The smallerTurkish 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.[2]
Mount Mycale is part of a larger ridge, which continues inSamos 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.[3]
Mycale is scored transversely by numerous ravines through which sources drain. The biggest ravine is Oluk Gorge, with cliffs 200 m (656 ft) 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 primarilymetamorphic:marble andlimestone formed from rocks originating in theMesozoic, crystallineschists formed from rocks originating in thePalaeozoic andconglomerates of theCenozoic. The renowned builders and sculptors of Ionia made full use of these materials for their major works.
The ridge and its environs offer a number of different ecologies. The crest is a sharp divide between thexerophytic southern slopes and the forested northern slopes, with 66.24 km2 (16,368 acres) ofmaquis and 35.74 km2 (8,832 acres) of mixed pine.[4]Around the base of the promontory is a maritime environment.
The maquis vegetation includesPistacia lentiscus;Laurus nobilis;Quercus ilex,Q. frainetto andQ. ithaburensis;Phillyrea latifolia;Ceratonia siliqua;Olea europaea;Rubus fruticosus;Myrtus communis;Smilax;Jasminum fruticans;Vitis vinifera;Lathyrus grandiflorus;Erica arborea, andJuncus on the slopes of the north. In moister areas are to be foundNerium oleander,Platanus orientalis,Fraxinus ornus,Laurus nobilis,Cupressus sempervirens andRubus fruticosus.
The mixed pine forest goes up to 700 m (2,297 ft). Its major plant species arePinus brutia,Juniperus phoenicea, with broad-leaved trees and shrubs:Ulmus campestris,Acer sempervirens,Fraxinus ornus,Castanea sativa,Tilia platyphyllos,Sorbus torminalis,Viburnum tinus,Pyrus eleagrifolia, andPrunus dulcis.
Somemammals native to the region areSus scrofa,Vulpes vulpes,Hystrix cristata,Canis aureus,Canis lupus,Martes martes,Lynx lynx,Felis sylvestris,Ursus arctos,Meles meles,Lepus,Erinaceus europaeus, andSciurus. Migrants areCaracal caracal andPanthera pardus.
Some birds areColumba livia,Alectoris graeca,Perdix perdix,Coturnix coturnix,Scolopax rusticola,Turdus merula,Turdus pilaris,Oriolus oriolus,Merops apiaster,eagles,vultures,Corvus corax,Pica pica, andSturnus vulgaris.
Monachus monachus breeds in caves around the shores of Mycale. They and other marine predators (including man) feed onPlaniliza,Pagellus,Dentex vulgaris andThunnus thynnus.
Mycale,Miletus and theMaeander appear in theTrojan Battle Order of theIliad, where they are populated byCarians. "The steep heights of Mycale" and Miletus are also in theHymn to Apollo, whereLeto, pregnant withApollo, an especially Ionian god, travels about the Aegean looking for a home for her son, and settles onDelos, the major Ionian political, religious and cultural center ofClassical Greece[citation needed].
A similar metaphor is to be found in the centuries-laterHymn to Delos ofCallimachus, in whichDelos, a swimming island, visits various places in the Aegean, including Parthenia, "Maiden's Isle" (Samos), 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.
Hittite records of theLate Bronze Age. In Hitti language, Apasa (Ephesus), the capital of a state calledArzawa, in which also was Karkisha in (Caria) and Millawanda (Miletus). In theLinear B script tablets the region is called A-swi-ja (Asia). Documents atPylos,Thebes andKnossos identify female textile workers and seamstresses (raptria) in servitude of Mi-ra-ti-ja, *Milātiai, "Milesians". The regions from which they came were centers ofMycenaean civilization although the languages they spoke was an early Greek-Mycenaean language and written in Linear B, although some support that was an unknown.[5]
After the Late Bronze Age the entire Aegean region entered a historical period termed theGreek Dark Ages. Archaeologically it was known as theProto-geometric andGeometric 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 ofDelos as an Ionian center is believed to apply. These events were over at the start of the brilliant renaissance of theOrientalizing Period[citation needed] in whichIonia played a cardinal role.
During this rise to prominence twelve cities were settled or resettled and emerged asIonia speaking varieties ofIonic Greek[citation needed].Vitruvius, 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 ofSmyrna was admitted into the number of Ionian states (inter Ionas est recepta)."[6] There is no other mention of Melite anywhere but two fragments ofHecataeus say that Melia was a city ofCaria and an inscription fromPriene confirms that there had been a "Meliac War"[7] against a state located between Priene andSamos; i.e., on Mycale.
The inscription records the result of an arbitration between Priene and Samos by jurors fromRhodes. 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.[8] 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 beforeLysimachus ofMacedon a century earlier. That case is mentioned in an earlier inscription from Priene.[9]
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 theCimmerians underLygdamis forced temporary Greek evacuation of the region (about 650 BC). The Samians used a passage from the now missingHistory of Maeandrius of Miletus to support their claim. The jury found that Maeandrius was not authentic and reversed the earlier decision.[10]
The Melians had named their capital Carium, "of Caria" as a Greek word[further explanation needed]. 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 calledPanionium, "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 fromPriene.
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, 15 km (9 mi) to the north of Priene at an elevation of 750 m (2,461 ft).[11] The Carium must be the early 7th century BC town surrounded by a triangular wall in places as thick as 3 m (10 ft).
Thefloruit was the early 7th, but sherds have been found there from as early as theProtogeometric period. Coldstream characterizes the burial structures as of "a considerable Carian substrate".[12] The culture was not entirely Carian; the Ionians continued the worship ofPoseidon Heliconius there, whichStrabo says came fromHelike in Peloponnesian Achaea.[13] This event must have been during the Ionian colonization. Melia therefore was a renegade Ionian state.
The temple believed to thePanionium was constructed next to the Carium about 540 BC.[11] It took over the worship of Poseidon Heliconius, served as the meeting place of theIonian League, and was the site of the religious festival and games (panegyris) called thePanionia. The construction of this temple is aterminus post quem for the existence of theIonian League, which as a constituted body had a name, thekoinon Iōnōn ("common thing of the Ionians"), asynedrion ("place to sit down together") and aboulē ("council").
Whether this body existed before the Meliac War is uncertain. Vitruvius'commune consilium seems to translatekoinon. 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.
In 479 BC, Mycale was the site of one of the two major battles that ended the secondPersian invasion ofGreece, during theGreco-Persian Wars. Under the leadership of theSpartanLeotychides, the Greek fleet defeated thePersian fleet and army.[14] According toHerodotus, the battle occurred the same day as the Greek victory atPlataea.[15]
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