Antiphellos was founded as the port of the city of Phellos. By developing trade activities, it grew much larger than Phellos and by the Hellenistic period it become an independent city. There are coins minted under its own name. Lycian name of the city is Wehinta. There has not been a comprehensive excavation work in Antiphellos. The oldest of the visible structures are the tombs belonging to the dynastic period. At the neck of the peninsula, parallel to the sea rises the acropolis hill. Built on its southern slope, the Roman period theater is the best preserved building in the city. It was probably built on top of an older theater of the Hellenistic period. The theater was restored in 2011. The ancient city was located between the acropolis and the port to the east. Most of the buildings in this area are buried under the modern day settlement, although traces of the fortification walls surrounding the settlement area and the acropolis hill can still be seen. After a salvage excavation in 2012, the building that was labeled as bouleuterion in the map of Charles Texier, was identified as a Hellenistic temple structure. It was used for different purposes in later periods.
The Lion Tomb of Antiphellos
It is a classical Lycian sarcophagus rising on a hyposorion with a wooden imitation chest and a ogival shaped lid. The tomb is named after the two lion head-shaped protomes on each side of the lid. The sarcophagus, still standing in its original place, is now in the busy center of Kaş. 19th century travelers Spratt & Forbes noted that among the hundreds of sarcophagi found here, this tomb drew attention with both its architecture and the lengthy inscription on it. The 9-line inscription (TL 55) found on the north face is divided into stanzas and written in Lycian B, which is thought to be an older dialect of Lycian language. Although the content of the inscription has not been fully deciphered, it is understood that the tomb belongs to a person named Pixre. He may be the man depicted as standing in front of a seated woman on the relief of the lid pediment. Pixre probably had this tomb built for his entire family. The dynastic period tomb is one of the oldest in Antiphellos. Jan Zahle dates it to 390-380 BCE.
The Doric Tomb
The tomb is located on the northwestern edge of the acropolis hill. It is a square planned tomb carved out of the bedrock and received the name from its Doric style. Except for the east-facing front side, it is surrounded by rock walls on three sides. The roof, which is thought to have been in the form of a pyramid, has not survived. There is an inscription in Greek above the entrance door. The tomb chamber has three klinai decorated with floral motifs. The most striking decoration is on the western wall and the corner projections, above the kline opposite the entrance. The 3,36 m long u-shaped frieze contains 26 female figures (dancing girls) holding hands. Unfortunately, the details of the figures are not well preserved due to the heavy wear. The tomb is dated to the 4th century BCE.
References:
Çevik, N. 2021. Lykia Kitabı: Arkeolojisi, Tarihi ve Kültürüyle Batı Antalya, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara.
Fellows, C. 1839. A Journal Written During an Excursion in Asia Minor, London.
Fellows, C. 1847. Lycia, Caria, Lydia, illustrated Mr. George Scharf with descriptive letter-press by Sir Charles Fellows, London.
Gülşen, F. F. 1998. ‘The Doric Rock Tomb at Antiphellos’, Adalya 3, 63 – 86.
Mayer, L. 1803. Views in the Ottoman Empire, London.
Schürr, D. 2005. ‘Das Pixre-Poem in Antiphellos’, Kadmos 44, 95–164.
Texier, C. 1849. Description de l’Asie Mineure, Vol.3, Paris.
Woudhuizen, F. C. 2012. ‘Lycian Forms of the Enclitic Pronoun of the 3rd Person: An Overview of the Relevant Data’, CollAn XI, 415-436.
Zahle J. 1979. ‘Lykische Felsgräber mit Reliefs aus dem 4. Jh. v. Chr.’, JDI 94, 245–347.
Image sources:
L. Mayer, 1803
C. Fellows, 1839, 1847
British Museum
C. Texier, 1849
F. F. Gülşen, 1998
Htkava, 2004
Tayfun Bilgin, 2022
Bora Bilgin, 2022, 2023
Reha Özer, 2022, 2023