Araxa is located near the Ören village in the Seydikemer district of Muğla. It was a small city but strategically located at the northern entrance of the Xanthos Valley, which hosts the largest cities of western Lycia. Araxa minted coins under its own name as a member of the Lycian League. It was first identified and mentioned by Spratt and Forbes in the modern period. The Lycian name of the city is Araththi. Other than surface surveys, no regular excavation has been carried out. An inscription found in Araxa in 1948 by George Bean, which is dated to the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, provided important information for both Araxa and Lycian history. It is an honorary inscription that describes the services of Orthagoras, one of the notables of the city of Araxa. The inscription indicates that Orthagoras represented Araxa in the Lycian League, and gives information about the wars he participated in and his relations as a representative of Araxa with other cities. This inscription has been an important reference document for determining the date of establishment of the Lycian League.
Very few remains have survived from the city of Araxa. There are a few rock-cut tombs of different types and sizes on the left side of the road entering the village. Some of these are house-type tombs imitating wooden houses in the classical Lycian style from the dynastic period. The most striking rock tomb with its temple façade belongs to a later period. There are also the remains of the late Roman period walls at the entrance of the village and one can see various stones of the ancient structures on the walls of the buildings inside the village. The Roman bath, whose walls are still intact and used in accordance with its original function until recently, now serves as a barn.
References:
Bean, G. E. 1948. ‘Notes and Inscriptions from Lycia’, çev. H. Kökten, JHS 68, 40-58.
Bean, G. E. 1997. Eskiçağda Likya Bölgesi, çev. H. Kökten, İstanbul.
Bayburtluoğlu, C. 2004. Lykia, Suna-İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Enstitüsü, İstanbul.
Image sources:
Bora Bilgin, 2022
Reha Özer, 2022
Ertuğrul Anıl, 2024
Tayfun Bilgin, 2022, 2024