Asaraltı - Kerththi

The city of Kerththi is located on the south-facing slope of a hill to the east of Hacıoğlan village, under which the Felen Stream passes. The location is called Asaraltı today. Borchhardt and his friends defined the city named Kerththi in Lycian on the Inscribed Monument in Xanthos as Asaraltı. It is a dynastic period settlement. The remains of the fortification walls show that the slope was divided into two parts as the upper and lower cities. On the top of the hill, apart from the castle and tombs, a square-shaped multi-roomed structure was identified, but its function could not be determined. On the Inscribed Monument in Xanthos, where the name of the city is mentioned, it is also mentioned that there was an altar dedicated to the Lycian goddess Pedrita in this city. Borchhardt says that the stepped base carved on a rock to the south of the west gate of the city may belong to this altar. Besides 5 pillar tombs (or cenotaphs according to Borchhardt), there are also a few rock tombs and sarcophagi in the settlement.


References:

Borchhardt, J., H. Eichner & K. Schulz. 2005. KERTHTHI oder der Versuch, eine antike Siedlung der Klassik in Zentrallykien zu identifizieren, Adalya Supp. Series 3, Antalya.
Çevik, N. 2021. Lykia Kitabı: Arkeolojisi, Tarihi ve Kültürüyle Batı Antalya, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara.

Image sources:
J. Borchhardt et al., 2005
Ertuğrul Anıl, 2023
Bora Bilgin, 2023
Reha Özer, 2023