Pamphylia'da Perge Kenti: Yerli bir Demir Çağı Yerleşiminden Hellenistik bir kent devletine

Abstract

The Pamphylia Region consists of theplains of the province ofAntalya inpresent-day Turkey. This region contains important ancient cities located at a very short distance from one another.The excavations started in 1946 in Perge are still carried out by the members of the Istanbul University, Classical Archaeology Department. Perge is one of the most documented and investigated archaeological sites in Pamphylia. Architectural ruins and archaeological findings dating to the Roman Imperial Period are predominant in the urban landscape of the city, however, the Prehistoric, Iron Age, and Hellenistic past of Perge come to light with the researches in recent years. According to this,the first settlement in Perge began in the Acropolis during Late Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age. A bronze plaque discovered in the Hittite capital of Hattusas from the 13th century B.C. mentions Parha, namely Perge. According to Strabo (14.4.2), Perge was founded after the Trojan War by Achaeans. Even if this passage contains a grain of truth, instead of founding a new city, the colonists assimilated with the natives.The firsturbanization efforts date to the Archaic period. Perge was still reflected local character in the Archaic Period, but Cyprian and Rhodian cultural effects can be observed on the material culture of the city. Due to the influence of the ancient Greek culture, the process of becominga “polis” in Perge begins from the Classical Period onwards. Especially after the battle of the Eurymedon, Attic cultural effects can be observed on the material culture of the city.In the Hellenistic period, Perge assumed a full-fledged “polis” character with its concentrated settlement in the Acropolis.The city extended from the Acropolis towards the plain. City walls with a monumental gate flanked by two round towers must have been constructed in the Hellenistic Period. Perge was now a strong and leading city-state in Pamphylia. And it was an interregional cult center with its famous Artemis Pergaia Sanctuary in Hellenistic Oikoumene.