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Kaunos

Kbid

Türkiye · Muğla

Ancient cityExcavation ongoing
Approximate period1,000 BCE — 1,500 CEIron Age–Middle Ages See on the map ↓

In brief

Kaunos, on the banks of the Dalyan River, is a former port city that gradually became situated inland. Alongside inscriptions documenting local cults and trade, excavations have also uncovered a salt production facility.

What was found?

  • 1Carian-Greek bilingual stele

    The presence of Carian and Greek in the same document enabled comparison using the known Greek text. The stele is one of the key finds that contributed to deciphering the Carian language.

  • 2Customs regulations inscription

    A lengthy inscription setting out customs regulations is located on the outer face of the agora fountain’s western wall. It documents the port city’s regulation of trade through written rules.

  • 3Ancient saltworks

    The facility behind İztuzu consists of pans and channels used in salt production. It provides tangible evidence of the infrastructure used to produce Kaunos salt.

  • 4Sacred stone of Basileus Kaunios

    A sacred stone was found beneath the altar of the circular building. According to researchers, the stone is a representation of the local god Basileus Kaunios without human or animal form.

  • 5Rock-cut tombs

    The group of monumental tombs on the rock face constitutes the city’s prominent funerary architecture. The unfinished state of the largest example is also a surviving trace of the construction process.

What does it point to?

The inscriptions and saltworks show that the economy of Kaunos combined port trade with production. The local god’s sacred stone and the bilingual documents indicate that the city’s distinctive religious and linguistic traditions continued within broader cultural relationships.

What did it teach us?

  1. Contributed to deciphering the Carian language through a bilingual document.
  2. Documented the production of Kaunos salt in a facility consisting of pans and channels.
  3. Showed that port trade was governed by customs regulations.
  4. Provided evidence that the local god was represented by a sacred stone rather than a figure.

Images

DALYAN-KAUNOS - panoramio
HALUK COMERTEL · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Local Kaunian culture, Carian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine
First modern dig
1966
Team / historical
Ufuk Çörtük; Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University
Coordinates
36.8255°, 28.6216°

Sources

  1. whc.unesco.org
  2. arkeoloji.mu.edu.tr

Nearby excavations


—
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12.000

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