Abstract
The people collectively named the Lycians in modern scholarship are the best represented of the western Anatolian first millennium BC cultures in terms of philological, historical, and archaeological data. This article seeks to better understand the meanings behind Iron Age Lycian mortuary monuments and religious images, and how they reflect Lycian identity and agency in a time of political turmoil. By studying the Lycian mortuary landscape, tombs and images, we can begin to comprehend Lycian perceptions of the afterlife, religion and cultural identity. In particular, we look to the images of the so-called “Harpies” and “Running Men” to better understand evidence of the afterlife, connections to the past and the creation of their own identity of what it means to be Lycian. The study of Lycian mortuary trends, monumental architecture, and religion gives us a small but tantalizing view into the Lycian understanding of religion and death, and how they wielded their own culture as a tool for survival in a politically fraught world.
Highlights
Lycia, a region located in southwestern Anatolia, is sometimes called the Land ofTombs
Lycian mortuary architecture in particular is interesting for the way it is highly public and central, in particular in the way that mortuary monuments were placed within the center of Xanthos
We do not know much about the religion of the larger Lycian population, but the underThe Lycians practiced a variety of burial styles, from the monumental temple tombs studied non-monumental tombs of Lycia indicate the connections of this region to its past
Summary
A region located in southwestern Anatolia, is sometimes called the Land of. Tombs. Herodotus was writing for his time and with his understanding of the world (though he himself was from nearby Caria, located to the northwest of Lycia in western Anatolia) during the 5th century As a consequence, he places the Lycians in the context of a 5th century understanding of the region, and from a highly Hellenized viewpoint. He places the Lycians in the context of a 5th century understanding of the region, and from a highly Hellenized viewpoint His history of Lycia highlights in particular how the Lycians were variously allied with the Greeks or the Achaemenids. Modern archaeological and philological evidence indicate the Lycians were a native Anatolian group, with clear cultural ties to Bronze Age Anatolia, becoming increasingly. Did they embrace these mythological origins, seeing themselves as the descendants of great heroes such as Sarpedon? Giving themselves a heroic past and mythologizing that past helps create unity and a strong sense of identity in a people, and yet the archaeological record is all that we have to help us answer such questions
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