Relief images of the archaic Lycian «pillar tombs»: the problem of stylistic analysis and semantic interpretation

Abstract

The article examines the earliest burial monuments of the archaic Lycian kings. Particular attention is paid to the transition from kurgan to pillar burials, which took place immediately after the conquest of Lycia by the Persian army in the middle of the VI century BC. The Lycian kings tried to display the main landmarks of political biography, visualizing them through funeral reliefs. The main motives should be considered the scenes of the hunt, the palace audience, military victory and public celebration. The plot of «theriomachy» was required by the rulers of Lycia for a hint of a political connection with the Persian crown and their own legitimation as the first pro-Achaemenidean king. During the study of the historiography, was established a direct relationship between the genesis of a dynastic form of political power and the appearance of the first type of monumental burial grounds. Comparative analysis of Lycian funerary reliefs demonstrates syncretism of Anatolian, Greek and Persian visual elements.