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Ancient city of TEOS in Sığacık, a center of art & philosophy from thousands of years ago

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The ancient port city of Teos is located at Sığacık neighborhood of Seferihisar district about 60 km southwest of Izmir. The city was established and developed on the isthmus (neck connecting peninsula to main land) of a small peninsula. The city had an acropolis in the middle of the Isthmus. The city developed between the Acropolis and the southern port; from a time point of view, it is seen that its development was between the Protogeometric period and the Middle Ages.

The city had two ports, one large in the south and one small in the North. Today, no remains of the Archaic Period city walls are visible on the surface. On the other hand, the city wall of the Hellenistic period can be traced around the city, approximately 4 km long. The fortification in question was very carefully constructed from cut blocks of local limestone and surrounded an area of about 65 hectares. Surrounded by the Hellenistic period fortification, there were Acropolis, Dionysus Temple, Theatre, Bouleuterion, Agora, Agora Temple and a large cistern. However, the Imperial Cult Temple and the Forum surrounded by the stoas and both ancient ports remain outside the Hellenistic fortification.

The ancient geographer Strabon (64 BC – 24 AD) reports that Teos was founded first by Athamas, therefore called Athamantis by the famous lyric poet Anakreon, then by Naoklos, the illegitimate son of Kodros during the period of Ion colonization, and later by Apoikos of Athens and Geres of Damasos and Boiotia.

Archaeological excavations carried out in the ancient city between 1962 and 1967 revealed that there was settlement in the city from the Protogeometric period (around 1000 BC). In about 600 BC, the philosopher Thales of Miletus proposed Teos as the center of the twelve cities of Ion because it was in the center of the Ionia region, but this proposal was not accepted.

Trade relations of city of Teos round 6 BC can be tracked back to Ancient Egypt. As in all Anatolia, Teos passed into the hands of the Persian commander Harpagos after 545 BC.

The Ion Union, consisting of twelve cities including Teos, was founded by The King of Persia II. Because the Ion Union, consisting of twelve cities to include Teos, failed to break the pressure of Persian King Kyros 2nd on the ancient Greek cities in western Anatolia, many Theosians left the city in 543 BC and founded the city of Abdera (today Avdera, near Iskeçe) in the Nestos Delta in the Thrace region

Besides Abdera, the Theosians also founded the city of Phanagoria on the Taman peninsula (Crimea) around 544 BC. In time, however, many colonists returned to Teos. The prosperity of the city increased so much that the Teosians supported the Lade Naval War in 494 BC with 17 ships. The city, was a member of the first Attica-Delos Maritime Union as well.

It was learned from a long inscription found in Seferihisar, Antigonos Monophthalmos planned to merge the city with the neighboring city Lebedos (ÜRKMEZ, today) (synoikismos) after the earthquake that occurred in 304 BC and caused damage in the entire Ionia region, but this plan was not implemented.

During the first Attalos period (241-197 BC), Teos was connected to the Kingdom of Pergamon. However during the third Attalos period (138-133 BC), it came under Roman rule when the King left his lands to Rome through a will. The city was located within the borders of Rome’s province of Asia starting 129 BC. After this period, the city had good relations with Rome and although there is not much concrete data about late antiquity, it is understood that the city lost its importance and continued its existence on a small scale until the Middle Ages.

Due to the importance of the cult of Dionysus in the city and its surroundings the Dionysus Union of artists, consisting of poets, musicians, theatergoers and singers, was founded in Teos in 3rd century BC. After a while, this community was seen as a source of unrest in the city and sent to Ephesos (Selçuk), then to Myonnessos (Doğanbey), and finally to Lebedos (ÜRKMEZ). Poets such as Anacreon, Antimakhos, Epicuros, Nausiphanes, Apellikon and the historian Hekataios are among the important philosophers and artists of antiquity who lived in Teos.

LINK FOR PHOTOS
http://www.teosarkeoloji.com/fotograflar

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