Photos by Jack A. Waldron
About 8 kilometers into the mountains northwest of Hadim town in Konya sits a wondrous ancient site that is rarely visited, is hardly under any watchful eye, and is vulnerable to looters and treasure seekers. The ancient city is Astra Isaura (37°02'15.9"N 32°24'07.2"E), and I beg the authorities to secure the ancient site, and post guards in a station at the location, permanently.
While in the town of Hadim, I asked around about the best way to get to the ancient city, and consensus was, to take the main highway all the way north to Bolat, and come into the mountains from the north. This turned out to be the long way, as well as the most difficult. Pictured above, the turnoff to the ancient city, just south of Bolat. The sign says 'Bolat Yaylasi', which translates into 'Bolat Plateau', and there is no signboard indicating any villages along this road.
You will find some of the most spectacular scenery in the world in Turkey, and the mountains of southern Konya are no exception. Pictured above, I am getting closer to ancient Astra Isaura, and unexpectedly, a very small village without a name that, sits on the edge of the slopes of the ancient city. I'm sure the village has a name, but I didn't see it on any sign around the area, nor on any map.
After arriving at the site, I set up camp in a hollow near an outhouse just left of the 'Mescit' (small mosque), pictured above. Directly in front of the 'Mescit' is a 'cesme' (water fountain) with a common poem posted for muslim worshipers. To my surprise, a Byzantine period funerary/grave stele had been built into the face of the cesme (pictured above and below). I find it quite interesting to have the Christian stele and the Muslim poem side-by-side.
The poem reads:
"Su diyor ki , önce akardım yabana çıkardılar beni meydana.Benden abdest alıp namaz kılana ve hayrımda emeği olana. mekan cennet olsun""Water says, first I would flow, then took me to open. Whoever takes ablution from me, prays and contributes to my good deeds, may his place be heaven"
Now that my tent was up and my bike locked, I was ready to take a stroll around the village. After changing out of my cycling clothes, I crawled out of my tent to find a local in front of me. He told me not to camp where I had set up my tent, because there was a danger.
I didn't see any immediate danger, but he told me that there are wild horses that run around the area, so he insisted I sleep in the 'mescit'. I resisted for obvious reasons, but he would not take 'no' for an answer. So, I packed up my things and moved into the sacred building. This would have near dire consequences the following evening. The photo above was taken the next day, it was then when I understood what he was talking about.
The afternoon was waining, so I took a seat on the water fountain and filled my water bottles. While I was relaxing, a woman and her son settled in front of me with a beautiful milk cow. She asked me in Turkish if I wanted a drink, and I accepted.
She walked away to her house, and some time later she came back with a glass filled with fresh non-homogenized ayran, which is a salty yogurt drink. Non-homogenized ayran has a very unique flavor, and I'm not sure if everyone can appreciate it, including myself.
After a while, and after finishing my ayran, the sun was beginning to reach the mountain tops, so I decided to do a quick investigation of the slopes around the village.
It was instantly obvious that the modern village was built along the same path that brought travelers through the area to and from the site during ancient times, because necropolis antiquities lined the route.
Pictured in the two photos above and the photo below, this was my second sighting of a Byzantine era funerary/grave stele within a stones throw of the 'mescit'. The first funerary/grave stele was incorporated into the 'cesme' (fountain) in front of the 'mescit'.
In the photo below, you can see the 'mescit' in the background, and, in the foreground you can see a funerary/grave stele that was used as part of a structure, probably a dwelling.
The slopes leading up to the ancient city are covered with such structures, and I suspect that this area along the path or road leading up to the ancient city passed through or alongside the necropolis, as many did in ancient times.
Then, as more and more the inhabitants of the ancient city acropolis gradually moved down to the slopes below the city, perhaps due to population expansion, or, the fall of Byzantine rule over Konya, they used the necropolis as a quarry for their new structures.
I also have a darker suspicion about what possibly occurred here, and why the necropolis was used as a quarry. As you can see in William R. Shepherd's map below, by 1265 CE, the Mongols had pushed way beyond ancient Iconium (modern day Konya) and Astra Isaura, and thus controlled most of Anatolia, and they did a lot of killing along the way. But, so did the Seljuks before them, who were responsible for massacring the Christian population of Byzantine Caesarea Mazaka (modern Kayseri).
It's very possible that, the inhabitants of ancient Astra Isaura either abandoned the ancient city due to the demise of Byzantine rule over Konya, and/or, they were killed by invaders, or, they assimilated and adopted the culture/s of the invaders. Regardless, Byzantine culture was superseded by a new culture, perhaps at the detriment of any Christian inhabitants who may have remained, or survived.
During the heyday of the ancient city, the ancient road that led up to the city was lined with tombs, sarcophagi, and funerary/grave stelae. This is probably the reason that, the Neo-ancient structures were also constructed along this path, because the heavy building materials were located there, in situ.
Pictured above, you can see the new village houses in the distance, which are built along an easy slope and mountain saddle that sits below and opposite the ancient city acropolis. This opposing slope is also covered with Neo-ancient structures, probably dating from the late Byzantine period to the early Turkish Republic.
As we will see, the motif of the funerary/grave stele pictured above will be repeated again and again. What I find interesting about this stele is the section under the couple, which appears to be a boy, girl, or cherub/angle, with outstretched arms, and grapevines reaching end-to-end supporting the family above.
The destruction and use of these funerary/grave stelae would have been a lack of cultural compassion or respect for the remains of the Byzantine or Roman tombs throughout the necropolis, which means, these tombs and funerary/grave blocks would have been seen as perfect building materials for new constructions.
As we will see further down in this post, many of these Neo-ancient structures are still standing within the village, and are still being used today.
I've included two photos of some of these funerary/grave stelae, because I took them at different times of the day, and as you can see in this example (above and below), having the sunlight at the right position greatly helps shadow the relief to truly reveal its imagery.
Pictured above, this is one of the many Byzantine period funerary/grave stelae that can be seen amongst/within these structures, though this one has a rather rough relief. Of interest here, are the circles with flower like motifs in the corners of the stele, because I do not know what they represent. We can also see grapevines, and the columns of what I assume represent the church. More funerary/grave stelae are pictured below, some with finer cut reliefs, but the motifs remain the same, or similar.
Pictured above, one of the many Neo-ancient constructions built utilizing these Byzantine funerary/grave stelae. This structure has collapsed over the millennia, like most of the structures you will find on this slope, but as we'll see, there are some still standing and being used by the locals.
If you look just beyond the funerary/grave stele pictured above, you can see the stone beam of either a door or a window. I am not a Byzantine period specialist, but the similar motifs/reliefs on these funerary/grave stele hold a common theme, which is Christian related. However, I will have to do more research in order to give a more informed opinion.
Again, same funerary/grave stele photographed at different times of the day (pictured above and below).
My observation is that these motifs represent a church scene, a husband and wife, together in marriage, death, and in the afterlife, but again, I will have to do more research on these motifs, and revisit this topic with a bit more detail.
With regard to the funerary/grave stele pictured here, I would like to see it as a mountain scene, with the sun either rising or setting over this newly departed couple, however, I am pretty sure there is a Christian theme at work here.
Just behind the funerary/grave stele pictured above, another stele sits upside down (pictured below). Though the motif on this funerary/grave stele is a bit different from the others, the imagery appears to hold the same representation, which I will discuss further down.
Pictured above and below, the same funerary/grave stele photographed at different times of the day.
Sitting on the slope just a few meters away from the same structure was a broken sculpture of a lion from the Byzantine period (pictured below). I think we'll call this king 'The White Lion'.
There were so many museum pieces scattered around, that I really worry about where they will all end up if some attention is not given to their well being. 'The White Lion' was just one of many fine antiquities to be found at ancient Astra Isaura. And you might ask, "Of what value is half a lion sculpture?", and well, just down the slope lay its head!
No, I can't be absolutely sure, but I think the lion head pictured below belongs to the broken body of 'The White Lion' pictured above.
They appear to be sculpted from the same type stone, are similar in size, and both have the same red fungi growing on them.
The two pieces were located a some distance away from each other, so it may be that the head simply rolled down the slope.
Still, it is shocking to see such antiquities scattered about, and as I continued on, there were more Byzantine period lion sculptures to be discovered.
Pictured above, the back of 'The White Lion' with a view down the slope, and pictured below, a photo looking up the slope at this magnificent piece.
Also, up the slope in the right center of the photo above, you can see a large detailed sculpture that I also believe to be a funerary/grave stele. The close up below shows the wonderful detail in this piece.
From the images, I speculate this man was remembered as a soldier, or horse breeder (on the horse), was a good family man with two or more children (right side), and if I am correct, due to the presence of Christian saints (left side), a good Christian.
In the photo above and below, I've adjusted the shading, light, contrast, and sharpness just a bit in order to bring the image out a little more. The other photos have only been slightly cleaned up and adjusted. With my new GH5s camera, these processes will not be as necessary, though I still haven't figured out how to take panoramic photos with it, but not for lack of spending heaps of time trying to!
I think we can see a winged cherub or angle relief on the end of the stele, along with a cow or horse pie in front of it, as the ancient city is open to all.
The photo above is pretty much how the camera took the photo, and the one below is a touch darker, with a hint of contrast/shading/sharpness.
Continuing along the same slope, the Neo-ancient structures multiply along with the use of Byzantine period stelae featuring the same or similar motif in their reliefs (pictured below).
As you can see in the photo above, there is the number '21' written on a large stone block, my guess is that this dwelling and the antiquities present have been surveyed and catalogued by archeologists.
This is just another Neo-ancient structure built with funerary/grave stelae and stone from more ancient structures. On the stele slab pictured below, the common motif found throughout the site is again present.
In the stele that sits next to that pictured above, we have what I think is a family group, with the church motif not visible. Based on the fragments used to build these structures, many of the Byzantine period grave stelae at the site may have been broken, or smashed with purpose.
Pictured below, this I believe was a house, and may have been lived in more recently than we might think. I think it's evident that, the prosperity of the people who lived in this place following the depopulation and/or decline of ancient city, and perhaps the loss of Byzantine monetary support, fell on much poorer times.
During its heyday, the ancient mountain city of Astra Isaura would have had many attributes that added to the wealth of the people. For example, the lumber in these mountains was and still is plentiful, and would have been needed for shipbuilding at the coast, and other projects in cities near and far. Second, the wild horses that roam this area today are the descendants of ancient herds of equines, that, in ancient times supplied the armies, traders, farmers, and so on. Third, as I found out, there are very manageable routes up into and out of these mountains to the northwest and southeast, that go directly through ancient Astra Isaura, so trade moved with ease, at least aside from harsh rainy or winter conditions.
As you can see on the map of Ancient Greek and Roman cities above, Astra Isaura is located just south of the larger city of Isaura Vetus, also called Isaura Palaea (or, Old Isaura), and also called Isauropolis, with the site today being known as Zengibar Kalesi (37°11'27.7"N 32°21'08.8"E). I would argue that Isaura Vetus was the central distribution point for many of the goods and materials produced by Astra Isaura. Further, all of the main trade routes to and from the major cities in the region passed through Isaura Vetus. However, traders could have avoided going so far north by directly accessing the Astra Isaura from the south, which is the route I used to make my exit from the site, and which takes you directly (in a winding fashion) to the modern day town of Hadim. As a side note, you can also see on the map above, the ancient city of Leontopolis, which is located about 10 kilometers to the west of Isaura Vetus/aka Isaura Palaea/aka Isauropolis/aka Zengibar Kalesi. Leontopolis is sometimes confused as being located at Zengibar Kalesi, but if we adhere to the map, it must have been located at the modern day town of Bozkir, or near Bozkir (37°11'24.5"N 32°14'42.1"E). Leontopolis was originally built due to the complete destruction of Isaura Vetus/Palaea by the Roman politician and general Servilius Isauricus in 75 BCE, and was given the name Nea Isaura/aka Nova Isaura (meaning New Isaura). Though Leontopolis may very well lay under the modern town of Bozkir, I saw no sign of ancient city while I was there.
Pictured above and below, a Byzantine grave stele can be seen hidden amongst the rubble.
At this site, antiquities lay under every unturned stone. Astra Isaura is an open air museum that has not yet been excavated, and I felt extremely lucky to see this site untouched by modern hands. If possible, I wish there was a way for it to stay as it is, maybe with a bit of restoration on the more ancient Greco-Roman structures, and with a lot more protection.
This I'm afraid, will not be the case, because the authorities will not spend such money protecting these antiquities in situ, and will insist on them being relocated at some point to a museum or depot.
What do I wish would happen? I think this whole site should be left exactly as it is (with some restoration, as mentioned above), because these post-Byzantine constructions are part of and important to the history that followed Byzantine control of the city. Pictured below, a sculpture of a bull.
As you move up the slope toward the main area of the ancient city, the stone building blocks become more numerous, more refined in their purpose, and begin to showcase the earlier periods of the site, such as Roman or Greek.
With pieces such as the one shown below, which may be a broken door frame, or a section of another type of frame or footing, we can get a sense of the sophistication of the city, its refined level of stone construction, and the expertise work of its artisans.
With regard to the refined skill level of Astra Isaura's structures, I really shouldn't be surprised at such a site, and sight, but for some reason, I was. I think this city must be seen as a/the sister city to Isuara Vetus.
Isaura Vetus also sits high in the mountains, structures in both cities are masterfully constructed and refined, though in Isaura Vetus, larger and more numerous, as it was built on a grander scale overall. That said, I would argue that the same architects, stone workers, and so on, probably worked in both cities.
The two pieces pictured here (above and below) are probably fragments from the same pediment. I tried not to limit how many photos I took at the site, but it was a challenge, because there were so many quality pieces to shoot.
Pictured below, I think this is the corner of a base for a Byzantine altar. The hole on the inside corner would have had a post (one in each corner), and three marble or granite slabs decorated with Christian motifs would have been buttressed against those posts, then a marble or granite cap slab would have been laid across the top to create a square altar.
More examples of Byzantine period church altars can be seen in my posts on ancient Barata (aka Binbir Kilise). There are heaps of slabs and fragments all over the area, but turning these massive blocks over to see if there is a relief or inscription is usually impossible.
Along with the large stone antiquities around the site, there are endless amounts of pottery and glass fragments (pictured below).
Though I saw no finely cut and constructed defensive walls around the city, there are some hints of a greater wall, such as the section pictured below, which is built of rough cut square stone blocks.
There are also some lines of rudimentary stacked stone, that may have been intended to function as defensive walls, such as the section pictured below.
Pictured below, we can see a long line of large stone boulders, and this may have been a defensive wall at some point in the history of the site.
At the top of the site, the city acropolis stretches out to edges of a large semi-flat table. There are steep rocky slopes surrounding most of the city, so the defenses were somewhat natural.
There is also evidence of illegal digging going on at the site. Pictured below, this is a freshly dug pit, and this was not the only pit I saw at the site.
Pictured below, another pit can be seen. Though there was an elderly man and his wife sitting in front of a small fire cooking tea at the edge of the citadel, who claimed to be guarding the antiquities, I have some doubts.
Looking back at the village from the edge of the acropolis, the idilic view is scared with another illegal pit, which you can see in the foreground.
Pictured below, this is a large metal ingot/blob that I found lying on the surface of the site. My guess is that, this is a remnant of an ancient smelter within the city.
The square shaped structure that you see in the photo below sits on the edge of the citadel at the top of a steep slope. The rough construction hints that this was once a shelter, but it also might have been a defensive tower, or an outlook tower.
As I was hiking along the edge of the acropolis just down the slope, I happened across a cave, which you can see in the photo below.
I don't know why I felt brave enough to peek inside the cave, but I was relieved that nothing jumped out at me. I get this panicky feeling from time to time while exploring remote ancient sites, and it's mostly dogs and wild boar that I worry about jumping out at me, but it has actually been meters long snakes that have lunged at me, twice!
Is that a large black bear huddled up in back of this cave? This must have been a lions den at some point in history. Along the same slope not far from the cave, I was lucky to find this ancient inscription etched into the rock wall (pictured below).
Pictured above, this is a photo of the full area around the inscription, and below, a close-up of the inscription, so if you wish to decipher and translate these words into English for us, please add it to the comments section at the bottom of this post.
Moving on, I headed into the city center atop the acropolis, where the main buildings of the site can be found. Pictured below, these large well formed square blocks were once part of substantial constructions within the ancient city.
If you look closely at the numerous building members scattered around, as well as in heaps, you can see that all the parts of classical Greco-Roman construction are present. From the crepidoma or podium, to the pediment and acroterion, all the members are here.
Toward the village side of the acropolis, there is a Turkish flag, which can be seen in the top right of the photo below. In the foreground, more building members can be seen.
There also appear to be many dedicatory stelae at the site as well, such as the one pictured below, if this truly is a dedicatory inscription. Again, if you would like to help with some translation, feel free to add it in the comments section at the bottom of the post.
Continuing on, we come to a very large structure that is quite impressive in size, its reliefs, and that has an inscription on its architrave (pictured below).
As I approached this building, I was very excited to see a spectacular round relief of a Medusa head in the center of a very large stone block (pictured below). I am quite sure that, this Medusa block is the center member of the pediment of the collapsed building we see in these photos.
That these stone blocks remain in situ after one-two thousand years is shocking. This site is covered with collapsed buildings, and the blocks belonging to these structures are here in their entirety!
There are several reasons why this site has remained untouched, though there has been looting of smaller antiquities without a doubt. Heavy machinery is non-existent, and would be a suspicious object if located near this site. The road, or route, or trail to and from this village is dirt (or, it was dirt when I was there), as well as narrow, and most likely nearly impassible when there are heavy rains, snow, or ice.
The route from the village/site toward Hadim remained unpaved until about half way to Hadim, so, bringing heavy equipment up into such a remote mountain location would have been prohibitive, not to mention the steep and cluttered slope up to the acropolis. Also, certain locals seem a bit hostile to outsiders. Maybe the guy with the shotgun thought I was a treasure hunter?
These stone blocks were sourced locally, and have remained a challenge to be moved by the locals who live here, and so, have sat here in situ over the millennia. Pictured below, we have a section of architrave with some Latin inscription, and this member would have been part of a fairly large structure.
Pictured below, this is a corner section of an architrave, and it appears to belong to the same building architrave as the smaller section pictured above.
Though the inscription is difficult to see in these photos, it is in Latin and of the same type, so both members are most likely part of the same architrave. Again, if you would like to help translate this inscription for the reads, please add a translation into the comments section at the bottom of this post.
In the center of the photo below, an acroterion from one of the buildings at the site, probably a small temple, or perhaps a temple tomb, and I suspect it belongs to the building featured above, with the Latin inscription.
When it's possible to find such antiquities scattered around a site like here at Astra Isaura, you understand that this is very rare, and that these antiquities are in danger of being stolen. Two or three hundred years ago, it was common to see antiquities scattered around most ancient sites around the Mediterranean, and they were easy pickings for the classical tour travelers of those times, but today it is unheard of, except here.
Pictured above and below, my best guess is that this is a small temple, and the same structure that the acroterion and the Medusa pediment block belong to.
The large block pictured here was sitting at the site of the small temple like structure. In the middle of the block is a relief of a horse with a rider, a very unique piece to say the least.
This block with horse relief is most likely one of the frieze blocks belonging to the same small temple I am covering here. It is possible that the structure is not a temple, and could very well be a heroon.
Ancient frieze reliefs often depict battle scenes, both with and without horses, human processions of various types, dancing, mythological characters such as Medusa or griffins, or people doing their jobs, but here we have a simple horse with a rider.
We know that herds of horses populate these mountains even today, and so, it is very possible that Astra Isaura was a main breeding area for horses during ancient times, and further, this structure may be a temple built to keep evil away through the powers of Medusa to protect the horse trade, which the city depended on.
The architrave pictured above has a Greek lettered inscription, and so, does not belong to the 'Medusa' structure. It is possible that this architrave belonged to a temple tomb, or a portico, or the agora.
The stele pictured here was sitting within the area of the theater, and may be a dedicatory stele, perhaps to a benefactor of some construction within the city, maybe the theater, or maybe it is dedicated to an athlete who won a prize, or a poet or actor who won a contest held in the theater.
Pictured below, this is the small theater that sits amongst numerous other buildings atop the acropolis at ancient Astra Isaura.
My impression of this small theater is that this not a proper theater, but more likely a bouleutarion that could function as an odeon or small theater.
I would not be surprised if a larger theater is waiting to be discovered at Astra Isaura. The seating capacity of this cavea could not have been enough to accommodate the population of this city, plus added guests, such as outside visitors or passers through.
The shape of the theater exceeds a half moon, suggesting it is of a Greek design, not Roman. Which then begs the question, was this city founded or expanded upon by soldiers of Alexander the Great for the purposes of horse breeding and lumber? Was this secluded mountain area a horse breeding site and supply of lumber for the Persians, from who whom Alexander took the city from, or even the Hittites before that?
I honestly think we are looking at a city that specialized in breeding horses, supplying lumber, and anything else that these cooler climate alps could provide to the inhabitants of the flat hot dry plains of Konya and Karaman.
Regardless, the occupants of this ancient city made enough money to build a fairly large and attractive city.
Most of the theater building members appear to remain in situ, and this structure in particular will be quite impressive when restored. There are numerous other structures surrounding the theater, but other than the small temple, they are much hard to discern.
You can see a low building wall in the center of the photo above, and another wall in the photo below. There are many more such walls in the area, and I suspect they were later constructions, perhaps during the Byzantine period. All of this will make much more sense after excavations.
There should be a small stadium somewhere at the site, probably in the vicinity of the bouleutarion, or theater (if there is a larger theater). Perhaps the wall juxtaposed to the theater/bouleutarion is part of a stadium structure (pictured below).
Not all ancient stadiums were enormous and lavish like those at Kibyra and Magnesia, they can be small and functional, like the stadiums at Arycanda and Selge.
There are many low, fallen, and semi-buried walls around the main area of the city (pictured above). Some of these walls may have been built from stone blocks quarried from older buildings, maybe from the stadium, but at this point it is really difficult to be sure.
Pictured above, a Doric style capital sits near a heap of building members. Below, an unusual square block with reliefs of garlands on at least two sides.
I wish I had shot all four sides of this interesting antiquity, but these stone blocks are heavier than they look in these photos. The square niche on the block tells me that this was probably fit to a building, and was not a free standing altar.
These rugged Isaurian mountains are the epitome of a land of plenty. One gets a sense of wilderness here, especially when you are confronted by a massive mountain man carrying a shotgun, who is telling you to leave. The ancient Isaurians had the reputation of being a warlike tribe, and extremely independent.
There are some locals in the village who don't like outsiders coming into their space, regardless of the fact that other locals insisted one sleep in the mosque. At least I wasn't murdered, something that could have easily happened during the Seljuk Turk takeover in the late 11C CE, or the Arab-Byzantine Wars between the 8C-10C CE, or the Roman invasion during the 1C BCE, or the Macedonian takeover by Perdiccas, the successor to Alexander the Great in this area.
Interestingly, when Perdiccas laid siege to Isaura Vetus/Palaea, the inhabitants refused to surrender. Rather than surrender, the Isaurians set their city alight, and burnt it to the ground. This makes me wonder, did the inhabitants of Astra Isaura come from Isaura Vetus/Palaea after the destruction of the city? Was Astra Isaura conquered and occupied by the Macedonians? When faced with the Roman occupation, did they acquiesce? And then one thousand years later, were the inhabitants murdered by the Seljuk Turks after the defeat of the Byzantines at the Battle of Mazikurt in 1071, or, were they able to escape with their lives? Furthermore, were the Astra Isaura inhabitants able to survive the Mongol invasion?
After leaving the acropolis, I went to an area further down the slope below the Neo-ancient dwellings. Here, fresh spring water exited the hillside and fed basins formed out of ancient stone blocks.
Pictured above, a Byzantine period lion sculpture sits next to one of the hillside springs. Pictured below, a Byzantine funerary/grave stele plays its role as a cap, protecting the mouth of the spring from being harmed or blocked.
Out of the many hundreds of ancient sites I have visited, I have never seen this many ancient funerary/grave stelae or lion sculptures out in the open. They are defenseless against treasure hunters, who could charge a steep price for such antiquities on the black market.
Pictured below, numerous stacked funerary/grave stelae and a lion sit over the mouth of the spring.
The theme of the stele pictured here follows the same Byzantine relief motif we have seen all over the site. I am beginning to wonder if Astra Isaura was a retreat city for the Byzantines? Did more and more Christian believers move into this mountain city to escape the Arab raids in the lower Konya and Karaman plains? Did they bring their dead here to be buried?
As with the spring located in front of the village mosque, these antiquities could also end up as decorative additions to a concrete water trough.
Pictured below, yet another Byzantine period lion sculpture, this one broken in two or three large pieces.
As I made my way back toward the village along the bottom of the slope, which you can see in the distance in the photo below, I was simply focused on examining the stone objects that littered the hillside.
I did this, because I soon discovered that nearly every decent sized stone block or boulder usually turned out to be an antiquity.
In the photo above, you can see the hind paw and claws of a lion, and its body. Also in the same photo (and in the photo below), a fractured grave stele sits in situ.
Ok, I will stop saying " . . . and yet another grave stele . . . ", because with regard to Astra Isaura, that phrase could be repeated uncountable times.
I've included two different photos of this grave stele, because the light and shadowing are slightly different, and one or the other may offer more a bit more detail.
From the limited research I have done on Byzantine art and iconography, I think these grave stelae are depicting the deceased (at center, usually with their spouse), and their close family members (usually all depicted at center, but sometimes on one side or the other), and, who are coming together or communing in the church with certain saints (who are depicted on the right or left side). At Astra Isaura, this theme is repeated again and again.
There are also a lot of pottery shards lying on the surface of the entire site (pictured below). I think these pottery shards are from a very large pithos.
Giant pithoi were used to store olive oil, food stuffs, water, and so on, and were often buried in the ground up to the opening at the top.
Judging from the multitudes of Byzantine grave stelae at the site, it's highly likely that Astra Isaura was a major destination for Christians, that probably spanned from the earliest days when Christians were being oppressed by the pagan Romans, on through the Arab raids, and up until the very end of Byzantine control over the Konya district.
The ancient Isaura Tribe have been described as a rough mountain people, who did not surrender to the Macedonians, who fought against the Romans between 76-74 BCE, in which the Roman general Publius Servilius Vatia was victorious. I would argue however, that these setbacks and defeats did not change the character of these people, even under Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Mongolian, or Ottoman rule.
The Roman emperor Zeno (474-491 CE) was Isaurian, born about 50 kilometers to the southwest of Astra Isaura in a city named Rusumblada, later renamed Zenopolis. His reign is often referred to as the "Isaurian Ascendancy", and because of prejudices with regard to Isaurians as unsophisticated and rough, he was not the most beloved emperor.
Numerous active animal pens can be found along the slope as you get closer to the village. These pens often make use of the heavy stone funerary/grave stelae, as well as various other antiquities.
Pictured above, what appears to be a grave stele is propping up the corner post of the same animal pen pictured further up. Pictured below, on top of the numbered block sits a fragment that might be the base of a small votive statue, or a fragment of a funerary/grave stele.
The dust and dirt filling in the crevices of the relief on the funerary/grave stele pictured below helps highlight this common grave motif.
The photograph below offers a perfect example of what awaits a visitor to Astra Isaura. In the distance, the ancient acropolis touches the clouds, while on the slope below, Neo-ancient dwellings and animal pens built with antiquities that have been incorporated into their construction, and in the foreground, a beautifully sculpted Byzantine lion hides in the hedge. Fantastic!
I think this was about the fourth or fifth Byzantine period lion sculpture I had seen at the site up till this point. I'm sure that, if I had had just a little more time to explore the site, I could have found at least ten or fifteen such sculptures.
One of the greatest aspects of seeing these lions (and grave stelae) here at the site, is that we the public know where they are in situ, and the site where they came from.
This is not the usual case when one sees such artifacts on display at archeological museums, where they are most often un-labeled, with zero information telling where they were found, or where they came from.
The backdrop of this scene is the small village with no name, the villagers, who are most likely the descendants of the ancients who once populated this mountain city, and the beauty of the mountains that surround.
Of course, I had to get a selfie with this magnificent creature. I wonder, who sculpted it, and for what purpose? The lion played a huge roll in the psyche of the ancients, as it was revered as the ruler of the animal kingdom (except for humans, of course).
Wild lions lived in these mountains and surrounding plains during the Byzantine period, and of course in prior periods as well. The last sighting of a wild lion in Turkey was in 1874. Does the presence of so many lion sculptures at this site tell us something more about the character of the ancient inhabitants?
As I got closer to the modern village, it became clear that the surrounding area had dwellings before the modern houses were built. Meaning, the upper flat area of the western side of the valley may have been dotted with dwellings during the Byzantine, Roman, or earlier periods, and most certainly during the post-Byzantine periods. Pictured above and below, amongst the stone rubble sits a finely sculpted funerary/grave stele.
What is confusing for me about this area is, the same western edge of the valley that is dotted with Neo-ancient dwellings (meaning, post Byzantine dwellings), is also covered with many funerary/grave stelae, which indicates that this area was also a necropolis. There may be more than one necropolis at the site.
The grave stele pictured here hold the common Christian motif found throughout the site, but as compared to many of the other stelae, this one displays some very fine relief work.
The same grave stele pictured above can be seen in the bottom left corner of the photo below, which is the area just down the slope from the mosque, pictured in the upper left corner of the photo.
Pictured above and below, next to the finely sculpted grave stele, the broken bottom of another stele can be seen poking out from the rubble.
Pictured below, a structure can be seen down the slope from a modern dwelling. The big white block seen within the structure is another example of a finely sculpted grave stele.
This low structure looks to me to be more modern than the Neo-ancient dwellings shown earlier in this post.
It is possible that I made a mistake earlier, that the Neo-ancient dwellings were not actually dwellings, but animal holding pens. That said, they had higher walls than some of these low structures, and they also appeared to be more spacious, square, and had large entrance doors.
Regardless, these structures may have served both purposes during their lifetimes, either partially or wholly. When I visited ancient Assos in 2005, I saw people still living in such dwellings around that acropolis. The structures here at Astra Isaura do however contain ancient funerary/grave stele, which is something I didn't see at Assos.
Typically, these stelae are used as part of the door frame in these structures, I don't think there was one without a grave stele incorporated into that construction.
Again, there are so many of these structures throughout the village, and some on property I didn't feel too comfortable going on, that I am sure I missed some of them.
When I look at the building below, I see a dwelling for humans. The door and roof are exceptionally tall, and I suspect many of the other buildings shown earlier also were complete high structures.
Notice the grave stele incorporated into the door frame in the photo above, and the same in the photo below. I never get tired of discovering such hidden antiquities, and here in this village, every turn of a corner presents new discoveries.
Finally, here is one last historical tidbit on the Isaurian region, some departing words, and some landscape photos of the ancient city.
There were many ancient cities throughout these mountains, and the inhabitants of these cities knew of each other, communicated with each other, shared a culture with each other, and bonded together as a group. I will go into deeper detail on this subject when I write about Isaura Veta/aka Isaura Palaea/aka Isauropolis/aka Zengibar Kilise, and Isaura Nea/aka Isaura Nova/aka Leontopolis. Whooh!
Pictured above and below, the acropolis of ancient Astra Isaura. As I took photos of the ancient city while cycling further and further away from it, I was surprised at just how impressive the profile of the acropolis truly is/was.
The mountain dominates the skyline, and the valley brings up thoughts of a paradise lost, but not lost, yet.
Eventually, the dirt path climbs another hilltop, winds around a bend, and descends from the clouds, and the acropolis and valley disappear from view, but never from one's mind.
I have very fond memories of my exploration into these mountains and its ancient city, plus one not so pleasant memory, but life goes on.
After losing sight of ancient Astra Isaura, I had to climb and descend some pretty steep slopes. As I was cycling over a crest, I noticed this guy in a blue shirt on top of a roof deep down in a canyon, and I was quite surprised, because this place is remote (pictured above).
It turns out, that these guys worked for the beledigye (city) of Hadim (where I had started my round-about journey), and they were building a safe house for those who might get into trouble while traversing the mountains.
Of course, they invited me and insisted I have lunch with them, so, they all divvied in a portion of their lunch for me to eat, we drank Turkish tea, and chatted until it was time for them to go back to work.
All these years later, I'm still friends on Facebook with Ali (pictured below), and I often see his posts on small buildings or houses they are working on, or tree trimming work they are doing, and so.
After lunch, Ali showed me the inside of the small building, then I showed him my bike, we shook hands, I said goodbye to the crew, and then started my climb out of the canyon.
In the satellite photo below, ancient Astra Isaura is located in the upper left center of the photo, and the town of Hadim is located in the bottom right corner of the photo.
*All photos and content property of Jack A. Waldron (photos may not be used without written permission)
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