Description
The Burdur Archaeological Museum holds material from a mountainous area of southwest Turkey where Pisidians in antiquity mingled with Phrygians, Lycians and other ancient peoples, coming to terms first with Greek and then with Roman culture. This volume presents its rich holdings of ancient inscriptions, ranging from Hellenistic royal letters and Roman imperial regulations to the votive offerings and gravestones of rural people. Larger cities such as Sagalassos and Kibyra are close to or just beyond the boundaries of Burdur province. The Museum collection is particularly strong in votive reliefs related to local rural cults; the most prolific is that of a club-bearing rider variously named as Herakles or Kakasbos, to which an extensive and penetrating excursus is devoted. As well as inscribed texts relief iconography is presented and discussed - indeed several items never carried an inscription. The physical form of votives and gravestones is also fully described, with more than 360 plates illustrating the range of monuments produced by local masons. Of the 350 monuments collected here, over 150 have not previously been published, and many of the rest have never been illustrated, so that the volume presents a substantial body of new evidence relating to the history, religion and culture of the area. All texts are translated into English and Turkish.
