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In Antiquity, Labraunda (alternatively Labranda) in the mountains near the coast of Caria in Asia Minor was held sacred by Carians and Mysians alike. Municipalities of Caria Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns in Classical Greece is based entirely on ancient sources Municipalities of Caria Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns in Classical Greece is based entirely on ancient sources Mysia (Μυσία was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor or Anatolia (part of modern Turkey) The site amid its sacred plane trees [1] was enriched in the Hellenistic style by the Hecatomnid dynasty of Mausolus, satrap of Persia (c. Hecatomnus (also Hekatomnus; in Greek Ἑκάτoμνως; lived 4th century BC was king or dynast of Caria in the reign of Artaxerxes Mausolus ( Greek: Μαύσωλος; also Maussollus) was ruler of Caria (377&ndash353 BC See also the related deity Satrapes. Satrap (Persian ساتراپ was the name given to the governors of the Provinces of ancient 377-352 BCE), for whom it was the ancestral sacred shrine. From simple beginnings, the prosperity of a rapidly hellenised Caria in the fourth century BCE[2] is reflected in what must have been a handsomely constructed site. Remains of Hellenistic houses and streets can still be traced, and there are numerous inscriptions. The cult icon here was a local Zeus Labraundos, a standing Zeus with the tall lotus-tipped scepter upright in his left hand and the double-headed axe, the labrys, over his right shoulder. This article discusses cult in the original and typically ancient sense of "religious practice" (cultus Labrys is the term for a doubleheaded Axe, known to the Classical Greeks as pelekys ( or Sagaris, and to the Romans as a bipennis The cult statue was the gift of the founder of the dynasty, Hecatomnus himself, recorded in a surviving inscription. In the practice of Religion, a cult image is a man-made object that is venerated for the Deity, spirit or Daemon that it embodies or represents Hecatomnus (also Hekatomnus; in Greek Ἑκάτoμνως; lived 4th century BC was king or dynast of Caria in the reign of Artaxerxes [3]

In the third century BCE, with the fall of the Hecatomnids, Labraunda passed into the control of Mylasa. Milas (ancient Mylasa Μύλασα) is an ancient city in southwestern Turkey. The site was not occupied under the Byzantines, save for the construction of an isolated church, nor has it been occupied since.

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Labraunda and labrys

Main article: Labrys

The first occurrence of "labrys" in English noted by the OED concerns this sanctuary:[4]

It seems natural to interpret names of Carian sanctuaries like Labranda in the most literal sense as the place of the sacred labrys, which was the Lydian (or Carian) name for the Greek πέλεκυς, or double-edged axe. Labrys is the term for a doubleheaded Axe, known to the Classical Greeks as pelekys ( or Sagaris, and to the Romans as a bipennis The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English

The same root labr- appears in the labyrinth of Knossos, which is interpreted as the "place of the axe. In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth ( Greek λαβύρινθος labyrinthos) was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer " The double-headed axe was a central iconic motif at Labraunda. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. The axe cast of gold had been kept in the Lydian capital Sardes for centuries. Sardis, also Sardes ( Lydian: Sfard, Greek: Σάρδεις, Persian: Sparda) modern Sart in The Lydian king Gyges awarded it to the Carians, to commemorate Carian support in a battle. This is the mythic anecdote: the social and political reality may have been more complicated, for such ritual objects are never lightly passed from hand to hand or moved from their fixed abode. Upon receiving this precious, purely ritual axe, the Carians kept it in the Temple of Zeus at Labraunda.

The figure of a double-sided axe is a feature of many coins of Halicarnassus. Halicarnassus (Άλικαρνᾱσσός &mdash Halikarnassós or Ἁλικαρνασσός &mdash Alikarnassós Halikarnas modern Coins at the museum at Bodrum bear the head of Apollo on the obverse and on the reverse the name of the reigning Carian ruler inscribed next to the figure of Zeus Labraunda carrying the double-bladed Carian axe. Bodrum (from Petronium; formerly Halicarnassus (Halikarnas Ancient Greek: Ἁλικαρνασσός) is a Turkish

Site

The Royal Swedish Institute at Athens has been in charge of archeology at Labraunda, notably in a series of campaigns in 1948-53, initiated by Dr. Axel Persson and taken up after Persson's sudden death by Dr. Gösta Säflund, has published its findings in a long series, grouped as four volumes, from 1955 onwards. The hieron, one of the best-preserved and most complete series of fourth-century structures contained a series of buildings of unusual construction, ranged on several formal terraces. In its synthesis of Achaemenid and Ionian features it foreshadowed Hellenistic style. The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of The Ionic order column forms one of the three '''orders''' or '''organizational systems''' of Classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period.

The sacred precinct was entered through one of two marble Ionic propylea at the southeast corner of the site. This page is about the Beetle genus for the ancient architectural structure see Propylaea Propylea is a small genus of Lady beetles The Ionic temple of Zeus[5] bore a dedicatory inscription of the brother of Mausolus, Idrieus (351-44 BCE);[6] it had a simplified, two-part architrave, and a low ceiling to the small cella. The Ionic order column forms one of the three '''orders''' or '''organizational systems''' of Classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology Mausolus ( Greek: Μαύσωλος; also Maussollus) was ruler of Caria (377&ndash353 BC The architrave (also called epistyle or door frame) is a moulded or ornamental band framing a rectangular opening For the Spanish town see Cella Spain Naos redirects here For other meanings see Naos (disambiguation.

Notes

  1. ^ Herodotus, v. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 119
  2. ^ The cultural background is presented in S. Hornblower, Mausolus (Oxfird: Clarendon Press) 1982.
  3. ^ Alfred Westholm, Labraunda I. 2 The Architecture of the Hieron, inscription no. 6 (1963).
  4. ^ quoting Journal of Hellenic Studies XXI. 108 (1901).
  5. ^ Published by Pontus Hellström and Thomas Theime, ''Labraunda I. 3, The Temple of Zeus Labraunda: Swedish Excavations and Researches) 1982. ISBN 91-970338-2-0
  6. ^ Fragmentary inscriptions on the propylea are also restored as dedications of Idrieus.

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