KORYKOS
Rough Cilicia, Turkey.
A city 3.5
km W of Elaeussa. First mentioned as taken by Antiochos III from Ptolemaic control in 197 B.C., it minted
autonomous coinage in the 1st c. B.C. and shared the
fate of Elaeussa under the Romans until ca. A.D. 72. It
was noted as a port in Roman times, and was extremely
important in the Byzantine and mediaeval periods. Taken
by the Turks in 1448, it slowly declined in importance
as a port until the 19th c. when it was practically deserted. Its ancient name was never lost.
The scanty remains are apparently confined to two
small peninsulas ca. 425 m apart and a narrow gentle
slope inland from them. On the E peninsula and inland
are some undescribed remains of buildings. The W peninsula is filled by a large Armenian castle and has a mole
extending from it, protecting a small harbor to the W.
Incorporated in the SE wall of the castle is a well-preserved single-arched Roman gateway, which led from the
quay probably to a market, which may lie under the
castle. East of the castle about 100 m are the foundations of two buildings, perhaps temples, with column fragments and wall blocks lying around. A line of bases,
perhaps from a colonnaded street or stoa, is oriented
NW-SE, about 100 m NE of the temples (?).
Inland from the city, along the ancient road from
Elaeussa, and along the steep slope a little way inland
is the ancient necropolis, clusters of sarcophagi and rockcut chambers, numerous inscriptions, and one conspicuous relief of a warrior with sword and spear. One grave
chamber constructed of polygonal masonry may be Hellenistic or Roman; the rest of the necropolis is of the
Roman and Christian periods.
The Byzantine (?) city wall can be traced in an arc
from the shore 1.25 km E of the castle to the slope 375
m NW of the castle. Just S of the modern road to the
E of the wall can be seen the ancient water course leading from Elaeussa and Lamus. Inside the wall and out
are a number of churches, some very well preserved, of
the 5th and 6th c., and one of the Armenian period.
About 0.75 km S of the mainland castle and close to
shore is a small island (ancient Krambusa?) with a wellpreserved Armenian castle of the 13th c., built perhaps
over a Byzantine predecessor.
About 3 km from the site on an ancient road to Kambazli are two watchtowers and behind them a cluster
of buildings within a wall of polygonal masonry, just
above the sheer wall of the Şeytan Deresi (Verev D. or
Karyagdi D.) gorge. The towers and fort (?) may be
part of a Hellenistic Olban defense system, or a retreat
for Korykians. Below the fort (?) are several rock-cut
memorial reliefs of the Roman period and an inscription
probably of the 3d c. B.C.
Five km W of Korykos, 1 km inland, is the Korykian
Cave, a natural limestone pit, opening out as a cave.
Above it is a Temple of Zeus, perhaps ainphiprostyle,
with a peribolos wall of elegant polygonal masonry. An
inscription on the temple gives a list of priests (?), the
first name apparently of the late 3d or early 2d c. B.C.
A myth concerning Zeus and Typhon was localized at
the cave; the original Hittite or Luvian myth and cult
may have been placed here as early as the 2d millennium
B.C. In the mouth of the cave at the bottom is a wellpreserved chapel to the Virgin, perhaps of the 4th c.
Less than a kilometer N of the cave another Temple
of Zeus was reported.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
V. Langlois,
Voyage dans la Cilicie
(1861) 197-209 (=
RA 12 [1855] 129-47); J. T. Bent,
“A Journey in Cilicia Tracheia,”
JHS 12 (1891) 212-16;
E. L. Hicks, “Inscriptions from Western Cilicia,”
JHS 12
(1891) 238-58, 272; R. Heberdey & A. Wilhelm,
Reisen
in Kilikien, DenkschrWien, Phil-Hist. Kl. 44, 6 (1896)
67-79; E. Herzfeld & S. Guyer,
Meriamlik und Korykos,
MAMA II (1930) 90-189
MPI; J. Keil & A. Wilhelm,
Denkmäler aus dem Rauhen Kilikien, MAMA III (1931)
1 18-219
PI; G. H. Forsyth, “Architectural Notes on a
Trip through Cilicia,”
DOPapers 11 (1957) 225f
I; A.
Machatschek,
Die Nekropolen und Grabmäler im Gebiet
von Elaiussa Sebaste und Korykos, DenkschrWien, Phil.-Hist. Kl. 96, 2 (1967)
MPI; T. S. MacKay, “Olba in Rough
Cilicia,” Diss. 1968 (Univ. Microfilm) Appendix E; L.
Budde,
Antike Mosaiken in Kilikien II (1972) 95-103
MI;
O. Feld, “Bericht über eine Reise durch Kilikien,”
IstMitt
13-14 (1963-64) 99-107; id. & H. Weber, “Tempel und
Kirche über der Korykischen Grotte,”
IstMitt 17 (1968)
254-67.
T. S. MAC KAY
