ANTIPHELLOS
(Kaş, formerly Andifli) Lycia, Turkey.
The earliest occurrence of the name is in a
bilingual epitaph of the 4th c. B.C. found at Kaş and
half a dozen other Lycian inscriptions, all on tombs,
prove the antiquity of the site. The rise of Antiphellos
to importance began in the Hellenistic age, and by the
Roman period it was by far the most important city of
the region. The coinage includes Hellenistic issues of federal and nonfederal types, and of Gordian III. The city
was the seat of a bishopric in Byzantine times.
Antiphellos lies at the base of a narrow promontory
running E-W, which forms on the N side a long sheltered bay known as Bucak Limani (formerly Vathy);
above this the main coast rises almost vertically to a
height of some 450 m. Bucak Limani is, however, only
usable with difficulty by sailing vessels, and the harbor
of Antiphellos, like that of Kaş, lay on the other, seaward side of the isthmus. It is protected by a reef which
may also be partly artificial, but is suitable only for small
boats. A stretch of ancient sea wall runs along the S side
of the promontory.
The principal ruins are on the rising ground of the
promontory to the W of the modern town. On the S side,
not far above the shore, are the foundations and lower
parts of a small temple in elegant masonry. Farther to
the W is the theater, small but well preserved, of Hellenistic date. The retaining wall is of regular bossed ashlain and encloses 26 rows of seats divided by four stairways into three cunei. There seems never to have been a
permanent stage building. On the E slope of the hill is an
unusual square tomb, cut out of the rock, damaged in
its upper paint; the grave inside is decorated with a frieze
of 25 dancing figures.
Tombs are numerous, especially on the slopes of the
hills to the W and N of the town, and at the head of
Bucak Limanl. In the town itself, on the E side, is a particularly fine Lycian sarcophagus on a high base, with a
long inscription (possibly poetic) in the peculiar dialect
of Lycian which occurs also on the well-known pillar
tomb at Xanthos. On the hillside to the N is a rock tomb
with a Lycian inscription to which has been added later
another in Latin. Many sarcophagi of later type are scattered over the site, and many more have been destroyed
in modern times.
Across the water from Kaş, in the SE corner of the
bay, is the little harbor of Bayindir Limani, and on the
hill directly above is a small city site of which the ancient
name was apparently Sebeda. It has a wall of neat polygonal masonry and a number of sarcophagi, one of
which carries a Greek epitaph with a fine of 10,000
drachmai, payable to Phellos, for violation of the tomb.
In the cliff face above the harbor are two or three rock-cut tombs, one having an inscription in Lycian. There
is no water on the site and virtually no arable land.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
C. Fellows,
Asia Minor (1838) 219-20;
T.A.B. Spratt & E. Forbes,
Travels in Lycia (1847) I 69-73
M, 79-81; E. Petersen & F. von Luschan,
Reisen in
Lykien (1889) II 60-61.
G. E. BEAN
